JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

SHHS ITS A SECRET PART II

Before we get to the fun stuff, a reader gives a trial update for Tuesday April 18, 2006:

Today's results in the REGJB:
Two PD Nolle Prosse's during trial.
A PD not guilty in Shuminer.
A PD not guilty in Jimenez ROC court.
A private guilty to misdemeanor lessers in a career criminal case.
Bad day for KFR, Huh?

Rumpole says: A bad day, or a regular day at the office?

CASABLANCA--FORT LAUDERDALE, 2006. "You must remember this....a case is just a case...unless it's North Of The Border."

Today the Miami Herald reported that North of the Border Judge Carney admitted that there were secret cases in Broward and unsealed a civil case involving Dade ASA Michael Gilfarb's wife.


Long time readers of the blog know that in our wild early days, when we had no readers, we lambasted the Federal College of Cardinals for holding secret calendars even after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals told them not to.

The District Judges Of The Southern District of Florida: Our Motto: “We do what we want, when we want….so long as the government is OK with it.”

Now, in an effort to follow their more prestigious counterparts, the Judges North Of The Border have also been outted holding secret calendars and cases. However, unlike the Federal College Of Cardinals, who when confronted by the secret court cases after the court of appeals told them to stop, said “so what?” the Judges North of the Border are taking a more comical approach which is well recognized by any defense attorney who has interviewed a client that does not want to tell the truth.

Lets us borrow from our favorite movie: Casablanca:

The Scene: “Dale’s Courthouse (similar to Rick’s CafĂ©, just a little smokier.)

Dale- the chief Judge and proprietor of Dale’s courthouse is bemoaning the fact that the Herald is writing stories on his secret cases:

Dale (sitting in an empty courtroom, the lights are dim, a cigarette sits in an ashtray curling smoke, and Dale is holding a drink. His eyes are bleary): “Of All the Courthouses, in all the world, those reporters from the Herald walk into mine."


(Dale's head slumps down and his fists pound the bench.)

[In the background a piano player quietly plays “as time goes by.”]


Dale (reminiscing to himself) “I remember when the Herald tore down those scum in Miami with their little scandal. I remember every detail. I wore Black Robes, the Reporters wore blue jeans. It was like when the Germans marched in to Paris. What a Day!

[In walks Carney, an employee of Dale’s, plus two Miami Herald reporters.]

Carney to Dale: “Boss, these guys think we have secret calendars and cases like the Feds have.”

Dale (loudly) “I am shocked, shocked to find out that there are secret calendars and cases in Dale’s Courthouse. And you can quote me on that. Its D..A..L..E.. R…O…S…S..”

(The two Herald Reporters scribble down the quote.

In walks a clerk and hands some papers to Dale and Carney.)

Clerk: "Here are the orders sealing those new cases you gentlemen wanted. Just sign above the line and put an X through the sunshine law.”

(The Clerk walks away and the two Herald reporters run after him).

Dale turns to Carney: “We can fix this. Blame in on someone else.

Quick. Round up the usual suspects!”


(A few hours later at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. It is dark and a fog has rolled in. A light rain falls. Dale (dressed in a raincoat with the collar turned up) and Carney stand on a tarp by a small propeller airplane. A copy of the Florida Constitution lays ripped up at their feet. Dale takes Carney by the arm and they walk towards the plane.)

Dale: “You know Tom, this could be the start of a long friendship.”

Fade out. Credits roll.

See You In Court. Just not North of The Border, where making fun of you know who gets you a 40 year Min Man.




68 comments:

Anonymous said...

Start of a "BEAUTIFUL" friendship Rumpole! You almost had it perfect!

My understanding is that the list of secret cases is under the top of Sam's Piano.

One of the cases belongs to Victor Lazlo

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, you are the master of all blog artists. Indeed, your blog dominates your favorite federal bloggers'.

Anonymous said...

You must come forth.

Anonymous said...

it is your destiny rumpole.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

Dear Bloggers,

I need your help. My husband Phil R has developed a sick sense of identity. He has so many identities as a result of this site, that I am scarred to have sex with him. Before this site existed I used to lovingly call my husband Rump, at his direction of course, then I would call him Poker hands, again at his direction, now he wants me to call him Phil R and never again to mention Rump around him or anyone else. But this has really affected our sex life. In fact, he seems to be generally angrier lately. He doesn't even say "Hello" do me anymore when we pass each other in our house. I simply do not know what to do anymore. Please help me, I want my old Rump back. I want him outted and I want us to move on with our lives. I didn't
marry the man I am living with. Please help.

