EMERGENCY!

Here is the situation: You are an attorney and have a client ordered released on house arrest  a few days before Christmas.  It is now Christmas Eve and your client is not out. Corrections has made some sort of mistake (as shocking as that may seem. By the way, Dade Corrections confirms the bond for Al Capone is almost processed and he should be released shortly.)  What do you do? What CAN you do?


You can call the on duty emergency Judge for help. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit web site maintains a list of the emergency on duty judges for the criminal and civil and family divisions (although for the life of us we cannot imagine what emergency a civil lawyer could have- "Judge, the bank has short changed us $1.67 on the interest on the judgment and we need that fixed before Monday." ? Whatever.)


One such lawyer had such a problem this past christmas eve. He did not get satisfaction from the on duty judge for criminal court. Indeed, he did not get a call back although he left several messages.  Perplexed that the on duty criminal judge would not return his call, the attorney -thinking that the duty judge's phone must not be working- called the on duty civil judge. Enter Judge Gil Freeman who saved the day for the attorney and his client. She was by all accounts understanding, courteous, professional, and helpful to an attorney almost out of options.


Here is the letter which obviously lists the criminal court judge in question. But before you read it, try and guess who was less than helpful in this situation (including the allegation that he hung up on the attorney when he finally picked up the phone once he was explained what the emergency was.)


(Hat tip to South Florida Lawyers for 
the letter. )


Hint: 


“This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit, 
Which gives men stomach to digest his words 
With better appetite.” 

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. 

Hirsch, M.complaint.adm.Judge

STATE OF THE UNION

STATE OF THE UNION:


We'll live blog for a bit during the state of the union address. So feel free to post your comments which will go up just about instantaneously. 




STATE OF THE STATE:
We think we have to side with the critics of the Captain's last post. From what we know, Mr. Labora is Hispanic and his decision to announce to run as Alex Jimenez Labora is no real problem for us. People are entitled to run for office in a manner in which their ethnicity is reflected in their name. The problem arises with individuals who co-opt the names of their spouse or long removed family members in order to capitalize on perceived ethnic advantages that they're  not otherwise entitled to take advantage of. 


The fact of the matter is that an individual's ethnicity means nothing regarding their intellectual ability to perform an elected office. However, to the extent that the experience of being a member of a minority may help that individual in understanding the minorities that they may be required to judge or otherwise render a decision about, a person's cultural experience is just something that cannot be separated from the person. 


This is a slippery slope. In the end we would prefer a society where a person is judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. MLK knew a thing or two. 




Go ahead and live blog- the comment moderation is off for a bit. 

ELECTION CENTRAL: SANTOVENIA V. LABORA

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Election Central .....

Circuit Court Group 47. Maria de Jesus Santovenia now has an opponent.

An Attorney using the name ALEX JIMENEZ LABORA has filed to run against Ms. Santovenia for the open Circuit Court seat.

BUT, HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM .........

There is no Alex Jimenez Labora that is licensed by The Florida Bar to practice law in the State of Florida.***

The Florida Bar does list an Alexander J. Labora as an attorney who has been practicing law in Florida for 18 years. (He also happens to be married to one Judge Deborah White Labora).

Now, suffice it to say that both Horace and I have always been big supporters of Judge Deborah White Labora and the Drug Court Program on this BLOG. But, fair is fair. And in the past, when someone has filed to run for Judge using a name different than the one they are licensed under, and when that different name just happens to be an Hispanic name, we must call Mr. Labora out on this.

***We checked at SunBiz.org for the name Alex Jimenez Labora and we were only able to find an Alexander J. Labora listed as an RA and/or an Officer in three different corporations. We also checked Fictitious Names, Limited Liability and General Partnerships. We did find one listing for an Alexander Jimenez PA that was formed in 2008 but the addresses do not appear to match up to Mr. Labora. Mr. Labora does state on The Florida Bar web site that his firm name is Alex Jimenez Labora, but there are no corporations or fictitious names found searching "Alex Jimenez Labora".

