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 04, 2009

MURDER OR TAN?

Very quietly a real battle is shaping up over the prosecution of Aventura Developer Adam Kaufman for murdering his wife. 

The state and ME Dr. Bruce Hyma (someone we have found to be very thorough) aver that the woman died of mechanical strangulation. 

Attorney Bill Matthewman (who knows his way around a courtroom in the biggest cases) counters with  ME Dr. Ron Wright who states that the deceased died of natural causes. Matthewman also posits that the woman had an allergic reaction to a tanning lotion causing her to fall on a magazine rack that caused her asphyxiation.  

The title of the post links to the Herald article in which it is reported that Judge Miller denied bond on Wednesday. 

We will watch this one closely. 

Lets see- the Broward blog claims they are updating and will be bigger and better than ever. Meanwhile Federal Bloggers have abandoned their defense of Justice Scalia to complain about the traffic. Must be a slow month. 

FACDL PREZ Hector Flores asked us to post this link of photographs of the FACDL banquet.

If you just can't get through your day without espying a pic of Judge Miller or Judge Echarte in a tux, go to the website. 



See You in Court.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

What I don't understand is how the ME's office took so long to find the tell-tale internal muscle bleeding of mechanical asphixiation. They ran a year's worth of test but missed something that should have been seen in the autopsy?

Anonymous said...

Bill's a nice man, and has been regarded as a very solid attorney over the years.

But its sad to see the sun setting.

At a bond hearing? To give up your defense? that you have not had adequate time to investigate? And now give adequate time for the government to completely debunk?

I mean, the first comment debunks the sun tan defense.

Herer come all the whinner to Bill';s defense, but this was a very bad call. Smells like a page from the Ellis Rubin or Sy Gaer play book.

Rumpole said...

I fully disagree. Mr. Matthewman is at the very top of the list of attorneys I would call if I needed advice or if I needed to refer a client.

Anonymous said...

bill blew this one. i agree

Anonymous said...

Rump. had you disagreed, I would have held my ground. Since you fully disagreed, you persuaded me. had you typed FULLY IN CAPS , I would have paid the legal fees for teh accused. Very persuasive writing.

State hack

Anonymous said...

rumpole - you hack:

read this:

1. Do not write long sentences. A sentence should not have more than ten or twelve words.

2. Each sentence should make a clear statement. It should add to the statement that went before. A good paragraph is a series of clear, linked statements.

3. Do not use big words. If your computer tells you that your average word is more than five letters long, there is something wrong. The use of small words compels you to think about what you are writing. Even difficult ideas can be broken down into small words.

4. Never use words whose meaning you are not sure of. If you break this rule you should look for other work.

5. The beginner should avoid using adjectives, except those of colour, size and number. Use as few adverbs as possible.

6. Avoid the abstract. Always go for the concrete.

7. Every day, for six months at least, practice writing in this way. Small words; short, clear, concrete sentences. It may be awkward, but it’s training you in the use of language. It may even be getting rid of the bad language habits you picked up at the university. You may go beyond these rules after you have thoroughly understood and mastered them.

Anonymous said...

Taking a page from Sy's playbook proves Bill is a genius. I will bet both my nuts and an arm that Sy won more cases in one week than 9:45 has in his whole career.

Anonymous said...

Dr Ron Wright will say absolutley anything.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, give us your top ten -- federal and state.

Jason Wandner said...

Of former criminal defense attorneys who ran and were elected to office, such as Vice President Joe Biden, who practiced criminal defense after law school, and Oscar Goodman, the Mayor of Las Vegas, both are now joined by my friend, fellow graduate of the great UM Law Class of 1997, and member of FACDL-Miami, the Honorable Andre Pierre.

Andre overcame great odds through enormous determination and hard work and was elected Tuesday night in a run off election against a much more experienced and heavily favored opponent to be the next Mayor of the City of North Miami.

Andre, I am very proud of you my man!

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

COUNTY COURT JUDGE ....

