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.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

WELCOME CAPTAIN. HE IS OFFICIALLY A GUEST BLOGGER AND CAN NOW POST ON THE FRONT PAGE.

Three comments from yesterday's vigorous (and mostly funny) posts merit attention:


A Public Defender writes in to praise the work in Judge Tunis's division.


Let us first say that in reviewing our comments we have never bashed the PDs on their work before Judge Tunis. Nor are we surprised to hear both how well things are going and that Judge Tunis is following the law regardless of the consequences.
If nothing else, Judge Tunis has had her fifteen minutes of fame, and comes out of it looking pretty darn good. (But we still "object for the record" about filing written motions for continuances.)



Anonymous said...
To 8:26am: Rump I can't hold back on this one.

I usually just read you and don't write.

Stepping up to defend the various PDs that go in and out of Judge Tunis' Division as well as other divisions, let's see: we take depos, prepare cases, file rules to show cause (which she grants and excludes witnesses per the rules IF you bother to do the right work), file Demands, get Nolle Prosses, try cases, and oh yeah, actually litigate motions to suppress like the one that involved some defendant looking at a minimum mandatory on a firearm. Which was granted by the judge. That took guts for her, but she followed the law we argued NEVER heard about it because it wasn't a media case, it wasn't on this blog, it was just some normal motion from a couple months ago by someone from our office, just some kid looking at 30 years that walked out because of her legal ruling on the law.

So before you start a pd bashing, hang out in the court and see how hard we work.
Do you know how many times a private attorney files a Demand...uh, like never. We've actually stopped filing them in Tunis' division, because she'll actually try the case within a few weeks.

Quit bashing us because we work harder than you for way less money and quit talking about what you do not know about.

Rumpole states: Just in case anyone thinks otherwise, our feelings are (and you can quote us) Thank goodness for the work the PDs do. We judge lawyers and their skill very critically. Any defendant assigned a Dade County PD has an excellent chance to be represented by a very fine, highly skilled attorney. In our opinion many many defendants do themselves a disservice by hiring just any private attorney. So many of them have no training and are not worth a wooden nickel. Before we are hung in effigy by our brethren, our point is that some of our PDs are the best defense lawyers around.


THIS IS JUST DOWN RIGHT SHOCKING.

THIS MERITS A RESPONSE IN OUR HUMBLE OPINION:

NO TICKET, NO PROBLEM.

Anonymous said...
Believe it or NOT...

I am a bystander in Court today before Judge Lawrence King and the attorney representing the defendant in a commercial landlord tenant dispute tells Judge King that the Attorney for the Corporate plaintiff has been suspended from practicing law since August 31, 2006 and presents the Judge documents email from the Fla Bar showing this.

Judge Lawrence King response :"oh I am sure he will work that out..."

Well all you lawyers suspended from law Judge Lawrence King welcomes you with open arms. He will let you get writs, issue subpoenas, get final judgments and if you do not complete that pesky CLE course, oh who cares- its Judge "KING" court room no law license required.

As good Rumpole says see ya in Court where license to practice law is almost always required (exceptions do apply see Judge King's court for details)

Ps. In case you want to know the name of the idiot lawyer who got his bar license suspended "Ian Martinez" Bar #596671

Wow!!! What do you think about that?
If Judges do not uphold the edicts of the Bar, who will?

THE WELL IS RUNNING DRY

Ace FACDL bigwig Rick Freedman posted some disturbing news:

Rick Freedman said...
TO ABE LAESER & OTHERS:

As some of you may have heard, the Court Appointed Counsel program is over budget.

The fiscal year began on July 1, 2006 and runs until June 30, 2007. According to the JAC, the fiscal annual budget for conflict cases is $37,436,067. One-half of the annual budget has already been disbursed. This money was budgeted to last until December 31, 2006, however, due to expenditures these monies were depleted by November 9, 2006.

The JAC is working with the Governor's Office on Planning and Budget and the legislative staff seeking early release of the third quarter monies. Those monies are due to be released on December 19, 2006, or before if the executive and legislative branches authorize early release. The Governor's Office on Planning and Budget has requested additional information from the JAC before they authorize early release of funds.

The JAC has asked us to inform all CAC attorneys to continue forwarding their invoices to them for processing so there will not be an extended gap of payment when monies are released. I will continue to keep you informed as I become aware of new information.

