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.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION UPDATE .....

One day later than normal, we bring you our next in a series of reports on the contested judicial elections in Miami-Dade County. In Week One, we focused on the only contested County Court race of Lindsay v. Lesperance. Last week we switched our focus to the Circuit Court and the race of Cueto v. Velis. As we reported on May 2, 2008 on this blog, there are nine contested races here in Miami-Dade County; eight in the Circuit Court and one in the County Court. Today, we move to Group 18 of the Circuit Court.

Our goal will be to attempt to provide you with a weekly contest overview and then let you have at it and give us your opinions on why we should or should not vote for a certain candidate.

Group 18 is presently occupied by the retiring Judge Jon Gordon. Vying to replace him are Migna Sanchez-Llorens and Manny Segarra.


MIGNA SANCHEZ-LLORENS .....

"Migna" as she has come to be known on this blog has been here before. In 2006, she ran a hotly contested race against Judge Shelly Schwartz for the seat in Group 27 of the County Court. In a squeaker, Schwartz pulled in 71,057 (51%) votes to Migna’s 67,236 (49%).

Migna was not afraid to spend money in that 2006 race. In total, she spent $215,745 and $185,000 of it was her own money. She and her husband, (a partner at the silk stocking firm of Shutts & Bowen), have the bucks and Manny better be prepared to either raise lots of money or getting lots of exposure in other ways.

Migna graduated from NYU Law School and she has been a member of The Florida Bar for 13 years. Her entire legal career has been spent in public service, as an Assistant with both the Federal PD and the State PD. Prior to becoming an attorney, she spent nine years in the banking industry.

Migna has been very active in Domestic Violence (D.V.) issues. She serves on the Florida Coalition Against DV and the Miami Dade County D.V. Oversight Board.

You can read all about Migna on her web site at migna4judge.com.


MANNY SEGARRA ....

Manny Segarra has been a member of The Florida Bar for 7 years. He graduated from the Univ. Of Illinois Law School. Manny's entire legal carrer has been spent with the State Attorney’s Office. There, he distinguished himself in the DV Unit. For two years, he was the Division Chief of the County Court Domestic Crimes Unit. He also authored the Misdemeanor DV Unit Training Manuel for his office for three years.

Manny has only raised $2,600 as of the last reporting period and has thrown in another $8,550 of his own money. He readily admits that he will not be able to compete with Migna in the money category.

Manny has three "You Tube" style videos running on his website. Check them out at mannysegarra.com.

Manny does note that he has been endorsed by none other than the "Blue Parrot Bar"; (that may be enough to get Rumpole’s endorsement).

Please do your homework on the two candidates. Help out our readers by giving us your comments, pro and con, on each of the candidates.

The election takes place on Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

CAPTAIN OUT .........

78 comments:

Anonymous said...

You forgot to say on this race Captain, "and hold your nose when you make your choice."

Anonymous said...

Rump, we were having a discussion and we both agreed the term "post prandial" is not used enough. Can you help?

Anonymous said...

English

[edit] Etymology

From post- + prandial.

[edit] Pronunciation

IPA: /pəʊst'prændɪəl/

* Audio (US)help, file

[edit] Adjective

postprandial (comparative more postprandial, superlative most postprandial)

Positive
postprandial


Comparative
more postprandial


Superlative
most postprandial

1. after a meal, especially after dinner


Wiktionary

Anonymous said...

This race is clearly a lesser of two evils race. And Migna is clearly the lesser. Manny Segara is an idealouge prosecutor of the worst stripe. Incompetent, vengeful, no sense of justice. Furthermore, the irony of him being a DV chief is that the rumor is that he has had a restraining order filed against him... see here
http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/civil/searchresult.asp?page=1

While I can not confirm that he is the same Manuel Segarra the third, I would ask someone in the know to do the research.

Furthermore, he filmed his video outside of the federal courthouse, where he has never practiced

Anonymous said...

this is the type of crap that runs for state judges??? Wow. We need an appointment system, fast.

Anonymous said...

FOUL!!! I was a "commit" attorney in the misdemeanor domestic violence unit and I can tell you that DV training manual was originally written in 1999 and had a major revision in 2000-2001. It was a collabortive effort with all the "commits" writing the sections. When Manny took over DV that manual had minor revisions done but the biggest revision was that he removed all of the names of the people who had originall written and who made the major revision in 2000-2001. To this day, the training manual is essentially the same. Manny should not take credit for other people's work.

