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.

Thursday, January 02, 2014

STAND YOUR GOUND AND #'S 3-2 OF GREATEST AMERICAN NOVEL.

SYG:  A very nice win for the PDs office on a petition for a writ of prohibition (the proper way to appeal pre-trial the denial of a stand your ground immunity motion). APD Susan Lerner, Esq gets the win for the PDs. Judge Rebull reversed. FYI: It was a 2-1 win with Judge Salter in a learned dissent that quite frankly we would have expected to carry the day at the 3rd DCA (deferring to a trial judge's findings of facts and all that.) Mobley v. State, here. 

#3-#2 GREATEST AMERICAN NOVEL:
Numbers 3 and 2 on our list are  Catcher In The Rye, by J.D. Salinger, and  To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. 

Both Novels were written by authors who don't have a large body of work for which they are remembered, other than their masterpiece. In that sense, you can pick which is two and which is three. They are interchangeable on this list. If forced, we would rank Catcher third and Mockingbird second. 

Of the two novels, Holden Caulfield is perhaps the more unique fictional character and the writing style and subject- teen age angst and coming of age are more unique to the top ten list than the subject in Mockingbird. Salinger, like more than one author on the list, saw active duty in war, landing on Utah Beach at D-Day, and fighting in a combat role through the Battle of the Bulge. There is some criticism to Catcher: the character never matures. He is at the end of the novel the same way he began. Also, the writing is very dated, which makes Catcher a period piece. There is no relationship between the experiences of a teen-age Caulfield that would or could possibly compare to the experiences of a teenager today. Yet, the novel is uniquely American. No other culture could produce a Holden Caulfield. 

To Kill A Mockingbird is the personification of the classic American Novel. Only one novel tops it, and as we will shortly explain, we awarded that Novel top spot because not only of the genius of the Novel, but the author's body of work gave it the ever so slight edge over Mockingbird and Catcher. The brilliance of Mockingbird is the way in which the Novel highlights the great strengths of America and its darkest shame. Only America could produce an Atticus Finch, with the heroic qualities to speak up and defend a black man in the deep south circa 1930. Is there any more powerful line in a book then Tom Robinson, a black man, testifying that he felt sorry for Mayelia Ewell, a white woman? The distinction between the hard working and honest man (who is black) and the trashy woman from a slacker family whose father Bob Ewell is the town drunk (but who are white) is pure genius. That the jury must believe the white woman over the black man is a foregone conclusion in the deep south.  The fact that Finch proves Ewell a liar by showing that one of Robinson's arms- the arm that Ewell said Robinson used to choke her- is lame from a tractor accident- just highlights the clash between racism, culture, and the constitution that existed in the country for the better part of 150 years. And what to make of Boo Radley? Ahh, we save that for the high-school term paper, of which there are probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of them written on the subject. That the reclusive Boo saves Atticus's children and kills Bob Ewell in the process ties the novel up in a sweet ending. 

So now all that is left is which Novel is number one? 

Happy New Year and welcome back. See You In Court in a few weeks.


* Rumpole's second rule of trials: never ever ever let a case be set for the first week of January. 

19 comments:

Fake Tannebaum said...

Had occasion to enjoy a 2009 Earthquake Petit Syrah while hobnobbing with the rich and powerful over the holidays at steakhouses your support staff couldn't afford and quite frankly, most of you could not afford either.

It was rich and thick and chewy and busting with flavor like a Lodi Petit should be. But surprisingly, it's finish greatly outweighed the initial flavor.

All in all a very good wine, great value. Drink now through 2016.

Anonymous said...

Rebull,

Nice guy but, afraid to make right decision if it means a defendant goes free.

Anonymous said...

My news years wish: more cases in Judge De La O's court, less in Brennan's. I like being treated with respect and my clients do to. No surprise she got reversed today by the third for granting the states motion to revoke bond with NO change in circumstances. She couldn't even be bothered to write an order trying to justify her illegal ruling.

Anonymous said...

Did you see the slapdown of Judge Brennan in JESSICA SARAVIA, vs. THE STATE OF FLORIDA, et al. Bond granted at first appearance. State didn't like bond so went to Judge Brennan,. a kindred soul. She revoked bond. Third reversed her within day. 3D13-3222

Anonymous said...

Tired of book stories!!!!!

Anonymous said...

What is the authority for the uncited "frames per second" facts recited in the "learned" dissent? Did someone who is qualified testify to those facts at the hearing?

Anonymous said...

12:51 AM: Yes, there was a video expert at the hearing.

MC Waste Services, Inc said...

http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D13-1355.op.pdf The mailbox rule is alive and well

Literati said...

There's one spot left. So either way, you've left off Steinbeck or Twain. I cannot approve.

Rumpole said...

You're correct. I made an error in counting. I will fix it.

Anonymous said...

First error of the year. Stand Your Gound?

Anonymous said...

Rebull will not rule for the defense no matter what facts or law.

Anonymous said...

Rebull - nice guy off the bench. In court he's nasty to the PDs, nasty to the clients, nasty to the state, nasty to witnesses, nasty to his court staff, nasty to privates, impatient, irritable, and unfair.

Anonymous said...

Can I guess that the #1 spot will go to The Fountainhead? Howard Roark.....

Rumpole said...

You can guess anything you want. It's a semi free country. But careful readers know that when I started this list I explained why there would be no novels by Ayn Rand. And if I had to choose one of her novels for pure fiction it would be "We The Living" or "Anthem". So your guess would be wrong. But keep guessing.

Anonymous said...

East of Eden.

Anonymous said...

Private Attorneys are in and out of the courtroom. There should be a poll of division APDs, ASAs and clerks about our judges.

Anonymous said...

"To be clear. I’m not declaring Mobley guilty of anything. Neither were Judge Rebull or Judge Salter. They simply would have left it to a jury to weigh the defendant’s credibility and consider the bothersome evidence that led Miami-Dade police and prosecutors to charge Mobley with two counts of second degree murder. In the days before Stand Your Ground, his self-defense claim would have been tested against the common sense of six local citizens."

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/01/04/3852008/fred-grimm-squishy-parameters.html

Anonymous said...

MDPD homicide refused to arrest Mobley for murder. It wasn't until ASA Hoague, who publicly decries the SYG law, took the case from a non-compliant group of homicide detectives and gave it Cold Case that any charging "decision" was made. Grimm is more concerned with his prose than any real look at the record. This was as clear a case as they come.