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.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

TERRIFIC TUESDAY

Judge Tunis starts the penalty phase in State v. Calloway. Calloway stands convicted of the horrific execution murder of FIVE individuals in a Liberty City Apartment over 13 years ago. Calloway was convicted in July of 2009. The Herald article is here.

Fun with Email Addresses?
Long ago we placed former attorney Jack Thompson's email address on our spam blocker, thus saving us about five to ten unwanted emails a day. However it appears some of you actually read his rants, and a few of you emailed this paragraph from a motion he filed to recuse EVERY Federal Judge in the Southern District of Florida:

7. Attached hereto is Exhibit A, which is the first page of the court’s docket sheet in Case No. 07-21256.
Note that Thompson’s email address has been supplanted by some jerk within the District Court with a new faux email address for Thompson:
disbarredattorney(at)flsd.uscourts.gov. How cute. How absolutely stupid as well
The more things change.....


TWO MORE WEEKS OF FOOTBALL: and then you go back to spending your Sundays at Home and Garden Shows or Fairchild Tropical Gardens or wherever you married guys get dragged to in the off season.

Who's going to the Pro Bowl at newly named Dolphin's stadium this Sunday?
Not us.

What's the latest price on Super Bowl Tickets? If the Jets had made the big show, you can bet ticket prices would be about 30% higher. You know how those obnoxious New Yorkers like to flaunt their Wall Street bucks.


25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please keep Jack Thompson off this blog.

No one wants to hear a word from him.

Please drop the subject.

Anonymous said...

Great. Now Judge DT is in a long hearing, so her calendar will run even less efficiently ( if that's possible). Maybe Judge Blake can cover her division for a while so things actually get done and an arraignment doesn't take 10 minutes.

Hot For Rump said...

Rump, if you were my husband, I'd drag you to the bedroom on the off season weekends.

Anonymous said...

Am I the only person who cringes in agony the second that Ted Mastos puts on his pathetic, inaccurate, humorless Sy Gaer impersonation? I knew Sy Gaer, and you sir, are no Sy Gaer.

Anonymous said...

Ever sit in Dava Tunis' courtroom? If you do, count the number of times she says, "I don't mean to be rude but,...."

She is always rude when she says that.

Anonymous said...

2:30 - You sir (or madam), are not alone. It's painful to witness on all sides.

Anonymous said...

USSC declines challenge to Melendez-Diaz.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-court-forensics26-2010jan26,0,2013380.story

BTDT

Anonymous said...

To 11:46
since I've been in Judge Tunis' courtroom at a time for over a year, I peg you as private counsel who is always late. She takes things off calendar with no motions and no attorney present. So when you show up an hour late and your client has been waiting, so as not to embarass you, she listens to what you have to say....well that causes delays. Maybe someone should notify her NOT to recall anything, therefore you would lose face in front if your client.

Having been there for some time, I have heard Judge Tunis say: 'I don't mean to be rude, but..., ' you just didn't finish what she says. It literally happens daily when she says you scheduled this motion for 8:30, it's now 10:00am. Those of us in her division, now and over the years, see her in action. These comments are bogus from lazy lawyers. We hear her thank attorneys (PAs) for their courtesy calls about running late and then she takes a
minute to explain it to their client

You want chap. 985, YO, better pleas? Don't diss her because you are probably a lazy hack that wasn't there when she let people go, reversed herself, etc.

I heard a conference call in court, when she was out of state calling in to reverse a legal ruling that resulted in the defendant being able to bond out. Who does that?
11:46 &. 4:32 are clueless. But that's what blogging is all
about!

BTW calendar is over at about 9:30 when she's in trial. Can you make it in time?

-signed BTDT2

Anonymous said...

Dava Tunis, self serving and only thinking about herself, media attention and advancement? No way.

DT, getting into a long protacted litigation while regular calendar is left blowing in the wind? No no no.

DT, laying a record that she is being fair and not pushy in any way whatsoever? No sir.

You're all dead wrong about her!

Rumpole said...

The former judge was NOT "thrown off the bench for criminal acts" Od Guy, You don't remember. The former judge was defeated for re-election. Get your facts straight and maybe I'll post one of your comments.

Anonymous said...

Please keep the Shumie person off this blog.

No one wants to hear a word from him.

Please drop the subject.

Anonymous said...

I LOVED DT even when I was prosecutor even though I felt then (and do now) that she is slightly defense oriented. I felt (and feel) that she gives both sides a fair shot, treats everyone respectfully (makes us all look good) and cares about the cases, victims and defendants.

Like BTDT2, the only time I've seen her be "rude" to lawyers is when they disrespect the court or other attorneys (ie. by showing up late, attacking opposing counsel inappropriately, etc.). In most of those situations, frankly, I wish she'd have been more aggressive (a la the old school judges). Perhaps if more judges were less tolerant of the unprofessionalism that plagues our courthouse (and is reflected in about 30% of the posts on this blog), lawyers would start behaving as lawyers should (of course it doesn't help that we've got or had judges [Pando comes to mind........remember her? Her bailiff used to have pre-printed signs for her to show half an hour late, an hour late and an hour and half late if you can believe that!] who treat calendar start times as optional).

BTDT

Anonymous said...

whats the story on judge stacy glick? I am an out of town attorney and would like to hear some feedback. thanks

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Judge Tunis has more courage, and patience, than nearly every other judge sitting in the criminal division.

Why do I say that. Two words - Jack Thompson.

Any other judge would have recused themselves after the numerous requests that JT filed in his case. Tunis spent not hundreds, but thousands of hours on that case, in the hearings themselves and then in preparing the extremely long and detailed report to the Florida Supreme Court on her findings.

