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, August 14, 2012

ELECTION CENTRAL ... PRIMARY RESULTS


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
(captain4justice@gmail.com)


ELECTION CENTRAL ..... AUGUST 14, 2012 .... PRIMARY RESULTS .....

EARLY VOTING NUMBERS & ABSENTEE BALLOTS HAVE NOW BEEN POSTED AND HERE THEY ARE. JUDGES LOBREE AND LUNDY THOMAS MAY NEED TO DUST OFF THEIR RESUMES.

HERE IS YOUR 9:00 PM UPDATE. CLOSEST RACE IS JUDGE PANDO V. GONZALEZ.  JUDGE WOLFSON IS 102 VOTES ABOVE A RUNOFF.  THAT WILL BE THE LATEST ONE TO CALL BY THE END OF THE NIGHT.

HERE IS YOUR 10:00 PM UPDATE.  PERCENTAGES ONLY EXCEPT WHERE CLOSE (NO LINE-THRUS-TAKES TOO LONG).  JUDGE LUNDY THOMAS AND JUDGE COHN ARE BOTH RUNNING BARELY AHEAD AT THE MOMENT.  DON'T HANG UP THAT ROBE JUST YET.

FINAL NUMBERS ARE IN.  CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS WHO APPEAR IN BOLD AND BLUE BELOW.

In January we welcome three new Circuit Court Judges: Verde, Santovenia, & Pooler; and four new County Court Judges: Gonzalez, Barakat, Cuesta & Brinkley.  (All seven, by the way, are women).

Also of Note:

Mike Satz wins primary and faces Rep. Jim Lewis in November.

Our good friend and former Dade ASA Cathy Vogel wins primary beating incumbent State Attorney in Monroe County and faces Rep. Mark Kohl in November. Way too go Cathy!

Jeff Ashton, he of the losing side of the Caylee Lee Anthony trial beats incumbent State Attorney Lawson Lamar and is your new State Attorney.

Dale Ross is still a Judge in Broward.

Julio Gonzalez won 34% of the vote and will be in a run-off with Laurie Wilson who won 27% for Circuit Court seat.  Two other candidates collected the other 39% of the vote.

Judge Diaz in Broward got 49.64% and will be in a runoff with Roshawn Banks (27.94%). Diaz needed 718 more votes to have avoided a run-off.

Judge Terri-Ann Miller was re-elected.

STATE ATTORNEY

Katherine F. Rundle - 60%
Rod Vereen -  40%

CIRCUIT COURT

Judge David Miller -  62%
Mauricio Padilla - 38%

Robert Coppel - 93,227 - 49%
Maria Verde - 98,661 - 51%

Alex Jimenez Labora - 90,027 - 49%
Maria Santovenia -  95,298 - 51%

Victor De Yurre - 43%
Teresa Pooler -  57%

COUNTY COURT

Frank Hernandez - 44%
Judge Patricia Marino-Pedraza - 56%

Diana Gonzalez - 95,523 - 51%
Judge Ana Maria Pando - 92,605 - 49%

Michelle Alvarez Barakat - 71%
Judge Fleur Lobree - 29%

Arthur Spiegel - 46,018 - 24%
Greer Elaine Wallace - 51,720 - 27% (R)
Judge Andrea Wolfson - 90,978 - 48% (R)

Ivonne Cuesta - 67%
Jacci Seskin - 33%

Tanya Brinkley - 61%
Enrique Yabor - 39%

John Rodriguez - 94,685 - 50%
Judge Teretha L. Thomas -  95,943 - 50%

Lourdes Cambo - 90,981 - 49%
Judge Don Cohn - 94,870 - 51%

That is the line-up in Miami-Dade County.  We should have early voting results very soon.  We will keep you updated during the evening.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
(captain4justice@gmail.com)

87 comments:

Rumpole said...

My initial impression is Judge Lobree is getting swamped for no reason other than her unusual sounding name and that is a damn shame.

Anonymous said...

Don Cohn! Don Cohn! Come on baby. Pull it out!