The list to replace Judge Ada Pozo has been narrowed from 35 to 26. The following applicants will be interviewed by the JNC in the next two weeks:

William Ira Altfield
Maria T. Armas
Bart Haskell Armstrong
Tanya J. Brinkley
Veronica P. Clarke
Joseph I. Davis, Jr.
Ivy R. Ginsberg
Monica Gordo
Tamara Ilene Gray
Jose Ricardo Iglesias
Robert James Kuntz, Jr.
Bonita Jones-Peabody
Lynnette McGuinness
Stephen I. Millan
Barnaby L. Min
Anita Margot Moss
Gordon Charles Murray, Sr.
Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes
Gladys Peres
Margaret Ann Rosenbaum
Michele Samaroo
Lourdes Simon
Jeffrey D. Swartz
Alan Adrian Taylor
Marie Jo Toussaint
Angelica D. Zayas

CAPTAIN OUT .....

Anonymous said...

In defense of Bill, I am sure his client put pressure on him so he could get OUT of jail. Additionally, it has generated some positive defense publicity.

Since we are a full discovery (and deposition) state, I doubt Bill could have surprised the SAO with his defense.

Anonymous said...

I vote for Kuntz !

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or is there something off with that Judge and the way he runs a courtroom?

Anonymous said...

it should be either davis or altfied. after those two there is a big dropoff. Gordo is in way over her head.

Anonymous said...

35 to 26. Not much paring down. Who are the unlucky ones that DIDNT get an interview?

Anonymous said...

David Carradine.

Autoerotic asphyxiation.

Go figure.

didn't make the cut said...

hi. i'm one of the unlucky who did not make the cut. i was considering applying for tam wilson's spot, but thought it would be pointless since, for whatever reason, the jnc did not consider me qualified enough to even give me an interview for county. does anyone know what they're looking for? constructive advice only, please. thanks.

Anonymous said...

Andres Pierre has great slight of hand

Anonymous said...

How on earth could former judge Jeff Swartz get out of committee?

He was terrible!

The rest of the list has lots of good people but, Maggie Rosenbaum is downright mean and rude to people. Remember when she was a prosecutor?

Anonymous said...

ron wright is a dangerous witness.






















































































I miss JC Elso mnully. sfIALMASTER has use ron over the years with great success; I doubt that the former cop will ulitlze Ron succes

Anonymous said...

GINAGINAGINAGINAGINAGINAGINAGINAGINA NOT EVEN ON THE SHORT LIST?????? WATCH OUT INCUMBENTS HER SHE COMES AGAIN.....

Anonymous said...

jeff swartz gave me a great trial when i was a pd.
plus, he has changed a lot. give the guy a chance and i think that you all will be happy with him

Anonymous said...

Dear "Didn't Make the Cut,"

They are looking for the kind of individual, who, when they don't make the cut, know better than to ask for advice, constructive or not, on a friggin' blog!

the trialmaster said...

the trialmaster knows Dr. Wright very well. In fact, one of the trialmasters greatest wins was bedause of hiw genious use of Dr Wright. If the proscuter takes on Dr Wright, the state will lose.

Anonymous said...

Forget it. Circuit appointments usually go to some county court judge. Then the governor gets to pick another county court appointee.

Anonymous said...

Ronald Wright will say anything for the right price.

Anonymous said...

12:50 -

In answer to your question I have done a very cursory investigation. It appears that the JNC has been somewhat discerning in their determination. However there is no running theme. In general terms these seem to be the issues:

If you are a lawyer of long standing with no reputation of having any judicial persona - forget it.

If you are a resident of Broward County or have only worked as an ASA in Broward County - how stupid are you?

If you are not even practicing law - that is, as a corporate counsel or just hanging out in your apartment - please think seriously of just keeping to yourself

If you a known flake or idiot - well, that answers the question

If you are a lawyer with less than 10 years experience - not much of chance

If you are an Ass't Public Defender with an Hispanic maiden name who, in April, just celebrated your fifth year as a member of the Florida Bar - those days are over.