Sorry to intrude Captain, but the misdemeanor trial of the defendant/blogger had a suprise ending yesterday. Read his updated blog about the results
HERE
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ELECTION UPDATE .....
This is our fourth in a series on the candidates that seek your vote for County & Circuit Court Judge. To date, we have provided you with a review of the County Court race of Lesperance v. Lindsey, and Circuit Court races of Cueto v. Velis and Migna v. Manny. 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, it's Group 19 of the Circuit Court and the three candidates who seek to replace retiring Judge Roger Silver.
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.
YVONNE COLODNY .....
Assistant Public Defender Yvonne Colodny has been a member of The Florida Bar for nine (9) years. She has been an APD for that entire time. She graduated from FSU Law School and has gone on to serve in just about every Division of the PD's office.
Ms. Colodny filed to run in April of 2008 and has not reported raising any money yet.
You can read all about Yvonne Colodny on her web site at colodnyforjudge.com.
PATRICIA KOPCO .....
Pat Kopco has been a member of The Florida Bar for 12 years. She graduated from the UM law school and went to work at the State Attorney's Office. After leaving there, she has concentrated her practice in the area of Marital & Family law and became Board Certified in 2005 in that area. She has a solo practice.
Ms. Kopco filed to run in October of 2007. Since then, she has raised a good amount of money. In addition to dropping $50,000 of her own money into the race, she has found 80 contributors willing to fork over $18,000 for the campaign.
I have not located a web site for Kopco's campaign.
STEPHEN MILLAN ....
Steve has BTDT (as one of our readers likes to sign). In 2006, he challenged incumbent Judge Karen Mills Francis in Group 11 of the County Court. Millan got trounced in that election by double digits, losing 56% - 44% (76,565 - 59,513).
Now he seeks your vote to the Circuit Court. Steve has been a member of The Florida Bar for 17 years. He filed in January of 2007, right after the 2006 winners were sworn in. In the past 18 months, he reports raising only $5,500 from 25 contributors. Mr. Millan's practice is in the area of Criminal law.
I also have not located a website for Millan's campaign.
Please do your homework on the three 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 .........
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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51 comments:
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
Congrats to PD's Office ....
Florida Supreme Court Justice R. Fred Lewis will present the Juvenile Division of the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office with the Hugh S. Glickstein Award for Child Advocacy for its work on behalf of Florida's children. The award will be presented June 19 during The Florida Bar's Annual Convention in Boca Raton.
Awarded annually on a statewide basis, the Hugh Glickstein Award is given to a child advocate judged as "tireless" by the Legal Needs of Children Committee of The Florida Bar's Public Interest Law Section.
"This award is being given collectively to the Juvenile Division of the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office for its innovative efforts to protect the rights, health, welfare and safety of Florida's youth," said Committee Chairwoman Tracey K. McPharlin. She cited the work of Chief Assistant Public Defender Carlos Martinez and the Juvenile and Appellate Divisions, including Marie Osborne, Kevin Hellmann, Tamara Gray, Andy Stanton, Shannon McKenna and Valerie Jonas.
Cap Out ...
Check out ColodnyforJudge.com. There are photos on the website. Yvonne is not as hot as she looks on her campaign poster!
Now Stacy Glick????
Hubba hubba...
What our Captain does not mention is that Yvonne Colodny is the HOTTEST candidate for judge anyone has ever seen. What will she add to our judiciary? A big dose of SEXY SEXY SEXY.
I really want her to win. The only one I would vote for instead of her is the spinner clerk.
Yvonne is a JC-ILF (judicial candidate I'd like to....)
When she becomes a Judge, she will be one of those rare JILFs.
I can't wait.
Can you imagine the scene if the spinner clerk gets assigned to her courtroom. There will be male attorneys lined up outside the door and down the hallways waiting to get in, not to mention the effect of those poor guys in the box.
Now just hold on one cotton picking second here. (chomp chomp) Jonathan Schwartz is in Jail?