Rumpole said...

You need to cut and paste and summarize long articles- I won't just reprint them here- the one you tried to use was way too long.

Anonymous said...

Rump:

Ali or Frazier?

Chamberlin or Jabbar?

Best pitcher you've seen in baseball?

Montana or Marino?

Jim Brown or Walter Payton?

Migna or Manny?

Anonymous said...

OK, here we go. I worked briefly with Manny. He was incompetent then and I have heard nothing to the contrary now. I went on his website and my opinions of him have only been reinforced. I even heard that he alleged racial discrimination one time because his supervisor gave him a less than flattering evaluation. I don't know Migna...but she's got to be better than Segarra.

Anonymous said...

After further review, the foul called on Candidate Segarra stands. He has taken credit for the work of other people. Fifteen yards and loss of down. Third down.

Anonymous said...

Rump- MIAMI LOVES MIGNA
everybody knows that

and MIGNA LOVES MIAMI

this race is in the bag.

Anonymous said...

According to their websites, Sara Shulevitz must have had trouble deciding between Migna and Manny--she's endorsed both of them.

Anonymous said...

Manny is the single worst lawyer I have ever dealt with in my career. He is rude, completely unreasonable, defines the word "unprofessional", and would be the worst Judge in Dade County history.

It is difficult to conceive that Manny is so clueless as to his reputation among EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, who has ever worked with him that he believes he could honestly win an election.

I don't care who runs against him, I am being serious about this, I cannot think of a worse person to serve as a Judge.

I don't like ripping someone like this, but if you have the cojones to run for Judge, you must realize everything you have ever said or done in this professional setting will come back to haunt or help you.

I second the notion for the appointment system.

Anonymous said...

Chamberlain or Jabbar? Learn your history. Chamberlain ended his career long before Jabbar (or Alcindor back then) reached his zenith. They played against each other but it was never anything meaningful. If you are strictly taling about a difference in style, there is not much there either. Both were dominant offensive centers, great rebounders, and underrated defensively. The only meaningful difference between the two that I can recall is that Chamberlain bedded over 20,000.00 women or so he said.

Anonymous said...

I was a PD in domestic violence at the time that manny was the "chief" of DV. Consequently, migna was my training attorney. One thing I can say for sure is that Migna will be a fair judge to both sides. She will, unlike former ASA's who become judges, be able to sift through the cop's BS and make a proper ruling. You'd better come with case-law though, or she will break your balls. Manny, on the other hand, will be two of the worst things one could be on the bench: stupid and heartless.

Anonymous said...

This is like Hillary complaining that Obama used a speach written by the Gov. of Mass... his national campaing manager.

WHO CARES!

Anonymous said...

the trialmaster does not have any knowledge of either one. however, on paper Migna is the clear choice. good law school, much more life experience than Manny. The trialmaster does not think a 7 yr lawyer in the dv division is sufficent to wear the black robe.

Anonymous said...

These races for Judge this year are most disappointing.

Give me the 1990's when we had such great Judges - Rob Piniero, Marc Schumacher,Scott Silverman, Jonathan Colby, Michael Chavies and Joel Brown - All on the same courthouse floor. All treating lawyers and litigants with respect. All were GREAT trial lawyers before being appointed to the bench as Judges. It is very different today when being in court.

Anonymous said...

Migna is a joke. Everyone at the PD's office knows how unqualified she really is. We thought she would quit the first time when she lost to Judge Schwartz.

Anonymous said...

Anyone can attempt to file for an injuction. The question is whether the judge grants it and whether it has merits. This one apparently did not have merits because it was dismissed.

By the way, it seems that there was a nasty divorce and a child custody battle according to the docket- at least he seems to be a guy who fought for his child.

Anonymous said...

I worked with Manny in DV. He was always fair and objective. His door was always open to all of us new prosecutors when we needed advice on how to try cases, etc. Manny treated everyone with respect and is a very good attorney. I can understand why some defense attorneys who defended wife beaters would not like him.

On the other hand, Migna was a supervisor in the PD's office at the same time. All I can say is that no one likes her. She makes the most unreasonable arguments that simply do not make sense. Judges did not like her because she is was unprofessional.

Anonymous said...

This race is going to be like Hillary vs. Obama. Migna v. Manny, change we can believe in. Sorry Migna, Obama still won, and he is not picking Hillary for VP either. You might have to do it again for the third time.