Rick FreedmanFACDL-MiamiChair, Subcommittee on CAC

Rumpole notes: Oh good, the Governor is on the case. Now we have no worries. Here's a thought: Calculate the cost of wasting all the time, energy and paper on following JAC'S arcane rules. Convert that into money, and allocate 10% of that for indigent defense. There will be a surplus.


See you in court.

PS. Our PD commentator wrote a response to our criticism. Explanation accepted.
All is well. Go getem.


66 comments:

Anonymous said...

that guy's gyno comment was funny.

instead of cutting out the paperwork, the jac will probably try to save money by auditing with a vengeance and shifting the burden to (screwing over) the registry attorneys. glad i don't rely on appointments so much anymore like most of the young'uns do. as is, those cases are barely worth the money.

-d

Anonymous said...

KING of the court I make the rules!!

Anonymous said...

does his dad require law license? does the apple fall far from the tree?

Anonymous said...

typical government. sucks relying on the wheel. they have "lost" 3 of my six invoices this year. I am sure they are in jebs back seat. ass hole.

Anonymous said...

lol

Anonymous said...

why would you insult assholes by calling jeb one

Anonymous said...

$37,436,067? Sounds like Bobby's fee for a third within 10.

Indeed.

Anonymous said...

As far as PD's in Tunis go- David Fernandez is a can try a case. I hope he stays at the pdo so he does not steal our private buisness.

Anonymous said...

i hope you buy my new product, h
hooked on phonics

Anonymous said...

Let me try again spelling police:
That David Fernandez in Tunis' div. can try a case. I hope that he stays put so that he does not steal our private BUSINESS.

Anonymous said...

well said, david.

Anonymous said...

" IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING "

Anonymous said...

its good to be the queen!

Rumpole said...

lets leave Mr. Reif alone. He is a charter member of the not afraid to sign my name club, and has been roasted enough.

Anonymous said...

To Nov. 14th at 5:15 pm. Thanks for the mention! If I'm in the company of Nushin and Yvonne, I feel pretty good!

I predict, just for fun, that whoever wrote that is Barzee, Britt, or Lonnie but I could be wrong.

Whoever wrote it, I would love to know who you are. I'll buy you lunch and we can compare win / loss ratios. Let me know!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 2:21:38 PM

Anonymous said...

bunch of nerds...

Anonymous said...

Hey Bonnie,

I have a win/loss ratio of 10 to 1. For every 10 women I try to pick up in a bar, 1 will give me her num....Oh wait, you meant trials...oh....well, I don't know, I don't keep count.

But, why don't we do it this way...How many years in prison are your clients serving? Come on now, be honest. Life sentences count for 100 years, okay?

Who are you anyway? I googled you and found that you apparently served on the Miami-Dade Housing Finance Board in 2004 (good job keeping an eye on Oscar Rivero).

Can you give us a brief description so we know who Sayfie and Yvonne (whoever the heck that is) are hanging with?

By the way, I am sure the two of them are thrilled your resounding support has just put them back on the hot seat, after everybody had apparently moved on. Way to use that stellar judgment that I am sure has helped contribute to your magnificient trial record.

Anonymous said...

Hey 3:28:47....you are a fucking asshole. W/L records count for shit. Anybody can win and anyone can lose, its like the NFL...sometimes the Dolphins beat the Bears. What counts is how you play the game and whether you are willing to get on the field. I know Bonnie, and Nushin and Yvonne too. They play and they'll kick your ass if you're man enough to meet them. Bet you're not.

Anonymous said...

He doesn't have the balls to.

Anonymous said...

aww. Still won't put your name huh? Too bad. None of MY clients have ever been sentenced to life. Projecting?

Anonymous said...

this blog is the hot seat?

a ha ha ha ha ha

Anonymous said...

Bonnie
I can not say about Colodny and Sayfie- I suspect they are competent lawyers. But Bonnie Riely(even though she is nasty since the election) is a talented trial atty.

Anonymous said...

3:28:47 PM Here,

Hey 3:37:31 PM, please see 2:21:38 PM, where the person you are defending (Bonnie) by calling me an asshole, said:

"Whoever wrote it, I would love to know who you are. I'll buy you lunch and we can compare win / loss ratios."

You are so silly. Bonnie, are you going to straighten this guy out?

I still don't know who you are. Will you (or some other helpful blogga) please post a description or photo?

Anonymous said...

Why thank you.

Anonymous said...

Bonnie,
Try some nasty murder 1's and I bet you won't be saying that none of your clients have ever been sentenced to life.

I've gotten three life sentences in
my career alone. Do you think that makes me less of a lawyer? I don't.

