Thursday, March 27, 2008

WITH THIS PLEA I THEE WED

The following is a transcript from Judge Spencer Eig’s division. (Welcome to the blog Judge Eig) Some of the names have been removed by Rumpole to protect the innocent. The transcript has been edited in that much of the proceedings have been removed. However, no words have been added. The words below are as they appear in the entire transcript that was emailed to us. The transcript was emailed to us by someone who was NOT a party to this case. We have no idea how or why they obtained this transcript.


CRIMINAL DIVISION JUDGE SPENCER EIG
CASE NO. F07-7312
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Plaintiff,
-vs-
WOODROW STARLING,
Defendant.
The above-entitled case came on for hearing before the Honorable JUDGE SPENCER EIG,
Judge of the above-styled court at the Metropolitan Justice Building, at 1351 Northwest 12th Street, Miami, Florida, 33125, on September 25, 2007…

THE COURT: Good morning to you all.
FAMILY MEMBER: Good morning.
THE COURT: Are you relatives of Mr. Starling?
FAMILY MEMBER: Yes, Sir.
THE COURT: What is your name?
FAMILY MEMBER: My name is
_________. I am his sister. That is my father, ------------, --------his baby's mother and ------- Starling, his baby.
THE COURT: Good morning, Baby. What is your name?
FAMILY MEMBER: ------ --------
THE COURT: Were you and Mr. Starling living together?
FAMILY MEMBER: Yes.
THE COURT: Mr. Starling, were you living with Ms. ----?
THE DEFENDANT: Off and on. We resided together. But the conditions of my probation I had to stay at my father's house, you know.
THE COURT: Is there a special condition of Mr. Starling's probation that he live with his father?...

THE CLERK: No.
THE COURT: Mr. Starling, you are getting old. How old are you?
THE DEFENDANT: 21.
THE COURT: You have child a there.
THE COURT: Is that your child?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes. That was my child… (there is a discussion of the defendant’s other cases and whether there is a stay away order prohibiting the defendant from living with the mother of his child.)
THE COURT: Do you want to get back to go with
Mr. Starling? Or do you want a stay away order or what do you want?
FAMILY MEMBER: No. I don't want A stay away order.
THE COURT: Anyway, Mr. Starling, we have this thing. I don't know how to describe it except for thing that our state and really our own country have established people who show they want to make a commitment to the future and be a productive member of society. This thing is called marriage. Some people all it an institution. They also call it Dade County Jail Institution.
(Rumpole notes, we consider the comparison of jail and marriage to be an apt way of determining the virtues of marriage. And jail for that matter.)
It is not like that. If you indicated to me that you wanted to make a commitment to the future, that you have Ms. --- here and you wanted to make her Mrs. Starling. What is the baby's name?
THE COURT: And make a commitment to this family unit that I am seeing here in front of you, this is something I would place a great deal of respect for. I would release you today, and you know you can come back in the future and deal with whatever issues there are. You would have a lot to bring to the table. Living some place else. This is my baby mama. And this is a very loose relationship that could be here one day and gone tomorrow, you are not bringing anything to the table. I am not trying to force you. You have to enter into marriage voluntarily. And it is something you all need to discuss as a family that that is the best way to proceed. So what I am going to do today is release you on your own recognizance. I am going to temporarily add that you participate in a domestic violence class as a part of your probation. So that whatever occurred in the past, you will start to get the tools to deal with whatever situations raise without getting into trouble for it. And you know and Ms--- and your family can decide what kind of a future that you all want to have together. That is up to you all. We can come back for a charge, and we will see what is going on with that. There is, you know, a lot of people who think they couldn't get married. To get married they have to have money for a house and a big wedding and all of that kind of stuff. It is not true. It is not true at all.
(Rumpole notes that Judge Eig has not been dating the same women we have dated. Money and a big house have EVERYTHING to do with marriage in our milieu.) People can make a commitment to the future and not necessarily have the whole thing all at once, but build it. Build it brick by brick. So we will set the case for report on the affidavit for October 26th. I will ROR you today. We will add the domestic violence referral, as soon as possible. And I wish you and the whole family the best of luck in the future.

Rumpole notes: Good intentions, bad execution. One cannot fault the judge for trying to impose some lifetime wisdom and experience in this matter. Lord knows the problems of absentee fathers has wrecked havoc with this generation of children. The statistics are there, check them out. BUT, there is something just WRONG with a judge releasing someone from jail, holding a probation violation affidavit over their head, telling them to return, and making sure they understand in no uncertain terms how favourably the court would view the nuptials of the defendant and the mother of his child.

