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From Bronx boy to world-class litigator

By Alessandra Da Pra, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, July 25, 2008

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South Tampa lawyer Greg Kehoe sat among government officials at the Iraqi Special Tribunal in Baghdad when a defiant Saddam Hussein entered the courtroom.

It was July 1, 2004, the first day of the highly anticipated trial, and Kehoe began to understand the emotional and psychological impact the former dictator could still have on the Iraqis.

"They shattered in Saddam's presence," he said.

It was one in a cache of memorable experiences for Kehoe, 54, who has defended and prosecuted litigants in war crimes around the world, as well as Florida cases involving drug rings, money laundering and courthouse corruption.

A few years ago, Kehoe was appointed the U.S. liaison to the Iraqi Special Tribunal for Crimes Against Humanity.

That came after a stint working at The Hague from 1995 to 1999 with a criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He had prosecuted Bosnian Croat Gen. Tihomir Blaskic, sending him to prison for the massacre of hundreds of Muslim civilians during the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian War.

Today, he is back in the Netherlands, this time defending Gen. Ante Gotovina. The Croatian army official stands accused of allowing his troops to go on a murderous rampage against Croatian Serbs during the same conflict.

But Gotovina brought the war to an end, Kehoe contended during a recent interview in his Tampa office while home for a short stay.

Kehoe said the difference between the two generals is "dramatic" because Blaskic massacred civilians while Gotovina fought combatants.

The trial started in March and is expected to last more than a year.

Kehoe's road to the courtroom started as a child in the Bronx. His father was a police officer, and Kehoe witnessed life on the rough streets. Observing his father enforce the law inspired him to become a lawyer.

David Weinstein, 50, who is the managing partner of the downtown Tampa law firm Greenberg Traurig, where Kehoe works, said Kehoe has a deep understanding of human nature.

"He is one of the top people I know in the court setting, but is very kind and gentle in a personal setting," Weinstein said.

"Gentle" is a trait that several people used to describe the blue-eyed attorney.

"He is the best prosecutor I have worked with at any level, extremely bright," said Chuck Hudson, senior investigator for the State Attorney's Office in Tampa. "Although aggressive, he is gentle."

Kehoe graduated from St. John's University School of Law in Queens in 1979. Ten years later, he was appointed as assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida and moved to Tampa.

"Working in trial cases is a very difficult job," said Kehoe. "It's a great responsibility and a tremendous privilege."

U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill, 51, also grew up in the Bronx and has known Kehoe since 1986, when they both worked as assistant U.S. attorneys for the Southern District of Florida.

"When you grow up in the Bronx, you tend to have that outgoing, expressive personality," he said.

Witnessing a coarse existence can nurture the drive to thrive.

"It takes the blue collar to the white collar," O'Neill said.

But law is not Kehoe's only passion.

His office is filled with Yankees memorabilia and Civil War books. Friends also say he has a great sense of humor.

"He is one of the funniest people I know who doesn't tell jokes," Weinstein said.

Kehoe will return to Tampa for three weeks in August during the tribunal reassessment.

This time he will not fly back to The Hague alone. His wife, Lonnie, and daughter Elizabeth, who live in the family's South Tampa home, will move to Europe to be with him for the duration of the trial.

Alessandra Da Pra can be reached at adapra@sptimes.com or (813) 285-6560.