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.

Monday, July 07, 2014

SUMMER

With the end of the 4th of July holiday, summer is in full swing here in Miami. It's hot and getting hotter. 

There was a mistrial last week in the contentious murder trial before Judge Tinkler-Mendez.  The trial that allegedly began with a well placed "FU" between opposing counsel, ended not with a bang, but a whimper, as discovery issues forced the court to end the trial and start all over again. 

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court is in summer recess. When you're the top dog, you eat when you want and rest when you want.

CRASHING THE PARTY:
So there was this 90th Birthday for a Cuban Hero on Sunday. He's the guy who many years ago outed Fidel as a communist before Fidel came out of the closet. 

Lots of political types attended to pay their respects, including that rag tag army of Dade Judicial Candidates. But the event was  "invite only", and it was held at an event hall with a fancy sit down lunch. Based on the nature of event, children were not invited. 

But that didn't stop one candidate from crashing the event, and bringing his tykes wearing "Martin Zilber for Judge" t-shirts in tow. 

Being a judge requires (hopefully) many things, including the ability to know right from wrong (Broward judges excluded of course.) 
Tact and courtesy are nice traits. But crashing an old man's 90th birthday party to try and drum up a few lousy votes bespeaks of a candidate who is perhaps not ready to wear the black robes. 

As our favourite podcast is called, "What say you?"

Welcome back. See you in court. 


13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Instead of worrying about the poor taste of Zilber, you should be more worried about Jackie Schwartz who cussed out and threatened to sue a store owner for having an opponents sign on their own property.

Anonymous said...

Zilber is a classless buffoon anyway. I'm not surprised. He was a jerk on the traffic magistrate bench and I'm pretty sure he's never represented a real person. He inherited a family biz of taxicabs and busses. It's all on Sunbiz.org.

Anonymous said...


Very ticky tack Rumpole.

Taxi cab tom. said...

Taxis are people too.

Rumpole said...

And why should that worry i
Us? We like a feisty judge.

Anonymous said...

Sad list of candidates all around.

Anonymous said...

Rump, you wanna make me laugh some more abut those great athletic baseball players? Please tell me more how they are world class.

Anonymous said...

Its not a matter of "poor taste" (although Zilber clearly has none). Its a question of respect. Clearly he has none. THAT is a problem that only gets worse...

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

STAND YOUR GROUND .....

In case you missed it, the Florida Supreme Court has agreed to resolve the issue of whether a convicted felon can use the SYG defense when they use a firearm to defend themselves.

The court agreed to hear the case of Brian Bragdon, who was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle, discharging a firearm from a vehicle and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Bragdon argued that he fired the gun while trying to defend himself and sought to get the charges dismissed under “stand your ground.” But a circuit judge ruled that Bragdon was prevented from seeking immunity because he was a convicted felon in possession of a firearm at the time of the shooting. The case went to the 4th DCA and they affirmed.

The 2nd DCA made the opposite decision in another case when they found that there was at least one section of the “stand your ground” law that could apply even to felons. The court was considering the case of Aaron Little, who shot another man in a confrontation.

“His status as a felon in illegal possession of a firearm did not preclude that claim of immunity,” the 2nd DCA ruled. “And, as set forth above, Little established by a preponderance of the evidence that his use of force was justified to prevent his imminent death or great bodily harm as provided for in” the law.

Based on the conflict, the state's high court agreed to take the case.

See coverage from CBS4:

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/07/02/supreme-court-to-weigh-if-felons-can-stand-their-ground/

And from the DBR:

http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/id=1202661873267/Florida-Supreme-Court-to-Weigh-Whether-Felons-Can-Stand-Their-Ground

Cap Out .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

George Frobisher said...

The 2DCA is correct on this issue if you believe courts are supposed to say what law is, not what it ought to be. The well-reasoned opinion from Chief Judge Silberman is Little v. State, 111 So. 3d 214 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013). I predict the Florida Supreme Court will approve of the reasoning in Little. The media articles are of little use barbecue the reporters clearly do not understand what the law is or how the District Courts came to their conclusion.

Anonymous said...

We ask our judges to campaign in this community so you shouldn't be tough on Zilber who is probably the classiest of the whole bunch (and his family) for trying to meet everyone they can.

Anonymous said...

I thought Zilber was one of the smarter Traffic Magistrates. He was always pleasant and moved his cases quickly. Seems like a lot of silly criticism out there? We need more successful private attorney's like him on the bench.

Anonymous said...

There isn't a single successful private lawyer on the bench who is worth more than a bucket of warm spit other than Hanzman