There is an element of coercion present for one thing, no matter how much Judge Eig tried to avoid it. For another thing, there is an element of equal protection. Can a Defendant who lives an alternative lifestyle and is gay expect the same fair treatment from a Judge who is family oriented?

Judges who put themselves into the lives of young defendants and require them to finish high school or get a GED, and remain drug and alcohol free are doing great work. And a Judge who made inquiry about child support in a matter similar to this would also be within the bounds of propriety in nudging a defendant to meet their responsibility to their family. But in our view, despite the very best intentions of Judge Eig, we do not think it is proper for a Judge to be encouraging anyone to get married. And while we admit a healthy aversion to the institution of marriage, there are bigger issues at play here beyond our own fears of commitment.


See you in court, and not in a Chapel getting hitched anytime soon.

50 comments:

  1. I can't believe that Roniel Rodriguez would 'anonymously' submit that transcript. He sure will go to extreme lengths to win that judicial election, won't he?


    Signed,
    Denise Martinez-Kobayashi-Pierre-O'Houlihan-Lebowitz-Jones

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  2. That is simply OUTRAGEOUS! Just another reason why Eig is the worst judge in the building! He needs to be shown the door in this summer's election. Let him go back to representing the "Miami relatives."

    PS--Is Marisleysis or whatever the hell her name is married?

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  3. Rump:

    I never thought about it - but did an earlier reader figure something out with the connection between you and my jeopardy question?

    "Horace Peacock" was the answer. I then added a second clue indicating that the term relates to the criminal justice system and someone who is dedicated to it.

    Now someone want to know whether Horace Rumpole and Horace Peacock are somehow related?

    Third clue: Dick Gerstein and Sy Gelber.

    Well ???

    Cap Out ...

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  4. maybe the court should have Eiged the defendant and given him a million dollar bond.

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  5. I think you need to redact the mom's name one more time to protect her privacy. And of course this "marriage mandate" affects more than the defendant; maybe the mother of his child is better off without him....

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  6. Rumpole could you please post this on the main page it is so important!

    Millions of people in Florida and Michigan went to the polls to make their voices heard in the Democratic Presidential primary. They deserve to have their votes count.

    Add your name to show your support for seating the Florida and Michigan delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August.

    Go to this link or click the blue link:

    http://www.hillaryclinton.com/action/flmi/?sc=8

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  7. Puerto Rican Governor Pleads Not Guilty

    AP foreign, Friday March 28 2008 By ANDREW O. SELSKY

    Associated Press Writer

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila pleaded not guilty Friday to corruption charges in an alleged campaign finance scheme and was released on his own recognizance.

    Hundreds of flag-waving supporters turned out to cheer Acevedo when he arrived at the federal courthouse to be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken before appearing in front of a federal magistrate.

    The governor sent a message of gratitude from inside the courthouse to his raucous supporters outside.

    ``We recognize the presence of the outraged Puerto Ricans here in defense of our people,'' he said. ``We give them thanks and respect.''

    The governor, charged with 19 counts that carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted, is the first Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges since the island became a semiautonomous U.S. commonwealth in 1952.

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  8. Sounds more like Judge David Young than Spencer Eig.

    Remember how David made them tell their mother how much they loved her?

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  9. Eig shot the sheriff, but eig didn't shoot the dep-_-tee

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  10. I see that he didn't follow the judge's "advice" as according to the marriage license bureau, he did not get married.

    And, the Affidavit was refiled last month and the case appears to be ongoing.

    Captain Out ....

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  11. If a Judge is so bad, why doesn't a competent attorney file against them. Why are the choices always Gina, Josie and Migda? Guess the qualified lawyers are making too much Mr. green to give it up to be critized, coplained about and publically ridiculed.

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  12. When JOA Joe takes over for Mills Francis, can the blog sign him as an unrestricted free agent, or is he placed into the April Blog draft?

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  13. I am concerned out el Capitan has slipped and fallen and hit his head. I really, truly, have no idea what he is babbling about.

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  14. Dude: 6:pm Friday. I am so outta here.

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  15. 440 the reason no one files against EIg is he has a lifetime seat in this town becuase he was involved in Elian and everyone knows that and he will never lose an election unless he is found to have done a criminal act.

