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.

Friday, April 23, 2010

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS ON COUNTY COURT ELECTIONS

BREAKING - BREAKING - NEWS ... FROM THE CAPTAIN ......

Judge Seraphin & Judge Graham have filed their papers TODAY and will be running to retain their current status as County Court Judges.


But first some breaking news from Rumpole:


BROWARD CENTRAL: DOWN GOES GARDINER (no, not that way). The Broward Blog The Juice reports that Judge Gardiner will resign from the bench rather than explain her thousands of texts to her "snookums" otherwise known as former ASA Howard Scheinberg, who happened to be prosecuting a defendant and was seeking the death penalty while he and the Judge were otherwise canoodling and laughing at jurors who couldn't stomach some gruesome crime scene pictures.


If you're someone who values uncaring, sarcastic and snide judges, then you might be saying "what a loss" to the bench and Broward. Otherwise this is a step in the right direction for a County that desperately needs to reshape and rehabilitate the image of its judiciary which right now is one step below that of Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger and perhaps the ruling party of North Korea.



THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL ….. COUNTY COURT

The following County Court Judges face election this Fall and have drawn NO opposition:

Group 15 Judy Rubenstein
Group 20 Beth Bloom
Group 23 Carroll Kelly
Group 31 Lisa Walsh
Group 34 Rodney Smith

The following County Court Groups are open/contested:

Group 05 Fred Seraphin ***

I am not sure how many readers out there know this, but Judge Seraphin has NOT filed to run for re-election. And no one else has filed either. Maybe Judge Adrien will drop out of his race and file for this "open" seat. Trivia: Name the Circuit Court Judge who left office and came back later as a County Court Judge???

Group 07 Edward Newman, Manuel Alvarez ***

Judge Edward Newman has an opponent. Those were my words on this BLOG on March 30, 2010 when I reported that Alvarez had filed to run against the sitting jurist. The same week that Alvarez filed his papers and said “I'll see ya”, Newman responded with an “I’ll raise ya” by dropping $100k of his own money into the campaign. Newman has raised a total of nearly $27,000 and has added $110,000 of his own money to the campaign. Alvarez opened his account with a personal loan of $1,000.

Group 11 Flora Seff, Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson ***

Judge Flora Seff is attempting to win a full term. She also has opposition. Seff has raised over $41,000 and added $5,500 of her own money to the campaign. Gonzalez-Paulson has raised just over $7,000 and has put down $500 of her own money. The big issue in this campaign, at least as far as the readers of this blog are concerned is experience. Seff has been a member of The Florida Bar for 30 years; Gonzalez Paulson has eight years under her belt. Paulson supporters have made judicial demeanor an issue saying that Seff lacks it when she is on the bench. One side note that The Captain is unclear about: The Florida Bar lists Michaelle as Gonzalez Paulson (no hyphen). Her filing papers with the Elections Commission read Gonzalez-Paulson (with the hyphen). Either way, she would appear before Seff on the ballot. Anyone care to comment on this?

Group35 Wendell Graham ***

I am not sure how many readers out there knew this, but Judge Graham also has NOT filed to run for re-election. And no one else has filed either. Maybe Judge Adrien will drop out of his race and file for this "open" seat too. This is not a misprint. Seraphin & Graham – if you are out there – it’s time to “come on down” and file your papers.

So, my fellow bloggers, what say you? Which incumbents deserve opposition? Which incumbents will draw opposition? Will Seraphin and/or Graham decide to retire, or, file for a Circuit Court seat? And will Judge Adrien decide to run for County Court and abandon his Circuit Court seat?

We will know the answers to these questions and more in just over one week. ***COMING MONDAY - CIRCUIT COURT UPDATE***

CAPTAIN OUT ……


48 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is talk that Gardiner is now dating her attorney who represented her in the JQC matter. The same attorney represented Ken Jenne with Thomas Scott, now her boss. I don't know if this is true but if so, it is proof positive that there is something really screwed up with the way business is conducted up there.

Rumpole said...

I wouldn't vote for Adrien for dog catcher. And you can quote me.

I try, I assure you, I really try to see the redeeming qualities in the Judges I appear before.

And I have said this maybe once or twice before in Miami (but many more times in broward) I see nothing, absolutely nothing in Adrien that merits the position of responsibility he holds.