She put up with JT's crap for two years and survived that (fill in the blank) rantings and ravings.

There are very few judges, anywhere, that could survive that and still come to work every day with the attitude of trying to make the right call in each and every case, and in showing respect for both sides while doing it.

Could we ask for anything more!

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

Get real and sit in Dava's courtroom and listen to her.

She is not a bad judge, she is just one that is rude to way too many people, way too often.

It is not being disrespectful just for showing up late.

Maybe you guys have only one client and therefore only one court to visit. I have many and no matter how hard I try, I cannot be in all courts exactly when his or her royal highness wants me there.

The other judges deal with it. Dava sticks her nose in the air and treats you like shit. I am tired of it.

Get Real!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

2:29 you get real. i dont care if you have to be in five court rooms at all once. you better clone yourself and be in all five at once. :)

Anonymous said...

I have a feeling that if DT was more in control of the courtroom and spent less time allowing endless talking, she could have disposed of the JT case a bit more expeditiously. She is a nice lady and bright enough but there is waaaay too much gabbing in her courtroom.

Anonymous said...

I am so tired of complaints that a judge is rude or nasty because they don't say "Good morning, counsel. How are you counsel. Can I kiss your ass counsel." When are you going to get it through your thick narcissistic skulls that you get what you give? When are you going to understand that you are not the only attorney or defendant on a judge's calendar and the court is there to serve the public not you? What you want are judges that are afraid of you instead of the other way around. Grow up!!!!

Anonymous said...

I am not a bleeding heart by any means, and I certainly do not oppose the death penalty for moral reasons, but think about the time and money we are spending on this penalty phase, and then the years upon years of appeals before this guy is executed sometime thirty years from now.

What is the harm in life in prison? Tavares Calloway's death will not bring back the victims he killed. They will in no way undue the harm he has done. And I highly doubt that would-be murderers will look to him and think twice before committing their crimes. As we in the criminal justice field know, criminals are rarely - if ever - deterred by thoughts of consequences. If that were the case, then minimum mandatory sentences would have wiped out violent crime years ago.

I have zero sympathy for Tavares Calloway, but I just don't understand the thinking behind the death penalty. Calloway is now a convicted murderer. So why spend the next week fighting between life in prison or death? It just seems like wasted effort when the main goals - punishment of the offender and the safety of the community by his removal from it - have already been accomplished.

Anonymous said...

@2:29

didn't you read what BTDT said? We can tell you never practiced in federal court. Judge Tunis is a stickler for being ontime. Would you rather wait an hour while she
has a long lunch or does her naills and keeps you waiting? Someone like you is probably what gives the rest of us defense attorneys a bad name. Some of our 'friends' are constantly late, no matter what, everytime.

I'm no traitor; we have to stand together on many issues
and would never mention names(except maybe during Shumie time) but I've heard her ask the clerk to call private ATTY X, when the client has waited like 2 hours, and calendar is ending. In other courts you could be looking at contempt; in federal court you would not dare have it happen. But since you're writing this blog nonsense, we all know you've never risen to do federal court work.

Last week I was in about a three person line, Judge Tunis took some guy in who she gave a 3 month furlough to, and he gave some stupid reason for being like an hour late. She refused to mitigate the sentence. When I came back a few days later, I found out she let the client sit for a day, then mitigated. Supposedly that's happened a number of times. Is that really so bad?

Grow up. Learn how to litigate like a real lawyer and quit
the whining. Chances are, you haven't tried a case of substance in front of ANY judge.

Anonymous said...

2:29.............try calling her JA and letting her know that you've got multiple cases that morning and may be late. She'll appreciate that and treat you with the respect you deserve.

Yes, it really is that simple.

BTDT

PS---great comment Cap. You're absolutely right.

Anonymous said...

Stacy Glick is like her father in many ways...........she's smart, fair and reasonable. She will treat you with the respect you deserve. If you're straight with her, you'll do fine. If you're not, well, let's just say you'll get what you deserve.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

DT is the most obnoxious, thoughtless, unpleasant judge in the courthouse. When she was a county judge, she was thoughtful, pleasant, and efficient. As a circuit judge, she is overbearing, pompous, abusive, and rude.
Her five to 10 minute rants about how people can do things more efficiently that take more time than the criticized behavior, and her absurd belief that things go more quickly if the calendar is taken in order while people stand about, show a person who has no touch with the world on the other side of the bench. I hope she draws opposition in the next election or is mercifully transferred to some other division. Her penchant for micro-managing fly crap would suit her for probate where the pace would accommodate her enormous time-wasting. In addition, the endless fawning of the probate bar will, no doubt, feed her enormous need for tuckus kissing. Captain Queeg would be jealous.

Ileana Haedo said...

I practice predominantly in Gainesville Florida, my first and lasting impression of Juduge Glick is that she respects all that appear before her, she is very smart, confident, but make no mistake, that is her courtroom and treat her with respect and you will have no problems. She also truly cares about people and it shows. Real as real gets. Tons of respect for that Judge Glick!

Anonymous said...

Judge Stacy D. Glick - She has to be the worst Judge. She has NO respect for anyone, is the rudest Judge & has NO compassion for anyone, including those sitting on family member's court hearings. She does not care about her cases. She could care less if the person is innocent or guilty, she simply just wants to get the case over with so that she can continue on with her day, despite of those depending on her basically with their lives. As she stated a few weeks ago in her court room "You are wasting my time." To my understanding, a Judge is supposed to interpret the law, assess the evidence presented, control hearings and trials and most importantly, pursuit Justice. After all, we are all innocent until proven guilty ... Correct? Apparently this doesn't apply to Stacy D. Glick. I hope all Judges are not like her because that would be very sad to the Community and the Judicial System.