Mr. Labora specializes in foreclosure defense, bankruptcy, commercial transactions, personal injury and probate. He went to school in Mexico at Universidad IberoAmericana graduating with a chemical engineering degree in 1979. He furthered his education with an MBA obtained in 1983 at the Wharton's School of Business at the Univ. of Penn. He then went to law school at the "U" and got his JD in 1992. He has been a Hearing Officer in the 11th Judicial Circuit since 2010.

For the record, there are now four contested Circuit Court races. Also, there are currently four contested County Court races. The only non-incumbent who has yet to draw a challenger is County Court candidate Tanya Brinkley in Group 28.


JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS UPDATE:

We are waiting to hear from Governor Scott on the replacment for Judge Scola.

The JNC sent six names up on December 16, 2011 and the Governor has 60 days. Those names are:

Miguel de la O
Richard Hersch
Alan Sackrin
Rodney Smith
Deborah White-Labora
Bonnie Riley

The JNC is accepting applications for the following open seats:

County Court - the seat of Norma Lindsey (she was elevated to Circuit); application deadline is January 30, 2012

Circuit Court - the seat of Julio Jimenez (he passed away last week); application deadline is February 16, 2012.

Captain Out .....

THE EYES OF THE NATION

The traveling circus called the Republican Primary (Motto: "Did you realize Obama is black??") has moved to sunny Florida. The eyes of the nation are upon us. What to do? What to do? 


We Miamians know what to do when the eyes of the nation are upon us. 


Lets start with a good old fashioned MIAMI RIOT!! 


We did it for the 1989 super bowl and for that last international conference of some sort. Lets have a riot!


What else? Well remember, this is the state that had a former  supreme court justice indicted for  drug trafficking.  And then he jumped bond!


That's right, all you wet behind the ears young ASAs from Backwater, PA and you idealistic PDs from Hicktown, Indiana, we had a supreme court justice who trafficked in Marijuana for a little income supplement. (FYI: the name of the justice and the case won't come up in a Google search. But it's a great trivia question: who was it?) 


What else? Well perhaps one of our senators can reveal he's a transvestite on the weekend.  Nah- this is Florida, we need something really kooky. 


Well, we'll all just have to wait and see. But be assured of this: our State's proud history of doing something absolutely, stunningly, embarrassing and stupid ensures that we will not drop the ball when the nation is watching. 


See You In Court. Watching and waiting. This ought to be good. 

THE BEST

UPDATE: Saturday night at 6pm, our prediction for the South Carolina Primary: Newt Gingrich 40%; Mitt Romney: 29%,  Ron Paul: 15%; Rick Santorum: 14%.
You read it here first.
FYI: For you Paul supporters here in Florida, you will be disappointed as your candidate will not be on the air here at all, and will spend very little time in the state. Florida is a winner-takes-all primary for its 50 delegates, and the enrollment procedure which doesn't allow independents to register vote in the Republican primary at the last moment make the contest a non-starter for congressman Paul. 




It's mid-January and a young Floridian's thoughts turn to......

PIZZA! 

Why not? We've done posts on the best bar-be-que,  so why not a conversation on the best pizza in Miami? 

The conversation starts with two: Anthony's Coal Fired, which has several outlets in Dade and Broward (and serving a pie to those lunkheads north go the border is a definite no-no in our eyes) and Steve's Pizza at 12101 Biscayne Boulevard- in  North Miami on US 1 next to the Home Depot. 

Anthony's Coal Fired has that coal fired oven smoky taste. The sauce and crust meld nicely and there are several great toppers that make the pizza sing. Our favorite it to have them put the Eggplant Marino on top of the pizza. Anthony's also has great chicken wings and a winning salad.  You can catch us at the one just south of Dadeland on US1. 

Traveling north on US1 takes you to Steve's Pizza, who has been around since it was battling "My Pi" in South Miami for the title of the best pizza in South Florida. At Steve's it's all about the sauce and their secret ingredient,  which we strongly suspect is a large dose of sugar. The sauce makes the pizza and we've never had a bad slice. Steve's is a small pizza joint, serving slices and pies for the Jockey Club crowd nearby. There's not much ambiance, but then you don't need much when all you want are a few good slices. 

