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, July 01, 2011

LONG WEEKEND AHEAD

UPDATE: MATTHEWMAN GETS A NOT GUILTY!
It took two trials, two Allen charges and two very long deliberations and one special post verdict jury note, , but Bill Matthewman walked his client out of Judge Dimitrouleas's courtroom Thursday night on a Conspiracy PWID +500 grams.
It takes a very good lawyer to get an NG in federal court. It takes a great lawyer to get one after a hung jury. And that's just what happened Thursday. A great lawyer prevailed. A Rumpolian WELL DONE Mr. Mathhewman. Well done indeed.

Post script: the case is USA v. Fabiola E Valdez. 11-80034-cr-WMD or 11-80034-cr Cohn as Judge Cohn was the original Judge. The DEA claimed Mr. Matthewman's confessed. But they have their precious policy of not recording post arrest statements. The jury sent out this note: We are disappointed by the agents' failure to record the statement, or videotape or photograph the surveillance of the defendant, which therefore caused the agents to fail to submit proof to us of beyond a reasonable doubt.

The original note should be up on Pacer soon. We no nothing about this case, but beyond what must have been stellar cross examination, you want to know where this case was won? It was won in the most important part of the case: Voire Dire! Mr. Matthewman got a jury that understood burden of proof, reasonable doubt and was not afraid to apply the law. What a great lesson on the eve of independence day. It's what we as Americans are all about.

Judging from the last two posts the lawyers in the REGJB are primarily interested in 1) Good Barbecue and secondarily interested in 2) non-lawyers who practice law and steal their fees.

FYI- and in case the yahoos at the Florida Bar are interested (We can do that- we're anonymous!)
Court Options promotes a "Record Sealing Specialist" named Melanie Covey who is 1) not licensed (ok- maybe she has a driver's license) and 2) not regulated by any agency in her record sealing endeavors.

Here's the real rub (continuing with our barbecue theme): a Florida lawyer, no matter how experienced, is precluded from identifying themselves as a specialist in any area of the law. But some individual who may or may not have their GED apparently is allowed to solicit clients and identify herself as a "specialist" in a particular area of the law. Go figure.

The sexual assault case against former head of the IMF- Dominique Strauss- Kahn, is about to fall apart. The Times article is here.


OK: now the important stuff.

The 4th of July approaches. How do you take your hot dog? On the grill, boiled, fried, with kraut, or (our personal favourite) Chicago Style.

For you neophytes, a Chicago Style dog is steamed/boiled, and put on a seeded bun with yellow mustard, sweet raw onions, sweet relish, a tomato slice, a pickle slice, and a small pickle pepper. A dash of celery salt finishes the dog off. In some parts of the country it is entirely acceptable to put some french fries on top of the dog. However. it is absolutely forbidden to put ketchup on a Chicago Dog. Some of the real old time vendors in the Second City do not even carry ketchup in their establishment.

Below is a typical Chicago Style Dog.




37 comments:

Anonymous said...

KETCHUP or CATSUP on a hotdog is a CAPITAL CRIME.

Anonymous said...

Whay really matters is the dog itself. It ihas to be a Kosher dog. Hebrew National Knockworst is best
DS

newbie said...

In view of the long weekend can the Shumie be called even before court starts?

toosie fan club said...

Ohhhga! Will toosie comment on hot dogs? The puns are endless. He's a cutie!

Anonymous said...

Strauss has big bucks to pay good lawyers to get to the truth. From what I am reading, he never should have been charged to begin with. A real travesty. But the real travesty is how many poor slobs have gone to prison who cannot afford the $$$$$$$$$ it takes to prove their innocence. If this guy were some bellhop from Harlem, he would be sitting in Rikers talking to a 28 year old PD with 1000 cases through a 5 x 7 inch hole in the wall.

Anonymous said...

How is the barbecue at the Ribs To Go trailer in the lot across from the REGB?

Anonymous said...

Definitely Chicago style. Nothing else compares.

Grey Tesh said...

