There are two things that will get you a guaranteed headline whilst serving as a public servant (prosecutor, Pd, judge) or just while being a famous attorney: being drunk in public, or getting caught having sex in your chambers (office), etc. And of course, all candidates for the office of Mayor of NYC should avoid, whenever possible, sexting their "junk".
EXAMPLE ONE: The honorable Susan Flood of Polk county is in the midst of a storm of controversy (which in Polk county can erupt from something as mundane as not serving sweetened ice tea at a social on upwards to this) over allegations of another Judge's judicial assistant that she caught the judge in flagrante delicto (latin for "goin at it like a hot knife through judicial butter" ) with her bailiff on her desk. The moral of the story being there's a reason they leave the light on for y'all at Motel Six.
The story and video are here.
EXAMPLE TWO: Some young poor schlub of an ASA got into it with a Beach cop the other night outside of the Purdy lounge and, as astonishing as this may seem to those of us in the criminal defense bar, ended up in cuffs and charged with disorderly intox. Ovalle and the Herald have the story here.
The moral of this story is that alcohol fueled late nights outside the Purdy Lounge have derailed more legal careers in Miami than the hardest exam the Florida Bar ever gave. That and looking at a Beach cop the wrong way (especially one off duty and looking for O/T) is the quickest way to see the inside of the bond hearings.
So there are your lessons for today, learned by some the hard way.
See You In Court.
When you see something that is not right, not fair, find a way to get in the way and cause trouble. Congressman John Lewis
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20 comments:
A very disturbing trend in the SAO. I believe this is the 3rd ASA just this year who has been popped. Obviously, the hiring process there leaves something to be desired.
Boy, for someone who likes to taut their writeing skills, you must have been half asleep when you wrote the paragraph called Example Number One.
And how about a hat tip to Judge Juan Ramirez for Example Number Two.
I'm pretty sure you mean "tout" and "writing" but that being said I do not "tout" my "writing" skills, preferring to let the taut writing speak for itself.
Please tell me you were pulling my leg and your comment was a joke, which indeed fooled me. And if not, please please tell me you dropped out of high school because your parents were injured in a coal mine accident and you needed to support the family. Otherwise, we're sunk as a society. Better start learning Chinese.
The first question out of my head was where does a young ASA get the money to spend at that kind of club. You can see a month's pay disappear in 2 hours before you even feel the overpriced booze you are buying.
For the umpteenth time - Take the badges away from ASAs with less than 3 years in.
Make the badge an incentive. Stay for your 3 year commitment and you get your badge.
No county court ASA has any business carrying a law enforcement badge. Badges are for senior ASAs to access homicide scenes.
These stories only reflect the ASAs who have been caught flashing their badges. The real number would shock you.
Rumpole, you are so cool.
From a career standpoint opening a twitter account makes a lot of sense.
I don't know the young Asa , but I know officer Al Alvarez quite well. Al is a really good hearted , nice guy with at least 23 years on the job. You would have to work really hard for Alvarez to arrest you for that sort of thing. The kid must have been out of his mind drunk. Jason Grey
1:46: great point. There is no need for ANY ASA to have a badge. None. Nada. Nyet. If you want to wear a badge, join the FHP and spend your Saturday nights in Fort Pierce searching people's trunks and glove compartments
A different take by Jason. The way this is unfolding, it seems this kid was drunk and obnoxious. Not a good combo for a law enforcement officer anyway. In NY or Boston or Chicago wiseguys would get a hold of prosecutors with a drinking or gambling or woman problem and turn him inside out. I miss the old days.
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
Year Suspension For Lawyer Who Took Oral Sex As 'Fee' ...
The state Supreme Court has issued a one-year suspension to a Bucks County attorney who agreed to represent a female client in a DUI case in exchange for oral sex.
In a one-page July 17 order, the justices, adopting the recommendation of a three-member panel of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court, granted a joint petition in support of discipline on consent in which attorney David H. Knight admitted to trading legal work for sexual favors and asked for a one-year suspension.
Read more:
http://www.dailybusiness
review.com/PubArticleDBR.
jsp?id=1202613041381&Year_Suspension_For_
Lawyer_Who_Took_Oral_
Sex_As_Fee#ixzz2aaCRKwZc
Cap Out ...
captain4justice@gmail.com
11:53, he was at Purdy lounge, more of a 'dive' bar than a 'club' as we usually associate with the glitz of south beach.
If the badges are for access to homicide scenes, why not have younger ASA's start going along with the seniors? It'll keep em busy and out of trouble on a saturday night.
Badges are not the problem. Weak training and supervision is. When I was an ASA, having a badge early on allowed me to do more than access homicide/robbery scenes. I never used it to access clubs/bars/discounts but did use it to break up a few bar fights and a girl being beaten once. Just hire good people and train/supervise/mentor them well. I think most could be trusted.
That's a good way to get killed. You're not trained for that. And any cop will tell you that if you pull a badge and dont have a gun and a radio to call for backup you're just being reckless.
Former ASA here.
Badges are not necessary for young ASAs and it seems as if the county court ASAs are the ones messing up with them. Hold off on the badges until they become a C in the felony division. County court and juvenile ASAs are not looking to access robbery or homicide scenes. If they really need access or need to prove who they are, they still have their SAO ID card.
Flashing your badge at a strip club for a discount on a lap dance or to cut in line at a club should be a fire-able offense on its own.
With regard to the other question about how an ASA making 40k per year can go party on South Beach at 500 per night, the SAO sometimes hires these "trust fund babies" with no student loan debts and a nice monthly stipend from the parents. My late '90s class had at least 15 of them.
Want less ASA controversy? Hire more female ASAs. They don't run around on South Beach and in strip clubs flashing badges and getting arrested.
You all are just jealous of the badge. Respect the badge. If cops can use theirs to get out of all types of shit and get perks, why can't an ASA? I mean come on, its not like the pay is that great. And besides, isn't getting the think on a plaque after 3 years and a week enough incentive to stay....you guys are just haters.
Let's see ... a female ASA fired for improper actions ... another female DUI prosecutor involved in drunk driving and the unlawful discharge of a gun in a public place ... sorry, but it is not just the macho men of the SAO (a good name for their pinup calendar, perhaps) screwing things up over there all the time.
Over three decades ago, ASA's had "state police" style big badges like the ones that FDLE and state-attorney investigators use. Most ASA's just clipped them to their wallets near their driver licenses.
Prosecutors in Miami emulate their bosses and judges, we live in a third world enclave, if you ship in clean cut, ethical law abiding prosecutors from Switzerland, in less than two months they will all turn into thugs or crack heads.
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