Sincerely,

Ms. R

Anonymous said...

Ross: I came to Ft Lauderdale for the skiing.
Carney: Skiing? FT lauderdale is in the tropics!
Ross : I was misinformed

Anonymous said...

rump, genius or crack head? (gimme a nickel)

tres bien'

Anonymous said...

Rump:

Now that's journalism at its best! Let's keep the blog focused on the real and surreal!

Play It Again Sam, I Am

Anonymous said...

As one who used to work north of the border but came to her senses, let me add a little more to this Casablanca Dale Ross story. First, in order to fully appreciate the scene and the sound we would need someone to speak like they had a mouth full of potato's to really be realistic to be Judge Ross. Then there were the days where Judge Ross would pull cases and decide he was going to sit on the bench. Not to dole out justice, but to humiliate defendants.

Next on the scene we of course would need his daughter who of course as soon as she finished law school just happened to be hired by the squirmy Michael Satz, then to only marry an actually honest and hard working ASA, Al Ribas.

I just wish Carney hadn't been on scene because truth be told, personally I always thought he was a decent and fair judge. But the sentiment north of the border does not reflect that about him

Anonymous said...

Dale is up this year. Any takers?
Come on, show some real cajones, not just anonymous ones on this blog.

Anonymous said...

what are secret calendars? what happens during them?

Anonymous said...

I would show you what goes on during these secret calendars, but I would need charts, a graph and an easel.

Anonymous said...

What is most amusing is one of your own stellar Dade practitioners was the one who cried like a little ASA bitch to the judge to have his file secreted. Funny to see no commentary against Gilfarb wanting to have the filed sealed. More amusing is the fact that Gilfarb attempted to run for Judge up here a couple of years ago, so I would imagine the Supervisor of Elections office would have his sensitive personal information. Then again Gilfarb's attempt to run for Judge was so pathetic that he could not even beat the infamous Joyce Julian in a runoff. As our superior electorate has shown we have no use for Dade practitioners/pretenders who don’t have the balls to practice up here trying to move into our county and run for judge.
It is obvious or fine Judges up here saw merit in protecting the privacy of certain individuals in civil matters which at this point no reporter or otherwise has called illegal.

P.S. I love the rumors that Steve Talpins is checking to see if he has the balls to run against Judge Feiner.

Anonymous said...

pretenders in dade? not really. i just dont want to practice in a shit hole county. the 305 rules, ft ladi dodi blows.

i also want to0 know what happens in the secret calendars. i'll chip in a buck for the easel.

Anonymous said...

Dade is the greatest, unless you rape a judge's daughter you can get PTI or probation with early termination.

Rumpole said...

That rape comment is a little harsh don't you think? As to Gilfarb, we read him being an innocent player in this matter. It is actually a felony to release the name of certain state employees, including prosecutors. And since civil cases have things like interrogatories and such, Gilfarb was correct to be concerned about not having his personal data in a public file. In this day and age of internet data access, it would not be hard to find that case. Gilfarb is not the issue. Its those Judges up North, who quite frankly, are much more entertaining than our fair robed readers of Dade County, who lately having just been putting their noses to the grindstone, working 10-2 and not doing anything news worthy.

Anonymous said...

There is no commentary against Gilfarb because he is one of the $&*(&*($ finest people and most solid prosecutors in this town.

I am anonymous so I don't get accused of kissing his ass.

- A defense attorney who is not a former ASA

Anonymous said...

Talpins for judge!!!!

Anonymous said...

Having handled many cases against him, I must agree; Michael Gilfarb is one of the real quality people in the Miami legal community.

BR

Anonymous said...

Gilfarb: Broward's loss; MD's gain.

PS---he lost because he and Gunsberger split the Jewish vote and essentially knocked each other out (actually, if you think about it, Gilfarb ran a great campaign.........Gunsberger is a big name in Broward and Gilfarb almost took him).

Anonymous said...

judge barzee is awful

Anonymous said...

Gilfarb is a good guy. I feel as if I can trust him.

I can not see how he did anything wrong.

Defense atty

Anonymous said...

Rump, any thought on the non-sequitors in this blog? It seems that quite frequently, one poster will say something like "What about those terrible facts in the big murder case?" and then the next guy will come along and say "Wow, that Barzee, she's hot." and then the next guy, out of nowhere, will say "So and so likes to play with gerbils and goats." I don't get it. Keep the train of thought going people.

Anonymous said...

