IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY:
Our Captain has some serious and shocking news.
Readers of the blog know that Ms. Patricia Marino has not fared well among the blogs readers. Marino's alleged last minute addition to her name has caused a minor riot if not an affray. While Ms. Marino may believe that old Rumpole has it out for her, (as we have heard through the grapevine) we note that we have remained silent on her name change, which is no different than what dozens of other candidates have done over the years.
Now, with our post of the Captain’s report on (in a light most favorable to Judge McWhorter) “accounting errors”, we have some shocking news to report:
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
CAMPAIGN UPDATE -
OR SHOULD I SAY -CAMPAIGN VIOLATIONS ?????
IS THE MCWHORTER CAMPAIGN IN HOT WATER?
GROUP 1 - COUNTY COURT This race pits the incumbent Judge McWhorter against the oft maligned, for amending her name at the last minute, Patricia Marino-Pedraza. Ms. Marino has not done too well on the fund-raising circuit. She has only raised $22,558 and has had to add another $45k to the kitty for a total of $67,558.
She needs it, because she has spread her money around to several consulting firms. She has paid Jordan Leonard $5,500; Stanley Shapiro $500; Hipolito Leon $2,500; Miguel Amador $2,000; Ramon Alonso $2,500, for a total of $13,000 so far.
Judge McWhorter, on the other hand, seems to be the master fundraiser, "can you say incumbent judge". She has amassed $99,373 and only kicked in $100 of her own money. She also has only given $750 in consulting fees to one Daisy Castellanos.
But the more important news is this: As our educated readers of the BLOG know, the maximum contribution is $500.
Well, here is the problem:
On April 23, 2005, Gonzalo Dorta gave $500. On June 18, 2005, Dorta gave another $250. McWhorter accepted the second donation.
On April 22, 2005, Burnadette Norris-Weeks gave $500. On July 28, 2005 she gave another $100. McWhorter accepted the second donation.
On May 17, 2005, the law firm of Weiss, Serota gave $500.
On March 17, 2006 they contributed another $250. McWhorter accepted the second donation.
Each time she accepted the second donation, she violated the law which clearly states that a campaign may not accept more than $500 from one particular person or organization.
Now her campaign did finally refund the money to each of the three contributors.
But she waited until April 5, 2006 to do so.
That means she held the illegal contributions for 10 months on Dorta, 9 months on Weeks and three weeks on Weiss, Serota.
Now the really bad news: according to FS 106.08 (7)(a) and (7)(b): a candidate that accepts donations in excess of the maximum $500 allowed by law commits a misdemeanor of the first degree if they accept one donation in excess of the limit (7)(a) and it becomes a Felony of the Third Degree when the candidate accept two or more illegal contributions (7)(b).
So readers, what do you have to say now.......
AND THE CAPTAIN HAS SPOKEN .....
Rumpole wonders: 1- what is the effect of returning the money? 2- Is there scienter involved in the crime, meaning that intent to violate the law needs to be proved?
3- At any campaign fundraiser we have been at, we have seen nothing by any judge or candidate to check and make sure people are not giving too much. Usually the problem is that people like us show up, drop a carefully folded check for $50.00 in the jar, and eat $100.00 worth of shrimp and cheese. We feel we are on safe ground by saying that most candidates rely on the contributor to make sure they have not given over $500.00.
That being said, the buck stops at the top and Judge McWhorter is responsible for her campaign.
For those of you ready to howl because we started the post by stating that we viewed the facts at the moment in the light most favourable to Judge McWhorter, this is something we would do with any candidate in the closing weeks of the race, PENDING A FINDING OF WRONGDOING (which is what happened to Judge Hernandez.)
It should also be noted that taking $600.00 improperly when you have raised almost $100,000.00 is not an earthshaking accusation.
However, we reiterate: The Buck Stops with the Judge and she should address this issue.
See You In Court with our checkbook firmly tucked away.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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26 comments:
FABER had BLOCKBUSTER fundraiser in Coral Gables last night.
"Migna's for Miami" tour continues to roll all through Miami.
What an election season!!!
come on Capitan, she made a mistake, a mistake is what she made
I don't know 8:48, last time I used that argument in her courtroon, "uh, judge, she did blow a .12, the jury found her guilty, but she just made a mistake, and she has no priors"; the judge gave my client 10 days in jail for that mistake.
to 8:48 am
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
The problem with the ooops defense on the McWhorter campaign contributions is this:
The first violation is the Dorta violation. When she got the second donation on 6/18/05, the crime was completed. Here is her problem: she filed campaign reports on 6/30/05; filed an amended report to that in August 2005; filed another campaign report on 9/30/05; filed another campaign report on December 31, 2005; filed an amended report to that 12/05 report in May of 2006 that did not mention the return of the money; filed another campaign report on 3/31/06. It wasn't until April of 2006 that she returned the money according to her report filed with the Division of Elections on August 4, 2006.