Anonymous said...

I don't care who runs against Migna, it could be a beer bottle and I would still vote against her. She is the most arrogant and the most unqualified candidate. It is a shame that they let people like her run for judge. if you ever have an opportunity to speak to her for more than 60 seconds, you will understand what i am talking about: ARROGANT, INCOMPETENT, UNQUALIFIED AND UNPROFESSIONAL.

Anonymous said...

I just love the way people blow things out of proportion and like to twist facts.

I was one of the commits (CTA's) in the misdemeanor DV unit at the SAO and I worked on revising the manual. The way that it works is as following: the DV training manual is updated and revised every year because there are always new cases and decisions that affect the domestic violence procedures, arguments, etc. Every year, the DV chief, assistant chief and CTA's get together and assign different portions of the manual to different people. When the manual is revised, the front page will state who worked on it. There are at least 6-8 people who work on it, hence their names will be on the manual. It would be impossible to acknowledge each 6-8 different names from each year because half of the manual would consist of the names. Therefore, the manual that this CTA is talking about not only contained Manny's name, but also the names of all the other people involved. My name got taken off as soon as the next class came in and revised it again, but I did not cry as I received more important recognition as I moved up in the office. Sorry to hear that it hurt you so bad past CTA- but it was 8 years ago, GET OVER IT. Your name will not remain on it, no one even remembers you by now.

Anonymous said...

Norma Lindsey's campaign contributions to Bush, Cheney, Katherine Harris and The Republican Party of Florida.

Nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Can we just move on to the next race. These two seem to be in the same boat: did not raise any money, APD and ASA, lawyers don't like them and they are just not interesting.

I don't care who wins this one, the result will be the same. Next please.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, I started at the State in August 2000 and manny started in the same class. That was 8 years ago, not 7! Rump, you are not paying attention to details!!! Anyway, he is a decent guy, don't listen to everything you hear.

Anonymous said...

You have to give Manny Segarra some credit. At least he did not use his hispanic last name to run against an incumbent with a Jewish last name which probably would have been easier for him. Migna on the other hand ran against an experienced judge who was close to retiring, just because she was banking on the hispanic last name. When Migna lost to judge Schwartz, she decided to try again.

Don't know Manny Segarra but I give him credit for doing the right thing and going into an open seat instead of just running against an incumbent with a jewish or american last name.

Anonymous said...

Manny,

You’re no Obama. Don’t let it go to your head. Also, stop making disparaging comments about your opposition.

Anonymous said...

One thing is for sure, none of the judges like Migna. Just like you attorneys talk about each other, judges talk about you too- with their bailiffs, with JA's and with other Judges. None of the judges respect Migna, especially not the ones in the domestic violence division. In fact, there are two particular judges who banned Migna from practicing and arguing in their courtrooms. Apparently, they called her supervisors and asked them never to allow Migna in their divisions again. Migna is permanently banned from walking into two domestic violence Judges' courtrooms.

Anonymous said...

Manny, that's enough. You have been posting self serving comments from 3:30 pm - 5pm. Get off the blog.

Anonymous said...

There is a rumor that many people who endorsed Migna early on when she had nobody running against her don't know how to get out of it now. Those who made a mistake of agreeing to endorse her before she had ever had an opponent are stuck now and can't get out of it in a nice way. Some of them are helping her opponent on the side.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN RESPONDS:

to 4:51 PM, who stated:

Rumpole, I started at the State in August 2000 and manny started in the same class. That was 8 years ago, not 7! Rump, you are not paying attention to details!!!

YO SOY CAPITAN and I am responsible for the Elections Columns - not Rumpole. If you have any criticism, let me know.

I looked at the Florida Bar website and according to it, Manny was sowrn in on September 20, 2000. I then looked at the qualifying date of May 2, 2008. At that time, he was practicing seven years, not eight. If he wins, and becomes a judge in January, he will have been an attorney for 8 years. I hope that qualifies and corrects any misunderstanding.

So, now, you need to ask yourself the following question: Is Manny Segarra, an attorney who has slightly more than 7 years of experience, all in the Criminal Courts, qualified to sit on the bench in the General Jurisdictional Division, the Family Division, or the Juvenile Division, and when sitting in the Criminal Division, is he qualified to handle a First Degree Murder case and possibly decide whether someone should live or someone should die?

