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, March 27, 2007

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

UPDATE: Click on the link on the left "Free Shaqanda Cotton" and read the blog about the highschool girl with no priors sentenced to seven years prison for shoving someone.
Then help her out however you can.
If you're wondering, her case was in Texas. Figures.


We have decided to address the identity issue with a brief update.

Every day we get about a dozen private emails regarding our identity. They mostly center around a character in a popular novel. We have a usual response which we have decided to post here. It all started with an enterprising Judge who, pondering our identity, was moved to go to page 21 of a particular novel. Here is an approximation of what we emailed him, and others.

You should think outside the box. The email name can be commonly associated with a character in a novel. But that is thinking inside the box. Those who associate our identity with a particular novel, do so by choosing to completely ignore the full email address. There are not 20 other emails with the same name with Google. (We checked.)


Going to a particular novel and looking at page 21 is a brief example of trying (but not succeeding) at thinking outside the box. You need to try harder and drop the associations with the author, because, it really has very little to do with our identity. Or just stop caring about it because it doesn't really matter in the long run.

This is not another clue, but a better example of thinking outside the box. A few of you will recognize it immediately, and proceed accordingly. The rest- and we are warning you now not to spend your time cracking the code- will try to crack the code. That is thinking inside the box.



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ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD


11TH CIRCUIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

We hear (doesn't mean we were there-doesn't mean we weren't there.) there was a great turnout last night for the inaugural event for the 11th Circuit Historical Society.
Our Courts are repositories of a great deal of history, and there are wonderful people (and characters) associated with that history. Some great Judges and lawyers contributed to the community and shaping Miami as the town it now is.

We commend Judge Silverman for his efforts and urge everyone to click on the link on yesterday’s post, go to the 11th Circuit Historical Society’s Web Page and join the society.



FEDERAL JUDGE COHN SAYS NO TO STEROID EVIDENCE IN DEFENSE CASE

We saw this article on the Federal Blog and we re-print the link to the Sun Sentinel Article.

Defense lawyers representing Kenneth Wilk in the federal criminal prosecution in which Wilk is accused of killing BSO Deputy Todd Fatta, were told by Judge Cohn that they could not introduce evidence that the deputy had anabolic steroids in his system at the time of his death. Wilk's lawyers are attempting to show that their client acted in self defense and that the Deputy acted in an overally aggressive manner.

WILK CASE

Rumpole says: This is a clear cut issue in state court. Evidence of use of drugs is admissible if the defense can show that it is relevant and either occured at the time of the event, or that the habitual use of the drugs affected a witness's memory.

In Federal court, where it seems 404(B) evidence is liberally admitted (what we call Williams Rule Evidence in State Court) it is somewhat surprising to see that the door does not swing both ways. One would think that if the prosecution had evidence that the Defendant was using anabolic sterodis at the time of the shooting they would seek to admit it for the same reasons.

Far be it for us to impose our humble and apparently misguided view of evidence on one of the members of the Federal College Of Cardinals, but it seems like the defense in this case isn't catching any breaks, including the use of evidence that would be admissible in a self defense case in State Court. Perhaps, as Judge Moreno says, "Three Wiser Judges in Atlanta" will see things differently if it gets to that stage.

The defense in this matter is being handled by William Matthewman and and J. Raphael Rodriguez. We don't know Mr. Rodriguez, but if you want to see one of the best defense attorneys in the nation in action, go watch Mr. Matthewman.

See You In Court.




44 comments:

Anonymous said...

Clearly this means Rumpole is Joel or Greg or Dawn Denaro. 21 is another name for Black Jack. roy BLACK JACK denaro were law partners. Dinero is the Spanish term for money which is associated with the game of black jack so Dinero points us to the fact that we should be looking to Jack, not Black. Jack Denaro clearly is not Rump, so that leaves his brother or one of his children. Joel hates Brummer. Hence, Joel is Rumpole.

Anonymous said...

Kryptos?

Anonymous said...

I thought Rumpole was Jewish

Anonymous said...

Joel is half jewish.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole is Lurvy or Shuminer or Freedman or all three.

Rumpole said...

Kryptos Indeed. Now what?

Anonymous said...

Rumpole...I've got it. Or should I say ERIC COURTNEY you sly old dog!
You really had us fooled for awhile.

Anonymous said...

three of the four parts have been solved.

