BIDEN CHOOSES LIFE

 Fresh on the heels of two Miami Dade juries choosing life for two men previously convicted of two senseless homicides last Friday, President Biden commuted the death sentences of every defendant on federal death row save three: 

From the NY Times Article 

The three men who can still face federal execution are Robert D. Bowers, 52, who in 2018 gunned down 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh; Dylann Roof, 30, the white supremacist who in 2015 opened fire on Black parishioners at a church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine people; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 31, one of the two brothers who carried out the bombing of the Boston Marathon in 2013 that killed three and maimed more than a dozen others.

Rumpole muses- these are difficult issues.  Those who have experienced loss in their lives are often left to wonder why the person who caused the loss is allowed to live while their loved one is gone. This is the reason we should not turn questions of punishment over to victims and survivors. A justice system predicated on emotional vengeance is neither a justice system or justice. It is mob rule. A century ago and more, Mobs dragged innocent African American men out of southern jail cells and hung them in emotional reaction to the crimes they were accused of (usually involving accusations of crimes against white women)- we do not want to return to those times. 

In more recent times the vernacular has changed as those in power call the accused and convicted (not to mention immigrants) "Animals".  When you dehumanize people you get dehumanizing results inconsistent with a society founded on the principle that all people are created equal, not to mention the Judeo-Christain ethics that current politicians wrap themselves in, which includes the reflection that all people were created in the image of The Creator. 

The ideals of our justice system is to rise up above the emotional need for vengeance. 

Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love...  

Dr. Martin Luther King. 

Our own (considerable) experience with the justice system is that we have met very few people whose violent acts cannot be explained and understood as a combination of tragedy, abuse, and illness. We have yet to meet a child who on their own is destined for violence. But we have met many adults who treat children in a manner that puts them on a path for tragedy. 

By commuting the death sentences President Biden rises up above the mob's cry for vengeance. A devout Catholic, it is no surprise that these commutations come after his meeting with the Pope last week. 

There is more to do. There are more people languishing in federal prison who are more deserving of a second chance for life than those who were on death row. If we were President we would want our staff to find every woman used as a mule for a drug organization who is serving a minimum mandatory sentence- and start with commuting their sentences and pardoning those who merit it. 

But this is a good continuation of his current polices of commuting sentences. There is more time and more work to do. 

FYI if you followed our football picks ye$terday, you can shoot us a thank$ in the comments. 

NFL WEEK 16 2024

 If you're looking for one thing today or this week that will make you smile, watch this - it starts slow but ends with such emotion you will be smiling all day.  We love a good flash mob. 

 

Still time for that extra Xmas cash. The bets you make today can be cash tomorrow. 

We will take the Commanders at home +4 over Eagles and for that matter the money line of +165 for DC to win outright. 

Our Fins getting +1.5 at home sounds nice as well as over 44.5. 

Rams at J...E....T.....S under 46.5  

PAIN AND GAIN

Very quietly several lawyers laboured in the big courtroom on 4 (4-1) from late October through Friday December 20, 2024 picking two juries for the retrial of the penalty phase for the two defendants in the notorious double homicide in the mid 1990s. The facts were bizarre to say the least.

A guy named Schiller was kidnapped by lead defendants Noel Doorbal and Danny Lugo. He was kept in a warehouse blindfolded and was a victim of extortion, signing over bank accounts, his house, and finally changing the beneficiaries to his million-dollar life insurance policy. Then he was "released" in a harebrained scheme that involved getting him drunk, putting him in a truck with propane tanks, and staging an accident. The truck caught  fire but the victim stagged out only to be hit by a passing car. He was taken to JMH and when he awoke from a coma, he told the nurses he had been kidnapped. "No" they replied, "you were injured driving drunk".  It took a while, but Schiller finally got law enforcement to believe his story and get involved. 

As MDPD was putting together the facts of the outlandish kidnapping story, a wealthy couple from Golden Beach who had made millions in the 1-900 business that was thriving in the days before the internet went missing. 

Their Lamborghini was found, and eventually people came forward with another bizarre kidnapping tale that ended in tragedy. Both were killed using an obscure horse tranquilizer, and once dead their bodies were dismembered and placed in various barrels and receptacles and dumped in the Everglades. The movie details the killers buying and returning chainsaws to Home Depot because they could not get them to work in chopping up the bodies.    

At some point MDPD connected the perpetrators of the first kidnapping to the second kidnapping and double homicide and Lugo and Doorbal were both convicted and sentenced to death. The details of the crimes emerged in a series of New Times Articles and Hollywood made a movie called Pain And Gain with Mark Wahlberg and the Rock. We haven't watched it. We hear it is so-so. 

30 years later with the US Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court playing chess with the death penalty, the two defendants were returned to Miami for a resentencing. 

ASAs Scott Warfman and Kioceaia Stenson for the State. 

Regional Counsel led by Silvia Gonzalez along with Alex Sola and Phil Reizenstein for defendant Lugo, and Bruce Fleisher and Francisco Marty for defendant Doorbal handed the defense. 

Judge Tinkler Mendez elected to try the cases simultaneously with two separate juries. The combined juries heard the prosecution's questions and then one jury at a time heard the cross. 

Earlier this past week both juries went out to deliberate. At one point one jury reached a verdict, but the Judge sealed it without revealing it while the other jury took another day to deliberate. Both verdicts were read on Friday afternoon and both juries voted for life in prison on both murder counts for both defendants. We hear- but are not sure- that both juries after finding some aggravators still each voted   12-0 for life. 

This was a stunning reversal of death sentences in a case that was notorious for its wanton senseless murders that shocked a community that is not easily shocked by violence and murder. 