AND the PDS get an award?
And Yvonne Colodny is sexy sexy sexy?
AND Freddy Moreno is sending US Marshalls to Fake Jake Thompson's house?
This is all alot to digest, especially on the day of trial. (chomp smack)
I would suggest a continuance charged to the state is in order here.
From today's Daily Business Review:
"A candidate for Miami-Dade circuit judge was permanently barred from the banking profession by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after running a bank acquired with drug money two decades ago.
Before he was a lawyer, Ricardo Corona was executive vice president and director of the now-defunct Sunshine State Bank, which his family acquired in 1978 with secret backing from Miami drug dealer Jose Antonio Fernandez, according to court documents.
Corona was not charged in the bank’s collapse, but his father and brother were. He is running for a vacant seat against Abby Cynamon, former Miami-Dade Circuit assistant general counsel."
Rumpole honey- are all these Yvonne Colodny comments getting you hot?
I'm much prettier. I have a better body. Longer and bLonder hair. More...you know what...in the places you want it....and less everywhere else. I'm Live in the gym, when I'm not on the beach dreaming of you rubbing hot oil on my tight a$$.
Did you get the last picture I sent? I'm a real blonde, and I WANT YOU.
This just in:
The Shumie Twist, a companion dance crazy to the hit single Shumie Shumie Coco Puffs is the new viral video on You Tube, with over 1.3 million viewers this week.
Alex Michaels and the Roumanian Tenderloin twist is yesterdays news.
Colodny has no right to be a circuit ct judge. She has not distinguished her self as a public defender in the last 9 years. Has she every tried a rape, murder, armed robbery as 1st chair? Not since I've been here.... Nice woman, pretty girl but Circuit court judge? Please. The stand out in this race is Pat Copco
Millan is an over ambitious hack who undertook very dirty campaigning against Mills-Francis. I do not know Kopca, but know COlodny and have a very high opinion of her. She will get my vote.
In addition to her beauty, which is apparent, Yvonne Colodny is far and away the most qualified candidate in this race. Anyone who knows Yvonne knows that she has a great temperment which will serve her well. As a PD, she was a vigorous advocate for her clients, but was never the type that became blinded by her position, she was always a realist. She has a very good sense of justice and responsibility, and I am proud to back her in this election.
Flora Seff is our newest County Court Judge.
The appointment happened last.
Congratulations
According to today's Review, judicial candidate, Ricardo Corona was permanently barred from the banking profession by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after running a bank acquired with drug money two decades ago.
According to the FDIC, while he was executive vice president and director of Sunshine State Bank, 47 percent of Sunshine’s loans were misclassified, and its bad loans represented 581 percent of the bank’s capital reserves.
Appropriating my name is weak Captain.......
BTDT
Looks like Corona took a plea.
Poor Yvonne,
She is really nice, but not too smart and may have bitten off more than she can chew with this election.
However, it may not be entirely her fault, as she was trained by Migna Sanchez-Llorens during her first couple of years at the domestic violence unit in the PD's office and it probably took her a couple of years to get the stupidty and ignorance that Migna exposed her to out of her system.
Patricia Kopco is the most qualified candidate in this group by far. She had a career as a news reporter prior to becoming an attorney, has practiced law in many differnt areas for 12 years, is thoughtful and articulate.
Colodny is nice but a true believer PD with not a lot of experience. And I won't even start talking about Millian... Yesterday while watching animal planet I saw a monkey dressed in a suit that is more qualified than that guy to be judge.
NEWS:
Flora Seff is newest County Court Judge.
Another race almost as awful as the Migna/Manny fight: Ricardo/Abbe.
Ricardo is a felon who got away with a crime, and Abbe has no common sense and no idea how the real world works.
could've sworn saw JS in the courthouse today!
The differences between this race and the Migna-Manny race are astounding. While I do not know Colodny well, I worked with both Steve Millan and Pat Kopco while at the SAO. I think that any of the three would make, at the very least, an adequate judge.
