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.

Friday, September 08, 2006

MONEY

THERE'S A WHOLE LOTTA MONEY BEING SPENT ....................


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

In the five Circuit Court races, more than $1.14 million dollars was spent so far and with two of the races headed for a runoff, expect to see more fundraisers between now and November.

The biggest loser, Josie Perez Velis, who dropped over $261,000, most of it her own money. The biggest winners, Jose Gronlier and Cathy Parks. Gronlier spent only $10,000 to make his runoff and Parks spent slightly more than $12,000 to lead her pack of challengers into the runoff.

Here are the numbers:

Perez-Velis

Raised $14,570
Loans $330,000
Spent $261,000 (rumpole notes: OUCH!)

Murphy

Raised $102,326
Loans $0000000
Spent $87,000

------------------------------

Mendez

Raised $28,515
Loans $103,000
Spent $81,000

Schwartz

Raised $192,990
Loans $100,000
Spent $178,000

------------------------------

Bardawil

Raised $13,515
Loans $46,000
Spent $49,000

Schurrr

Raised $20,910
Loans $250,000
Spent $211,000

Gronlier

Raised $5,710
Loans $9,300
Spent $10,000

------------------------


Davidson

Raised $13,800
Loans $20,000
Spent $15,000

Marin

Raised $38,575
Loans $134,000
Spent $104,000

----------------------------------------

Garcia

Raised $12,150
Loans $19,000
Spent $26,000

Mendez

Raised $54,685
Loans $135,000
Spent $108,000

Parks

Raised $6,350
Loans $10,000
Spent $12,000

Next up, on Monday, County Court.......

CAPTAIN OUT ..............................

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

January 3rd, 2006,

Juan D'Arce answering telephones as the new secretary for the new law offices of

“HERNANDEZ, GONZALEZ and ALVAREZ, P.A.”.

Juan D’Arce: “hello law offices of Hernandez, Gonzalez and whats his name, may I help you.

New Client: “I would like to set a meeting to see my lawyer and discuss my case”.

Juan D’Arce: “we don’t give out hearings I mean meetings with clients it goes against everything that we stand for”.

New Client: “But I have a right to talk to me new lawyer”.

Juan D’Arce: “you obviously don’t know who I am? I am the person that controls the telephone and you must get through me, because I am King of the world”.

New Client: “you must be out of your mind, I am calling the Florida bar”.

Anonymous said...

Velis - big big loser

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that Gronlier was able to get into the runoff without spending any money.

How did that happen

Anonymous said...

GO Murph - Murphy's law RULES

Anonymous said...

I'll bet Manno Schurr outspends them all by the time this thing is done

Anonymous said...

Oh, children, you are so naive. Gronlier is a hispanic radio commentator. He talked about the lawsuit that Manno filed against him all the time. Lots of free(possibly illegal) publicity, but what the heck?

Anonymous said...

I'm amazed about how well Mario Garcia Jr did in the Parks/ Garcia/Mendez race. He came very close to beating Mendez (28% vs 30%). What's with that? And he doesn't have a radio show.

Anonymous said...

Murphy had a thank you party at an Irish bar. Cafe Versailles was not available as it was booked in advance by Velis.

Anonymous said...

Shelly Schwartz is having a victory party at Wolfies.

Anonymous said...

Patty Marino is having a victory party at No Names.

Anonymous said...

Leifman is having a victory paryer party at The Holy Trinity Church.

Anonymous said...

Larry Schwartz is having a victory party at Insults Comedy Club.

Anonymous said...

REPORT ONE

Velis showed up to the Murphy victory party. She asked for one of those arm bands so she could drink for free. She has NO MONEY left.

Anonymous said...

REPORT TWO:

Others seen at the party include:

Judge D. Murphy
Judge L. Firtel
Judge G. Freeman
Judge D. Ward
Judge S. Blake
Judge P. Lopez
Judge J. Rodriguez
JE Don Cohn
JE Patty Marino
Ward's JA - she's HOT
Ward Bailiff - nice guy
Slom's JA - she's sexy
and a whole bunch of legal minds drinking green lizards and other libations to welcome the weekend.

Anonymous said...

this just in jqc complaints filed against numerous winners

Anonymous said...

ROBIN FABER

Yes he is far better than the alternative but We have sunk to new lows when we delude ourselves into thinking that Faber is exceptionally quaiflied to be a county court judge.
THis is a man who, for the last 12 years, has been practicing in the kangaroo court known as Juvenile. i am sorry but twelve years of trying grand theft autos and shoplifting against rookie asa's is just not impressive. Whining 5 days a week about why some thug should go to scuba school instead of a level 8 program does not require much legal acumen.