Anonymous said...

Rumpole,

does Coppel pull it off late like Glick did in 2008?

Anonymous said...

Vereen showed his true colors and ran a dirty campaign and the voters didn't buy it. Fleur deserved to be elected. Wonder what she'll do now?

Anonymous said...

I go to vote and am approached by two men in brown shirts (literally) with badges on their belts and their shirts said PBA. They stopped me just outside the polling place, and within the area where no politicking is allowed and asked to see my ID.
I asked "why"? I was told their was a lot of voter fraud at this location and they were checking IDs.
I asked them if the poll worker was going to check my ID, why did they need to do it?
They said the current state attorney was engaging in massive voter fraud and they were helping the poll worker. Then they gave me a voting guide including all of the PBA endorsed candidates.
I asked them for their ID and said they appeared to be violating the law. The larger one called me a "smart ass". I pulled out my phone to video them in an area they couldn't be and they swatted it out of my hand to the ground. I picked it up and called for the poll worker. She wouldn't come over. The larger one produced a police radio and called for some back up. I got my phone and dialed 911.
Three police cars arrived. I explained what occurred. They told me that the two were off duty police officers who said I had attacked them with my phone. I demanded the poll worker come over and explain what she saw. she came over and said she didn't see anything (note- later when I asked her why she lied she said the police threatened to arrest her if she stopped them from checking IDs and campaigning). The police who arrived asked me for ID. I produced my ID, including my ID as a federal agent. You should have seen the look on their faces. I then wrote down their names, the poll workers name, and asked them to get the name of the two officers who had struck me and had violated the election law. They refused to do so, went back to their police vehicles where I could see them conferring about their report. I walked over and asked them if I was under arrest. I was told no. I then asked them if they would start an investigation into the officer who struck my hand. They said there was no corroborating evidence and everyone at the polling area had said they didn't see anything. I then asked them if they were inclined to arrest any of those people for giving false information to a police officer? No they said. I said fine- the video on my phone not only captured the officer striking my phone, but several individuals in the background looking directly at us as he did it, including the poll worker.
I have contacted the DOJ and filed a complaint and will be filing an IA complaint against all the officers. They were very nervous when they realized what I do for a living. They should be.

FYI- lots of us "feds" read your blog. Keep up the good work.

Rumpole said...

I think that since South Miami and Coral Gables and Homestead hasn't reported that Judge Cohn does have a chance to pull it out. More than Coppel. But both races will be close. Again, Lobree got slammed well beyond any rhyme or reason merely because of her name which is just wrong.

Anonymous said...

Within the last six months I started working for KFR and I have really enjoyed working for her office. I am so happy she is ahead in the polls and hope that she wins by a landslide!

Anonymous said...

Don't count Lundy out yet, although she lost the absentee votes by a big margin, she won the early voting. If the trend continues with the election day voting, she may pull it off or come real close to winning. This is going to be a tight race.

Anonymous said...

With the advantage that Rundle has over Vereen in the early and absentee voting, there is no way that Vereen can catch up to her, this is true because the turn out was low. She will be re-elected by a comfortable margin.

Anonymous said...

Likewise, there is no way that Seskin can catch up to Cuesta. Cuesta has been elected.

Anonymous said...

Rump. Just look at the specific data on the results. Coppel is beating her by large numbers in many of the districts that are reporting. I agree, it is going to be close.

Anonymous said...

If Verde wins, there's no hope against the spanish surname

Anonymous said...

Gonzalez/Pando will probably be one of the tightest races. Although Pando won the absentee vote by almost 5000 votes, she lost the early voting and is losing the election day voting, but not by much. We will have to wait and see what happens when the Hialeah precincts get counted what happens. She may squeak by.

Anonymous said...

Once there was a Judge named Pando
Pando Pando Pando
Then she got an opponent
Pando Pando Pando
She ran real hard and tried to win
Pando Pando Pando
Did she win or did she lose?
Pando Pando Pando....

Anonymous said...