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  16. JOA is an UFA and can be signed at any time.

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  17. Now that we have a pretty strong hint our Rumpy is not married: 1) Rumpole can I go out with you?

    2) Phil is apparently innocent (unless this is all staged)

    3) Fingerhut, Alschuler remain top suspects, with Blecher there as well.

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  18. RUMp the fact that you are not more outraged about this shows what a dirty stinkin hyocrite you are. you and most defense attorneys dont want to criticize the judge too much becuase he gives you guys what you want 90 percent of the time.

    i would love to hear what you would have said if this had been judge rothenberg or judge glick who did this. you would have whipped yourself up into a self rigtheous frenzy.

    this is an abmonination what he did. he should be investigated by the JQC for this. he is basically messing with people's constitutional rights in order to further his far right religous conservative agenda.

    your light condemnation of this affair speaks volumes about the fact that you wont bite the hand that feeds you.

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  19. First of all, like you my dimwitted friend, Eig does not know who I am as I am anonymous. Therefore, I feel completely free to say anything I want about him.

    Second of all- I believe that Eig was coming from a good place. It probably is good for children to come from a full family and not the "baby's momma" "baby's daddy" situation that exists today in much of the lower economic class of our cities. However, what Eig should do is stick to the Judge Rosinek/Will Thomas/David Young model, and encourage young people to get their GED, get a job, get sober, and pay child support. It is one step too far to hold a PVH over someone's head with the comment that a judge will go easier on them if they get married.

    I am anonymous so I can write about any subject without fear of reprisal against me or my client. And I think I have handled the matter and my blog in a very very responsible manner. I have over 700 readers a day- I can and have made national blogs and news- and I am very careful about what is said.

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  20. What is outrageous is whores having babies outside of marriage!

    Having babies with men you aren't married to ought to result in a prison sentence for both partners.

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  21. Rump
    I was the PD handling this. This was not the first nor last time it has happened. Judge Eig believes marrage serves society just like serving in the armed forces, It certainly is almost as dangerous. Just look at the DV stats.
    D. Sisselman
    ps: I DO NOT get all that I want from J. Eig, not even half of what I want. But Eig tries to do the best HE can, atleast in His mind.He and I have argued alot, but He IS NOT EVIL nor inherently mean.

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  22. Rump:

    Are you (were you) a fan of the show "West Wing"?

    Just asking ...

    A Fan

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  23. I am confused. Why is it an issue to run against a sitting judge? Is that not democracy at its best?

    Some people think they own these seats for some odd reason. What gives? Run Forrest, run!

    By the way, please do not let Migna walk to the judiciary. Please make her run a marathon.

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  24. Eig's comments were ridiculous, but it sure is refreshing to see a judge care enough to TRY to do something for someone.

    BTDT

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  25. to 5:59 pm:

    You may want to read my headline post from Monday. You said that Eig has no opposition? Read the post - Eig will now be campaigning all summer trying to hold his seat against Roniel Rodriguez.

    Captain Out ....

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  26. We should all treat Mr. Sisselman's statement with respect. Who better knows a Judge than the PD in court everyday?

    However, Judge Eig should well note that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

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  27. I am wondering...if Judge Eig had a gay or lesbian couple who were in the same situation, would he be promoting marriage? Hmmm....

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  28. I'm confused. If one gets "Eiged" does that mean you got a million dollar bond or that you went to prison for not getting married?

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  29. Is Migna Sanchez llorens slinding in to Circuit Court without opposition?When qualified incumbents are being challenged,how can Ms.Llorens not have opposition.Time is running and someone with true qualifications should file!

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  30. Give Judge Eig a break! Whoever made the post evidently has an agenda and ulterior motive! Eig is learning, he is not harden, he is fair and cares. Perhaps some would prefer the likes of some of the Attila the Huns wanna be we have on the bench; those who seem to have forgotten their roots, and walk in step with the State, totalitarian states are that way, specifically Cuba. I have several cases in Eig’s division, and find his courtroom demeanor courteous and fair. Please, to those who are thinking of running for the bench or challenging a sitting judge because their name is X, Y, or Z I have an observation to offer. If you are a seasoned and experienced trial lawyer, not only an experienced prosecutor, but a lawyer who knows and appreciates what we go through in both the business and professional sides of running a practice, go for it, run for the bench, we welcome an experienced member of our ranks on the bench, provided they remember from where they came; but if you lack the grey hairs that come with the experience, go back to the trenches and gain the experience, both in law and life, only then will you will do us proud and serve us all! However, those who run on ethnicity, gender, or creed, without the necessary life and professional experiences, and those who ascend to the bench only to forsake their roots and embrace the State, do us all a disservice. So to all (those now on the bench and those aspiring) I say, look in the mirror and reflect - - - do u have what it takes or have you lost your direction!

