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.

Monday, September 24, 2007

FIDA

No it’s not a secret Masonic organization.
Nor is it the female version of Fido, your local neighborhood mutt.
It may well be Joe George and his Rockettes worst nightmare.

We requested an email on FIDA, and here is what we got, which we have edited:


FIDA, inc. or Forida Indigent Defense Association is a non profit organization dedicated to defeating SB 1088. Also affiliated with FIDA is a CCE or a committee of continuous existence called "Alliance For Legal Reform." Both organizations have been raising money for the singular purpose of getting things back to the way they used to be vis a vis the court appointment system. To date, we have raised around $30, 000.00. FIDA’s philosophy is that the best way to influence the process is to become part of the political process. To that end FIDA has hired lobbyists to advance our case. The firm we hired is called the "Barretto Group." Brian May, one of the partners, was Dade Mayor Pinellas' chief of staff for 8 years. Part one of the plan advanced by May and FIDA was to get the county attorney to cut funding for the ROC offices. This just happened last week. Part two is to get the County Commission to sue the state since SB 1088 requires the County to pay for elements of the conflict office notwithstanding article 5 which reserves such costs for the state. We also have a lobbyist working the Broward County Commission for the same goals. Step Three is to work the legislature once the law suit is filed. The Legislature does not have the highest respect or concern for criminal defense attorneys or our clients. FIDA believes that the reason this whole problem occurred is that criminal defense attorneys have never played the game- lobbying Tallahassee to make sure that the money in the budget for criminal appointments would remain.

Currently FIDA is paying the Barretto group $7,000.00 per month. Attorneys have given up to $3,000.00 but the average donation has been around $1,500.00. FIDA needs to raise around $250,000.00 per year to become major players.

Criminal Defense Attorneys who want to help should send checks
payable to FIDA
to 777 Brickell Avenue
Suite 400
Miami, Florida, 33131

Rumpole says: It seems simple- you want to get your money out of Tallahassee? Pay up and play the game.


This is a fantastic NY Times Sunday Magazine article on

Justice John Paul Stevens
, who it turns out, spends half of the court’s term working out of his condo right here in South Florida.

We highly recommend the article.

Suicide Pool: Everyone except 52nd Street Irwin remains alive for week 4.

Football: Cowpokes redeemed us. Pulling out a tougher than expected 34-10 win. Bears are showing that in this day and age you need more than a very good defense to win. Bears played the Boys even at 3-3 and then 10-10 through 3 quarters, but with the rules slanting towards the offense, the Belichick philosophy that you need an offense to win a shootout to be successful in the NFL appears to be true. Bears just could not shut out a top quality offense for a full game. Rumpole improves to 3 wins (Fins/Jets Over; Cowboys; and the upset we called- Packers the underdog win outright: if you followed our advice and shunned the points for the money line, 100 got you 215 in return.)

We are not counting our "win" with the Texans and the points because we later backed away from that after the Texans announced that Ron Dayne would not play. We had two ties- Jets -3 and Seahawks -3, and one loss: Jax upset the Broncos in Denver. 3-1 makes money every time.


See You In Court.

60 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rumpole,
Do you actually think this can work? I need the wheel money.

Anonymous said...

thanks rump, good picks,

Anonymous said...

Is FIDA having any meetings upcoming so I can hear about this from someone from their group?

Who are the ringleaders?

Hilda said...

Cleveland Indians - AL Central Division Champs!!

Let's not forget about baseball.

Anonymous said...

Yes it can work. But we need the older wheel (death penalty) attorneys who have been handsomely rewarded over the years (lawyers typically make 50k per death case)
to play ball and kick in some
contributions. Some of these death
wheel attorneys have already donated (Fleisher, Markus, Kaiser &
Moss to name a few), but the rest of you all are really disappointing the new generation.

What is losing a thousand bucks gonna do to your practice? Nothing.
What can giving a thousand bucks do for all of us - keep the wheel
in place for years to come.

The reality is that all groups who receive state money or contracts have to lobby and so now we have
finally realized that we are in the same boat as them. We are not
entitled to this wheel money. We
have to show the legislature our
value and why they should keep the system in place.

Anonymous said...

very well put 12:13. fida and facdl are doing a great job on the issue. keep it up and my check is in the mail.

nice pics rump.

all i need now is a book to place my bets.