Rumpole said...

There is an update to the post with a link posted on the blog about a young woman- Shaquanda Cotton- 14 years old- no priors, shoved someone in a dispute and with no injuries to anyone, was sentenced to 7 years in prison. Click on the link, read the blog, leave her a message, write some letters, do some good, help this young woman out.

Rumpole said...

clean it up, a bit. Post removed,

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THIRD DCA APPOINTMENT...

There are now only two days left to submit your application if you intend to apply for the 3rd DCA vacancy.

Word on the street is that Reyes is NOT applying, Pereyra Shuminer MAY, and Emas IS applying. Hanzman still looking like early tournament favorite.

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

Anonymous said...

Captain did Judge Mark King Leban apply for the 3rd DCA and if he did how can I help get him selected? Can I write letters to the Gov or JNC members?

Advise on how I can help.

Anonymous said...

Kryptos

Anonymous said...

Do you want Leban in the 3rd DCA because he deserves it or just to get him out of circuit court?

Anonymous said...

No one is half-Jewish. If his mother is Jewish, so is he. If not, he is not. Simple, eh?

Anonymous said...

Just read this off the Broward Blog...thought it sounded nuts:
DEFENDANT ZAPPED
Lots of buzz around the courthouse today after deputies tased a defendant in Judge Siegel. By all acounts it was a pretty gruesome sight. It's my understanding that the defendant was being sentenced after being found in violation after a FVOP Hearing containing a new law violation. The guy was supposedly upset after getting 4 years (I believe he scored discretionary and sent to final before being able to try the new case, which he thought he could beat), and the armed deputy tased him after he kept professing his innocence in a more and more aggressive way. I also believe he was in leg and arm shackles at the time of the tasing, and may have even still been cuffed to the chair they were trying to remove him from (which he fell back into after the shock), but that's just what I hear, so don't hang me out to dry if I got any of this wrong.

Another day in Broward County!

Anonymous said...

BATMAN GET YOUR FACTS CORRECT

You cannot seek a default when an answer is filed stating that no moneys are owed the landlord. THATS WHAT HAPPENED HERE.

In fact the Clerk issued a order denying the landlord a default (SEE LINK)

http://www.courthousescandal.com/clerks%20order%20deny%20default.pdf

Because the tenant filed an answer in the court stating no moneys where owed. The clerk knew the law and denied a default. What does landlord do filed ex-parte motions to vacate the Clerks order denying the default. THE CLERK WAS CORRECT.

In fact the tenant went a step further and filed a document titled all tenants known and unknown have vacated the property and asking judge king to hold a hearing to determine remaining issue of legal fees owed to landlord. (The tenant was a young guy starting his first business and he lost everything because of poor business and he wanted to make good to the landlord and tried to settle but the landlord wanted the next 3 years of rent total of over $60-K.)

What happened is the Judge struck the answer of the tenant regards money judgment even though 20 days had not even passed from the filing date of the complaint.

Lets be clear no judge in Florida can issue money judgements without affording the tenant/defendant the 20 days to answer etc. Yes under landlord tenant laws rent money must be paided into the court registry as to the eviction portion of the complaint but this complaint and the actions of the landlords counsel went further because he sought and illegally got a default on a $60-K money judgement striking the tenants answer and defaulting one individual who has never been served to this day and has not been in the United States for over 2 yrs.

Add the fact that prior to filing the eviction proceeding the landlord accpted and never returned a check for 2 months rent but still claimed these monies in the complaint. Under Florida law taking rent money is grounds for dismissal of the complaint because in Florida you cant take part of the rent and still seek eviction.

If we where talking only about eviction Judge Lawrence King would still be wrong but not as grossly as he is in this case because the landlord was seeking illegal ex-parte defaults on money judgements for accelerated rent that he never pled in the four corners of the complaint.

Bottom line is that Judge lawrence King was observed having ex-parte discussions with his buddies and he even reversed himself in a rehearing order (click the link to see):

http://www.courthousescandal.com/order%20grant%20rehearing.pdf

ALSO SEE THAT HEAD CLERK AT THE CORAL GABLES COURT DENIED A DEFAULT BECAUSE THE ANSWER WAS FILED CONTESTING RENT DUE (SEE PDF LINK):

http://www.courthousescandal.com/clerks%20order%20deny%20default.pdf

I know this defendant and he is a good guy who made some mistakes in his first business venture and tried to simply pay these guys all the monies he owed them but they wanted $60-K in accelerated rent that was never asked for in the lawsuit.