On the other hand, neither Manny or Migna is qualified to serve on the bench. The real loser in this race will be the public.
Perhaps its time to change the way we select judges. Some states use appointment followed by periodic retention elections. Others have x number of vacancies for a particular county/circuit, all the cadidates run in one big group, and the top x number of vote-getters become judges. Either of these situations would be better than what we have now.
Corona is running for judge after being permanently barred from the banking profession by the FDIC for running a bank acquired with drug money. If Corona gets elected the days of Courtbroom Judges could be back.
Patricia Kopco is very nice person, good attorney and probably fits the judge role the best in this group.
Steve Millan- give me a break. The guy ran before and lost- why did he decide to spend his money and run again.
Yvonne Colodny- while she may be the hottest one out of the group of 3 (not a very high compliment), she is absolutely not ready to be a judge. She is too young, what makes her think that she can run for judge? She should go back to the PD's office and get some more experience. At the same time, let's all hope that Migna Sanchez does not end up training her at the PD's because we have enough incompetent lawyers and don't need any more. Anyhow, Brummer, get a real attorney to train your young PDs, take Colodny back for a while and she might have a chance in the next term.
I don't vote for the "hottest" candidate.
They are all nice people who would do a good job as a judge.
We will end up with a winner no matter who wins.
6:57 - You have to be a dirty old man. Hubba hubba? By the way does Meidcare really pay for Viagra?
Rumpole, do you think blond bombshell is for real?
Millan- former ASA, there is something about him but I just can't put my finger on it.
Colodny- former APD but was in fact trained by Migda Lorens- Sanchez and that just makes me feel uncomfortable about Colodny's present skills as an attorney
Kopco- former ASA but a good attorney
All together, the majority of the race sucks.
R
u shd to a betta job @ putting up posts...
Thirty years ago Corona was NOT charged with a crime. Reports suggest he was found NOT GUILTY of the crime for which he was NOT charged. Since 1996 he's been trying cases.
His opposition is a law clerk who hasn't tried a case in at least 10 years. Perhaps never.
Can't wait till you do the profile's on the losers running for clerk.
Captain the race for Clerk is now at six candidates. Today, David Nelson Qualified and Julio C. Valido entered the race.
Derwin has not yet qualified? Everyone else has qualified.
The newest applicant to file against Harvey Ruvin fixes air conditioners for a living:
https://www.myfloridalicense.com/LicenseDetail.asp?SID=&id=E9604DFE58D5D1E263F2362264151427
If elected he promises cooler than normal waiting areas.
Congratulations to FLORA SEFF..........appointed County Court Judge!!!!!!!
I worked with Yvonne Colodny at the PDO, and I can assure you that she has what it takes to be a good judge. Even though she is young, she has nine years of trial experience at all levels of the criminal courts. She was a training attorney also and we tried several cases together. I found her to be a devoted attorney who really cared about her cases and zealously represented her clients. At trial she was professional, dependable and sharp. Best of all, I can almost guarantee that she will not develop "robe-itis" if she takes the bench, which is more than I can say for the majority of our esteemed judiciary. She wrote solid legal motions and demonstrated nothing but good legal skills whenever I observed her.
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
Recapping the past two appointments by the Governor, it looks like this:
for Judge George Sarduy's seat ..
Joe Davis, Jr.
Steve Grossbard
Alicia Otazo-Reyes
David Peckins
Rodney Smith
Lourdes Simon.
NEW JUDGE - RODNEY SMITH
for Karen Mills Francis's seat ..
Tamara Gray
David Peckins
Bonnie Riley
Flora Seff
Lourdes Simon
Rodney Smith
NEW JUDGE - FLORA SEFF
What does this all mean .. it means we need to get that write-in campaign into full swing if we are to get PECKINS elected in the Migna v. Manny race.
CAPTAIN OUT .....
