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 02, 2011

IF AT FIRST YOU DON"T SUCCEED

Then plant the gun....see El Capitan's report below. But first....

FBI arrests City of Miami CST Officer Roberto Asanza for taking drugs from a drug dealer. The Herald reports here. The article details the possibility that another City of Miami Officer is being used by the Feds as a CI. Things are sounding as dirty in the City as in the River Cops heyday.

John Edwards: The rumor is that by the time most of you are reading this on Friday, the former Senator and Presidential Candidate will have been indicted. A crying shame. Despite his faults, he was a good man trying to do good things for this country. The Washington Post article is here.


The Captain Reports:

Holly Berretta .......

On Monday at 4am, a dozen police officers opened fire on a man in a car on Miami Beach. The man was dead on the scene. The car was taken by the police to be thoroughly processed. It has been alleged that the reason for the shooting of this suspect was that he was armed with a firearm.

Approximately 63 hours after the shooting of the man, a Berretta 92-F was found in his vehicle by the police .

According to the Miami Beach Police Chief, it took police several days to find the weapon because it was out of sight.

Are you kidding me. This guy must have been Kreskin, Houdini and Copperfield and rolled into one.

Cap Out .....

Meanwhile, the City of Miami Beach Police Department is working the case with their usual thoroughness. The Herald Reports here that Officers intimidated witnesses and destroyed evidence.

Our favourite part of the story:

The video ends as more officers are heard yelling expletives, telling the couple to turn the video off and get out of the car.

“They put guns to our heads and threw us on the ground,” Davis said.

Benoit said a Miami Beach officer grabbed his cell phone, said “You want to be [expletive] Paparazzi?” and stomped on his phone before placing him in handcuffs and shoving the crunched phone in Benoit’s back pocket.


In defense of the officers, the story doesn't ring true. Very few officers know the meaning of the word "Paparazzi."


40 comments:

Anonymous said...

I find it hard to believe the police took all that time to find a gun in car. I wonder if they will find a cop's prints on that possible "throw down gun."

Anonymous said...

The article says Kash Patel is the Fed PD. Former state PD. Oh the irony if he ever took Asanza's depo.

Heat fan said...

You people are ridiculous. Over react when we win game one. Over react when we lose game two. This series will go six or seven and we all knew that before this thing got started. Fact is that hear have dominated both games but for the last five minutes of game two. Don't be surprised if heat take two of three in Dallas.

Rumpole said...

Dallas did what they had to do. They took one in Miami. LeBron James record in the NBA Finals 1-5. (Got swept last year). Not too good.

Heat face prospect of not playing anymore in Miami this year.

Pressure is on. Lets see if this bunch of fancy pants has the fortitude to respond or if they just pout and take their ball and go home and demand that Kobe play for Miami next year as well.

GB said...

Rumpole,

I totally agree with you.

How completely implausible it is, that the car was in custody for days and no gun found. And then VIOLA!

And the chief gleefully explaims SEE! GUN!

Smells putrid.

Not to mention the "destroy the videos" cop mentality.

Anonymous said...

Govt Assassins

Anonymous said...

Just for argument's sake ... if the MBPD planted a firearm, why would they wait 63 hours to disclose it? In other words, why would they do something so inherently fishy instead of just disclosing the (planted) weapon ASAP? In my experience the vast majority of investigatorial stupidity is just that ... stupidity.

Anonymous said...

How come the police are never charged with tampering with evidence for destroying videos?

Anonymous said...

In addition to everything else - Jack Kevorkian (Dr. Death) has passed away at age 83.

Anonymous said...

Let's not sit idly by and chalk this up to "they're just being typical Miami Beach cops."

WE ALL KNOW (yes, prosecutors included) how corrupt, sadistic, violent, and pathalogical the Miami Beach Police Department is.

It is like the not-so-secret secret around town but we shrug it off.

What is on that videotape may be a murder committed by a swarm of cops.

Anonymous said...

Remember when the Coral Gables Cop (Alan Davis) forced his way into an apartment and took a video camera away from a citizen who was taping his DUI arrest on the street right in front of his appartment. Cop was cleared of course, but, now fired for doing a hooker on duty.

Police, can't live with em and kill em.