That we are calling someone with his credentials exceptionally qualified is testament to the poor quality of people who want to become Judges in this County.

Anonymous said...

I'll have you know that Robin Faber was NOT at the party tonight; he was home preparing for judicial college.

SO THERE

Anonymous said...

Hey Captain. Don't you think that ONE MILLION DOLLARS could have gone to much better causes - IT'S TIME FOR RETENTION

Anonymous said...

CAP

Good work on the Circuit Court. Can't imagine spending all that money

Anonymous said...

The blogger that keeps questioning judges' legal acumen should tell us a little bit about himself.
Robin Faber and the others that he has accused as somehow lacking qualifications are extremely qualified individuals. Those individual judges are sitting ducks for people like him to unfairly attack. It is easy to attack those who are not allowed to defend themselves.

Anonymous said...

ENVY. That is what it is. The blogger who attacked Robin Faber is clearly a troubled person.
Robin Faber is extremely qualified. Like most public defenders, he has a great deal of experience. He is one of the best lawyers in Miami-Dade County.

Anonymous said...

I agree. It is quite easy to attack defenseless people. Everyone knows that judges are not permitted to defend themselves.

Anonymous said...

RUMPOLE, let us turn our attention to something that should concern us all. The new thing is that the Clerk's Office is requiring judges to carry out state law by having the judges revoke defendants' drivers licenses after drug convictions. Should we challenge the law as unconstitutional?

Anonymous said...

Should new judges consider imposing Youthful Offender sanctions on most defendants under 21? The law allows it unless they are charged with a life felony. Some judges impose Y.O. sanctions almost automatically, taking it out of the state's hands.

Anonymous said...

Direct files from Juvenile Court may also be considered for juvenile sanctions. That is different than youthful offender treatment. It is a step less.
However, like Y.O. if the juvenile violates juvenile sanctions, juvenile sanctions may be revoked and he may be sentenced as an adult on a violation.

Anonymous said...

some sorry ass vindictive bastard wrote the negative piece on Faber.

Lets review, Faber was elected and Hernandez was sent packing. Whom that spells qualified in the eyes of the voters, who by the way selected and elected him.

If you do not like Faber or Hernandez you should have paid the $5,000 filing fee and joined in the race. No instead you sit back and talk shit.

Get over it !

Anonymous said...

from the daily business review Sept 7, 2006:

he suspense, the fundraising and the campaigning will continue in many judicial races as the contests head to runoffs in the general election Nov. 7.

In the races decided Tuesday, the few voters who turned out in the rain ousted five South Florida incumbents in this year’s intensely competitive judicial primary election.

In Miami-Dade County, four county court judges — Shirlyon J. McWhorter, Ivan Hernandez, Michael Samuels and Bonnie Rippingille — lost their jobs, while seven circuit and county court incumbents beat back challengers to keep their posts.

In Palm Beach County, Circuit Judge Art Wroble lost, gaining only 22 percent of the vote. The two challengers who bested him, Jerald Beer and David French, will duke it out in a runoff.

In addition, in a skin-tight race, Ted Booras led Jane Frances Sullivan as of Wednesday afternoon in the race for an open Palm Beach County Court seat. With only 997 votes separating the two contenders, the supervisor of elections was counting absentee votes. Also in Palm Beach County, Frank Castor will face Steven Brannock in a runoff for a new county court post.

In Broward County, where no incumbents were challenged, voters selected one new circuit judge for an open seat, Charles Kaplan, and two new county court judges. The other four Broward races will go to a runoff on Nov. 7.

In Miami-Dade, the common wisdom that Hispanic challengers beat non-Hispanic incumbents did not always hold. In Broward, unlike in past elections, all female candidates but one scored victories or earned enough votes to enter the runoff.

Some incumbents held on

In Miami-Dade, Patricia Marino-Pedraza defeated Judge McWhorter, Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer beat Judge Samuels, Don S. Cohn prevailed over Judge Rippingille, and Robin Faber beat Judge Hernandez.

Hernandez campaigned under the shadow of a Miami-Dade state attorney’s office investigation into his assistant, Juan D’Arce, who is suspected of running judicial campaigns from his office. The judge received low ratings from lawyers in the Dade County Bar Association judicial poll and the Cuban-American Bar Association poll in the weeks leading up to the election.

Despite concerns raised by election watchers and some candidates that ethnic politics would trump experience in this round of judicial elections, particularly in Miami-Dade, there did not appear to be a clear victory for any ethnic or racial group.

In Miami-Dade, a number of well-regarded non-Hispanic white incumbents — including circuit judges Dennis J. Murphy and Lawrence Schwartz and Miami-Dade County Court Judge Sheldon Schwartz — held their seats against Hispanic challengers. County Court Judge Karen Mills-Francis, who is black, also defeated a challenger. So did County Judge Bronwyn Miller.