If your around long enough and try enough difficult life and capital cases, I'm sure you'll get your
first life sentence eventually.

But you know what, when you do get
that life sentence it won't mean
you're a bad lawyer either.

Sometimes, for various reasons like
bad facts or bad priors, life
sentences cannot be avoided no matter who the lawyer.

Bottom line is for you to cite not
having had a client sentenced to life as an indication of your abilities is misguided and inappropriate.

Christian Dunham

Anonymous said...

Bonnie, I'll bet you wished you posted anonymous now!

Anonymous said...

Bonnie has blonde hair.
About 5 feet 5 inches tall.
155 pounds.

Anonymous said...

Christian,

It's too bad that you feel the need to criticize me for defending myself. Whoever wrote that we are bad trainers started the name calling and implied that I had a lot of clients sentenced to life; thereby implying that I was in fact a bad attorney.

If you happen to try a case and do all that you can for a client and ultimately get a life sentence as a result has no reflection on your abilities as a lawyer. Actually, that is what "anonymous" was implying to me.

I have tried some nasty, serious cases. So far, it has not happened to me that a client has recieved a life sentence. It may happen, and in the near future. I do not look forward to that. Many of the attorneys that I deeply respect have had that result and I know they are great advocates.

"Anonymous" was the one who brought up "life", not me. I think, that instead of criticizing me for defending myself when attacked without provocation from "anonymous", maybe you should ask him or her regarding their motivations.

Anonymous said...

Actually,

I was only responding to your juvenile suggestion to compare win/loss ratios, which as we all know...seriously...is a terrible thing to do when evaluating a lawyer. (1) It makes clients a number rather than the human beings they are, and (2) it can be terribly skewed. For example: an attorney who only tries winners, might plead a bunch of people out to higher sentences because he/she doesn't want to risk a loss.

So, Bonnie, you deserve credit for bringing this whole thing up.

Now, being the good person I am, I absolve you of your sin, forgive you, and send you back to work (oh wait it is 4:25 p.m., who are we kidding, you are on your way home with the rest of the felony training pds) with no need to further defend yourself.

Anonymous said...

It's like arguing with a bully - you'll never win / change their mind. And Dunham sides with them.

Forget about it.

Anonymous said...

By the way, contrary to your "juvenile" accusation, as you can see, I'm not one my way home by 4:25...

Rumpole said...

Gee guys, I hate to interupt you both, and I guess I'm flattered that you have chosen the blog for your very public spat, but enough is enough.

Anonymous said...

I am a PD. I supported Bennett. I have been treated very well by the office. I wish everyone would stop judging gabe and taking joy in what he is going through. It is a terrible thing and I hope that he is cleared. He might have made a bad decision, but he is not a bad guy. And yes Mr. Denaro,I do like the Brazilian Girls CD.

Anonymous said...

Bonnie,
I wasn't criticizing you. Infact,
I even told you that it won't make
you a bad lawyer when you do get a
life sentence. If I was wrong about who brought it up first, I am sorry, but nonetheless I was simply stating the facts the way
I see them.
Christian Dunham

Anonymous said...

To Rump: Great post at 5:40.

I logged on to see what was up and my head started spinning.

Wow...everyone take a deep breath.

Anonymous said...

i'm not taking joy in what gabe is going through, and I think it is a terrible thing. I also hope he is cleared - IF HE'S INNOCENT - if he's guilty, then he is a disgrace to all lawyers and should be punished accordingly.

Anonymous said...

Your right! You ARE home, posting on your home pc, at 5:30. I guess traffic was pretty bad today.

Anonymous said...

it seems like we might be able to use the blog to make peace rather than war. and then after we make peace maybe we can make love?

i can see why the older public defenders are still bent out of shape about the election(2 years on) but it seems stupid to me why young lawyers(39 and under) would still hold a gruge because he/she sided with either gabe or bennett.




let it go. it was

Anonymous said...

all just a big joke.....

Anonymous said...

for us court appointed attorneys, check the link on justiceadmin.org at the top.

in conclusion, they state :"The JAC will be unable to process payments until we receive an additional release of funds".

MEMO to the JAC and Judges; I will be unable to provide skilled legal services until the funds are released."

hard enough to get a regular client to pay, now the state wont pay. its hard for a pimp out here...

Anonymous said...

"MEMO to the JAC and Judges; I will be unable to provide skilled legal services until the funds are released."

thats just funny

Anonymous said...