Anonymous said...

Edwards has been indicted. It is a stretch, and the Justice Department would not give in during negotiations on a misdemeanor vs. a felony. The head of the FEC said he does not think this is criminal. The whole basis of the federal jurisdiction is that Edwards was getting matching funds from the FEC.

Give the Feds credit, at least they did not proceed until Elizabeth had died so she did not have to deal with this too.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Great Gazoo was involved in the disappearance of the gun. Hard to believe there was once a time when a person felt safe in the presence of a cop.

Anonymous said...

Headline: IT TAKES MIAMI BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT 5 DAYS TO PLANT GUN, WHICH OTHER AGENCIES CAN PLANT IN ONE.

Anonymous said...

959 what does the viola have to do with this? did we hear it playing in the background at hip hop week? was frank viola the pitcher there?

Anonymous said...

Come on you guys. We are lawyers after all. Don't you think the delay is attributable to the fact that they probably got a search warrant?

Anonymous said...

Give me a fucking break. It took how long to find a fucking gun in a car with a dead guy who had 500 police inflicted bullets in his body?

Does not pass the smell test either.

Anonymous said...

as officer Acuna was told,"Bring the sock".

Anonymous said...

Viola;
I always wanted to play one of those.

Anonymous said...

The responsibility for police lawlessness rests with the State Attorney. The cops know that they only need fear a video camera. Otherwise, Kathy will do nothing.

Anonymous said...

Those officers are professionals and would never do what you have inferred; good enough for Scalia good enough for me.

btw: Scalia to visit St. Thomas Law School Nov. 15. No doubt he can clear this whole thing up for us.

Anonymous said...

737: Sure. That's why the PBA has been gunning for KFR forever and a day.

You have to think KFR is doing something right when the unions hate her for "persecuting cops for anything and everything" and the cop-haters detest her because she "doesn't" prosecute cops.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

If I remember correctly Rump, you were a big fan of John Edwards and thought he should be our 45th president.

Not condemning, just skeptical said...

The delay is due to the need for a search warrant?

Ok, let's assume that is correct. They get a warrant, and find the gun the chief says was well hidden. If the gun was well hidden, it is safe to assume it was not in the hands of the suspect at the time he was killed. Clearly they would have found it immediately upon entering the car to retreive the body.

If the gun was well hidden, not in the suspects hands, what was the reason the police all opened fire on an unarmed person?

Anonymous said...

11:41 has an interesting point. if destroying videos is not tampering with evidence. Can it by used to show knowledge of guilt? could it be a civil rights violation, u.s.c. 1983, which provides for attorney fees and punitive damages? spend my days in traffic/county court.. what do you highbrow fed guys think?

angry gurl said...

Another week gone by and more things I don't like:

People with pictures on their phones. Let me be clear- your snot nosed brat is cute only to you. I do not want to see endless pictures of jonny or suzy with paint on their faces or running at playground. Especially right before a business meeting.

Speaking of meetings and phones, half the idiots at any conference table are sitting with their head down obviously texting or sending email. I can only think of two or three people in the word who are so important that they must stay constantly in touch with their email and texts, and the idiots I work with are not them. So stop it.

I don't like the App store.
And the Barnes and Noble Nook reader and I really hate that at the Barnes and Noble they have the kiosk to sell the Nook right in front of the door and some pansy salesman soliciting everyone who walks in. The Kindle rules.

I don't like people who brag about their Netflix que. Try running a few miles instead of sitting on the couch all weekend stuffing your face and watching movies.

I am not on Facebook so don't ask me. I don't "friend" or "like" or whatever else you pin heads do on your computer when not viewing porn. Ditto Twitter. And I promise you I will never refer a case to any dumb-ass lawyer who I keep getting emails from Linkedin about reminding me that I've been invited to join their network. There's a special place in hell for you morons, and it's called the unemployment line.

Anonymous said...

"Angy Gurl" IS a man! That is not the vernacular of any woman.

BTW, a man posting as an angry woman on a legal/gossip blog may be one of the weirdest things I have ever heard of!

Anonymous said...