That's the question you and the voters of Miami-Dade County should be asking themselves!

You closed your blogging with the following:

"Anyway, he is a decent guy, don't listen to everything you hear."

Thanks for being a "decent guy", but I don't so much care if he is decent, as much as, is he qualified to handle what I stated above? Is any 7 year attorney truly qualified for those responsibilities? Or is Manny getting in just a little bit over his head?

This is not in any way an endorsement of his opponent. But we seriously need to be asking these types of questions. When is the last time he even read the Rules of Civil Procedure? Does he even know what an Interrogatory is, or a Request For Production, or a Request For Admissions?

There is no guarantee that, if he wins, he will be assigned to the Criminal bench. Just ask Judge Areces how much she knew when she was assigned to the Gerstein Justice Building and how her past legal experience helped her in figuring out what the heck goes on there.

But, hey, Manny is a "decent guy".

CAPTAIN OUT .....

Anonymous said...

I agree with 5:00. It is a fact that some candidates run with their last name and not with their credentials and as long as they have a hispanic last name, they will go against some of the best judges who happen to be jewish. Migda or Migna, whatever your name is, you need a little more than a hispanic last name to run against Judge Schwartz. That litlle more is called experience, integrity and competency!

Anonymous said...

While you may be right captain that 8 years may not be a lot, at least people who come from the State of the PD's office spent all of their time in calendar in front of judges, for at least 2-3 first years. By their second or third year, ASAs and APDs will start trying serious crimes such as murders, etc. There is no doubt that this Migna and Manny got plenty of trials under their belt and most of them are probably very serious cases such as murders, etc. can you say the same things for civil attorneys who do not try 1 case in 8 years? You cannot even say this for criminal defense attorneys- they will never try as many cases as APDs or ASAs- no money, no time. I think that both Migna and Manny have plenty of trial experience - more than some other attorneys who practiced for 20-30 years. It does not come down to experience in years, it comes down to experience in trial quantity.

Anonymous said...

any more news about last weeks resignations at the the pds office?

Anonymous said...

Manny Segarra is the single worst prosecutor in the SAO. He is dumb as rocks, and what's worse, he doesn't have any inkling as to his intellectual limitations. The League of Prosecutors endorsed a career PD (Migna) over Manny. That really says it all.

Anonymous said...

Putting aside whose better or worst, I am worried about the stability of a candidate who does not have the money to finance a race and cannot raise the money. Segarra resigned from the SAO. Where is he getting the money to pay for his consultants, campaign literature, posters, events, etc.?

Anonymous said...

is the public defenders office still taking cases or was that just brummer blowing hard?

Anonymous said...

Rumpole I know you don't want long stories but you have to admit this one deserves the full press!!!

BREAKING NEWS!!

Judicial Elections

Judge’s campaign letter bears names of nonsupporters

A draft letter of support distributed by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jeri Beth Cohen’s re-election campaign lists the names of attorneys who say they have not endorsed her.

The draft letter was circulated to about two dozen prominent attorneys whose support Cohen was seeking. It was sent to everyone on the list and left blanks where the signatures would go. The names included former 3rd District Court of Appeal judge and Cuban American Bar Association co-founder Mario Goderich and prominent black litigator H.T. Smith, who said they have not agreed to endorse Cohen. She is opposed by a Hispanic woman.

Sources say her campaign has also claimed the support of the CABA leaders who have not endorsed the judge.

Cohen campaign aide Andrea Birnhak, executive assistant to campaign treasurer Alan J. Kluger, acknowledged Wednesday sending copies of the letter.

Goderich and Smith said in telephone interviews that they have not decided on any endorsements in the race between Cohen and Hialeah solo practitioner Abbie Cuellar.

The letter is part of an effort to build much-needed support among Cuban American lawyers. In Miami-Dade, Hispanics and women are considered to have the upper hand in judicial races because voters come to the polls with limited information about the candidates and vote based on the name and sex of candidates.

It is even more critical for Cohen to get CABA’s support because she has had high-profile missteps, including insensitive comments she made from the bench about Cubans shortly after she was re-elected without opposition in 2001. The comments infuriated many Hispanics, and she personally apologized to CABA’s board for making the remarks.

Andre Fladell, a campaign consultant who represents judicial candidates in Palm Beach County, said candidates must follow protocols for endorsements in their campaign.