Poor Lobree

Anonymous said...

http://www.local10.com/news/Man-named-Jackmeoff-Mudd-arrested-by-BSO/-/1717324/16111602/-/h74o2t/-/index.html

old guy said...

Guess the old joke is true: If your hyphenated name is Ferguson-Gerstein-Gonzalez, you can count on 70% of the vote for any office in Dade.

Anonymous said...

Seems lots of people realized that it was cooler to vote for Pooler! Don't mess with Tess.

Rumpole said...

Don Cohn just pulled within 400 votes. And Pinecrest hasn't reported yet.

Anonymous said...

Wait another six months...

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

9:27 - Judge Lobree was never in South Dade, and never late. Who are you talking about?

Anonymous said...

An incumbent Yid can't seem to win in this town. Maybe a Yid with a Spanish sounding name (and the voters in Hialeah don't the Yid is a Yid) can.

Anonymous said...

COHN IS HAVING RIPPINGILLE FLASHBACKS FROM 2006....EXCEPT NOW HE IS THE INCUMBENT....COHN IS SWEATING !!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Coming up....Lobree & Lundy Thomas, PA

Anonymous said...

Cohn surges into the lead!
Pando sees it all slipping away.....
Lundy-Thomas makes a comeback.

Rundle a 60/40 winner.

shumie time, crackin a beer.

Rumpole said...

I think I'll go out on a limb here and say Barakat will beat Lobree. 10 pm 723 out of 829

Anonymous said...

Gonzalez will defeat Pando

Anonymous said...

Barakat a dolt but tall thin and kinda good looking. Lobree smart but not "hot". So of course, Dade county voters go for Barakat. That's really too bad.

Anonymous said...

9:31:00-- are you sure Lobree was not at SDJC? There was a mean,rude female judge with a rude bailiff. the bailiff was a black woman with close cropped hair. a retired detective i think.. I will need to go through my old calendars to double check and make sure it was Lobree.. I will be embarrassed if I am mistaken, even anonymously that would be a terrible error..

Anonymous said...

9:31 - You appear to be talking about former Judge Flora Seff, who had an african american female bailiff. Lobree was in North Dade, with a hispanic maile bailiff.

Anonymous said...

Lobree got Seff'd

Anonymous said...

Pando pando pando....(sniffle) gonna miss ya. Hope you had the time of your life.

Anonymous said...

sorry but best comment of the night was "poor Lobree"

Anonymous said...

Its Cohn Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Cohn says this is crazy...but here's my number..so call me, maybe????

Anonymous said...

Wait! If Miller loses, what happens to Mudder and Haber?

The ol' "MillerMudderHaber" gang is gone?

Anonymous said...

Hard to understand how anyone can compare Lobree to Seff.

Lobree nice and smart.

Seff, jerk and dumb.

Anonymous said...

lobree should lost because of her horrid poster picture

Anonymous said...

The biggest loser tonight? Rivera and the other goons at the PBA. After spending tons of union money supporting two candidates, they both lost big time. Vereen lost 60 to 40 to KFR and Martinez could not even force Mayor Gimenez into a runoff. When will the rank and file at the PBA realize that while this guy is the head, they will continue to lose. Maybe after Mayor Gimenez forces them to lose more money.

Anonymous said...

Vereen is a scumbag who will never win any political office. Vereen has been accused of being ineffective more times than I can count. He is not fit for elected office.

Anonymous said...

It is an absolute shame that Michelle Alvarez jumped into a race against Judge Fleur Lobree. Judge Lobree's endorsement by the Miami Herald over Alvarez was one of the best that this County has ever seen, well deserved and entirely accurate. Lobree is one of the brightest, most talented and fair minded legal scholars that this County will ever have the privilege of having on its judiciary, and I say that from personal knowledge. I am saddened that Lobree could be unseated by someone who can not even match Lobree's qualifications, experience, legal knowledge, and integrity. I know both Lobree and Alvarez and while Alvarez is nice enough and has a pretty campaign photo, I hope that she is ASHAMED about unseating such an incredible an asset to this County's judiciary based SOLELY on the use oh her hispanic surname. Anyone who is intellectually honest knows that is true, yet remains disgusting. Judge Lobree, if you do not win tonight, I hope you will hold your head up high and know that this is just another example of dirty Miami politics by those who don't really give a crap about this community, but care instead about furthering their own career no matter what the cost, and I hope that you will immediately apply for another open county or circuit position because this county needs people like you. God Bless you!!(and he will...)

