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.

Monday, January 23, 2012

THE EYES OF THE NATION

The traveling circus called the Republican Primary (Motto: "Did you realize Obama is black??") has moved to sunny Florida. The eyes of the nation are upon us. What to do? What to do? 


We Miamians know what to do when the eyes of the nation are upon us. 


Lets start with a good old fashioned MIAMI RIOT!! 


We did it for the 1989 super bowl and for that last international conference of some sort. Lets have a riot!


What else? Well remember, this is the state that had a former  supreme court justice indicted for  drug trafficking.  And then he jumped bond!


That's right, all you wet behind the ears young ASAs from Backwater, PA and you idealistic PDs from Hicktown, Indiana, we had a supreme court justice who trafficked in Marijuana for a little income supplement. (FYI: the name of the justice and the case won't come up in a Google search. But it's a great trivia question: who was it?) 


What else? Well perhaps one of our senators can reveal he's a transvestite on the weekend.  Nah- this is Florida, we need something really kooky. 


Well, we'll all just have to wait and see. But be assured of this: our State's proud history of doing something absolutely, stunningly, embarrassing and stupid ensures that we will not drop the ball when the nation is watching. 


See You In Court. Watching and waiting. This ought to be good. 

29 comments:

Philip Maniatty said...

David McCain was the justice who jumped bond.

Rumpole said...

You are correct, and showing your age.

Anonymous said...

oh how about a state attorney who hung out with (illegal)gamblers and he and the "sheriff" arranged hookers for the out of state (texas) Law Enforcement officers when they came to testify in his millionaire murder trial of a rich hubby by the "pool boy" ????????

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS - CIRCUIT COURT

Group 47 - Maria de Jesus Santovenia has an opponent and the person running is not listed as a member of The Flordia Bar.

I have written a full front page post on the controversy and it will probably run on Tuesday. Final editorial decisions are always up to Mr. Horace Rumpole.

CAPTAIN OUT .....

Anonymous said...

Captain:
Not breaking news, he's been there a week.
Also he is registered with Florida Bar;
Alexander Labora, btw he's Debra White-Labora's husband.

Anonymous said...

There was also a Justice or Judge who got caught shoplifting a 5.99 TV remote control. But Rumpole most ASAs n APDs were in elementrary durning CourtBroom, so they dont know aboy drugs in the Judges Bathroom, et al.

What Courtroom chambers was that..
And dont ask Gary P, he was in trial when the FBI raided the courthouse , on a SATURDAY..
DS

Anonymous said...

Rump,
Tell the Captain that there is an Alexander J. Labora that is a member of the Florida Bar since 1994. Save yourself the full front page post.

Anonymous said...

We want a post from Gary P about the FBI bust

Anonymous said...

It was a 4th DCA judge DS............

BTDT

the trialmaster said...

It was former broward judge ed garrett. I tried some cases before him and he was a pretty fair guy.

Anonymous said...

"There's magic in fighting battles beyond endurance." That's a quote from "Million-Dollar Baby."

The fight I'd like to address is creating a record here in Miami with its hazardous acoustics, human drama in the courtroom, multicultural accents, and its lack of courtesy and manners displayed by the attorneys, defendants, and family members.

Within the last three weeks, there has been many changes affecting court reporters in the REJ building.

I'm hoping this is a fair and impartial analysis of the use of digital recording, but only time will tell whether court reporters will prevail and whether the digital equipment ends up collecting dust in some warehouse as a colossal failure.

I hope to begin with a healthy respect and admiration for the individuals who create or capture the oral proceedings, whether that be for the hearing-impaired on television, US Senate, or in our own Eleventh Judicial Circuit which at times resembles a full-blown circus at times.

When a record is perfect, it appears effortless, litigants come to expect it and think it is just "printed out."


If you think you are saving money with digital, it comes out of a different pocket.

It comes out of the pocket of the poor soul who has to listen to the recordings for three or four hours to find a five minute hearing. At their salary of $150 an hour, that's quite an expensive transcript compared to what a court reporter provides.

So, as you see fewer and fewer court reporters in the building and we have fewer and fewer jobs (to the joy of judges who are unable to work with people), we are human beings with families to support and bills to pay.

In the final analysis, just let the digital recorders record everything and then make those same people type up everything. Maybe then you might have a fair comparison and analysis of the job that reporters have been doing for the past 100 years.

I tried to attach a "raspberry" for all of you lovers of the digital transcripts. It's a little boy sticking his tongue out.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

to 8:54 am and 9:17 am

Read the post (when it comes out) and then let me know what you think about it.

to DS at 9:09 am

Phil Davis; courtroom 2-4 I think

Anonymous said...

