JACK REJTMAN Herald Staff Writer

When suspended Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez was convicted of federal racketeering and extortion charges five years ago, he faced a 10-year prison sentence that threatened to be a political death sentence. But free on appeal, the telegenic politician with the never-say-die attitude again ran for mayor in 1993.

To the dismay of prosecutors, Martinez won back his post as Hialeah's chief administrator. Months later, he won a new trial. And when an opponent challenged the election results, which were tainted by accusations of fraud, Martinez won yet another election in 1994.

Today, federal prosecutors hope to end Martinez's winning streak when he returns to federal court to face 6-year-old charges that he traded zoning favors for $1 million in cash and sweet land deals from developers. The mayor, meanwhile, hopes the trial will finally clear his name. And Hialeah officials, friends and foes of Martinez alike, look forward to closing one of the strangest chapters in the city's tumultuous political history.

"I've lived a borrowed life for too long," said Martinez, who turns 47 Wednesday. "It's either guilty or innocent. Period. I have to clear my name."

Although retrying Martinez poses new challenges to the U.S. Attorney's office, lead prosecutor Bruce Udolf said he is confident the government will again prove to jurors that Martinez is guilty.

"The court of appeals has said in its most recent opinion that there is sufficient evidence to convict him," said Udolf, the only remaining prosecutor from the first trial.

Udolf declined to discuss strategy. But there are a number of disadvantages prosecutors must overcome this time around:

* Half the evidence presented at the first trial may not be admissible because jurors cleared Martinez of two of eight extortion and racketeering counts. That means testimony of developer Camilo Padreda, the only witness who directly accused Martinez of an extortion threat, could be rejected because it may constitute double jeopardy.

* Other key witnesses -- Hialeah developers and admitted political pals of Martinez -- were reluctant to testify at the first trial and may be less cooperative now that Martinez has returned to office. One star witness, former Hialeah politician Silvio Cardoso, agreed to testify to reduce his penalty in another corruption case. He is free now, so prosecutors no longer have leverage.

* The government's case lacks the element of surprise. Civil and state courts require prosecutors and defense attorneys to provide each other with a witness list and depositions before trial. Federal courts have that same requirement. While new evidence can be brought, much of the prosecution's case is already known.

* Prosecutors indicted Martinez under the Hobbs Act, which makes it a crime to obtain cash or property under the "color of official right." But since the trial, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia and Georgia cases that public officials must exchange an "explicit promise" or favor in return for a bribe in order to be guilty of extortion. That interpretation requires specific evidence, or a quid pro quo, to prove extortion.

During the two-month trial, Martinez's lawyers never denied that he got fees and breaks on real estate deals. But they said it was all legal, fruits of his rising political stock and his real estate savvy.

Defense attorney Jose Quinon said prosecutors never presented evidence of a quid pro quo. And without it, the jury must acquit, he said.

"The law is clear," Quinon said. "The real key to this case is whether we can find a fair and impartial jury.

"Last time, you had people bringing newspapers into the jury room, jurors discussing the case. This time I hope and believe we will have a fair jury. If we do that, the mayor will be found not guilty -- no question about it."

Appellate judges reversed Martinez's conviction in 1994, citing blatant jury misconduct and flawed jury instructions.

Among the problems, jurors used a dictionary to define legal terms and defied senior U.S. Judge James W. Kehoe by reading newspapers or watching TV reports about the trial. Kehoe, the appellate judges said, also did not properly explain the need for a quid pro quo.

Quinon, who did not defend Martinez during the first trial, would not say whether he has hired a jury expert for the retrial.

But it's a safe bet.

"I'll put it this way," Quinon said. "In just about every case that I try, I bring people to help me with juries."

Hialeah voters already have vindicated Martinez at the polls -- electing him mayor five times during the 1980s and twice more since he was convicted. But Hialeah's political boy wonder has fallen a long way since those heady days in 1982 when he referred to himself as the "great Cuban hope."

Following the 1990 indictment, Gov. Bob Martinez suspended the mayor from office -- along with any hopes he then had of running for Congress.

With the 1991 conviction and his decision to appeal, Martinez suddenly went from lobbying Tallahassee legislators for Hialeah funding to asking friends and family to help pay his legal bills.

Throughout his legal battles, Martinez's family has had to wonder whether he would remain the city's most prominent elected official or be labeled a felon and political pariah.

Martinez is not the city's first mayor to be convicted of a crime in office.

Henry Milander, Hialeah's wildly popular mayor for nearly three decades, was found guilty of grand larceny in 1970 for using city funds in a land deal that would have netted a $15,000 profit for a longtime friend. Like Martinez, Milander was re- elected, and eventually died in office. Milander was allowed to stay in office because the judge withheld adjudication.

If Martinez is convicted and sentenced to prison, he will be removed as mayor and banned from holding public office. He also will be banned from working with developers who obtain county, state or federal funds.

If acquitted, the mayor will finish out his term. Martinez is hesitant to plan his political or private life beyond that, he said.

"The only thing I really want to do is serve the people of Hialeah. I have a debt for life for what they've done for me since 1990," Martinez said. "But first I've got to get past March 4."

Martinez plans to stay in office through the trial, working early in the morning, late at night and on weekends if needed to fulfill his responsibilities as mayor of Dade's second largest city.

Hialeah City Councilman Alex Morales, a loyal Martinez ally, said most department heads have been with the city for years, and City Hall should run smoothly in the mayor's absence.

But Morales expects the mayor to return full time within a few weeks.

"Prosecutors have spent millions of dollars, and they have a weak case," Morales said. "As a taxpayer, I'm outraged. As a councilman, I'm annoyed they're meddling in the city's affairs."

Whatever the ruling, Councilman Guy Sanchez said he looks forward to the case being resolved.

"Some say he's guilty, some say he's not. I want an answer myself as to what really happened," said Sanchez, who historically has sided against Martinez on controversial issues. "It's up to the jurors to lift this cloud once and for all over this city."