“Anybody whose name showed in an endorsement, the campaign needs to produce a signature card for each name on the endorsement,” he said. “The campaign would have to be able to provide that to you.”

“If they say they can’t produce it, then they’ve got an interesting problem.”

“The last thing you want to see someone do is stand up and say I didn’t give someone’s permission.”

Kluger, a founding partner at Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin, said Cohen’s campaign had a signature card for Smith, but conceded it did not have permission from Goderich.

“As a retired district court of appeal judge, I believe that judges at that level should be kept off the political stuff,” he said.

But the draft obtained by the Review also contained the names of several other former judges, including Rodolfo Sorondo Jr., a former 3rd DCA judge who is now a partner at Holland & Knight and former Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jorge Perez, who is a partner at Tew Cardenas.

Sorondo and Perez confirmed they are endorsing Cohen.

Asked how the two dozen names got on the letter, Kluger said some individuals working on Cohen’s campaign, like former Judge Cristina Pereyra-Shuminer, drafted a letter and added names to it.

“Then I got that letter and I made phone calls to people and then I said I thought it would be better that certain names not go on there. And so the letter got whittled down to people we felt we wanted on the letter,” he said.

“What you’re looking at is the first draft of the letter. What you want to look at is the signed copy,” he said. “All I’m saying is you can draft whatever you want. It’s a wish list and you can work through it.”

“I think Andrea may have called (CABA president) Marlene (Quintana), and it came back that she can’t sign anything because she’s president of CABA. And so off her name came.”

CABA’s bylaws only prohibit the organization from making endorsements, but individuals including the president, are allowed to back candidates.

Cohen said Tuesday that the letter represented a preliminary step for a campaign mailing to members of CABA. She denied the letter implied support from attorneys who have not endorsed her.

“I would never allow a letter to go out with somebody’s name who said they didn’t want to be on it,” she said.

She said the list assembled by her campaign contained the names of attorneys who agreed to support her campaign, but Goderich and Smith should not have been on the draft.

Goderich is a founding member of CABA, and Smith led a black tourism boycott in the 1990s.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, at least one other attorney whose name was on the list denied supporting Cohen.

The judge said there is a degree of separation between her and her campaign.

“I don’t get involved,” Cohen said. “Judges aren’t allowed to.”

CABA’s policy on letters of support requires the president’s approval, CABA president Marlene Quintana said. With approval, a campaign would pay $750 plus postage and submit letters to CABA, which affixes its address labels and mails them.

Quintana limited her comments to CABA procedure and said it isn’t unheard of for a judge to send letters with signature blanks, but it is the responsibility of a campaign staff to vet the signatures.

She said she received a final draft by e-mail Wednesday but declined to provide a copy to the Review.

Cohen’s campaign also has reached out to CABA leaders claiming Cohen has the support of its leaders including Quintana and president-elect Roland Sanchez-Medina, according to sources.

Quintana’s name was on a draft of the letter last month that was obtained by the Review, but she would not comment Wednesday on whether she supported Cohen.

Sanchez-Medina confirmed he was contacted by Cohen’s campaign and said he does not plan to endorse her. He declined further comment.

In another move that has raised eyebrows at CABA, Kluger’s assistant sent an e-mail to Quintana requesting her endorsement, but she did not immediately respond, according to sources.

Soon after, Kluger’s assistant sent an e-mail to CABA staff trying to get Quintana’s electronic signature while Quintana was out of town, even though she had not agreed to endorse Cohen, according to sources.

The CABA staff member declined to provide the signature and informed Quintana about the campaign effort, the sources said. Quintana called Birnhak to say she would not sign the letter and her name should be removed.

“Originally I had put her name. I didn’t know that she was president of CABA and she’s not allowed to endorse a candidate,” Birnhak said in a telephone interview. “Maybe originally we were sending out for signatures she might have been asked.”

Quintana declined to comment about any efforts to get her electronic signature.

The letter flap has begun to polarize some CABA members. Some within the organization view overtures by Cohen’s campaign as a tactic to pressure Cuban attorneys to support her.

The episode has caused some CABA members to support Cohen’s challenger.

“After this, I’m going to support Abbie,” said a CABA leader who asked not to be named. “I was mulling staying out of it.

Cuellar said she believed Cohen’s campaign was being heavy-handed.

“If it’s coming from individuals, I see it as a pressure tactic. It’s one thing to encourage people to support one candidate over another. It’s another thing to assume,” she said. “People start thinking, if I don’t sign, what does that mean if I have to appear in front of this person?”