Secret Fashion Police Informant said...

The news story today was the heralded and aggressively lauded tie-less fashion trend being promoted by none other than the Romney/Ryan ticket.

Could that lawyer that used to be a former professional wrestler and champion bodybuilder be a fashion trendsetter rather than what has been always thought of as being overly casual dude???

Anonymous said...

Pando defeated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Out of the 8 races with anglo vs hispanic names 5 anglos prevailed. So stop complaining about the names. Name alone is not enough. Neither is money. Congratulations to the newly elected and re-elected.

Anonymous said...

Tess POOLER???REALLYYYY REALLY????
WOW!

PANDO GET OUT OF TOWN!

Cindy Morals said...

Nice! Seriously some officials need the reprimand not for anything but they take advantage of people who don't know their rights. Imagine if you were a regular civilian you'd be the top story of the night, arrested for assault and battery at two police officers. I give my thanks to you for protecting our civilian rights!

Anonymous said...

Ron Palillo passed away. You know Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter. BTW, how many rulings do I buy with my 500 dollar contribution to the "judicial elections". BTW 2, if 7:55's story is true, I spit on this community.

Anonymous said...

rumpole- I mistakenly at 9:27:00 PM made negative comments about Lobree. I had confused Lobree with Seff. I only appeared lobree once and she was fine.. my error could cause distress to Lobree, and could harm her professional reputation. Can you please remove my 9:27 post. thanks

Anonymous said...

His true colors isn't being drunk by noon. To bad he lost

Anonymous said...

Continue to drink the kool aid.

Anonymous said...

It's Miller time! 12:30 a.m. the day after election and all is as it should be. Pando, Cambo, Rodriguez, Hernandez, Padilla, De Yurre... yahr-ooooowt!

Lobree should apply for one of the recent vacancies. She's a good judge and was ousted for all the wrong reasons.

Wolfson should have taken the three-way, but Wallace/Wolfson in November will be an interesting race.

BTW, Miller got more votes than Rundle, second only to the Mayor.

Back to business...time out only for the kick-ass parties coming up.

Anonymous said...

Barakat will be an awesome job, go Michelle.

Best vote was a vote against Panda!

emily litella said...


I can't believe that they are going to ban Pit Bull from our great County.

I just love that song he sings, "I Know You Love Me". My newest favorite is "Give Me Everything".

They shouldn't be allowed to do this and I will do everything in my power to make sure that they don't ban Pit Bull from Miami Dade County.

Anonymous said...

welcome judge Gonzalez guess whose head is on a silver platter! what what! that's the way we roll. don't ever doubt the power of GOD!

Anonymous said...

Ms. Verde will be a great and very honorable judge. It was a close race, I'll admit. She deserved the win. #82 all day!!

Anonymous said...

You know we knew that if anyone was gonna take Pando out it would have to be a Colombiana! That's right baby goooooo. gonzalez

Anonymous said...

The final lesson is this: Don't mess with Don Cohn baby. The picture with the poodles will win every time.

The Poodle Express said...

Don Cohn had a get out the vote operation that would make Obama proud. A "Poodle express" shepherding thousands of voters who requested help to the polls. Each rider got a juice box or water, cookies (sugar free if requested) and a sample Don Cohn Ballot. Just a few thousand votes made the difference for The Don.

Anonymous said...

PANNDO:
Will she show up for work for the next 4 months?
Will the JQC drop the charges since she lost?
If she shows up for work, will she show up on time, just once?
Will her lawyers, Catalano and Josefsberg withdraw from her case?