This is my own personal opinion, based on the cases I have had before him and to a greater extent the things I have seen him do and say on the cases I did not have but witnessed as I sat in court. Nothing bad ever happened to my clients. But his ignorance of criminal law was startling. His disrespect for the people (attorneys, witnesses and defendants) who appeared before him was startling.

Anonymous said...

neither seraphin nor graham deserve opposition...they will file..and deserve support..we have few of the scandals broward has had,....adrien was wrong to challenge a good sitting judge...hopefully your comments will not instigate target practice...I don't know if you have been told anyone is retiring..but your scenarios maybe wild speculation..

Anonymous said...

Newman makes alot of sense. why spend 100k of ur own money, for a job that pays 145k? The dade bench is as weak as I have ever seen in over 30years of practice

Anonymous said...

Captain-why are you even suggesting to Adrien that he jump into a county race? Dont give a person like him any ideas!!!!!!!

If Graham and Seraphin dont file by Wednesday we need some solid people to files in these races and FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can not let some hack jump in to a county court seat unopposed at 11:59 next Friday!!!!

Rump-you need to declare a state of emergency on this--the potential consequences are just too great!!!!!!

Woody Rod Johnson said...

Being before Gardiner got me sll axcited

Anonymous said...

Thanks alot Bobby... oh, and you too Mike, for your esteemed opinion...

Anonymous said...

11:07 AM, perhaps Gardiner has no money and her attorney allowed her to convert his fee to community service.

Anonymous said...

If I remember correctly, Al Sepe won election to county court after having been a circuit judge, and then went back to circuit court.

Anonymous said...

Gardiner is what Cubans call a "locota calentona".

Anonymous said...

If Graham or Seraphin decide not to file, who would you like to see run for their seats?

Fake Alex michaels said...

Vas is dis dolphin draft peek? Who is dis penn state puttz< Vee need linebackers and vee need dem now. A rookie running back vould be gut too. But linebackers and lots of deem.

Anonymous said...

Are Bob Levy, Armando Gutierrez or Al Lorenzo cooking something for Friday at 11:59 a.m.?

Anonymous said...

There's a shumie time boycott on the south florida civil blog. WHat does that mean for us?

Anonymous said...

Several years ago I tried a first degee murder case where Seff was the proscuter. The jury acquitted my client on Murder one. Since then whenever she has seen me in the building she ignores me and turns her head the other way. a bad loser with no personality. she should not be on the bench. we need lawyers who have private practice experience who sign paychecks. not live off the public t*t.

Anonymous said...

Fake Alex Michaels, we need big linebackers as huge and ferocious as Romanian bears. And that's not bulsheeeeet!

Anonymous said...

What if Peter Adrien, after seeing the writing on the wall, resigns before next Friday and leaves his seat for Charlie Crist to appoint someone?

Anonymous said...

It's now 4:33 p.m. ST (Shumie Time).

real fake alex michaels said...

dis is not funny. dis is not fun. dis is bullsheeet people trying to make a funny out of me and my vay of speaking.

Anonymous said...

why arent more people running? where are all the hacks? did kopco get the memo that her seat she is running for no longer exists????????????????????

DOWN GOES FRAZIER said...

Rumpole were you referring to the famous call by Howard Cossell-
DOWN GOES FRAZIER?

Anonymous said...

Rump, did you catch this article about SEC staffers watching porn.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/23/sec.porn/index.html?iref=allsearch

Best part:
Separately, a senior attorney at SEC headquarters admitted to downloading pornography up to eight hours a day, according to the investigation.

"In fact, this attorney downloaded so much pornography to his government computer that he exhausted the available space on the computer hard drive and downloaded pornography to CDs or DVDs that he accumulated in boxes in his office," the inspector general's report said.

fake mel keiper said...

Here's the scouting report that may seem familiar:

He's a wide ranging lawyer, who comes out of the box aggressively in jury selection. He's comfortable before a judge or a jury, and is tenacious in the hallways during plea negotiations.

He can go prosecution or defense, and has breadth in criminal and civil but prefers the criminal, His real specialty is DUI and he goes after the breath tech like the reading was taken from his mother. He's good height and weight but will tend to put on weight as he gets older and will need to let his suits out a bit over time. He would be a good fit with the pds or any of the dui defense firms or the broward sao. He can start right away in any dui division and could handle the load on depos and motions in more complicated cases right away.


Of course this was the scouting report in the early 80's of the rookie who turned into the 007 of DUI defense- the one with the license to kill the breathilyzer.

