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.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

I'M GONNA REPORT YOU TO THE BOARD OF BAR OVERSEEERS


Monday it was sentencing ....today it's discovery Federal style.   Plus, State PD takes the oath. See below. 



"I'm gonna report you to the Board of Bar Overseers...  "

That was a line from one of our favourite movies: The Verdict, staring Paul Newman. The Judge played by actor Miles O'Shea yells that line at Newman after their first go around in court during the trial. 


United States District Judge Mark Wolf has used that line, at least twice now, against Federal Prosecutors in Boston for failing to disclose favourable evidence in a  criminal trial to the defense. The Title of the post links to the Boston dot com article. Thanks to the Broward Blog for first posting this article. 

Rumpole rants: Time and time again US Attorneys around the nation are being caught withholding exculpatory evidence. Isn't it about time federal prosecutors be required to conduct "open file discovery" like most of their state counterparts? 

And when is someone going to look at the Jencks Act and say "well, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." (For those of you state court practitioners, "Jencks" material is stuff like police reports, grand jury testimony, witness statements etc.) 

 In Federal court the defense is entitled to all of that good stuff....AFTER THE WITNESS FINISHES DIRECT TESTIMONY.  Yes, we have literally seen a prosecutor say "no further questions" to the witness and then wheel over a box of stuff and say "Jencks" while the judge says to the defense:  "counsel....cross examination?" 

Now that being said, most Judges will gently or otherwise require the prosecution to disclose Jencks material a few days before trial begins. But that is a courtesy and not a right and as a defense attorney you are left essentially begging for a handout. Not a pleasent position to be in. 

Anybody want to defend the Feds?

OUR NEW STATE PD IS SWORN IN TODAY.  If you haven't gotten your invitation yet, stop checking the mailbox. Yes, a gaggle of Judges and important lawyers will convene today at Miami's Freedom Tower (talk about irony) while a Judge administers the oath. Our new PD will then solemnly swear "I Bennett Brummer do solemnly swear..." 

Ok. Carlos Martinez is taking the oath. Good for him.  But Mr. Brummer,  in these times of fiscal crisis,  remains ensconced on  the payroll as a "consultant" ready to do what he has always done: tell David Weed to run the office and not cause any trouble. 
The more things change....blah blah blah. 



See you in Court, not (like Paul Newman did) asking questions we don't know the answer to. But he still won anyway. 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rump, we need your help. We all know that our beloved Shumie was the victim of a defendant feces throwing incident some years ago. He is now being mocked on the Federal Blog by their high-faluttin commentators as having "never been the same since that day." etc. I urge all of your readers to visit the federal blog and flood the comments section in a massive show of support for Shumie.

He'd do it for you.

Anonymous said...

BRummers gig is a disgrace why isnt nesmith at the herald making a big deal about this wake up susannah

Anonymous said...

Today, at the Freedom Tower at 2:30PM come see the Investiture ceremony of Carlos Martinez. This should be an historic event inside an even more historic venue.

Anonymous said...

Have you read David Markus blog? While throwing a fit will not get you a mistrial, throwing some shit will.

Anonymous said...

Did anybody catch that piece of manure Larry Seidlin (yee old crying judge of Anna Nicole Smith fame) on Good Morning America this morning campaigning for a TV job. What a self-engrandizing lying jerk. If he gets on TV I will throw mine away.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on another 4 years Brummer.

South Florida Lawyers said...

Great line, great movie.

Anonymous said...

We need more Hispanics in local govt to make it work better.

Anonymous said...

Captain you seem good at this stuff. Tell me why the State attorney in Orlando filed a bar complaint agianst Jose Baiez the attorney for Casey Anthony.

According to news reports he is trying to get the State thrown off the case because of the sixth amendment right of his client and the State filing a bar complaint violates Casey's rights.

Captain or Rumpole can you guys sort this all out and report back to the blog asap.

Anonymous said...

If you missed it, you missed a truly historic event at an amazing location, the Freedom Tower.

Frank Angones, for The Florida Bar, spoke eloquently and passionately about the historic day.

Marlene Quintana, Cuban American Bar, was great with her warm words to Carlos.

Rick Freedman, Florida Assoc. of Criminal Defense Lawyers stole the show with his humor (brought down the house) and then with his motivating words to Martinez.

Great day for Miami.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys,

My name is Mark and I am from Stirling in the United Kingdom. I have in recent past discovered this forum and I like it very much.
I am a bit shy so I will not talk much about myself but maybe when I will get confortable, you will get to know me better!
My main hobbies are dance and watching movies. I also like outdoor activites but the temperature has been very bad for the last weeks or so here |.

I was wondering if someone else here is from the united Kingdom too?

I am happy to have joined this forum!
Cya!
:)

Mark

PS: I apologize if this was posted in the wrong section. I could not find the good one!