Anonymous said...

So let me get this straight --- in Orlando you lose the biggest case of your career and you become the State Attorney. Huh.

Anonymous said...

God didn't beat Pando.

Karma beat Pando.

Anonymous said...

integrity won corruption lost. cambo just another pando who lied about her endorsements also. last thing we needed was another unethical judge

Anonymous said...

if there is truth at all to what 7:55pm is saying, it should be a front page story and require investigation by the federal government.

Anonymous said...

I don't know judge Lobree and have no comment on her. Michelle B-Alvarez has been working in the MJB for about 15 years. Michele is smart, super nice and has handled every kind of case . Don't hate her because she's pretty, or has a Hispanic background . She will be great. Jason Grey

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Pit Bulls are misunderstood.


Signed,
Condom Inspector

Anonymous said...

Pooler: American as they come. Beat victor de yurre.
Brinkley: American. Beat Enrique Yabor. Who used Rick on signs. To sound more Anglo?
Thomas beat Rodriguez.
Cohn beat Cambo.
Miller beat Padilla.

Gee, maybe it is more than just having a Hispanic sounding last name. It may have boosted people like rodriguez and cambo into close races but in the end, it didn't work for them.

Anonymous said...

I think Michelle will make a good judge. From what I heard about Lobree she is a good judge. I hope that Lobree gets the next appointment and then we'll have two good people in.

Anonymous said...

Strange that R endorced Alvarez but then was troubled by the thrashing... Strange indeed. As for Captain, he obviously does not practice in the Keys. Captain should stick to being a blogger full time- he is a Plea Picasso

Anonymous said...

Captain -- we will have four new circuit court Judges in January, you forgot De la O won when Greer Wallace switched to Wolfson's seat.

Anonymous said...

He's a great judge! Go Cohn!!

Anonymous said...

The voters have spoken. But Maria Verde is an idiot and no where the quality of intellect or temperament of Rob Coppel.

Anonymous said...

It really is a shame that excellent, qualified, motivated and fair judges like Fleur Lobree and Andrea Wolfson (and Robert Coppel surely would have been an excellent jurist as well) have to fight tooth and nail to keep their seat, when other candidates with half the credentials and questionable intentions can walk into an open seat and instantly become sitting Judges. These are jurists we should fight to keep. No matter what our stake in the matter, we know our client will be afforded a fair shake, win or lose. We as attorneys and others involved in the legal profession need to do a better job of educating our friends, family, colleagues and clients as to the kind of person we want presiding over legal cases in our County. Unless and until a layperson has an issue before the Court, they do not realize the impact a good or poor jurist can have on their lives and their community. Do we want political figures who cherrypick a race without a hispanic name, hoping for a large African American turnout in November? Do we want struggling criminal defense attorneys looking for a pay raise, steady paycheck or better hours? Or do we want smart, committed judges who will work hard and take their service to the community seriously? Well let's all take a good luck at the results last night and work to do better next time.

Rumpole said...

10:57- I feel bad for Judge Lobree. Furthermore, I admit to not knowing enough about the judge before I said I was goign to vote for Ms. Alvarez. By all accounts Judge Lobree deserved to be re-elected, and while I hardly believe I had anything to do with her loss, I regret what I wrote and should have remained silent. The only thing that can account for that drubbing- and there is no other way to view the results but a complete drubbing- is that Judge Lobree's name sounds strange to many people in Miami. And isn't that a shame, that a person can be very intelligent, a dedicated public servant, but can't win an election because of something they can't control- their name? It is sad and I was trying to convey that.

Rumpole said...

Almost 6000 page views in the last 24 hours. Thanks Miami.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

JUDGE FLEUR LOBREE & JUDGE KEVIN EMAS .....

Judge Lobree suffered from the same defect has Judge Emas.

My history may be slightly off, but I believe that Kevin Emas had been appointed by Governor Chiles as aa County Court Judge in 1996.

In 1996 he had to run for his first time to secure a full term. He drew a challenger. Michael Samuels.