Anonymous said...

Any update on de la O or Rier's trials?

the trialmaster said...

I would love to have a medical mal case with ANA. She is hot, but has she ever tried a case to a jury? I doubt it. Cole Scott has no trial lawyers. I eat them for lunch

Anonymous said...

Who's the 007 of DUI defense?

Anonymous said...

Nobody is running because being a Judge sucks. The pay is mediocre, you have a lot of personal exposure, and if you have a conscience, it takes a lot out of you. Not to mention the uncertainty of all the election crap. Florida's judiciary and legal future suffers everyday that we continue to have Judges elected in this State.

fake blecher said...

1;25 am- If you want to participate in the blog, you have an obligation to READ the blog, and not depend upon us to answer all your newbie questions. Got it rookie?

The Captain's Assistant said...

THE CIRCUIT COURT REPORT
Money raised/loaned–Cash On Hand (rounded)


CIRCUIT COURT
Open and contested seats


Group 21 (Judy Kreeger retired-NO ELECTION):

Miguel de la O $307,504.65 $277,000.00
Patricia Kopco $26,400.00 $16,000.00

Group 41 (Gerald Hubbart retiring)

Milton Hirsch $260,199.26 $227,000.00

Group 45

Peter Adrien (I) $9,870.00 $5,700.00
Samantha Ruiz Cohen $178,647.00 $142,000.00
Jeffrey Swartz $2,410.00 $2,410.00

Group 62 (Paul Siegel retiring)

Robert Kuntz $54,756.00 $16,000.00
Monica Gordo $4,350.00 $3,450.00

INCUMBENT SEATS
John W. Thornton $167,161.38 $164,000.00

Scott J. Silverman $132,597.65 $121,000.00

Jennifer D. Bailey $190,550.00 $187,000.00

Rosa I. Rodriguez $24,935.00 $24,935.00

Bertila A. Soto $64,940.00 $64,000.00

Scott M. Bernstein $176,400.50 $176,000.00

Barbara Areces $14,300.00 $14,300.00

Gill S. Freeman $134,502.53 $124,000.00

Julio E. Jimenez $82,835.00 $82,000.00

George A. Sarduy $30,2107.00 $30,000.00

William Johnson $6,668.00 $6,000.00

William Thomas $84,755.00 $84,000.00

Michael A. Genden $89,085.00 $77,000.00

Nushin G. Sayfie $102,874.00 $101,000.00

The questions that arise:
Why is no one running against William Johnson....yet?
Why is Jeff Swartz still running?
What will de la O and Kopco do?

Anonymous said...

Surfing the net for ideas for my web site I came across this nugget of self promotion

Mr. Fleisher's record of success has been recognized throughout the United States. He was recently dubbed the "Oracle of Information" by the Miami Criminal Bar.

Anonymous said...

all of you who complain re seffs demeanor are losers who just cant handle a judge who doesnt let you walk all over them. i have been before her and she is nothing like really mean judges like snyder, morphonios and margolius.

and the fact that you think the bench would be better with some 8 year lawyer who has never tried any cases is pathetic.

grow the fuck up all you whiners

Anonymous said...

Not being critical, just inquiring.... The Criminal Defense invitation said "valet parkign $12.00. Public parking two blocks away. So the City of Miami Beach was charging $15.00 to park and the Founrtainbleu charged $20.00. What happened to the the twelve????

FACDL UPDATE said...

The annual Miami Chapter of the FACDL dinner was held at the Fountaibleau last (Saturday) night.

The dinner opened with the tradition, many years in the making now, of Stan Blake leading the lawyers in a rousing and raucous rendition of Deutchland Uber Alles.

Then came the awards. David O Markus and company got an award for being a nudge to the Feds.

David Weed got the prestigious "double dipping award " for drawing a pension and a hefty PD consultant salary, and Retiring Judge Norm Gersten got an award to just make him go away. Why the FACDL is awarding a Judge who has hid in probate for the last 15 years is beyond me.

Dinner was served and then the fun began. A dispute broke out when several judges were charged for their kir royal champagne cocktails at the bar, but a good laugh was had by all when it turned out it was Kathy Rundle masquerading as a bar tender for a good "gotchya" joke.