Cohen, who was elected to the county court bench in 1992 and ran unopposed for a circuit seat in 1996, is facing a contested election this year.

She drew a challenger after presiding over a highly publicized custody fight involving a Cuban girl last year that drew inevitable comparisons to the Elian Gonzalez dispute.

She also stirred up controversy in 2002 when she said in court: “If we deport people back to Cuba, we could empty our jails. We would have it made and be happy, but we cannot.”

Cohen formally apologized to CABA for those remarks and the organization publicly forgave her. CABA’s board said it believed her comments did not reveal a pattern of anti-Hispanic sentiment.

Cuban-American support will be crucial for Cohen in the upcoming campaign, and she has received support from former CABA presidents Ray Abadin and Victor Diaz and other prominent attorneys.

Billy Shields can be reached at bshields@alm.com or at (305) 347-6649.

Anonymous said...

oUCH:

"Soon after, Kluger’s assistant sent an e-mail to CABA staff trying to get Quintana’s electronic signature while Quintana was out of town, even though she had not agreed to endorse Cohen, according to sources.

The CABA staff member declined to provide the signature and informed Quintana about the campaign effort, the sources said. Quintana called Birnhak to say she would not sign the letter and her name should be removed. "

Anonymous said...

Before you guys see the DBR hack job on my friend Judge Cohen let me tell the DBR to kiss my A..!!

This was a hack job, pure and simple. While the story is not innaccurate, in and of itself, the Editorial decision to feature the story overplayed its importance by incredible proportions.

As pointed out in the article:

1) As per the article, it was not a "campaign letter" it was a DRAFT of a campaign letter.

2) It was sent to @24 attorneys

3. Per the article, it was unfinished.

4) The article trumped up the CABA issue while ignoring until the very end that she was IN FACT receiving the support of former CABA presidents Abadin and Diaz.

5. Per the article, the letter had not been completed.

6. Bringing up a seven year old comment is appropriate for the LOSERS at the Miami New Times, not the DBR.

7. Per the article, the letter was not final.

8. CABA accepted her apology sevent years ago.

9. Per the article, the letter was a D-R-A-F-T.

The editorial decision to feature it on the front page with a misleading title is shameful

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know if the beautiful spinner clerk is dating anyone?

Anonymous said...

Rumpole have you seen the cover of the DBR?

http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/index.html

Anonymous said...

Llorens had peopel appraoch Schwartz and suggest he retire,but that was never brought up during that election period.Llorens suggested at that time she was professional(suggesting attorney)for 20 years when caught changed to banking or some such nonsence for 8 years and law 12 years,That was 2 years ago so how did she only gain 1 year in practice two years later.She tried to play games in last election,but the electorate saw thru her shinanagins.So did most of the endorsers.Look at her endorsements in the past and see who she gets now.Yes,this time she got the Prosecutors(but for some reason the state attorneys often do not back their own).
Segura may not be the best candidate;but neither is Llorens.But once again ask Llorens colleagues and judge whom she practiced in front of:they do not like her.By thye way,why not try private practice:she went from state p.d.to fed.p.d.!Suggested she leave or be fired and resigned and went back to dear old Brummer.Actually her husband should run:he is better qualified to be judge than dear old wifey.

Anonymous said...

I saw Migna in DV court last week, so there’s no need to lie that she is “barred.” Moreover, she has never treated me improperly. If she may have pissed off an insecure judge in DV court, who really cares?. I respect her endorsements and her abilities as an attorney. I think her opponent’s supporters are desperate.

Anonymous said...

8:28 Is English your second language or you just angry at your situation in life?

Anonymous said...

Only six or seven judges preside in the Domestic Violence Division of the Court.If the supervisor of the Public Defenders Office is banned in two of those divisions,it does not speak well of their office,nor Ms.Llorens who is and has been the supervisor for a number of years.Who if it is correct has banned her from their division?What was the reason for their expulsion?Do any Court Orders exist and or any transcripts exist?If these accusations they should be brought to the attention of all:if not they should not be brought up again.Based upon speaking to others however it is known ,yes known that Ms.Llorens is truly not liked by most who know her,have practiced with her,and or those whom she has appeared before.

Anonymous said...

8:28pm and 9:15pm (you are obviously the same angry person), let that resentment go. If you have any questions, you can ask Migna. She will be in DV court tomorrow and next week. But don't make up stories.