Hey 1:47--Abby with a Y is running against Corona. I'm the only Abbe with an E at the REGJB that I know of, and last time I checked I wasn't running(and couldn't run as a Broward resident). Just wanted to make sure you insulted the right person. :)
Abbe Rifkin
The movie Cocaine Cowboys actually shows the DEA and FBI raiding Corona's bank.
The League of Prosecutors endorsed Pat Kopco in this race.
Manny,
Get off the blog. You've posted enough comments. This is about a different race.
Hey 7:35
How can anyone be found NOT GUILTY for a crime for which he was NOT charged?
I must have missed that class at law school. Would you have a case cite holding this legal breath of brillance?
I need the verdict form that states "We the jury find the defendant not guilty for the crimes he was not charged with."
In addition, according to the Clerk of the Court website, Corona has been the defendant or plaintiff in almost 50 cases. He hasn't been trying cases, he been getting sued and suing others since the FDIC got an Order entered prohibiting him from banking due to laundering drug money.
All the people that the drug dealers killed. Remember the shootout at Dadeland. All the people whose lifes have been ruined by getting hooked on drugs. All of the children whose have been borned with severve mental and physical handicaps because their parents took illegal drugs prior to conception or the mother took illegal drugs during pregancy. All the lives ruined because of illegal drugs. More than 90 percent of the people arrested have drugs in their system. The kids whose parents are in jail or dead because of illegal drugs. None of this would be possible if the drug dealers could not launder their money. None of this could have been possible without Corona and others laundering drug money like him.
Yvonne is one heck of a person,plain spoken and honest and that is more than I can say for the majority of the Miami-Dade Judiciary and especially the other two candidates in this race. Futhurmore she has an incredible mind and would make a more than qualified circuit court judge in miami-dade. We need to put people on the bench who not only know the law but have common sense and understand the needs of this community and the justice system down here...
It will be an interesting race but can't say that i am finding anyone qualified enough that i would want to vote for. It is sad that one of those 3 will end up becoming a judge. I don't think that either one of them deserves it.
Millan/Kopco/Colodny race sucks because none of them should be judges....can't we have someone more qualified get in there?
to 12:20
I disagree. In this race there are three choices, probably all 3 will treat people respectfully and work hard to follow the law.
I see real issues though in the other race that's been called M & M. THAT'S the race where a third party could do well. But it's too late for that now; qualifing is over.
milan is a total hack who was terrible at the sao.
kopco is the pick in this race, she has good experience in both criminal experience and has the maturity of having had another career before the law.
why didnt colodny switch races and run in the race of the living dead and dumb--manny v migna
migna vs manny dumb and dumberer
The outcome in the Carlos Miller case is horrible. It's horrible that this is what passes for "justice" in our community.
To the person that posted on Thursday at 12:33 regarding MILLAN, please educate yourself. It's MILLAN and NOT MILLIAN. Check the spelling and the name of the person FIRST before you insult them. There is a huge difference between Steve MILLAN and AL MILLIAN. The person running for judge is MILLAN and NOT MILLIAN (Al).
Yvonne Colodny was one of my training attorneys and not only didn't seem to know some parts of the law, she didn't bother to research the stuff she wasn't sure of. Furthermore, she plays favorites and politics, she may care about her clients, but put her in a position of power and I guarantee it will go to her head; it already did at the pdo. Forget that she's young,or that her only experience is as a pd-its her inability to keep her mouth shut that should prevent her from being judge. I have no ability to comment on either kppco or milan.
re: 8:36am
who cares who the "league of prosecutors" endorsed? They're a seriously bush-league operation.
Colodny is the best choice here.
Let's get this straight, not everybody agrees that the Governor got this right. Especially those who believe that David Peckins should be a judge.
Besides, for the lack of a better way to put it, many believe that Ms. Seff is not the brightest bulb on the tree, mean, unreasonable, unbending, self-righteous and vindictive without cause.
I, for one of many, will be out there hoping someone files against her in 2010 and will be raising money and campaigning for her opponent, as she has against other sitting judges. (Payback is a b--ch.)
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