Rumpole said...

52nd Street Irwin is semi-retired (read on probation) so I can't refer you to any book. Aren't on line books available? I think you need to western union your money to them, but then you are up and running. From what I hear.

Anonymous said...

Rump to clairfy a posting yesterday, Veridicto Final did have 50 cent's song "yo gangsta" as a theme song, not the song from NWA. But it is true they have switched to 1-2-3-4 tell me why I love you more. Hope this clear things up.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I heard there was action here so I came over from some lame Miami Beach legal blog. Lets get something going or I'm outta here.

Anonymous said...

jepaway gave 2.5
terry L gave 2.5
and they try death cases also

Anonymous said...

Just settle down. No one get crazy now.

Anonymous said...

UAW STRIKES GM

BREAKING BLOG NEWS

FIGHT THE POWER BABY

Anonymous said...

Norma Lindsay,....What a cluster F that division is! Is she running again? I tender the floor.

Anonymous said...

Rump- let me see if I can explain to your readers the difference between an 0-3 team and a 3-0 team.

The Dolphins, an 0-3 team, draft Ted Ginn at number 9, as a kick returner, wide receiver (and as Cam Cameron said- the dolphins didn't just get Ted- they got his whole family). To date, Ginn has caught 1 or 2 passes, and not done much retruning kicks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, at the end of pre-season had a hole in their kick return game. They traded a sixth round pick next year for a returner who yesterday took one to the house for a TD in the first quarter.

Dolphins spend a first round number 9 on a kick returner (injured yet) Steelers spend a 6th round pick next year for a returner who already has a TD.

See the problem here?

Oh, and when the Steelers drafted 11th a few years ago, they picked Ben Roethlisberger. When they drafted 16th the year before Big ben, they nabbed Troy Polamalu. You gotta make those first rounders count. Anybody seen Jason Allen (last years fins number 1) lately?

But as Cam said, the Dolphins got Ginn's whole family. Maybe the problem is that Ginn's mom is having trouble with blitz pick-up audibles. Something is wrong in Davie.

Your readers know who I am.

Anonymous said...

Courts told to expect a 4.2 percent budget cut
-The Florida Bar News, September 15, 2007

FIDA seeks increase in state dollars to bring back indigent defense wheel
-Justice Building Blog, September 24, 2007.

Pissing into wind fruitless, inadvisable.
- Ancient Kazakh saying.

Rumpole said...

It doesn't get any better than 3:40's comment.

Anonymous said...

3:40pm, you are totally wrong. We are not asking for more $. We are letting the politicos know that opening a new govt-run office is going to be alot! more expensive than the wheel.

We will advocate changes to the wheel to keep costs down-I won't bore you with all the minute details, but we have hired folks to run the numbers and we will save $.

Don't player hate!

Join the fight.

Anonymous said...

I hereby announce the CBBSB
The Committee to Bring Back Sleepy Brummy.

Bring back the sleeper. NOW.

Anonymous said...

He's sleepy and he's snoozy
he's all together woozy
snoozing in his parked car after drinking a floosie

He's sleepy Bennett B!!!

Anonymous said...

Vanilla Wade strikes again, Rump.

Get on the train now. In 3 weeks, 5-0 Dallas v. 5-0 NE-- until then....next week-Dallas 37, STL 14.

Vanilla can win the BIG ONE. Just give him a chance. Remember my Joe Torre analogy--right on point--a laid-back manager with a so-so rep takes over a talented team that had become tired of a hard-charging leader. (Buck Showalter--Bill Parcells).

After week 6, you WILL apologize. Until then, just bet the 'Boys and collect the $ and keep your mouth closed.

Anonymous said...

i suggest u bottom feeders who need the wheel to make a living form a new collition. the BFU. stands for BOTTOM FEEDERS UNITE. what a sad bunch of attorneys who need to get appointed to represent the despickable criminals to have a paycheck.

Rumpole said...

Somebody doesn't like somebody's hair piece. However, to get more specific would violate blog rules- so I did not post it.

Rumpole said...

