WISHY WASHY/ SLOM & LEIFMAN ON THE PHONE

Anonymous lashes out:


Rump how exactly could a pd screw something up that would hurt in the election. You are showing yourself to be a former state attorney here. In the SAO, an ASA could do something on a case which would reflect poorly on the office and the elected official. But what act could an assistant pd take which would make the public mad at bhb? I am being serious here Phil/Rumpole, stop thinking like the ex asa that you are and answer this one.Rump you are being a little too wishy washy on this whole issue. You correctly criticize BHB's reign on terror but then kind of like a defense in a rape case saying that Lonnie deserved what he got or a worse fate such as feeding Judge Postman breakfast for eternity. Come on Rumps, this is not the issue to equivocate on.Besides coming out 100 percent against the BHB regime on this one gives you more opportunities to write about the am dining habits and non- appearance in court of everyone’s favorite 100k per year government lawyer Rory Stein.

Rumpole replies:

On the issue of our identity, leave it alone already. How embarrassed will you be if you are wrong? You label us as Phil Reizenstein, but you do not sign your name.
Is it fair to anyone to be tagged with our opinions without proof of identity beyond a reasonable doubt?

It brings to mind this quote:

“A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. “
Winston Churchill- a favorite of ours, and probably Mr. Reizenstein as well.

As to Mr. Brummer, call us wishy washy if you must. However, we believe we are being fair. Mr. Brummer was wrong. However, one wrong does not a career make. We see excellent representation by assistant public defenders in court every single day. And we have seen it for years. Mr. Brummer and his staff must be doing something right. We think the assistant public defenders are better trained, more able to think on their feet, and overall- better trial lawyers at an earlier stage than assistant state attorneys. In many respects, that’s because the ASA’s are hamstrung with having to ask permission to use the bathroom, much less evaluate a file and make a proper plea offer. (This ought to get the prosecutors off their duffs and behind their keyboards)

Again, despite our ire at Mr. Stein for making baseless accusations against us, he and Mr. Brummer and their staff must be doing something right.
To conclude the matter, if Mr. Brummer had someone as inventive and creative as we are on his staff, then as you have said, there are much worse fates than being fired. The Judge in question was QUITE FOND of dining at Mortons, Capital Grill, Joes, etc.


Anonymous quips:

Do misd. trials even count? C'mon!

Rumpole replies: They do when we lose a first DUI and the client gets 60 days DCJ. (Thank goodness that hasn’t happened, but it can and has to other unfortunate individuals).

“Gayle” writes to tell us

Hey Rumpole-did you hear that the county is installing new equipment incounty court to promote case dispositions-they are installing telephoneson every judges bench so they don’t have to take a recess and go to theirchambers to call Judge Slom or Judge Leifman to see how they shouldrule -they can just call directly from court and not waste everyone’s time

Rumpole replies:

Everyone knows Judges Slom and Leifman “give good phone”. Actually, most judges use the phone to call 1-800-horoscope or to confirm lunch.
And this thought just occurred to us: who do those Judges call when they have a question?

We do not necessarily disapprove of a Judge who has the humility to say “I don’t know” and then gets another opinion. We have had several trials with judges in circuit court who have openly told both parties that they were going to consult another judge on an unusual issue that arose during the case.

“Sometimes wrong..never in doubt” is not the best motto for a judge. We hope the Judge on the phone is fair enough to give the calling judge the overview of the law, versus telling them “ oh.. just deny that motion and see if they appeal you.”

Thanks for the tidbit.

See You In Court