Anonymous said...

I dont understand? A defendant was professing his innocence in Broward County and got tazed.

What's the story?

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

TO 9:49 PM .....

The Third District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission members are:

Gerald B. Wald, Chairman
Marcos D. Jimenez, Vice-Chairman
Ramon A. Abadin
Jeffrey S. Bass
Matias R. Dorta
Hector J. Lombana
Peter Prieto
Thomas R. Spencer
Marielena Villamil

The Commission will conduct their interviews and then recommend up to six names to the Gov. for consideration. The Gov. will personally interview each of the six nominees and then choose one.

You can send you comments to Chairman Wald personally along with eight copies (for the other eight members of the Commission) to:

GERALD WALD, ESQ.
Murai Wald Biondo Moreno & Brochin
2 Alhambra Plz Ph 1B
Coral Gables Florida 331345237

Phone: 305.4440101
Fax: 305.4440174
E-Mail: gwald@mwbm.com

You are also encouraged to contact each of the other eight Members personally if you desire. You can be sure that there will be many people bending the ears of many of the Members; so why not you too.

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

Anonymous said...

Can we write anonymous letters?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Captain did Judge Mark King Leban apply for the 3rd DCA ?

If so I will write to the JNC because he deserves to be on that Court. Leban is one of the brightest legal minds in Miami-Dade County.

I wish Judge P would apply I would support him too.

Anonymous said...

IT WAS TOTALLY INVISIBLE. HOW'S THAT POSSIBLE? THEY USED THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD. X THE INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AND TRANSMITTED UNDERGRUUND TO AN UNKNOWN LOCATION. X DOES LANGLEY KNOW ABOUT THIS? THEY SHOULD. IT'S BURIED OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. X WHO KNOWS THE EXACT LOCATION? ONLY WW. THIS WAS HIS LAST MESSAGE. X THIRTY-EIGHT DEGREES FIFTY-SEVEN MINUTES SIX POINT FIVE SECONDS NORTH. SEVENTY-SEVEN DEGREES EIGHT MINUTES FORTY-FOUR SECONDS WEST. X LAYER TWO.

And here I was trying to ID by rows...

Anonymous said...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Former NBA player Micheal Ray Richardson was suspended by the Continental Basketball Association on Wednesday for anti-Semitic comments the Albany Patroons' coach made in a newspaper interview.

Richardson will miss the rest of the CBA's best-of-five championship series after he told The Albany Times Union that he had "big-time Jew lawyers" working for him.
"They got a lot of power in this world, you know what I mean? Which I think is great," Richardson told The Times Union on Tuesday. "I don't think there's nothing wrong with it. If you look in most professional sports, they're run by Jewish people. If you look at a lot of most successful corporations and stuff, more businesses, they're run by Jewish. It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people."

Anonymous said...

How come he didn't mention the banks?

Anonymous said...

Why would they suspend him for that? Is it not true that those institutions that he mentioned have much larger jewish representation than the percentage of jews in the overall population? WTF.

Anonymous said...

what an idiot, he could of come on this blog and said it anonymously and no one would have ever found out, well, almost no one.

Anonymous said...

"It's not a knock, but they are some crafty people."

priceless

Anonymous said...

As a Jew, I think that Richardson's comments are good PR. Reinstate him!

Anonymous said...

crafty is a lot better than most things we yids have been called.

i'll take crafty any day,

btw, red auerbach, a member of the tribe did more for blacks in the nba than anyone.

Rumpole said...

no reprinting full texts of articles

Rumpole said...

Please be advised that I have been quite clear in stating that If appointed to the Third DCA or any higher court, I would reveal my identity. Now if that's not sufficient to get the governor on my side, I don't know what is.

Anonymous said...

Did anybody hear about the woman who was sentenced to ten years by Judge Ana Gardiner (Broward) for driving with a suspended license?
Judge Gardiner is full of herself. On top of that, her intellect is sorely lacking. She should be thrown off the bench for trampling all over defendants' rights on a daily basis. She's worse than Aleman and O'Connor put together.

Anonymous said...