Of the four challengers in Miami-Dade who defeated incumbents, two were Hispanic. Of the incumbents who lost, one was Hispanic.

Miami-Dade assistant public defender Faber called his victory over Judge Hernandez a sign of a sophisticated electorate.

“I got a lot of support from across the community, from all the ethnic groups in Miami-Dade,” Faber said Wednesday morning. “People recognize that integrity matters, and they’re not looking to trade ethnic allegiance for that. I think I’ve established a good reputation with people from all ethnic groups during my time with the public defender’s office.”

According to finance reports covering the campaign up to Aug. 31, two winning candidates spent significantly less than the incumbents they defeated.

Gonzalez-Meyer spent $108,847, while her opponent, Judge Samuels, spent $187,398. Cohn spent $47,434, about $80,000 less than his opponent, Judge Rippingille.

Faber said the hardest campaigners won. “Look at Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer, she’s a tireless campaigner,” he said. “I don’t think it really had to do with ethnicity. The people that won worked their butts off.”

Cohn, a trial attorney with a solo practice based in Miami, criticized those in the legal community who said it wasn’t a good idea for so many candidates to challenge incumbent judges. “What everyone has to realize is that the seat doesn’t belong to the person who’s in it,” he said. “It belongs to the public.”

Anonymous said...

To impugn Judge Faber at this point is ignorance and sour grapes. Robin has always been an excellent lawyer in the most difficult of cases. The most experienced lawyers should be handling juvenile cases where it counts the most. Robin has tirelessly, slavishly and selflessly devoted himself to our kids future. To demean him and the importance of our kids and their future is to demean and cheapen the hurler of such crass insults.

Anonymous said...

well said 4:08 am

Anonymous said...

5:55 you are full of it, also your post is also nearly incomprehensible

10:59 is that you Juan?

Anonymous said...

try some coffee so you can read dufus

Anonymous said...

"also your post is also nearly incomprehensible"

try and get you own sentence to be readable

Anonymous said...

Not Juan. It is McGillis.

My Law License said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

to 5:55, several things:

1. as to your comment: "Those of you lawyers wishing to avoid answering those irritating bar complaints simply get appointed to one of the grievance committees of the Florida Bar," this is incorrect.

I served on a grievance committee for 3 years and received a bar complaint during my tenure. I was asked to respond and provide a copy of my response to the person who filed the complaint. There was no special treatment, and I was vice-chair of my grievance committee.

2. Your conspiracy theory that most of the people involved in this complaint contributed to Leifman is ridiculous. You could say that about many lawsuits and bar matters. What can I say, they all like a good judge.

3. John Anthony Boggs is beyond reproach, I trust you've never met him.

4. Ray Abadin would not put his reputation on the line as a member of the board of governors to help someone with a bar complaint. Maybe you should get to know him. He's a pretty good guy.

5. I have not read it, but you mention nothing about the details of the complaint. Did you ever think that maybe Miguel didn't violate a Rule of Professional Conduct and that's why it was dismissed? Do you know the percentage of bar complaints that are dismissed as not rising to the level of a violation?

Glad to see the "Class" that filled this blog for the last few days is slowly deteriorating back to hate.

Enjoy the weekend.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I gave to Leifman too and was on his campaign committee.

Hmmmmm.........

Rumpole said...

RUMPOLE, let us turn our attention to something that should concern us all. The new thing is that the Clerk's Office is requiring judges to carry out state law by having the judges revoke defendants' drivers licenses after drug convictions. Should we challenge the law as unconstitutional?

YES- but how is it not Constitutional? BTW: North of the Border has been doing this for years now.

Anonymous said...

Brian :

I dont know if thats really you writing but do note I dont know if Abadin will be ethical or not as he was just sent the complaint.

I probally would not be so harsh except for the fact that for three weeks after filing the bar complaint I was told not once but on numerous occassions that a letter was being sent out to Miguel de la O, requesting a response to the VERIFIED complaint. On the 3rd Week I call and for the first time told that Randi Lazarus has a conflict and it was given to Mr. Min, the same day he get the complaint he closes the case saying well the trial judge did not file a bar complaint so go away, and closes the case.

The bar's own web site says that when a complaint is filed and if the allegations in the complaint taken as true would constitute violations of the rules of the bar that a response if requested. Still does not mean they would rule that he did anything wrong but never asking him to admit or deny the allegations C'mon .

The allegations sworn to under oath stated that he lied in a motion to the trial Judge who just happened to be Hernandez and which by the way lead me to author the ORJ website. Now if a lawyer lies to a trial judge in a motion or fabricates facts, thats a violation of the rules of professional conduct.