We are no fans of the death penalty- but that does not mean we overlook the tragic murders of two innocent people who has their whole lives ahead of them. 

There are no winners here. Just tragedy, sadness, death and pain.  

Life in the REGJB marches on. 

  

FIRST CHRISTMAS POST 2024

 As we head into the Christmas/ Hannukah/ Kwanza slowdown, not to be confused with the MLK weekend slow down (Jan), Presidents Day weekend slowdown (February),                St. Patrick's day slowdown (March), Cino De May day slowdown (May) Memorial Day slowdown (June)...you get the idea... we have a few important questions for you. 

First, and this requires serious discussion....is Die Hard a Christmas movie? This is a serious issue endlessly debated, which has never stopped the Blog from wading into waters where others fear to swim. 

And whether or not DH is a Christmas movie, what are the best Christmas movies of all time. And we will remove It's a Wonderful Life from the discussion because there can be no debate it is the best Christmas movie of all time and the contest is for second place and below. 

Second- we have a long-time reader who has written a novel. They are seeking feedback and want us to post some chapters on the blog for honest feedback including readers spotting any typos or plot inconsistencies. 

Thoughts about this? It will relieve us from posting for the last two weeks of the year. We have read a few chapters and it is blog worthy. So yes or no? It's a non-legal thriller FYI.  We will post the chapters as PDFs but may be able to email them to readers who ask nicely. At the moment the author has requested anonymity, although we are encouraging him/her to take credit for the writing.  

Thursday Night Football. 

The Surprising Broncos play the Los Angeles Chargers. The Broncos are getting 2.5 on the road and the O/U is 41.5. We like the over a little, as both teams have decent defenses and the Chargers like to run the ball but the game could easily turn into a shootout. We will post our pick this afternoon pending resolution of a pesky federal motion. 

Yipee Kayee ....

LAST GOOD TRIAL WEEK OF THE YEAR

 "You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood up for something." 

Winston Spencer Churchill. 

If you have listened to Rumpole over the years and planned this out, you have a difficult trial set for this week. Once you get past the jurors who don't want to work as the holidays approach, you get people who are in a forgiving spirit. Based on decades of real data, this is the best week of the year to try a case. 

Honorable mention- if you had scheduled a sentencing over the next two weeks you are also a long time and careful reader of Rumpole's blog. Well done. 

This is a good NY Times op ed  on what Biden should be focusing on for the last month of his presidency. Certainly more pardons and commutations and perhaps a commutation of people on federal death row. Interesting and surprising is the advice to enshrine the Equal Rights Amendment in the Constitution via executive order. Apparently the amendment has been ratified. What do you think about that, as well as preemptive pardons for people like Lynn Cheney and members of his administration like the AG and prosecutors who prosecuted that well known felon. 

NFL WEEK 15 202

 This has been a great NFL season. We have thoroughly enjoyed the games - and despite the Dolphins disappointing season, there is a lot to be excited for. 

There are two potential super bowl matchups today. Both are 4pm games and we will be switching back and forth between Bills- Lions and Steelers-Eagles. 

But before we get to those two games, here's some way to make a little extra Xmas money and pay for that Kobe beef steak at Prime 112. 

We were at the Fins overtime win against the Jets last week sitting in a box next to the owners box- great seats but some weird people - which we will not comment on further. The Fins came out strong and then had an inexplicable let down in quarters 2 and 3 before getting back on track in Q4 and then OT when coach McDaniels went for the win.  Your Miami Dolphins are getting 2.5 in Houston. Tua is outplaying CJ Stroud and we narrowly missed our Archane rushing bet last week.  But not deterred, we are going back to the well- Archane over 46.5 yards rushing and over 46 for the score between the two teams. We worry that 2.5 is a bit light. The Fins on the road should be getting 4.  Tua is over 267.5 yards. Last week he needed OT to break his total of 270, so stay away from that, or consider the under. 

J..E...T....S at Jax. We like the over 41. 

Ok here are the two big games. 

Steelers at Philly. Take the over 43. Steelers will have to shut down Philly RB (and in our opinion league MVP) Barkley and they can only do that by bringing up safeties to stop the run, which opens up the passing game. If you can get a play on Steeler TE Washington getting over 1.5 receptions and 10 yards grab it. Ever since Russell Wilson became the starter, he has consistently targeted Washington 3-5 times a game and we have made a tidy sum on those bets. Hard to pick the Steelers to win with their WR George Pickens out, but +5;5 for Russell Wilson to keep it close and maybe a backdoor cover or win in the 4Th quarter with a late TD sounds nice.  One thing for sure is that we sure would really enjoy a Pats Cheesesteak while sipping an Iron City Beer while watching the game. Fun fact: Last time the Steelers won in Philly was 1965 at Franklin Field. Maybe they are due.  

The Bills are looking shaky. The Lions are looking like a SB team. What we like a lot is under 54.5. Look for both teams to try and slow the game down and establish the run. Since the Lions have two quality RBs, we like them to win and will lay the -2.5 over a Bills team that suddenly looks like the 3rd o4 4th best team in the AFC instead of the first or second. We just got a whole Melinda's Hot sauce sampler courtesy of a satisfied client. Some Buffalo wings while trying out the various sauces sounds like a great way to enjoy the game. 

Two Monday night games are set- which is perfect for Pizza-Meatless- Monday. We will make those picks tomorrow. 

FRANK LUCIANNA'S LAST TRIAL

 Every trial lawyer  has a first trial and a last trial. 

Few get a documentary about their last trial. 

 

"The war outside still rages but you say it ain't ours anymore to win."

No Retreat No Surrender, Bruce Springsteen

Speaking of which, Judge Tess  Pooler is presiding over her last trial before retirement. Stop by and wish her well in her courtroom which is Two- something.