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Monday, August 13, 2012

POLITICS MAKES STRANGE.....

"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid, the calf and yearling with the lion, and a little child shall lead them." Isaiah 11:6. 
Several aspiring bloggers sent us that quote when the news broke last week that the League of Prosecutors would be joining forces with the FACDL to challenge the Limited Registry system. 
This is the LOP's motion to file an Amicus Brief in the case before the 3rd DCA. 

Amended Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief


DOM never surrenders.
You need to check out this post on South Florida Lawyers last week on DOM's petition to the United States Supreme Court to review and reverse the 11th Circuit's very disappointing opinion in the Shaygan case. To refresh your memory, the Feds prosecuted Dr. Shaygan, threatened him and Mr. Markus if they didn't plea, sent snitches to try and get Mr. Markus to improperly get witnesses to change their testimony, and then didn't tell anyone what they did until Mr. Markus uncovered it during cross. Judge Gold hit the roof, sanctioned the prosecutors and the US Attorneys Office and awarded 600K in costs for a frivolous prosecution. Among other things, Dr. Shaygan was innocent, which is why the feds are so peeved off that he was acquitted. As we know, their unofficial motto is  "Anyone can convict the guilty, but it takes a really good prosecutor to....." well, you know the rest. 
The 11th circuit undid most of Gold's order  in a very strange and extremely disappointing opinion. DOM with some Amicus briefs, now seeks the Supremes to remedy the whole situation. 

Final Results: In our informal, unscientific poll: 
State Attorney KFR: 406: 53%
Rod Vereen: 352: 46%

The start of another long, hot week. 

7 comments:

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

T-1 day and counting. VOTE TUESDAY.

CAP OUT .....

Anonymous said...

That's because good prosecutors know it's easier to practice against good well paid defense attorneys.

Nobody wants a quack.

Anonymous said...

DOM's amicus brief will go the way of all amicus briefs filed with the Supreme Court -- straight to the circular file. Fat chance of seeing the return of that fee award!

Anonymous said...

I think that the quote you were intending to put in this blog entry was-

The lion and the calf shall lie down together but the calf won’t get much sleep.
- Woody Allen

Politics is whack, bad candidates, worse options. Just a thought for your Monday blues, if you pay the piper, do you really get to call the tune?

Anonymous said...

Good luck with that cert petition and convincing the Roberts Court to overturn the 11th Circuit especially given the manner in which Gold handled the matter. Gold let his emotions get the better of him (compare it with how Judge Cooke handled the TD Bank/GT sanctions hearing and there is no comparison). No way Court grants cert.

I find it interesting that no one has mentioned that the USAO released approximately $70K from the escrow fund even though they won the appeal in the 11th Circuit. Smells like some back door dealings between DOM and the former powers that be . . .

Here are the PACER entries:

DE 382--> Joint MOTION for Disbursement of Funds to Defendant From Court Registry by USA as to Ali Shaygan. Responses due by 8/13/2012 (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Stamm, Edward) (Entered: 07/26/2012)
08/01/2012

DE 383--> ORDER granting 382 Joint Motion for Partial Release of Funds to Defendant from the Court Registry to the trust account of the defendant's attorney David O. Markus in the amount of $70,879.50 as to Ali Shaygan (1) Signed by Judge Jose E. Martinez on 7/31/2012. (wh) (Entered: 08/01/2012)

Juniper said...

I asked a friend about how she would feel about being represented in a murder case by someone only being paid $2500 for the whole case. Her response was, "I'd rather have a first year law student. At least, they would care." I suspect that if prosecutors are joining in it is because of nightmarish thoughts of appeals, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, and the Innocence Project.

Abe Laeser said...

It is shameful to ask any qualified lawyer to prepare a murder case for $2,500. It puts the lie to the meaning of Gideon v. Wainwright.

Pleadings, hearings, preparing motions, depositions, deposition review, suppression issues, pre-trial issues, and perhaps 160 hours for a two week trial - perhaps you finally earn $4-5 per hour.

My Dad used to say: "In America. you get what you pay for." This state should be ashamed to pay for such representation.

The lawyers who would agree to such fees have two choices - cut corners to offer the type of legal help they would never want for their loved ones, or consider each case as their pro bono duty.

I can only hope that this statute is deemed to be unconstitutional. Quality lawyering requires meaningful payment of fees.

Collectively, we should all be ashamed of such laws.