Does anybody know if (former APD and ASA)Julien Mack is representing one of the Duke lacrosse players/accused rapists? An article in the New York Times mentioned his name & I know that he told me that he was leaving Miami to live in NC.

Anonymous said...

Steve Talpins has a Florida Bar address out of Florida.

This is his official address according to The Florida Bar:
National Traffic Law Center
99 Canal Center Plz Ste 510
Alexandria Virginia 22314-1588.

The Florida Bar requires lawyers to have their correct address listed with them.

So it appears that Mr. Talpins is not a resident of the State of Florida.

Anonymous said...

Rump, I'm disappointed in you, especially since I respect you. This 'who is nice and not nice list' is garbage, especially for the judges. Why didn't you say so? You want judges that just roll over? Under 'not nice' I completely agree with the writer who said J. Emas is a gentelmen and incredibly smart. He demands a lot...since when does that make someone 'not nice'? It's a virtual joke.... J. Tunis is a pleasure. She smiles (very nicely-by-the-way), is respectful and polite to everyone and is pleasant to attorneys. She's now stuck in the Gulag of juvy and acts like she loves seeing familiar REG faces. I was in her court within the past three weeks...found out from the PDs that she did research from the bench finding a case that the state had given her had been overturned on appeal; took a break, printed out the new case and gave it to both sides and then granted the 2nd JOA...is that 'not nice' or just professional and hardworking? Does the person who even wrote anonymously even know her? She's friendly, pleasant and professional...not to mention Mary Barzee-type hot with darker hair! J. Bagley...are you serious?? Nominated to the Prez for a number of federal judgeships. Is the person who wrote the list someone who doesn't like the fact that Bagley used to have 8:00am motion calendars when he was @ REG? He's smart, hard-working, does research and follows the law. He calls it down the line and puts both sides' feet to the fire, like Emas and Tunis. Is the person that wrote the lists just threatened by these judges that are smart and good? J. Ward....enormous trial experience as a former PD and private defense atty. She gives a great trial. What does it mean that she's not nice? She says hello, rules on motions and you get a fair shake. It's almost as though the 'anonymous' writer doesn't really know these judges. I also agree with the comment about J. Lindsey...she's new...and may make mistakes as she's learning, but cut her slack, and she's very nice and pleasant. Come on Rump, this is ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

The above poster left off one thing, besides Judge Bagley starting at 8am (actually about 7:58), he was NEVER late, and could quietly go through 50 pages in 30 minutes. No yelling, no threats, no noise. Just a quiet ultra-professional courtroom.

Anonymous said...

unless of course he was in trial. then it was error city.

Anonymous said...

your opinion of judge ward being fair is just that, your opinion. some may beg to differ.

Anonymous said...

"So it appears that Mr. Talpins is not a resident of the State of Florida."

Good riddance!

Anonymous said...

Judge Ward is cruel and unusual.

Anonymous said...

ward is hard.

Anonymous said...

Former ASA here: I worked with Talpins and Gilfarb and now do criminal defense in the REG bldg. If you rag on those guys you probably represented some 22 time convicted felon charged with attmepted murder and you're pissed because they didnt offer him probation with ET. They are tough, aggressive prosecutors and are both straight up guys. If you've ever dealt with them for an extended period of time, you'd realize that. I'd rather deal with them than some power tripping, badge loving, egomaniac like DJ Greico. Greico would prosecute his mother if he thought it would get him into the Herald (hopefully with a color photo).

Anonymous said...

i thought talpins was county court DUI back in the day.

Anonymous said...

ps, never did get probation on any of my murders. why would an asa offer probation for murder? esp. w/ et?

Anonymous said...

re: one of the above posters: I've never had a case in front of Judge Ward; to be fair (which many of us are not)my knowledge is based on Au Bon Pan rumor. But, I agree about Judge Bagley starting early...he's VERY prompt and prepared. One of the above posters left out that Judge Tunis starts early too and my office got a "courtesy call" from her JA two days before trial as a friendly reminder that she starts trials at 8:30 at Juvenile for the convenience of private attorneys who have to be at REG by 9:00. (The clerks' office in Juvenile frequently screws up the notices to us (private or sapd). If we and our client show up, and the State isn't ready, she accepts no lame excuses, denies state continuances...which results in nolle prosses. I was at REG 15 minutes later for another hearing. Of course if your client is not there, you're stuck. Either way, she's still professional, polite and clearly a "nice" judge. She did the same thing when she was in County; played it down the line for both sides. This 'not nice' thing is totally bogus. By the way, Judge Emas is awesome, and incredibly knowlegable, as is Judge Bob Scola; the newer judges mentioned are also 'nice'.