When he hoisting the super bowl trophy drenched in champagne, I will apologize. Until then I stand by my view of Mr. Phillips. And lets remember, much like Mike Tomlin, he's doing it with some other guy's guys. Lets see him put together a few solid drafts, deal with free agency and the salary cap, etc., before we put him in the hall of fame for coaches.

I could coach the current NE Cheaters with the people they now have. (Run, run, throw to Moss).

Anonymous said...

I'm talkin 'bout now, Rumpy. Fuck a draft, putting team together, etc. NOW is my time!!

And Vanilla will put that 6th ring on me.

One for the left hand!

Anonymous said...

Today in Cambodia, police arrested Nuon Chea, member of the Khmer Rouge regime, responsible for 1 million deaths between '75 and '79.

Do you think he'll have trouble finding a defense attorney?

Anonymous said...

Rumpole - the way you hate the Pats is quite juvenile. We are quite simply the team of the decade. Like the Steelers of the
70's, the Niner's of the 80's and
the Cowboy's of the 90's. Now
you have the Patriot's of the
00's. We were the best team in the league long before we acquired
Senor Moss. We were the second best team in the league last year
with CFL wide receivers. Please
stop your nonsense. Three rings
baby! When was the last time your
team was in contention in December let alone Janaury?
CD

Anonymous said...

4:25 wrote: "We will advocate changes to the wheel to keep costs down-I won't bore you with all the minute details, but we have hired folks to run the numbers and we will save $."

Actually go ahead and bore me with the details. l'm really curious what FIDA is going to come up with that it didn't get around to advocating 6 months ago.

But before I turn over the floor, let's revisit the magnitude of the problem... the wheel was costing $90 million. The new system is budgeted for $50 million AND it's supposed to handle dependency cases. So... what is FIDA going to propose for $50 million? How can you credibly argue that there was $40 million in fat from the system?

Rumpole said...

CD I don't hate the cheaters. I despise them and their fat little cheating coach. He cheats on his wife and he cheats on the NFL. I hate their fancy pants pretty boy QB, but I love the fact his "baby momma" named their kid with the initials JET. Serves him right.
I think the Cheaters should have been banned from the NFL this year, and be forced to forgo their draft picks for the next few years, and required to hire and start any player drafted by the Dolphins.

They are phonies. They are cheaters. They have no guts, and I hope some team like the Colts torches them in the Playoffs or the Steelers beats them black and blue and they run crying home to their 2 bit red sox loving cheater fans.

There. Now you know how I really feel.

Anonymous said...

May it please the court.

The Q on behalf of Nuon Chea, counsel for the defense.

Rumpole said...

This is Stephen Millan. It is with a sad and heavy heart that I am writing to you to announce the passing of George Slattery Sr.

I was contacted by Alan Young from George's office and asked to pass this information along. The viewing and services will be held at : Fred Hunterac Funeral Home, 2401 South University Drive, Davie, FL 33324. (phone 954-527-1550) There will be a viewing on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 from 1:30p.m. to 3:30p.m. and from 7:00p.m. to 9:00p.m. Services will be on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at 11:00a.m. If you need any further information, Alan can be reached at 305-592-7917 or on his cell 305-970-3395. George was a rare breed and a stand-up guy. Most of all he was a good friend. I ask Rumpole if you could post this so that the larger legal community is aware of his passing and can pay their respects to his family and honor his memory.

Anonymous said...

"Actually go ahead and bore me with the details. l'm really curious what FIDA is going to come up with that it didn't get around to advocating 6 months ago."

Lets not makes this about fida vs. facdl. we should work together.

and your numbers are way off! it's a fight over about 10 million dollars.

Rumpole said...

While I'm at it. I despise that lousy sticky grey hooded sweat shirt that weasly cheating head coach wears. I despise the cheaters owner and those crappy remmington shavers he sells. They're pieces of crap. I despise Randy Moss, just because. I despise Teddy Bruschi and his false bravado from returing to the NFL from a stoke and making a big deal of it. Real tough guy--wow wow. Players get hurt and play hurt every day. Lets see him play while having a stroke. Then I'll be impressed. I'm sure I'll be thinking of things all night.

Anonymous said...

Shumie's foam party at Mansion for debut of Halo 3 on for tomorrow night.

Anonymous said...