Rump,

Board certified lawyers can call themselves specialists.

According to the Fla Bar,

While all lawyers are allowed to advertise, only certified attorneys are allowed to identify themselves as "Florida Bar Board Certified" or as a "specialist."

http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/CertSect.nsf/CertificationPamphlets/Criminal+Trial?opendocument

I agree in part with DS that the hot dog itself matters most. I have a few Buffalo hot dogs from Whole Foods in the fridge now. They taste awesome. Even with ketchup.

Anonymous said...

I eat my hotdogs with ketchup and mustard and I grew up in Chicago.

Anonymous said...

Let me get this straight - prosecutors in New York "state" court met with Strauss-Kahn's lawyers and provided timely Brady material that basically torpedoed their case? Wow! Maybe we should send all the ASA's here to NY on a junket to learn about their Brady obligations.

Anonymous said...

I feel specially qualified to answer this question.

My grandfather was in the meat business all his life. He owned a kosher meat provisions factory in the meat packing district in New York City. When I was a kid, we used to go to see him at work, where they butchered meat for a variety of uses.

In addition to steaks and burgers, his company made kosher salami, bologna, and of course - hot dogs. We used to go and get a fresh hot dog directly from the cooling shower. This was back when hot dogs had that little string between each dog.

After mixing the meat, pumping it into a casing, and being thoroughly cooked in huge ovens while hanging on a metal rack, the rack would go into a cooling shower before packaging. My grandfather would just grab his pocket knife, and cut one off the rack, and cut it into pieces for me and my brothers. Fresh hot dog! Anything less will never compare for me.

So, having said all that, it is absolutely all about the dog itself- the meat used. Cook and top it any way you like. The hot dog is the anti snob food. So don't let anyone tell you how to enjoy it.

PAB

the trialmaster said...

Rump, I understand that you dwell at the justice building and not in federal court. you need to realize that as a defense attorney in federal court there is little or usually NO voire dire . This case was won on cross exam and the defendant was probably a fox.

Jack Woltz said...

You cant defile a delicious dog by throwing a bowl of goyisha salad on it. Awful midwestern custom. Dog should be eaten simply. Brown mustard, well-dried kraut...period.

Salad on a dog?! Rediculous. And a man in my position cant afford to look rediculous.

Rumpole said...

take your condescending attitude to some blog in palm beach. I assure you I have won more federal trials then you have total trials. As to picking a jury in federal court, there's more to voire dire than two hour of questioning, if you know what you're doing.

Anonymous said...

Rump,

The prosecution comment in closing argument that infringes on the defendant's rightto remain silent and the burden of proof is no longer fundamental error says the 3rd DCA. See 36 FLW D1440a.

The Court ruling makes it clear that even that is now subject to proper preservation of the objection. Time for all trial lawyers to take a refresher course in preservation of error.

Anonymous said...

Rump:
I guess I don't "know what I am doing" b/c I don't understand what you meant in your last post. School me.....

Anonymous said...

The "trialmaster" is a troll. Best way to deal with trolls is to ignore the bait that they dangle in front of your mouth. If you resist the urge to answer their baiting post, trolls will just drift on till they run out of fuel without catching a single fish.

Anonymous said...

The best hot dogs in Miami are the ones that a lady sells at a small stand outside the Navarro Pharmacy on SW 8th Street and 40th Avenue (a couple of blocks east of Maroone Chevrolet in LeJeune). She also sells freshly-squeezed lemonade.

Anonymous said...

Depression is a little bit like happy hour, right? It's always got to be happening somewhere on any given night.

Anonymous said...

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/how-to-choose-the-best-hot-dogs-and-what-to-avoid-2503948/

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

The Captain Reports:

HIGH NOON. Gunfight at the OK Corral......

It's Rumpole v. The Trialmaster. The loser must leave town and go to Palm Beach, never to return to the comfort of the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building.

So, which one will turn out to be the Jose Baez of this steel cage match between the two trial titans of the Justice Building Blog?