Anonymous said...

i think the proabtion with e.t. on a murder case was a joke.

Anonymous said...

I hear Barzee and and Sigler are going over to civil. Barzee will do fine although I dont know if she has any civil experience. Sigler may be okay, but she needs to leave the condescending attitude over at the REG bldg. I practice civil and criminal and criminal lawyers are thicker skinned, have more of a sense of humor and learn to tolerate her crap since they know they have to come back in front of her again. Civil lawyers from large firms are less tolerant, more stuffy and not apt to write campaign checks if they feel they have been belittled or talked down to. Criminal lawyers dont carry the same weight since most are solos or work for small firms.

Anonymous said...

Sigler is smart and may not care about the 'campaign check' issue. She may just be going for fun and experience.

Anonymous said...

Talpins may be a clone of Napolean.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

YOU ASKED FOR MORE CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES....

..... AND THE CAPTAIN DELIVERS:

County Court Contested Elections:

Group 4:

Robin Faber – Not yet reported
Ivan Hernandez – Not yet reported

Group 9:

Victoria del Pino:

01/01 – 03/31 $27,829 raised from 169 contributors;
Making her total raised to $63,725 (which includes $20,000 of her own money)

Joel Jacobi – Not yet reported

Group 12:

Juan Gonzalez – Not yet reported

Steve Leifman:

01/01 – 03/31 $60,838 raised from 283 contributors;
Making his total raised to $108,263 (which includes $25,813 of his own money)

Group 14:

Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer – Not yet reported

Michael Samuels:

01/01 – 03/31 $124,310 raised from 116 contributors;
Making his total raised to $184,310 (which includes $160,000 of his own money);
He has spent $2,000 on Armando Gutierrez and $1,000 on Susan Fried

Group 27:

Migna Sanchez-Llorens:

01/01 – 03/31 $6,165 raised from 47 contributors;
Making her total raised to $47,000 (which includes $30,000 of her own money);
She has spent $25,000 on consulting services with Robert Pertierra

Sheldon Schwartz:

01/01 – 03/31 - Not yet reported;
His total raised is $29,200 (which includes $25,000 of his own money);
He has spent $2,000 on Armando Gutierrez and $2,000 on Susan Fried

Group 30:

Stephen Millan

01/01 – 03/31 - Not yet reported;
His total raised is $3,400 (which includes $1,700 of his own money)

Robert Twombly:

01/01 – 03/31 $19,898 raised from 35 contributors;
Making his total raised to $22,498 (which includes $11,681 of his own money);
He has spent $2,150 on consulting services with Ruby Feria

Group 39:

George Alvarez – Not yet reported

Bronwyn Miller:

01/01 – 03/31 - Not yet reported;
Her total raised is $43,353 (which includes $0.00 of her own money)

Group 40:

Don Cohn – Not yet reported

Bonnie Rippingille:

01/01 – 03/31 - Not yet reported
Her total raised is $195,425 (which includes $175,000 of her own money)

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

And more CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES ...

CIRCUIT COURT NON-CONTESTED ELECTIONS:

There are 22 seats up for election. Only two incumbents have challengers. There are 20 incumbents without any opposition, but that has not stopped many of them from raising lots of money to scare off any possible challengers.

The leaders include:

In money raised:

Judge Korvick - $119,379 (plus $2,000 of her own money)

Judge Gross - $117,192 (plus $500 of his own money)

Judge Young - $115,443 (plus $100 of his own money)

At the other end:

Judge Reyes - $600 (plus $10,000 of his own money)

And those that have put their own money where their mouth is:

Judge Langer - $57,821 (plus $225,000 of his own money)

Judge Lederman - $13,825 (plus $200,000 of her own money)

Judge Brown - $89,603 (plus $150,000 of his own money)

Anonymous said...

very slow blog days lately - we need some exciting stories and senstational judge stories! come on give us what we want.... the nielson ratings and sweeps weeks are coming up. keep up the interesting breaking news. ps: who is doing who over there???

Anonymous said...

re:

[I hear Barzee and and Sigler are going over to civil. Barzee will do fine although I dont know if she has any civil experience.]

Ironically, Barzee's lack of experience in state criminal matters didn't impede her ascension to circuit court. (Trust me on this, it was no joy to practice in front of her). So why should her lack of civil experience keep her off the civil bench? I mean come on...she looks fierce in a robe and red lipstick. (wretch) That's all we care about right?

Anonymous said...

Barzee is beautiful. I once committed a ... well, you know the rest.