Honourable mention: Hanging out on Coral Way just off of Brickell avenue, and close enough to the REGJB to dash over for lunch,  is Tutu Pizza, the pizza place cousin of Tutu Pasta which is right down the block.  Tutu pizza is all about being thin. There is  a coal fired oven that dominates the interior of the restaurant. The pizza is thin and crispy with a nice dose of cheese melting around a sauce that is much lighter than that from Steve's or Anthony's, giving the slice a nice warm orange glow. The crust is nicely blackened with the coal fired smoky finish. Every pie comes with a small pile of fresh basil to sprinkle on your slice. You could do a lot worse for lunch after a long morning in court. 

MOVING ON

Life is for the living.  No matter how hard it is sometimes to move forward after a terrible loss, we have no choice. We have to breathe in and out and put one foot forward of the other and move and live our life.


We joined the great Wiki web black out. Take a look in the upper left hand corner of the blog.


DOM represented himself on a traffic ticket at the REGJB the other day. 
Welcome him home when he gets out tomorrow. 


A SECOND CHANCE


The supreme court gave an inmate on Alabama's death row a second chance to appeal the denial of his motion for post conviction relief. You will recall that the inmate was represented by lawyers from Sullivan and Cromwell who left the firm without telling their client. When the clerk of the court mailed the decision denying the motion the notice was returned to the clerk's office unopened and the time to appeal subsequently expired. 


By a vote of 7-2 Justice Ginsberg wrote that “In these circumstances, no just system would lay the default at Maples’s death-cell door.” 
The error was so compelling that even Judge Alito concurred in the result. Of course Judges Thomas and Scalia (despite his unearned reputation as a friend of defendants) dissented in the decision. 
The NY TImes article is here.  The decision in Maples v. Thomas is here. 




See You In Court. 

JUDGE JULIO JIMENEZ

Update: Sorry we did not get this up sooner. There will be a memorial service for Judge Jimenez on Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 12:30 PM at Church of the Little Flower,  2711 Indian Mound Trail, Coral Gables, Fl. Mass will be celebrated. 




He was Sy Gaer's law partner, which means he had a connection to the roots of the REGJB. He was a defense attorney, a trial lawyer, a judge, and an all around good guy, and we are sad to report that Julio Jimenez passed away on Sunday. Many of you know he was sick, battling liver cancer. However, Julio Jimenez lived long enough to swear his son in as a member of the Florida Bar this past Friday. There's not much we can add to something as poignant as that. 


He will be missed. 


Here's a fun post we did on a Judge Jimenez battle with the SAO over PTI. 


UPDATE:
Judge Julio Jimenez's Memorial Service will be on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, from 5 pm to 10 pm at Maspons funeral home at 3500 SW 8 Street.


Here is the Herald's obit. 

HUNGER

Against our better judgment, after the two month fiasco of the Game Of Thrones series, we started Hunger Games.  And we have to admit it's pretty darn good. 


Anybody know why the JAA Broward blog has not been posting? When something like that happens in Broward, we suspect nefarious means afoot.


What makes DOM go "yikes!" ?. When a member of the US Attorney in Miami's staff is indicted for trafficking in oxycodone.  His blog has all the yikey details.


Coach Jeff Fisher shined the Fins for St. Louis of all places.


DRUG COURT:
Several months ago we published the announcement that Judge White-Labora would be leaving drug court in the new year. What we neglected to publish was the change in that decision. We are happy to let everyone know that the powers that be changed their minds and Judge White-Labora will be in drug court through the end of 2012. And if someone could explain the reason why she has not yet been elevated to circuit court, we'd like to know. Governor Scott has actually done a pretty good job with his appointments, but the failure to elevate Judge White-Labora is one mistake he needs to fix.


Monday is a holiday.
See you Tuesday.