Re: The throw downgun--it had nothing to do with the need for a search warrant. The driver of the car was dead, and therefore, his right to privacy was as well. There was no worry about introducing evidence found against him at a trial, as we don't try the deceased, so the 4th amendment, and search warrants don't apply. I can assure you that they searched that car immediately. Moreover, whether he had a gun or not is irrelevant. If he didn't pull it, which appears to be the case as it was so well hidden that it took the police days to "find" it, then who cares if he had a gun. This is clearly a case of destroy the victim to keep the chattering classes calm. The next thing they are trying to argue is that the gun was connected to a previous armed robbery and shooting. Let's call this what it is...an ambush style murder by police officers.

secret judge said...

Hey, you have to admit that 'angry gurl' does have a certain panache to her scribes.

Anonymous said...

angry gurl still cant believe you are good in the sack with all that anger.

angry gurl said...

Top of the list of people I despise:

1) people who speculate on my sexual prowess. Lets just say "they're real, they're spectacular, and so am I".

2) People who think because I write angry that I'm a guy. I am a woman who not just survives but thrives in a man's world.

Anonymous said...

To Angry Gurl:

Your writing skill has improved since you started your campaign. Although, I feel compelled to point out that snotnose is one word as is pinhead.

From the context of your article, I'd say that you are an attorney or a judge.

while at Barnes & Noble, maybe you could pick up a Slang Dictionary to improve your writing skills.

If not, maybe one of the court reporters would be glad to proof your work, if you pay us.

Remember us? We are the ones that can be replaced by a lifeless, inanimate object and attorneys and judges are so much more educated, right? I'm so glad that I have attorneys and judges in my life otherwise I might not be able to tie my shoes.

I mean, isn't the plan to create the "World of Oz" at the Justice Building with one small room to operate all the digitals in all the courtrooms?

And would this one person be responsible as "court reporter" and listed on the clerk's docket to produce a verbatim transcript of the proceedings?

So, what if someone just slips a tape recorder in the courtroom and leaves? Who is responsible? Maybe you are not worried about that because as court reporters, we come along and clean up the mess, the unbearable background noise, the mumbling attorneys, and the jurors in the back row who whisper during jury selection.

Sure, Mic the courtroom so that the digital can get the last row for jury selection. It's not like we deserve the same consideration trying for that 100 percent record.

Anonymous said...

i luv angry gurl

Anonymous said...

Angry gurl, with all of your hatred towards the rest of humanity, when do you have time for anal bleaching?

Anonymous said...

To Angry Gurl: "Lighten up Francis!"

Totally turned on said...

Angry Gurls latest rant is pure gold. It couldn't be more true. I too despise Facebook, Linked In, or anything else that allows people I can't stand and have put 15 years behind me, to contact me and ask how I've been.

She is also correct about our need to be constantly connected. I'm guilty of that myself. My only correction on this point is that i don't think I'm that important, it is that I too work with idiots, and the diversion of playing Scrabble is the only thing that keeps me going.

Keep posting Gurl. And keep doing the Kegles.

Anonymous said...

What probably happened in the beach is that after the decedent had hit the Hialeah cop who tried to stop him, the other cops considered him a "threat" and didn't want to risk arresting him, so they used deadly force, just like when they shoot a drivers who accelerates towards them (like the fire captain from North Carolina who wasn't hit by police bullets and was charged with DUI). If you want to avoid problems, just stay away from Miami Beach, after all, the place is crowded and overly expensive and not worth getting tickets or getting shot.

Anonymous said...

I think Phil R is Angry Gurl

;-)

BTDT

Anonymous said...

To Angry Gurl:

Where did you get such a high opinion of yourself? Your writing style is mediocre at best with lots of room for improvement. Lots of slang phrases are one word. Snotnose and pinhead. I'll be glad to proof it if you pay me.

And apparently you didn't publish my Wizard of Oz scenario regarding the digital recording of the courtrooms. Did someone's feelings get hurt?

Kissimmee Kid said...

Dear 2:03;

There has never been a time when the police were not to be feared. Decimus Iunius Iuvenalis, known in English as Juvenal, was a Roman poet active in the late 1st and early 2nd century AD, author of the Satires. The Romans knew that police are problems, not the solution. Juvenal asked, “quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (Satire VI, lines 347-8). “Who will guard the guards themselves?”