Anonymous said...

I must admit that I am disappointed at the behavior of the members of the CABA officers and board. I am one of the old timers and back when we began our endeavor we made it central to our organization that we would remain neutral and not endorse judicial candidates. It is explicit in our bylaws and charter.

Yet here we are, with our president Marlene Quintana and others on the CABA board explicitly supporting Judge Cohen who has spewed racial hatred and disparaging remarks from the bench. Additionally, we have our president Ms Quintana and president elect Roland Sanchez Medina endorsing Migda Sanchez who is running in an open seat and who according to a majority of our members does not deserve our endorsement.

Where is CABA's neutrality? We as an organization have to ask ourselves, what are we doing and what have we come to?

We need to remain neutral (as originally intended) and simply let the community decide who is the better candidate. Nevertheless, I am extremely disappointed at our organization's partisan politics.

Anonymous said...

Here's what I find interesting about all this. Considering the win / loss ratio of the state attorney's office in DV, I'm wondering why ANYONE would want to brag that they contributed to a manual over there. It is probably written in crayon...

Anonymous said...

There probably are no transcripts of a particular judge telling Migna's supervisor how incompetent she really is because those things are done behind closed doors (but spoken about by the water cooler). But as one of her colleagues who worked with her in DV I can tell you that there are however numerous transcripts of her arguing nonsense and judges telling her to shut up. It was the running joke in the PD's office for a while to actually do the opposite of what she directed us to do (you all know this is true lol)

I cannot tell all of you how many times she would pass us case law during trial and we would shutter knowing that what she was passing us was worthless. Or, how many times she would make us try cases assigend to her that involved police officers as victims for fear the PBA would not endorse her. Or how she would kiss up to the prosecutors knowing that she was running for office.

Migna Sanchez-Llorens is a self centered snake who quite frankly does not deserve to wear the black robe.

Anonymous said...

Cap:

You said "Just ask Judge Areces how much she knew when she was assigned to the Gerstein Justice Building and how her past legal experience helped her in figuring out what the heck goes on there."

In case you haven't been in her court lately, she still doesn't get it!

Areces & Adrian: what's with the "A"'s in the building?

Anonymous said...

What I don't understand is why would Migna go back to the Public Defender's Office after working at the Federal PD's office- Did she really get fired?

Migna, since you seem to be posting a lot of your own biography on the blog today, why don't you give us some juicy details of why you got demoted?

Anonymous said...

I am a CABA member and I could not understand why they say they don't endorse people yet marlene, rollie and certain other members of the board lined up behind candidates like judge cohen and migdna sanchez-llorenz who are racist and incompetent.

They will never get my vote or the support of the cuban community.

Anonymous said...

I started at the SAO in 2000 and Manny Segarra was in my class. I did not go to DV, but I was very happy to get rid of Manny.

Manny was known as the guy who would never shut up. Manny asked so many questions, we had to stay late almost every day.

Manny is the perfect example of there are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

Anonymous said...

I have had to deal with Manny S as a defense attorney and a representative of a victim. Manny cannot get it right ever!

Rude, is an understatement.

Dumb, does not get you even close.

Lazy, typical of Manny.

Just do not vote for him, simple as that!

Anonymous said...

If it comes down to Manny vs. Migna, they are pretty much in the same boat: both cannot run their campaign to the fullest because they are broke state employees who did not raise any significant amounts of money. That is why they are running against each other, they are both weak and broke. Neither one of them should be too confident that they have this election in the bag.

Anonymous said...

migna and manny is a frightening race. she got fired from fed PD (yeah right she left that job to go back at half pay and even if she didnt everyone in fed ct knows she was atrocious) and manny is a nice guy but pretty dumb.

a sad sad day when either of them gets sworn in

Anonymous said...

migna has been banned from DV court and she is supposed to be the training lawyer. good job BHB hiring a fed pd reject and having them teach young lawyers

Anonymous said...

It’s so sad when people have nothing better than to tell lies about others. Migna encountered a personal situation with her daughter in 2000 and chose to leave the federal pds to have more flexibility to address the health issue. It is really no one’s business what the health issue was. In fact, Kathy provided her with the option of working part time at the federal pds but Migna declined. Fortunately, the health issue was addressed.

Anonymous said...

Who (candidate or spouse of a candidate) is upset that CABA’s leadership is endorsing Migna and not their candidate?