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  31. Fingerhut isn't Rumpole.

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  32. Ahhh... but as our dear Rumpole says, "think outside the box." Is Rumpole Fingerhut???

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  33. rump i am the person you called dimwitted and the only dim wit is you.

    what i am saying is that eig like most judges read this blog and you (whether you are anonymous or not, I actually know who you are but your secret is safe with me)dont want to come down too hard on eig becuase for the most part he gives away the courthouse to those defendant's who adhere to his fundamentalist taliban like dictates. and you as a drity stinking hypcrite defense attorney dont want to mess with program that is good for your clients.

    can you honestly look in the mirror and say that if leslie rotheberg had done this when she was a cricuit court judge that you wouldnt have been more outraged.

    sorry call me a flaming liberal but i think it is illegal and unconsionable that a person's marital status should have anything to do with wheether they get abond on a pvh or not.

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  34. Saturday, March 29, 2008 9:10:00 AM

    No the situation would be a choice of top or bottom.

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  35. Eig should sell t shirts that say :

    EIG GOT MARRIED

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  36. Relax. Migna is not sliding under the radar. She will not get an uncontested seat. Someone will put in soon.

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  37. Guess who changed his name on the Florida bar?

    Remember Judge Leifmans opposition the holy trinity tour guy Juan F. Gonzalez. Look's like he changed his name to Juan Dejesus Gonzalez.

    No bull check the Florida bar web site his office address is the same except now he wants to be Dejesus. Whom now why would that be.

    Hey you that clown who ran for Judge?

    No fool I am Dejesus check the news clips its not me.

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  38. What's the diffrence between a Shumie Do and a Lurvey Loo?

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  39. While I do no know him well, a "Shumie Do" most likely refers to the tonsorial choices of Shumie, while a "Lurvey Loo" most definately refers to the secret bathroom on the thrid floor favored by Lurvey and his crew.

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  40. Blog GM: what exactly are the rules as to who is drafted and who can be signed by the blogs?

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  41. What a fregging moron. Juan De Jesus Gonzalez is another attorney you insensitive failure for a Westlaw Lawyer.

    This is what is wrong with the majority of establishment lawyers. To racist.

    I cannot wait until 2012 so that Juan Gonzalez runs again against Mr. Part-Time Judge Leifman.

    Hey, is Laura Millan still selling perfumes from Chambers?

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  42. Rumpole, you are a Fucking Asshole.

    On this day of this, I thought I let you know.

    Why? Because this is a great day in my life and that of many and you Mr. are going to regret this blog. I guarantee this. If it takes one day, one year or my whole life, when I know who you are it will be poverty for you. I really hope you are not married and own no assets because if you do, your family will suffer. Yes, you have put them in grave risk. Idiot.

    Consider yourself warned and foretold of the Rumpole Prophecy.

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  43. It is better to marry than to burn.

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  44. You are wrong 11:44. Juan DeJesus Gonzalez is not the nutjob that ran against Judge Leifman. Juan "D" is always jovial, gravely voiced, lovable Juan we all know and love

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  45. It is this exact situation that makes me cringe when we keep people like Pando on the bench. Or when we put future judges like Mario Garcia, Manny Segarra, Denise Martinez Cohen Schwartz Blake Bailey O'Brien Hazzan Sharif.

    We as a community of attorneys must stand up and support those who are qualified. We must not make judgments and say, well Hendon did not take my case early or he ruled against me so I am going to vote for his competition or I did not like Stacy Glick when she was an ASA so I am going to vote for her competition.

    We need to vote for the best candidate, not the person we do not know, but do not dislike (YET).

    So lets go out and make sure Segarra, the five named witch, and the likes of Mario do not get to wear black, except at a funeral!

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  46. 11:44 - you've been drinking too much on a Saturday evening. There is a Juan F and a Juan Dejesus and they are two dofferent people. Juan F. was the opponent.

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  47. 11:44, whatever you ingested before writing your post must be illegal.

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  48. What struck me is that the bride-to-be was not asked her opinion of this proposal.

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