Anonymous said...

Talpins would be a horrible judge -- as a prosecutor he would not ever concede the possibility that a person charged with a crime is falsely accused. Many prosecutors understand their role as minister of justice, but Talpins never got past being a cop-apologist, "If the police arrest, guilt is irrebutably presumed."

Anonymous said...

Worst Judge in recent history, Judge Hague. He is terrible, he doesn't deserve to be practicing law anywhere. He should not be in Hialeah, he should be "somewhere in Alaska!"

Anonymous said...

how and who switch judges around anyways? Is it Farinnnnnnnnnnnnnna (emphasis please.)

Anonymous said...

judge harvey shenberg has been in federal prison fo 11+ years. it is very sad. he was a good man who was always there for his friends. he also never spoke in an effort to try to obtain a shortened sentence. many judges owe him a great deal of gratitude for his sense of loyalty. how many of you, and you know who you are, have been there for him or his family over this 11 years?






=

Anonymous said...

To the Broward attorney hating on Gilfarb:

Ragging on Gilfarb for the secret file is laughable. Look at the defendants he's prosecuting. Gilfarb simply wanted to protect his family. You'd do the same, if you had half a brain.

You think he had no reason to worry? Don't be so naive.

*************

From NBC6.net, http://www.nbc6.net/news/5681501/detail.html

From MIAMI -- A serial rape suspect [Rapalo] who escaped from jail told another inmate he would kill a prosecutor in his case and leave for his native Honduras after his jailbreak, the State Attorney's office said Tuesday.....

On Friday the State Attorney's office obtained an emergency wiretap of the number, which was a cell phone. Rapalo had told at least one inmate that his plan after escaping was to return to his native Honduras, but to first kill the prosecutor on his case, according to the State Attorney's office.

*************

Gee, I wonder why Gilfarb wouldn't information about his wife's business and the family rabbi published.

Anonymous said...

cant argue with the above logic. i did a case with the guy last year and he was professional.

all the hyphentaed candidate names makes me laugh. i wish a candidate would put some credentials or experience after their name, instead of a transparent attempt to appeal to different ethnic groups. this type of reasoning will ensure our country stays staunchly divided along racial lines.

anonymoustein-anonymouserez-mcanonymous-anonymousarelli-l'anonymous

Anonymous said...

Say what you want about the hard core cops and prosecutors. We don't have to love them all as individuals (though it's nice when we can), but we do need them. They're what stands between our families and the folks who would do them harm.

You have to respect the career folks who can go out and get much higher paying jobs elsewhere but stay because they enjoy serving (the opposite goes for the lazy ones who waste taxpayer money).

Anonymous said...

which brings us to an idea for a new poll. who is the all time laziest government lawyer?

Anonymous said...

Alaska is a beautiful pristine place. We shouldn't ruin it by drilling for oil or by sending Judge Hague over there.
Does Hialeah mean purgatory in Spanish?

Anonymous said...

Dear 9:13 poster,
First place goes to Warren Schwartz.

Anonymous said...

To 6:31,
Re: the non-sequitors:
Everyone logs in at different times and comments on previous posts, not just the last post. What do you get with three attorneys in a room? Four opinions. Plus many of us have that ADHDHASDDD thing.. Look, a bird, oh wait, a plea of not guilty, what are we talking about?

Anonymous said...

the whole of the 5 west mafia gets my vote.

Anonymous said...

Rump...please don't censor me for saying Barzee is ugly. It may not come in initially, but people opened the door by saying she is pretty...just like fox, we must be fair and balanced.

Anonymous said...

piss off!

Anonymous said...

Let's do a poll on hot judges to liven up the blog!

Anonymous said...

I like the poll idea about the lazy public lawyers.

Anonymous said...

Hey Rump, how about a poll on sex in the Justice Building? We've all heard about sex in jury rooms, bathrooms, the attorneys rooms, etc. Let bloggers share their own stories or the stories they've heard.

Anonymous said...

Who is the "5 West Mafia"?

Is that OC/PC at the SAO?
Economic Crime at the SAO?

Some unit at the PD's office? (I forget how many floors they have there).

Anonymous said...

the 5th floor at the PD's office is where bennett's private crapper is.

Anonymous said...

It must be in the PDO. The SAO runs north-south.

Anonymous said...

his crapper has wall to wall marble. i took a dump up there once and left a floater.

Anonymous said...

whoever posted in support of shenberg is silly. if there were any justice in the world he would have gotten 30 years instead of 11. he offered to reveal identity of an informant for 50g.