Brain:
Problem in your case the bar forced you to admit or deny the allegations by responding to the complaint. In Miguel De La O's case they simply closed the file because Randi Lazarus is buddies with him and he is on her grievance committee.

I smell a rat.

I would be happy to talk with you directly about this and maybe you can help mediate a resolution.

Thanks for your time.

Anonymous said...

Scandal is brewing over at the Florida bar:

Ramon A. Abadin, Esq., (a very powerful attorney) is reviewing a complaint that was escalated to him by the Florida bar against Miguel De La O, several problems with this, some are below:

He, Ramon A. Abadin donated money to Leifmans campaign, so did Miguel de la O. They are both listed as the top endorsements on Leifmans official campaign web site and the campaign contribution report filed with the county.

Problem Miguel De La O, is the co-chair to Leifmans campaign.

Interesting fact: Randi Klayman Lazarus and Kenneth Marvin of the Florida Bar have reviewed the complaint for disposition, they also contributed to Leifmans campaign. “Conflict” “Conflict”.

Problem, when the complaint against Miguel De La O, was filed with the Florida bar it was assigned to Randi Klayman Lazarus, weeks later after being told a response to the complaint was being requested of De La O, it is revealed that Miguel De La O, is personal friends with Randi K. Lazarus and is on her grievance committee. (I guess having De La O on the grievance to decide his own fate was just wrong). So the case was supposedly sent to Barnaby Lee Min for get this “impartial review” in what took 3 weeks only took Mr. Min one day to close the case and not ask for a response to the complaint. We can be sure that since Lazarus and Min share the same office space that no conflict existed. (Eyes rolling).

John Harkness, office said it would be sent to another circuit (i.e. Ft. Lauderdale for impartial review) never happened. Ms. Arlene Sankel refused to do the right thing. Mr. John Anthony Boggs appears and says I will make a independent review (yea right). Meanwhile Ms. Sankel’s writing letters to Mr. De La O, saying case is closed and then after Boggs gets involved writes another letter case sent to grievance committee.

Miguel De la O, is a powerful man, he was recently appointed to be the Chair of the Florida Bar of Examiners. If this complaint would have been against any other lawyer at the very least the bar would have complied with its policies of asking for a response to the VERIFIED complaint. It actually says this on there web site.

Those of you lawyers wishing to avoid answering those irritating bar complaints simply get appointed to one of the grievance committees of the Florida bar. It’s kind of like that pesky corrupt Judicial Assistant just did not have the right friends in the right places.

All together now “CORRUPTION”.

The Florida bar (when I say this I mean the Miami div) waited until Ramon was recently elected to the board of governors of the Florida bar before escalating the complaint to him. The complaint was sitting at the Grievance committee for over six months. My how time flies.



Miguel De La O, was the co-chair of Leifmans campaign.

Also Florida Bar members who are reviewing a Complaint against de la O, contributed to Leifmans campaign, they include Randi Klayamn Lazarus and Kenneth Marvin. Sounds like impropriety to me as far as reviewing complaint agaist

Anonymous said...

Mr. T, did you not serve with Mr. O on the Board of Directors of the DCBA? Conflict conflict conflict.

Anonymous said...

rumpole why you delete the post of mcgillis. dont want to have a free discussion of corruption. He is not afraid to show his name and speak the truth.

Anonymous said...

Darrin, post the bar complaint against loser O. I will help but I have to see what he did this time.

Mike C.

Anonymous said...

as a voter in Miami-Dade County, I'm just glad that 80 percent of the judges that I voted for won. Judge Murphy is an extraordinary man, Leiffman is all right, and Judge Francis -- well, I'd rather have call her Your Honor than having to address that turd Millan. Now, let's turn our attention to more important elections coming up, such as the governor and the senator campaigns. Harris as senator???????????? let's try to stop her.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole did not delete a post of McGillis, my post was deleted because it appeared twice.

Anonymous said...

if robin faber is one of the best lawyers in dade county we are in trouble

Anonymous said...

Robin Faber isn't one of the best lawyers in Dade County anymore....call him Your Honor.

Darrin E. McGillis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Would you guys stop using other people's names!

There is a post below from Mike C.

That is not from Mike Catalano.

We all must assume that names at the bottom are not always correct.

Maybe everyone should be anonymous!

Anonymous said...

Please stop editing the responses.

Anonymous said...

Please stop editing the responses.

Anonymous said...

Do you realize that literally almost 50% of the votes from this election were absentee??? 66,741 were turned in. Even with the rain how could there have been just as many voters in absentee as in 2 weeks of early voting and election day?

Anonymous said...

jesus crist D'Arce get over it you lost.

Anonymous said...

al lorenzo baby.