If the Q aplies to the 3rd DCA, the whispers in Tallahassee are that it's his seat if he wants it.

Would love to see an opinon just signed, "Q".

Anonymous said...

"Q" on the 3d DCA? God help us

Anonymous said...

OMG now that I see it it all seems so apparaent and simple. Rumpole is Eric Courtney!!! How could I have missed that???

Anonymous said...

A tenant who doesn't put money in the registry of the court waives all defenses except for the defense of payment, so, in this case, since payment was the only defense, no money had to be deposited and the default should not have been entered.

Anonymous said...

5:50 PM would you please restate that because I dont think BATMAN heard you.

Thats what the guy yesterday was saying. This is NOT rocketsceince stuff here.

www.courthousescandal.com

Anonymous said...

I almost don't want the Attorney General to resign now after seeing the filet job that Senators Shummer and Kohl did on Kyle Sampson. These guys must be licking their lips and sharpening their knives at the prospect of being able to turn the tables on the barely coherent Torture Boy while he is under oath.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Kyle Sampson part of the Republican Goon Squad that tried to shut down the election recount and chased me out of the County Building in 2000? And how did some Mormon punk who tried a grand total of one case in his legal career get to be chief assistant to the Attorney General and the man in charge of firing U.S.A.s across the country?

Anonymous said...

Zapped?
At least the dude got a buzz. Did the guy have a bad record or anything? Rick Sanchez did it to himself on CNN... One of best clips ever. Next to the person he clipped. Sick that guy has a job.

Anonymous said...

Good slideshow of Rick's assignments over at CNN. Unfortunately, they leave out the one with him getting tasered and screaming like a schoolgirl. I disagree with the ending. He's done plenty to deserve these assignments.

enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orfp39EJdso

Fake Peter Adrien said...

First of all please see §83.232 Florida Statutes, because commercial tenancies are different than residential. If an answer interposing payment as a defense were filed Tenant must file a motion to determine what, if any, amount should be placed in the registry.

Failure of the tenant to pay the rent into the court registy shall be deemed an absolute waiver of the tenant's defenses and the landlord is entitled to "an immediate default for possession without further notice or hearing thereon." In case you non-lawyers don't understand, that means EX PARTE.

No answer alleging payment was ever filed. The appeal as filed does not allege that the default was improper based upon an allegation of payment. The record shows the tenant did not ask for a hearing to determine the amount to be paid into the court registry and in fact Tenant admitted non-payment and vactated the premises. (Tenant later alleged that he made a late payment by way of a check that the landlord did not cash knowing that it would waive its right to seek eviction.) Based upon this admission and the failure to follow proper procedure the court was justified in entering a default and final judgment for posssession.

As to the money damage issue, it may well be that the court erred. Believe it or not judges do that sometimes. That does not make them evil or bad judges. It means that is why we have appellate courts.

I will repeat what I have said at the end of every response - all of this was set in motion by a dead-beat tenant. Had you paid your rent, paid it on time, this would not have happened. Take some responsibility for your own failures. Stop blaming the court system, or even a single judge, for your troubles.

By the way, could I have the location of those premises, I may wish to relocate the Batcave and it appears there is a vacancy.

Anonymous said...

Rompole is either:

Bennet Brummer

or

Roy Black

Mark my words.

Calvo

Anonymous said...

batman you defend the Judge for making a judgment for money as a mistake and not a evil person. So is the tenant he made a business mistake as a young man who tried his first business venture and failed. Yes a mistake. he vanated the premises and told the court he did and asked for a fair hearing to determine the legal fees he owed the landlord. Simply a honest guy who ran into bad time with money. The Judge holds a hearing and for the first time the landlord orally ask for accelerated rent of $60,000.00 which was never pled in the papers or filings with the court. Had the landlord pled this the tenant would have stayed in the premises and paid the money in the registry and fought eviction. Since all the landlord wanted was past due rent and legal cost the tenant decided that the best way out of a horrible situation was to leave and pay the landlord what he demanded in the complaint.

Now Judge King says different and will not after default allow for oral motion for accellerated rent of $60-K well thats just not right.

Ps. I am not any of the parties just someone upset that this happened to a young very honest person who wanted to pay the landlord all that they asked for in the four corners of the complaint.

Again you say the judge makes mistakes but you dont say the same for a young honest tenant who could not pay rent because his business went down the tubes.