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, November 15, 2013

GUARDIAN OF THE REALM

We follow a couple of blogs and here are some things that caught our eye:

MOTIONS IN LIMINE:
From the Hercules and the Umpire Blog , run by Federal District Court Judge Richard Kopf, District Of Nebraska: 
I hate motions in limine. A motion in limine is like a condom. It is intended to stop something before it starts. Thus, lawyers file motions in limine to stop the other party from presenting prejudicial evidence to a jury.
 I came across this response to the prosecution's motion in limine to prohibit the defense from referring to them as "the government" :


Should this Court disagree, and feel inclined to let the parties basically pick their own designations and ban words, then the defense has a few additional suggestions for amending the
speech code. First, the Defendant no longer wants to be called "the Defendant." This rather archaic term of art, obviously has a fairly negative connotation. It unfairly demeans, and
dehumanizes Mr. Donald Powell. The word "defendant" should be banned. At trial, Mr. Powell hereby demands be addressed only by his full name, preceded by the title "Mister." Alternatively,
he may be called simply "the Citizen Accused." This latter title sounds more respectable than the criminal "Defendant." The designation "That innocent man" would also be acceptable...


Moreover, defense counsel does not wish to be referred to as a "lawyer," or a "defense attorney." Those terms are substantially more prejudicial than probative. See Tenn. R. Evid. 403.
Rather, counsel for the Citizen Accused should be referred to primarily as the "Defender of the Innocent." This title seems particularly appropriate, because every Citizen Accused is presumed innocent. Alternatively, counsel would also accept the designation "Guardian of the Realm."
Further, the Citizen Accused humbly requests an appropriate military title for his own representative, to match that of the opposing counsel. Whenever addressed by name, the name
"Captain Justice" will be appropriate. While less impressive than "General," still, the more humble term seems suitable. After all, the Captain represents only a Citizen Accused, whereas
the General represents an entire State.

Along these same lines, even the term "defense" does not sound very likeable. The whole idea of being defensive, comes across to most people as suspicious. So to prevent the jury from
being unfairly misled by this ancient English terminology, the opposition to the Plaintiff hereby names itself "the Resistance." Obviously, this terminology need only extend throughout the
duration of the trial — not to any pre-trial motions. During its heroic struggle against the State, the Resistance goes on the attack, not just the defense.
WHEREFORE, Captain Justice, Guardian of the Realm and Leader of the Resistance, primarily asks that the Court deny the State's motion, as lacking legal basis. Alternatively, the
Citizen Accused moves for an order in limine modifying the speech code as aforementioned, and requiring any other euphemisms and feel-good terms as the Court finds appropriate.

The entire response is here.



The lawyer who drafted and filed that response is the aptly named "Drew Justice". This guy is not just good, he is great.  Isn't this the kind of lawyer you would want fighting for you?  Captain Justice, Guardian of the Realm and Leader of the Resistance has entered the REGJB Rumpole Hall of Fame. 

CLOSING ARGUMENT: DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY:
On a more serious note is local lawyer Roy Black's comments about closing arguments and the speeches of General Douglas McArthur. In particular, Mr. Black is enamored with General McArthur's famous farewell address to the Corps at West Point:


“The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, tone and tint. They have gone glimmering through the dreams of things that were. Their memory is one of wondrous beauty, watered by tears, and coaxed and caressed by the smiles of yesterday. I listen vainly, but with thirsty ears, for the witching melody of faint bugles blowing reveille, of far drums beating the long roll. In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.
But in the evening of my memory, always I come back to West Point.
Always there echoes and re-echoes: Duty, Honor, Country.
Mr. Black's blog post is here. And be sure and click on the audio of McArthur's address. And if you're intrigued about the person whom we believe was America's greatest general, then read William Manchester's American Caesar; it is a classic and will convince you that no one was better than McArthur. 
Cool weekend (temperature wise) coming up. See you in court. 
Coming Monday: Which Circuit Judge takes her spot as a juror in the REGJB jury pool? 





24 comments:

MC Waste Services, Inc said...

http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2013/sc10-1772.pdf cool case, cooler decision

Secret Judge said...

Blow a judge happy hours??? Wow, it must be time for me to hang up the robe. This fortuitous event never happened to me. Well wait a second, now that I think about it, there was this one sweetie pie I met at the Hyatt some years ago...

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THE REAL CAPTAIN JUSTICE .....

I am flattered. I am the real and original Captain Justice. Click on my link and you can read all about Captain Justice, the name I have used since I began blogging with Horace.

I had actually read all about Mr. Justice when that began circulating on the web about two weeks ago. I too was very impressed with his pleading.

Thanks for sharing/

CAPTAIN JUSTICE OUT ....
captain4justice@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I want to fly up to Tennessee and buy that man a drink! Jason grey

Anonymous said...