The second violation is the Norris-Weeks violation. When she got the second donation on 7/28/05, the crime was completed. Here is the problem: she filed a campaign report on 9/30/05; filed another campaign report on December 31, 2005; filed an amended report to that 12/05 report in May of 2006 that did not mention the return of the money; filed another campaign report on 3/31/06. It wasn't until April of 2006 that she returned the money according to her report filed with the Division of Elections on August 4, 2006.
The third violation appears just slightly less serious of a problem. It is the Weiss, Serota donation and that crime occurred on March 17, 2006. She did file a campaign report on March 31, 2006 and failed to mention the fact that she had now accepted more than $500 from them. But she apparently realized it in April and returned the money. But when she filed her amended 12/05 return in May of 2006, she failed to mention the alleged return of the money the month before. It wasn't until her recent August 4, 2006 filing of her report with the Division of Elections that she mentions the return of the money.
and one more nugget:
The McWhorter campaign filed an amended return on August 31, 2005. On the first page of that return both the Judge and her Treasurer sign the document.
In that Amended Return they correct the name of a contributor by changing the contributor's address. They also correct a refund to McWhorter herself for money she laid out, by changing the address that accompanied her name.
They managed to analyze all of her paperwork to catch these two minor address corrections. Yet, they failed to catch the fact that the campaign had, by the August 31, 2005 amended filing, already violated the law on two separate occassions, when they accepted the contributions over the $500 limit from Dorta and Weeks.
CAPTAIN OUT ......
hector...helllllllllllllllp.
on my way shirlyon!
What I find most amazing is how they are spending their money.... They are both guilty of flushing money down the sewer. Very few people can deliver anything meaningful......in campaigns. In my opinion,
Della Street aka Della Street Goldberg St. Jean Garcia Abdul
Her Treasurer should be FIRED!
like he/she would care. what a thankless job that must be.
the miami herald editorial page is a joke. it drips from a far left hue. i hate political people who lean too far to one side or the other. robin faber is one of them. if he cares so much about kids, why is he leaving the public defender's office juvi div.. to help the kids? sheeet. he's just a left wing lazy political hack. the problem is, the man he is running against ain't much better. rumpole, stay out of this race.
Captain, do you have the names of all the Herald endorsements so far?
Another McWhorter problem...
Her campaign treasurer, Anthony Brunson, swore on the application that he was a Dade County registered voter. Another OOOOPPPPSSSS... he is a Broward County registered voter.
Also,
McWhorter forgot to declare a group for over a year, while she raised money and spent money. Then, at the last minute, she filed in her actual seat (group 1) and forgot to send letters to all her donators letting them know that she finally picked a group. That is against the law.
Hey, how many serious campaign violations can a sitting judge make and still be in criminal division with the possibility of being prosecuted? Usually, when a judge is being investigated, they haul her out of criminal court so it will not look like she is helping the state.
It is hard to beleive that a judge can not fill out a simple form and say she is running in her seat, the very seat she was appointed to be in.
Well, judges do move from existing seats... remember Murry Meyerson?
Sounds like McWhorter is in real big trouble.
patty whatsyournamethisweek get off the blog and stop trashing judge mcwhorter - go get your chin removed or something
Patti did not write that.
Smartass.
Did McWhorter or did she not accept more than one donation in excess of the $500.00 rule? If so, she can go to jail and post the $5,000.00 bond like the rest of the people accused of a felony.
Judges can make mistakes, maybe even commit a misdemeanor. BUt they usually are not held to account for such mistakes. Ironic, isnt it.
I will not vote for you, but I will represent you if charged.
How come McWhorter hasn't been arrested yet? MDPD arrests people for a lot less! In fact some of my client's have been arrested for less.
the are arresting her right now
no, i'm kidding, they are arresting d arce right now.
kidding.
they are investigating, uh, everyone, NOW!
arrests are coming, blog is getting shut down, rump is getting disbarred, twice.
blah blah blah blah blah
One has to wonder what will happen to McWhorter.
I bet they do not prosecute but, send her to the JQC.
Pando got hit with a $25,000.00 fine for taking a loan from her mother. Rosa got hit hard too. All for campaign mistakes.
I bet this costs McW lots of money!
You can't compare Pando to McW. Pando MISREPRESENTED stuff to the JQC. That is much more serious than the rules McW (and Pando) violated.
What Pando did was not a felony.
What Mc Whorter did looks like a felony.
What one is more serious?
12:31...In my humble opinion, intentionally making misrepresentions under oath is a much more serious offense than what is in all likelihood an innocent albeit stupid and perhaps greedy mistake.
go, marin, parks,and Manno.
idiot
except for marin and parks
It's a shame that you try to damage the reputation of good people by having this crap on a blog that is clearly dated and wrong. You have already accomplished your goal by unseating the highest rated judge in Miami-Dade. As far as information RE: contributions, the contributions that you stated were sent twice were actually contributions from a firm owner and then another from the firm holding the same name. Accuracy should be a priority. Shame on you.
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