Speaking of Baez, tomorrow morning at 9:00 am, you can choose to watch Breakfast at Wimbledon or the Closing Arguments in the State v. Anthony.

Two Blog Bets of the week. The winner gets two Chicago style dawgs delivered to their office:

1. How many hours/days will the jury be out?

2. What will the verdict be; first, second, manslaughter, other

Cap Out ......

Rumpole said...

9:42- I can teach the course. It's a bit complicated but try and follow along. If you don't like what the prosecution says...OBJECT...then MOVE FOR MISTRIAL. Always. The BS about not wanting to draw the jury's attention to something is just that- BULLSHIT. In the scheme of things it doesn't matter. But failing to object does matter. And now you've been warned.

My Two Sons said...

Plenty of fair comment regarding the Chicago Style Dog. Most overrated Hot Dog establishment is Arbetter's. Best New York Stle Dog is the dearly misssed Mr. Coney Island. Shake Shack's Chicago Style Dog is fair. Dogma is under new management and the product has suffered. Even Five Guys makes a decent Dog but they ruin it by splitting it down the middle. Lastly, Prime 112 makes a delicious grilled foot-long Kobe Beef Dog(not outrageously priced at 25 bucks)

fake Blecher said...

good rule of thumb Rumpoliom.

Anonymous said...

First. Life. Reversed. State Offer. Plea.

smoke em if you got em said...

THE RUMOR IS TRUE= THE GREAT ONE HAS A PRIVATE CLUB
Yes you can now take Shumie Time at Shumie's Cigars- out on Bird Road at the old Bergen Hunt and Fish Club right on the edge of the everglades. A big brawling cigar joint with the best of the best and if you know the guy behind the counter you may get a shot at a Cuban.

Meanwhile, as they say, smoke em if you got em, and if you don't come get em at Shumie's.

It's what you've all been waiting for- a Private Shumie Cigar Lounge.

Anonymous said...

I can see I was right in my assessment of Trialmaster. No friends.

Douche.

fake steve van zamft said...

I hereby state that the very best rock and roll song in terms of poetry of lyrics is Thunder Road by the Boss.

Debate? There cannot be any.

Anonymous said...

You have no idea how many times defense attorneys try to claim fundamental error with respect to closing arguments. They need to object and move for mistrial. If they don't the state wins!

Anonymous said...

Let's give the Manhatten D.A.'s Office credit here. It had an alleged rape victim with clear evidence of sexual intercourse and a suspect on a plan bound for Europe. What would you do, wait? They did their due diligence, found her to be a liar and quickly provided all of that information to the defense.

I say the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office should give a presentation using this case as an example of thorough and ethical lawyering.

Anonymous said...

Charlotte man who called himself 'Anti-Christ' gets 666 months after convicted of 6 sex crimes

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 39-year-old Charlotte man who called himself the "Anti-Christ" has been sentenced to 666 months in prison after being convicted of six sexual abuse charges.

A jury found Christopher Guy guilty on Thursday of three counts of indecent liberties with a child, two counts of first-degree sex offense, and one count of attempted first-degree sex offense. His 666-month sentence comes out to 55½ years.

Prosecutors say Guy assaulted two girls, ages 8 and 9. He represented himself at trial.

Authorities say Guy wrote a letter to prosecutors where he referred to himself as the "Anti-Christ."

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/956b9c69c4be41b6895e7359493ef33a/NC--Sex-Abuse-Charges/

Anonymous said...

To 12:37:00, i.e., "the trialmaster said", you should know that many federal judges allow attorney voir dire, although much less than in state court, and Judge Dimitrouleas is one of the federal judges who does allow attorney voir dire. Just so you know.

Anonymous said...

6:49,
I say Jungleland.

Anonymous said...

Springsteen = most overrated lyricist ever

Anonymous said...

Attorney Bill Matthewman and Criminal Defense Nina Martinez excellent team!
Good Job!

Laura Jay

FABIOLA E.VALDEZ said...

Yes good team!! Thanks

FABIOLA E.VALDEZ said...

God bless at both.