I was having a crappy day and low n b hold the JBB gets me back into a good mood. Just love the fight about geting the $90 million in tax waste back for the low life bottom feeders.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

I must admit, that I know nothing about football and had to ask my law partner about these betting numbers.

Having said that, it appears that, after three weeks, using a $100 bet per game, and following Rumpole's picks, you would be in the plus column to the tune of $555.

On the Election front, one month removed from my initial column, and eleven months to election week and still no word from seven Circuit Court incumbents and two County Court incumbents. They are:

001 Fernandez, Ivan F.
007 Rodriguez, Jose M.
019 Silver, Roger A.
035 Prescott, Orlando A.
036 Pineiro, Roberto M.
055 Cohen, Jeri Beth
057 Shapiro, Bernard S.

016 Figarola, Rosa C.
030 Miranda, Cristina

Will they or won't they re-up for another six years? I'll be watching and also waiting until Sunday so I can see Rumpole's prognostications.

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

Anonymous said...

8:11 wrote: "your numbers are way off! it's a fight over about 10 million dollars."

Please educate me about the numbers. Given that the most widely quoted numbers are those in the Florida Bar News, I'd be very interested in the "real" numbers.

But let's accept that the fight is over 10 million dollars. The ROC budget is 50 million. Ten million dollars is a 20% increase. Given that we're cutting 4.25% from the court budget, does anyone really expect the Florida Republicans to actually support a 10 million dollar funding increase so we can return to the wheel? No and hell no.

The ROC might be a stupid idea, doomed to failure and guaranteed to spread injustice, but a political campaign against it, at this juncture, is doomed to failure.

Anonymous said...

Cohen is too busy proving she is a MORON in a custody case to bother to file.

Unfortunately, someone will remind her.

Anonymous said...

Dear 7:16pm, FIDA AND FACDL are not the same--FIDA is dedicated solely to defending the PCAC wheel. FIDA just begun--6 months ago, none of us knew what was coming. Once it came, we started FIDA.

AS for the numbers, if all counties used the Dade County system of billing (under the old wheel, each district could create their own billing), you'd have about 8 million in savings a yr. Other counties, particularly Broward were the main cause of the cost overruns.The legislature tore up the system to save 10 mil. so, right there, we get pretty close.

Regardless, when do govt-run operations EVER come in at their assigned dollar cost??

Anonymous said...

Re Teddy Bruschi: I always wondered how a seemingly healthy, drug free professional athlete in his mid to late 20s could get a stroke anyway. Maybe he really wasn't drug free, and the Patriot's cheating ways included certain special "enhancement treatments" by the team doctor (who I believe used to help train the East German women's Olympic swim team). Given the recently revealed facts, does anybody doubt that this could be the case?

Anonymous said...

Is Leifman still working part-time?

Anonymous said...

I'm sure people have heard about the Hialeah PD's new policy of a quota of three arrests per month. This is great fodder for cross-examination. Can you imagine the cross?

Sir, you knew you had to make three arrests per month, correct?

Up to that point, you had only had two arrests, correct?

And it was the last day of the month, correct?

The arrest of my client fulfilled your quota, correct?

Then you just start calling him an asshole as he sits on the stand

Anonymous said...

FIDA
President Joel Denaro
Vice President Tony Moss
Secretary Sabrina Puglisi
Treasurer Frank Miranda

Anonymous said...

I would propose getting rid of juvenile depositions altogether.

I would also propose getting rid
of depositions on all third degree
felonies except when the defendant
is noticed with being a HO, HVO,
PRRP or GORT.

I would propose a unified system of
billing throughout the state. All
circuits should use the Miami-Dade
County system. Under the old system in Broward a PCAC could make
5k or more for pleaing out a client with 5 open felonies. We would also have to agree that in those situations where a client has
5 open cases, we would only bill once for our actual time instead of billing each case separately.

These are a few ideas that are being tossed around that would save
the State money.

FIDA contributor

Anonymous said...

sleepy is coming back...

Anonymous said...

I am so excited about ms. cinnamon's run for office. Just a few last questions.

1) When was the last time she worked in private practice.
2) When was the last time she represented a client on a motion. 3) Who did she work for in private practice?
4) Why did she leave?
5) When did she ever try a civil case?
6) When did she ever try a criminal case?
7) She's a public employee... what's she making now?
8) When she's forced to retire will her current supervisees keep quiet about her abilities?