The evening ended with the traditional conga line, and the sight of hot minxy county court judges doing the conga with stodgy old federal judges never ceases to bring a lump to my throat. After a three hour wait in the valet line, I got my car and drove off while watching Judge Don Cohn doing the old soft shoe to entertain the lawyers and judges still waiting in line. I can't wait for next year.

Anonymous said...

8:20

The Weed line and the Kir joke were funny. The rest is lame.

watch the dance here said...

Watching Moreno and Kogan lead the group of drunk lawyers in the Funky Chicken dance is always worth the $250.00 price of admission.

Anonymous said...

did weed really get an award and if so for what. he has done nothing for the last 30 years. facdl looses cred with that one, no?

Anonymous said...

let me see if I have this right. According to the posters on this blog, the kind of judge we are looking for is:

someone who is experienced and has tried a lot of cases as a lawyer, unless they are experienced, tried a lot of cases as a lawyer, and we don't like them.

Then we are looking for someone with no experience, who is nice.

If the person with no experience, who is nice, is someone who has never been in private practice, then we want someone who has been in private practice, but who has experience in criminal court, even if they have never tried a case.

If the person has a lot of experience, but it is all government experience, then we would rather have someone who has been in private practice (so they will give us continuances so we can get paid on our payment plans) even if they have no criminal experience.

If the person is someone we don't like, but they have been a prosecutor for a long time and tried a lot of cases, then we must find some old scandal involving them that courtesy of this blog, we can talk about anonymously.

If the person is someone we like, and is a public defender, we must bring up that they could never make it in private practice and that is why they stayed in the office.

did I miss anything?

Anonymous said...

Weed did indeed get an award, I don't remember the name of it, but if I said it was a lifetime achievement ward.

Anonymous said...

What did Weed's lifetime achievement award recognize? A lifetime of looking busy by walking the REG halls taking attendance? Or is it a lifetime of a cushy admin job that's now a cushy well-paid position where he does nothing? And we wonder why the PD doesn't have enough money to pay its young lawyers? How about because most of the money is STILL going to the fatcat oldtimers. And I don't buy that BS about the oldtimers deserving to be paid six figures because they would merit that in the private sector. What law firm would pay Rory Stein or David Weed that when they haven't had any legal work experience in 30+ years?

Anonymous said...

Here are some other winners of awards last night:

Peter Adrien: The Not Sorry to See You Go Award.

Joel Brown: The Leonard Rivkind mediocre Chief Judge Award

Jeff Swartz: The Al Zemlock candidates award.

Maria Dennis and David Miller: The MLK We can Overcome and get along award.

Harvey Melson- The Amazing Verdict against all odds award for his NG on a speeding ticket where he represented his sister in law caught at 78 in a 50 on Radar.

Ron Dresnick:The Alan Postman legal eagle beagle award.

Anonymous said...

343 very well said

Anonymous said...

Sunday, April 25, 2010 3:43:00 PM

Funniest shit ever! I mean ever!!

Anonymous said...

C David Weed wins an award from FACDL??!!!? I hope this is a joke.

Anonymous said...

Bravo 3:43!!!

Anonymous said...

Maybe some of you big mouth people need to run and get elected to the board of FACDL and nominate someone better.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. or is it Ms. 4: 29 pm who loves or is Flora Seff:

She is terrible and has no compassion.

She had a big problem giving continuances.

In South Dade she was isane. She took a 4 week old baby away from the mother in a domestic hearing and later gave a child to both the mother and the father (at the same time) even though they both had stay away orders.

Last week a bunch of us were standing in line when a certain lawyer asked for yet another continuance because he had to have some kind of serious surgery. (Name withheld but, we all know who that is)

She made a joke of it and laughed about it.

The lawyer, who usually has a rather big mouth, left humiliated.

Flora, you are a jerk!

Anonymous said...

Ana was in fact sleeping with her defense attorney. There is no doubt about it.

Good to see her go.

Anonymous said...

3:43........great post.

You only missed one thing:

If the person is someone from private practice, but we know nothing about them and they have no experience, we'll speculate that they're nice and support them if they file against a judge with lots of experience who won't give us continuances so we can get paid or who doesn't kiss our asses and make us look good no matter how lazy we are or how many nonsensical arguments we make.

And, oh yeah, we'll bash anyone whose name comes up on this blog no matter how good they are because our little egos can't handle anyone saying anything nice about anyone else.

BTDT

PS---forgive me, I'm extra cynical on Mondays ;-)