Anonymous said...

I was just reading all these posts from the past two days- what has this world come to? It is sad that our judicial system functions this way: anyone can run against a judge who has been on the bench for quite some time just because they have a hispanic last name. CABA endorsed people selectively even though their endorsements do not make sense: one they endorsed a judge who talks bad about cubans, two, they endorsed a candidate who out of all the candidates in this election is the worst and most unqualified of all, Llorens- Sanchez. How does this make sense? Aren't judges supposed to be competent and qualified? Shouldn't it all be about that rather than dirty politics and people like these getting endorsements. What bothers me is that these types of candidates think that they can win the election by picking up dirty endorsements that they got who knows how. Cohen and Sanchez-Llorens, it does not work that way. Maybe you two should run against each other, after all, that would be the style of Migna Llorens- run against a Jew, and as far as Cohen, she is already going against a hispanic anyway.

Anonymous said...

Rump,

it is a training "Manual"

Anonymous said...

Sara Schulevitz endorsed Manny when he was running in another race. She endorsed Migna at the same time and continues to do so, over Manny.

Anonymous said...

Migna left the Fed PD for family reasons and was assigned to the DV Unit. She has not been banned from any courtroom. She is aggressive and some people don't like that. You can't be an aggressive female and not be termed a bitch. You can't leave the Fed PD because you want a life with your family.

Anonymous said...

Migna is not someone who should ever carry a title of a judge. In fact, she does not even deserve to be an Assistant Public Defender or an attorney.

Anonymous said...

This blog is all about throwing rocks at people. Since everyone is throwing rocks at everyone, I will say this: Migna: incompetent and bitchy, thinks way too higher of herself than she should. Manny: good trial attorney, but may lack a little more years of experience all together. At least Manny is well grounded, treats others with respect and is a good person and a very professional attorney. Migna is just too full of herself and if she had something to show for it, i wouldn't say anything...but she is just a poor soul who lost once and has no business ever running for Judge. Besides, Migna also does not have too much experience because 10 years is not all that to show for, especially since she spent most of her career in midemanor DV where PD's learn how to try cases by accepting nolle prosses from the State for lack of battered women's cooperation to prosecute. Migna is just not who she presents herself to be. There, i gave my opinion too even though I hate talking bad about people. But she truly deserves it. She made so many enemies in Miami when she ran against judge Schwartz and that will come back to bite her.

Anonymous said...

hey idiot migna lovers. the federal pd's dont work nearly as hard as state pd's so migduh didnt leave her 140k job for family reasons. she is an idjit

Rumpole said...

I did not post a comment about a former judge, not because he is a friend of mine, but because you make scandalous allegations I have no way of knowing are true. You want to write he could not carry a other judge's jockstraps? No problem. The other stuff- related to "digits" I cannot allow absent proof.

Anonymous said...

I tried a case against Manny earlier in the year. During discovery and trial, Manny was professional and did a competent job. I thought he made some tactical mistakes during discovery and at trial; but, I did not walk away thinking he was incompetent.

I have never had a case against or with Migna.

Anonymous said...

Not only are the comments untrue, mean spirited, and denigrating against women, but it is quite shameful when people make up stories about others.

Anonymous said...

If the state would allow us to add the name "HAM SANDWICH" on the ballot with Manny and Migna the Sandwich would win by a landslide.

What a freaking joke these two. How did this happen over 10,000 attorneys in Miami Dade and we end up with this ....

Anonymous said...

migna sanchez is an embarassment. a laughing stock. she's a bank teller with a law degree. she is scared to try cases. i hear she was fired from the federal pd, but allowed to leave gracefully. he is a perennial candidate. no governor will appoint her, and she's a cuban female.

Anonymous said...

migna was fired from the FPD because she was lazy, stupid, scared to try cases, scared of the government, not articulate, and could not write well.

wait: i guess she is qualified for the state court bench.

Anonymous said...

Hey 2:32pm or 2:35pm, since you are the same person, I disagree. I litigated against Migna years ago and from your comments can discern that she must have really kicked your behind in trial. Get a life.

Anonymous said...

hey migna - i mean, 11:28: wrong again. first, you have not "litigated" in 9 years. second, every defense lawyer knows you are a joke.

Anonymous said...

Hey 2:39pm, I posted the comment and I wasn’t Migna. But I know who you are. Go get your crayons.