Anonymous said...

tou said: "The ROC might be a stupid idea, doomed to failure and guaranteed to spread injustice, but a political campaign against it, at this juncture, is doomed to failure."

i say: you sir are a fool! if fida is doomed to failure, why did the counties put the hex on the funds that rumpole posted about last week?? those funds are kinda important for your future want to be boss, Mr. George.

people like you talk but never act.

Anonymous said...

To 9:07
Working with Abby Cynamon all these years and you still can't spell her name correctly? Tsk Tsk! Obviously you don't know her well enough to post such a vindictive pile of crap. Go back to badly researching cases! And don't bother to accuse me of being Abby. It won't hunt!

Anonymous said...

10:48 wrote: if all counties used the Dade County system of billing ..., you'd have about 8 million in savings a yr. Other counties, particularly Broward were the main cause of the cost overruns.The legislature tore up the system to save 10 mil. so, right there, we get pretty close.

If you can't answer the question, don't. I asked for an explanation of how FIDA was going to turn a 90 million dollar system (the old wheel) into a 50 million dollar system that could compete with the ROC. You haven't. It doesn't seem you can. Does that mean I'm against the wheel? No. It means your argument sucks. Get a better one or get laughed out of the capitol.

Convincing the legislature to spend more money on indigent defense is like arguing against death in the Lunsford case. A noble effort, yes, but we all know the result.

Am I always this pessimistic? Absolutely not... but with an all Republican government in Tallahassee facing a massive budget shortfall, FIDA might as well save its powder.

Anonymous said...

Captain which Cicuit and County court Judges have opposition and who will get potential opposition.

I hear the Trinity klan will be back.

Anonymous said...

The naysayers and doubters need to wake up-the opening of the Conflict Offices is far from assured. The $ are not there right now to open it or else Joe George would not have personally lobbied the county commission. And he lost--badly.

Give FIDA a chance-they seem to be on the right track.

Another FIDA contributor

Anonymous said...

to me, curious george is more qualified to run the conflict office then joe george.)

Anonymous said...

I over heard plans for a huge Concert in March of 2008' being promoted by non-other than music insiders from New York who are associated with McGillis.

The info that is supposed to be confidential (nice try) is that the Concert will be to promote McGillis Campaign for Clerk. I also heard that they may try and bring in Obama.

Shhhh..don't tell anyone.

Hilda said...

S-CHIP VETO
This Sunday, the S-CHIP (Federal Aid for Government Insurance *Medicaid* for Children) will expire. The previously approved $35 billion budget increase to renew this spending bill to allow our 6.6 million uninsured children to continue to receive health insurance benefits, will be vetoed by none other than the infamous President Bush. There is a direct correlation in uninsured children and lack of medical care. Let's hope for a stop gap resolution. Congress vs. President Bush continues...

Anonymous said...

Im into the whole Judge Don Cohen for Florida Supreme Court "whisper campaign" and you should be too.

Anonymous said...

Re: Wheel, It is not $90 mil cut down to $50 mil. It is a fight over $10 mil. THAT is the amt the legislature THINKS they are going to save by opening a new bureaucracy.

If you want to hate on the people actually fighting the fight, fine, but at least get your facts right. You were only $30 mil off.

Anonymous said...

3:01:
where are you coming up with your numbers? infact, the pcac system last year spent about 130 million not 90 million like you say. the fight is over about 9 million dollars in total. if you would like, i will prove to you that you are wrong. we did a chapter 119 request last month.

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't really understand this conflict office thing. From what I seem to have read, each office is going to have about 20 attorneys? On salary? If so, how much? And why is this such a bad thing? Are people just upset that they are going to lose the appointment money? Doesn't it mean 20 attorneys will now have full time jobs? Can't the people who use the wheel as a major source of their income apply to be one of the staff conflict attorneys and make a steady salary?

Anonymous said...

JRump what is it about 6-8? There is just one PD hottie with a body after the next. Its getting so I need to go home and take a cold shower after going into Bloom's courtroom. Stop already you guys are killing me.

Rumpole said...

I don't give publicity to lunatics, concert tour be damned. The comment did not go up.

Anonymous said...

uhhUmm excuse me rump 4:12 went up?