Emas is a very unusual name and the voters could not figure it out.

The results of that race were staggering:

COUNTY COURT JUDGE GROUP 14

Kevin M. Emas 62,563 40.74%

Michael J. Samuels 91,015 59.26%

Judge Lobree interviewed before the JNC in the Spring of 2011 and was immediately sent to Governor Scott. She was appointed and has been on the bench for just over one year. She is extremely bright. She handled appellate issues while working for KFR.

Hopefully, she will dust off and get back up on her feet, make an appointment to speak with now 3rd DCA Judge Kevin Emas and set a new course and direction for her career. One that may ultimately include a new run for office.

Emas did that in 1998 and was elected. Three years later he was elevated to the Circuit Court bench. And nine years after that he was elevated to the 3rd DCA.

Good luck to Judge Lobree in all her future endeavors.

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

When, oh when, are we ever going to get some Hispanic women on the bench?

This wall of prejudice and sexism must be brought down.

Anonymous said...

Judge Lobree,

Please know that you have quite a few people in our community who admire and respect you as a jurist. It is a sad day for our County to lose such an immensely talented and ethical jurist. Should you decide not to play this "game" again, please consider applying straight to the Third DCA, upon a vacancy. AFterall, it is only a matter of time before you get there anyway.

Anonymous said...

female + marginal legal talents + not cut out for the private sector then = being a judge.

What a joke!

Anonymous said...

Anybody Who thinks Marge Verde is dumb has not met her. She is very smart very knowledgeable , and is a top notch trial lawyer who has tried many felony cases. I have tried cases with her and you should take my word for it she is sharp. She has also made a good living in PRIVATE PRACTICE for about ten years so she knows what it is like. You will see she will be at the top of her class. Jason grey

Anonymous said...

our county lost..

we have a girl who was elected because she needed a pay raise but is riding off her cuban name.

we have an extremely qualified, bright and ethical judge who was unseated due to her name (thats a fact.. (ex: judge emas)

we have a top guy in the PDs officer who lost because of a name as well (no matter what you say its about the ABs and how the MOVERS decide they will work!)

i smell FRAUD!... i hope our colleagues realize what they have done/ let happen

#teamverde#82ALLDAY said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Why is it that when a non Hispanic wins its because he/ she is more qualified but if they are Cuban its because of their name? I have known Robert coppel since I was a pd in the late 80s he is highly qualified, intelligent , talented trial lawyer and a gentleman . That being said when voters decide a contest they don't necessarily pick the person experts feel is most qualified for the spot. This is true on American idol, wet t-shirt contests, when that moron Bush beat Gore, and in Miami dade elections. Voters decide based on .... Who the fuck knows ? Mentally retarded people are legally allowed to vote; as are the insane. The best we can hope for is that all candidates are qualified so the voting public can't fuck it up too badly. Jason G

Anonymous said...

After the way Pando was treated by the JQC, she should take a nice long vacation, to close out her 12 years on the bench. Diana Gonzalez got elected due to PAC money from insurance companies - God help those injured in car accidents, because Judge Gonzalez won't! She'll be too busy kissing the rings of United Auto, State Farm & Allstate!

Anonymous said...

The jqc is not done with Pando. And You don't know Diana, she is no one's puppet. She didn't get this far by being by being a fool Don't be stupid. Pando is the most unethical Judge. even during the election she violated the rules. So before you start jumping to conclusions and talking shit get to know the facts and the person. Judge Pando is under serious investigations for activities which could land her in jail. She is lucky she lost. If she is lucky the JQC let's it go, if she pushes it she is looking a disbarment and a major criminal investigation.

Anonymous said...

7:52 sounds just like the slur campaign against Judge Pando that was prevalent in the campaign.
Candidates sign an oath to run a decent campaign but that didnt happen in many of the races. Anyone with the knowledge 7:52 alleges to have wouldnt put it on the blog. How ridiculous! Rump, you seem like a decent person, why do you allow people to make those kind of allegations that can hurt someone irreparably?