I will find you rumpole and my dad will put u in the federal pen!!

Anonymous said...

Speaking of memos:

MEMO TO JEB BUSH:

Until the funds are released, I will do no more investigation or trial prep work on any Court Appointed cases. (I will keep client contact out of the goodness of my heart). I will request continuances on all cases until the funds are released. If denied, I will not violate a court order to go to trial, but I have a feeling an unprepped trial may come back on a rule 3. That will create a massive budgetary disaster.

In sum, get our invoices out of the bed of your pick, cancel the barn burner with Karl, and pay us.

Anonymous said...

that dufus lawyer that was suspended by the bar was the editor and chief of the UM legal paper in 2001 - 2002:

University of Miami International & Comparative Law Review
University of Miami School of Law
Attn.: Ian Martinez, Editor-In-Chief
P.O. Box 248087
Coral Gables FL 33124 USA or via e-mail at:
IM0417@students.law.miami.edu

Anonymous said...

(pick up truck)

Anonymous said...

guess i still have no regrets pullin a 2.8 GPA and partying during school, not editing

/S/ Not an editor

Anonymous said...

Jeb Bush pay your bills now!!

Rumpole is not raking it in on those ad clicks and needs his invoices paid ASAP.

Anonymous said...

where is the facdl on this issue? we need a meeting to discuss.

Anonymous said...

2008 cannot come sooner. Is Judge Lawrence King up for election in 2008.

Lets hope opposition for his seat comes forward

Anonymous said...

Jeb is getting his business advice from his esteemed brother, so I would not expect to get paid anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

rump, i am way to high at night to follow two blogs. cant we just have one.....

Anonymous said...

rump I am with 7:16 although the medication I take makes it way to hard to follow two blogs, cant we just have one......

Anonymous said...

my hat off to Leslie Rothenberg for this great opinion:

http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/3d05-2205.pdf

Anonymous said...

i think OJ is guilty, but I am so sick of seeing ron goldmans grill on the tv. please go away.

also interesting to note fox is airing the show and fox owns the publishing house printing the book. very classy, mr murdoch.

another interesting issue is how OJ will be paid by the publishing house/fox in an attempt to avoid the civil judgment owed to the goldmans.

as sick as i am of ron goldman, i hope he gets part of profits.

(and i have a "free the juice") t shirt. i must be nuts.

Anonymous said...

9:19 you idiot by you objecting to the OJ and ron media circus you add to it by posting your views on this blog read by millions daily

Anonymous said...

I read that opinion in its entirety (yeah, im a loser). I'm also a big liberal and sometimes part of the Kool Aid left. And I dont really like Judge Rothenberg's legal decisions.

Having said that, Mr. C admitted the violation, so what did the 3rd DCA do wrong? Mr. C still has other, higher courts to appeal to, does he not?

Anonymous said...

trust me, the rumpole blog will not do much to publicize OJ. fairly certain he is a world wide icon, from great running back, to heisman winner, to sweet hertz spokesman (with classic airport scenes), to, unfortunately double murderer.

Anonymous said...

ALL YOU WHITE FOLK ALWAYS WANNA SAY JUICE DONE DID IT.

Anonymous said...

9:29 crack heads not allowed

Anonymous said...

no he donne did not do it wanna bet

Anonymous said...

if i join FACDL, do i also need to join FACDL-MIAMI?

Anonymous said...

FACDL-MIAMI

To 10:12 PM:

YES. If you practice law in South Florida and you handle criminal defense work, you need to be a member of FACDL-MIAMI.

In fact, your timing is perfect as I will be mailing the dues statements out on Thursday to more than 400 members for the year 2007. Dues are $75 for private attorneys, $25 for public defenders; free for new public defenders (one year or less).

If anyone would like to receive an invitation to join FACDL-MIAMI, please feel free to email me at the address listed below.

Rick Freedman
Treasurer, FACDL-Miami
rickfreedmanlaw@aol.com

Anonymous said...

rick,

what is the benefit of joining? why do i need an invite? can't i just sign up on my own?

Anonymous said...

Rump,
You are an egotistical nut job. The only difference between this blog and operationrestorejustice is that he does his in the light of day. Don't try to cast yourself under the banner of free speech and all that is good...only if you out yourself can you do that. You're no better than the schoolhouse pansy who is too afraid to say what he thinks aloud so he talks about people behind their backs. Have some balls or shut the fuck up.

Anonymous said...

do you mean

www.operationrestorejustice.com

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Some of it twice...