Cap
Yes it was Phil but not in 2-4.
I was the B in Davis' courtroom during courtbroom, Gary was the A, in trial that Sat. when the FBI raided . Chief Crim Judge, Ralph Person had to come in to take the Jury's verdict
DS

Anonymous said...

ST?

Anonymous said...

ALERT ALERT

SCOTUS has unanaimously (although split on the reasons why 5 to 4)found that placing a GPS locator on a suspect's car and leaving it there to monitor the suspect's movements for 28 days is a violation of the 4th Amendment.

The attorney for the Defendant stated that the decision "is a signal event in 4th Amendment history. Law enforcement is now on notice that almost any use of GPS elctronic surveillance of a citizen's movement will be legally questionable unless a warrant is obtained in advance."

More later, I am sure, from Mr. Chief Justice Legend (in his own mind) Hirsch later.

the trialmaster said...

does anyone recall the dade circuit judge who was willing to mitigate a defendants sentence if the defendants wife/girlfriend went down on him?

Anonymous said...

An opinion written by Scalia (naturally) for the majority of the court refused to recognize "the right of privacy" issue. Must be thinking ahead to the challenge on Roe v. Wade. Don't want to admit that such a right exists, so we retreat to outdated doctrine and try to make it fit today's world, instead of recognizing how the world has changed.

Anonymous said...

Are you kidding ? ST AT 2pm? I am swamped with clients stacked up in my waiting room. No way ST until 5-530 on a busy Monday.

Anonymous said...

Trialmaster,

The judge was Al Sepe.

DS said...

Phil

Who did represent Candace Mossler, Wikipedia sez , Fopreman represented BOTH Candy and the Nephew,

see below from WIKI:

America's newspapers and magazines took note of the salacious case, and a drumbeat began to build for indictment of Candace Mossler. It finally came on July 20, 1965. Candy Mossler and Melvin Powers were defended by lawyer Percy Foreman, a high-profile attorney who later defended James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing Martin Luther King, Jr.. As her assets—the assets she inherited via Jacques Mossler—were frozen at the time of her arrest pending the investigation of Jacques' death, Candace paid Foreman's retainer with jewelry, diamonds, and furs that had been bought for her by her late husband before their separation.

The Barrister

DS said...

Would Gingrich say this is a perfect example of Activist Judges interfering with the Definition of Marriage and States Rights?

FOURTY FIVE YEARS AGO ( 45 ), June 1967, In LOVING vs. VIRGINIA , the US Supreme Court unanimously declared Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924 unconstitutional and ended all race-based marriage bans in the U.S.not intend for the races to mix.


Before June of 1967, sixteen states [ including FLORIDA] still prohibited interracial marriage, including Virginia, the home of Richard Perry Loving, a white man, and his wife, Mildred Loving, a woman of African-American and Native-American descent.

Nine years prior, in June 1958, the couple traveled to Washington, D.C. -- where interracial marriage was legal -- to get married. When they returned home, however, they were arrested and sentenced to one year in jail for violating the state's Racial Integrity Act.
According to court documents, the trial judge suspended the Lovings' sentence for a period of 25 years on the condition that they leave the State and not return to Virginia together for 25 years. He stated in an opinion that:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And, but for the interference with his arrangement, there would be no cause for such marriage. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix"

Secret Judge said...

In reference to trialmaster's question at 2:24, I believe that would have been the dishonorable Alfonso Sepe, and this was many years BEFORE his indictment, arrest and conviction for various sundry activities of Operation Courtbroom which put an end to his legal career. No question, there were some characters back in the day.

Anonymous said...

Trialmaster
it was Sepe in County Court
DS

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Anonymous said...

How about a monkey riding a dog? Let's make it happen!

THE TRIALMASTER said...

It was alphonso, but he was a circuit judge at hhe time. mitigating a sentence of only a year that a county court judge could give would not be worthy of the act. The sentence had to be signifant. not to mention, the defendant and his wife were of color.

the trialmaster. said...

how many remeember Jack Turner or one of the greatest judges ever to step foot in the justice bldg. Paul Baker who died much too young.

Anonymous said...

Trialmaster
I think Sepe lost his Couty Court Judgeship over this and came back years later to run for Circuit. Supposedly , I have heard the storys from ex-City Judges ( pre 1972), Former City Miami Judges went to the Bondsmens offices at lunchtime for services to reduce bonds and sentences also.
DS

the trialmaster said...

7:50am..Rumor has it that if a certain bailbonds man sat in a certain seat in a certain judges courtroom, the def would get a sizable bond set which he could meet on drug cases. and of course the def would make bond without a nebbia. if true, those were the days.