I hate you, I hate this blog, I hate the way you write and how sanctimonious you are and I hate everything about you and what you stand for. I hope you get hit by a truck and die a slow and painful death in the dirty street while people just ignore your suffering and walk on by. And you deserve worse.

Rumpole said...

One unexpected effect of writing a blog is trying to stay on top of all the fan mail.

Anonymous said...

Pig.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...



THE REAL CAPTAIN JUSTICE REPORTS:

Happy Anniversary to the Blog.

Eight years and still going strong. Thanks for permitting me to contribute ever so often to the Blog.

Jeez, why can't I attract fans like 8:33 am; you must be doing something right.

Enjoy the weekend. Loving the weather outside.

Cap Out .....
Captain4justice@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

YES RUMP, we love you. Happy Anniversary.

Jimmy Two Times said...

"I'm going to get the papers, get the papers, and read the blogs, read the blogs...."

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, speaking about Guardians of the Realm, ACE APD Herb Smith, as an elder statesmen of the Resistance, is engaged in a heroic battle against the Government in the Jason Beckman trial. None other than Gail Levine is Field Marshall for the Government's persecution of Jason Beckman. Rodney Smith is supposed to be the judge. But it is clear that Gail Levine is both Judge and Field Marshall. In fact, the Resistance has been denied due process, access to the record and generally speaking, a fair trial.

Judge Smith, at the behest of Field Marshall Levine, kept out the 911 tape and said that is was not an excited utterance. Do you remember the last time the state said a 911 tape was not exited utterance. Mr. Smith also kept out any reference to the Defendant's Aspergers, finding that the Citizen Accused mental condition is no way relevant to premeditation. Hmm, people who are autistic can be impulsive.

But it doesn't stop there Rumpole. Mr. Smith allowed a snitch to testify to the Citizen Accused alleged statement that he would kill all the witnesses once released from jail. Mr. Smith ruled that these post incident statements are consciousness of guilt, not evidence of other crimes or bad acts. He found it relevant to the issue of premeditated murder. And there are dozens of other issues I could write about.

Let me be very clear Rumpole. Mr. Smith is simply not experienced enough and lacks the intellectual capacity to preside over such a complicated and high profile case. The errors that he has committed in this trial are so egregious that not even the 3rd DCA can issue a PCA on this one.

And Field Marshall Levine simply doesn't care. This case will have to be tried again, but she is in DROP, so it won't be her problem. Jason Beckman is being railroaded by Gail Levine and Mr. Smith. It is simply despicable.

Shumie said...

This blog made me what I am today.

A purveyor of fine cigars and cigar products.

Anonymous said...

The fact that this is the blog anniversary makes your puerile and squalid existence even more difficult to comprehend and accept.

Anonymous said...

Come on home boy,

bust a move.

Fake Colby said...

Tomorrow I pick the Jets over the Bills for the survivor pool. The Jets are coming off a bye week and will have a big game. I am the best. Wesiman is the worst. Thank you Rumpole for being who you are.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, I hope your readers will help me with my new biography: "Joel Brown, Portrait of the Chief Judge of Change."

Please email with your stories and anecdotes to ChiefJudgeBrownBio@tmz.com.

Thanks.

The Right Stuff said...

Rumpole. I am a bit of a space buff. When the shuttle launches I hear terms like "press to A T O" and
"pressdameco"

What do they mean?

Anonymous said...

How come I always see Weisman at Yardbird Southern Table on the beach?

The REAL Captain said...

Stephen T. Millan goes the the hat trick. He has filed to run against one of the best Circuit Court Judges evar - Leon Firtel. Firtel will spank him like a bambino. Stephen, give it up.

Rumpole said...

Firtel ain't running. He'a done.

Rumpole said...

Right stuff: there are dynamic time frames during the launch of a space shuttle. One time frame is when the shuttle reaches a point where based on velocity and altitude the abort would be to an orbit, albeit an orbit lower than planned. This is known as Abort to Orbit, or ATO. The phrase "press to" means that the shuttle would proceed to.... so "Press to ATO" is that moment during the launch process where if there is an abort because of a shuttle engine malfunction, the shuttle would not return to earth but would proceed to orbit.

The second term is "Press to MECO." MECO is an acronym for Main Engine Cut Off. Again, the term reflects the dynamic phase of the launch when the shuttle continues to MECO- the point where the main engine cuts off. It means that the launch is going well and the flight can continue without an abort.

Deep Throat said...

You want to know what's going on at the Justice Building Rump?

Follow the money....

Anonymous said...

Gravity- overrated.

Anonymous said...

crazy ass motion in limine -- someone has time much time on their hands…