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, March 05, 2015

CHIEF JUDGE SOTO RE-ELECTED, AND MORE


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

LA JEFA JUEZ SOTO .........

Congratulations go out to Judge Bertila Soto as she was elected, unopposed, to a second term as Chief Judge by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit's 123 County and Circuit Court Judges. 

Judge Soto has come a long way from her days as a young ASA when she joined that office in 1989.  She was elected to the County Court bench in 1997 and later appointed to an open seat on the Circuit Court in 2002 by Governor Bush.  She was first elected to the position of Chief Judge in 2013.

YOUR NEXT TWO COUNTY COURT JUDGES .......

Have not yet been chosen.  You still have time to contact Governor Scott's office and weigh in on who should, or should not, be chosen to replace Judge Gladys Perez and Judge Rudy Ruiz for the two open County Court seats.

The Governor has the following names before him:

To replace Perez:

Laura Ann Stuzin
Diana Vizcaino
Gina Beovides
Jonathan Meltz
Karl St Hope Brown
Elijah A. Levitt

To replace Ruiz:

Laura Ann Stuzin
Diana Vizcaino
Gina Beovides
Joseph Mansfield
John William Wylie IV
Alexander Spicola Bokor

The Governor has until April 3rd to make his selections.  If you would like to weigh in on any of the finalists, you can contact Governor Scott's Office of General Counsel at 850-717-9310.

NORTH OF THE BORDER ...........

The JNC got busy with naming a replacement for Judge Giselle Pollack, who recently resigned from the County Court bench.  Today they sent six names to Governor Scott, including:

Nickolaus Hunter Davis
Donald Gelin
Michele McCaul Ricca
Nina Weatherly Di Pietro
Ernest Kollra
Richard A. Sachs


What some may describe as a controversial decision by the JNC, in Broward County (said it ain't so), is the inclusion of Nina Weatherly Di Pietro, on the short list.  It appears that Ms. Di Pietro has the distinction of having been fired from the Broward County Public Defender's Office by Howard Finklestein.  Anyone who has ever served as an APD knows how truly difficult it is to get fired from that job.  The Sun Sentinel covers all of the controversy here and here.

LOVING SOUTH FLORIDA ............

It's March and that means sunny and breezy days living in our tropical paradise with outings to watch international golf at Doral, international tennis on Key Biscayne, and international auto racing on the streets of Biscayne Blvd.  And, of course, every criminal defense lawyer's dream weekend, ULTRA.  Lots of new misdemeanor and third degree possession cases soon to fill your office stockings.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about we appoint someone with some criminal experience? Please no more of these newbie judges who have never practiced criminal law a day in their lives.

Anonymous said...

All 3 lists are busting with diversity

earl rogers said...

Is it possible that Howard's letter is actually going to make Governor Vodemort MORE willing to appoint Nina Di Pietro to the Broward Bench? I don't know her, but if the letters are true, she seems like a miserable and unhappy candidate with a conservative agenda--perfect for Broward.

Anonymous said...

Team Wylie III

Anonymous said...

"La jefa juez", come on Rump, you've been in Miami forever.

Rumpole said...

Read rhe post. The capitan wrote it. Not me.

The last time all the judges in Miami agreed on anything was when they voted for free food and drinks at judicial conferences.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


Thank you 6:16 PM. I'm a gringo; what the heck do you expect?!

Fixed.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

No murder charge for 15-year-old girl in brother's slaying

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world. And a sad one too.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/murder-charge-15-year-girl-brothers-slaying-29424887

The Professor said...

Cap,

I don't know if you are critical of the charging decision or just the totality of the circumstances surrounding this case. I am going to assume (probably not a good idea) that you are more concerned over the facts of the case.

I agree with the charging decision. With her siblings and her mother as witnesses to the ongoing abuse, her age and the fact that the parents were as abusive as they are, this poor child saw her only means of escape and took it. I am sure her fear included being chased down and abused even more by her brother.

The chances of this girl ever having a "normal" life are minimal, but with help it may be tolerable and productive.

The parents are certainly not without blame and one can only hope that our ineffective Department of Family Services has removed all of the children from the home and terminated their parental rights.

the trialmaster said...

Soto has her position because of her father. She has never distinguished her self as a lawyer and never has tried a jury trial. she is a far cry for the great CJs we have had, Cowart, Wetherington, Brown and Farina.The little latin girl judges have taken over the courthouses, even at 73 West Flagler. Sad state of the judiciary.

Anonymous said...

Please stop referring to women judges as girls. or start including your name, you coward.

Anonymous said...

Lol. Anyone who needs to declare THEMSELVES as a "trial master" is far from one I'm positive. More like the "plea master" I'll bet.
Soto was an ASA and tried plenty of cases. She was a civil lawyer and handled plenty of cases. As a lawyer who's tried cases before her I think she's exceptional and 99% of the lawyers who've tried cases in her courtroom would agree.
But I'm sure you're smarter than all of us. And I'm sure you know more than all the judges who've voted her to be chief twice now.
Btw, I'm a gringo and even Im offended by the racist comments you made at the end of your post. Sad and jealous. You're someting else.

Anonymous said...

Girl envy your mom didn't breastfeed you enough for you to grow some balls. Latin Women are awesome. We are hard working well rounded women who can go at it with the best of them. we can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let you forget you're a man plus give you a chancletaso when you get out of line.

Anonymous said...

Que lastima.

Anonymous said...

Hey 11: 57. If you are so sure Berdie never tried a single jury trial, put your fucking name on the post. How on earth could an ASA work there for years and not try a single jury trial? Really!

You may disagree with our Chief Judge but, my experience with her is all positive. When I write to her, she responds. She treats everyone with respect.

Get a life pal!

Anonymous said...

One other thing Mr/Ms 11:57am....

Judge Brown was OK but, no great judge. He had very little time or respect for the Defense. He simply ignored us. I find it hard to think of him a great.

Judge Farina is a nice guy but, go find one opinion he wrote when on circuit panels that resulted in a criminal defendant winning. FIND ONE! You probably can't.

Judge Soto, tried to run a good ship and is nice and you are not.