MONDAY EVENING UPDATE COUNTY COURT CONFUSION?r

From: Faber, Robin <rfaber@jud11.flcourts.org>
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2020, 5:43 PM
Subject: RE: FACDL-Miami Fwd: Clarifications for lawyers: REG/Felony Div Corona Update - 3/17/20
To: jonathan blecher <blecherj@hotmail.com>, Leifman, Steve <sleifman@jud11.flcourts.org>
Cc: Michelle E <mestlund@estlundlaw.com>

Jon,

In regards to your inquiry, I have sent out the following to all judges in the County Criminal Division:

Judges should follow these procedures regarding all emergency motions to avoid unnecessary appearances in court and undue delay:

1. All emergency motions must be reviewed by the division judge to ensure it is a true emergency.  If it is not, judge should let the JA know to advise the proponent to wait until Court is back in regular session.
2. All motions to set aside bench warrants are emergency motions.
3. The State Attorney in the assigned division must be sent a copy of the motion and proposed order to see if they can agree to it and it can be signed without a hearing.
4. If so, the order can be sent by the division judge to either the covering bond hearing judge, or my office, to be signed and filed.
5. If objected to, the division JA can contact my office and we will do our best to get it placed on my or Judge Mansfield’s calendar within 2 days.  We will advise that JA of the date and time and that information can be relayed to the proponent of the emergency.

           

Procedures for Motions to Set Aside Bench Warrants for Defense Attorneys: 

(Rumpole cannot resist: Quite frankly the FDA guidelines to approve human testing of vaccines for Covid-19 seem less complex then setting aide a $100 BW)

1. If the defendant is out on bond, then a bondsman’s affidavit must be attached to the motion attesting that they will stay on the bond.
2. Defense counsel must send an email to the JA and CC to the Judge and State attorney with

a.   a motion

b.   an order

c.   proof of Prior correspondence with the state attorney in the division

d.   and bondsman’s affidavit if applicable – if release ROR then no bondsman’s affidavit needed – If PTR then a separate order to return to PTR must be attached.

3.   If the motion package is complete, the judge will review. If the division judge agrees to set aside the warrant without a hearing then the order will be signed in chambers and forwarded to the clerk. If the State doesn’t agree or the judge will not sign without a hearing, contact the jail division and we will place it on our calendars (see procedure above) so as to provide access to the Courts and a judicial decision on the record.  Incomplete packages will not be reviewed.  Motions must first be directed to the division that the case is assigned to. 

State Attorney contact info:

For Branch Court:

Traffic Criminal would go to Karina Harduvel:  KarinaHarduvel@MiamiSAO.com

Misdemeanor would go to Michael Monajemi:  MichaelMonajemi@MiamiSAO.com

For REG:

Alvarez-Zane: Kelsey Shelton - KelseyShelton@MiamiSAO.com

Nunez: Mary Corbin - MaryCorbin@MiamiSAO.com

Harris-Nelson: Dominique - Paul DominiquePaul@MiamiSAO.com

Martinez: Chloe Castro - ChloeCastro@MiamiSAO.com

Woodward: Joshua R Paikowsky - JoshuaRPaikowsky@MiamiSAO.com

Seraphin: Christian Rojas - ChristianRojas@MiamiSAO.com

Newman: Ashley Ramkishun - AshleyRamkishun@MiamiSAO.com

Jails: Kaitlyn Mannis - KaitlynMannis@MiamiSAO.com

This has been done in an effort to ensure there is some review of matters to determine whether it is a true emergency or not and to allow the SAO to see if they can agree before a hearing is set.  Keeping people away from REG is important for obvious reasons and we want to slow the spread of this virus.

If you have any questions at all about this please send me an email and I will respond accordingly.

Robin Faber

Administrative Judge

County Court, Criminal Division