Monday, May 18, 2020

TIMELINE AND A REQUEST FOR HELP ON AN OLD CASE

Unofficially, we believe that sometime around the first week of June many of  your favourite Judges will be streaming (with masks) into our beloved REGJB to conduct their own Zoom calendars. So in June courts will be operating with more judges conducting remote access hearings. No contestants in your favourite criminal justice game show will be in the studio audience until the all-clear whistle is sounded sometime after the July 4th holiday. This is an unofficial update and this post has not been approved by the motion picture association for all audiences. It represents our best guess as to what is happening and has not been approved with the express written consent by the National Football league and Monday Night Football or any one else (e.g., any of your favorite chief or administrative judges) as an official policy as what will be occurring.  Do not go to court June 1 wearing your bow tie and bowler looking for a judge to receive you. You will be denied entrance. 

As another example of unofficial guesstimate, the Feds are looking to resume jury trials in January 2021. 

Many years ago, REGJB Circuit Court Judge Martin Kahn used to hold cooking contests for his courthouse staff. Best lasagna and the like. It was during a time when people were nicer to each other and enjoyed each other's company and cell phones were the sizes of bricks. Now, we are wondering which judge will hold the "best mask" contest?  Our entry will be a mask that says on the front "The Right To Remain Silent". 

In all seriousness, will this virus stop cops from putting clients in those tiny interview rooms and leaving them there for five hours before returning to get a confession (after plying them with Big Macs and fries)? Maybe our clients will wise up and refuse to speak: "I ain't going into that small room with you copper" they will say.  Or instead of a Big Mac, fries and a coke, maybe the new way to get clients to speak will be with a new N-95 mask and plenty of hand wash.  
We have little worry about ever confessing: 
Cop: Can I get you something to eat before we begin?
Rumpole: Certainly. Our friend Daniel Humm runs Eleven Madison Park. If you tell him it's for Rumpole he will put together the cheese fondue in the butternut squash and some foie gras. Also I could go for the smoked eel with the fried Brussel sprouts.  And if your guys are hungry I highly recommend the celery root in pig's bladder. It's like nothing you've ever had. And you cannot go wrong with the braised pork collar. 


MAX KOGEN 

Max Kogen was an REGJB lawyer/legend before most of our robed readers were in diapers. We received this email asking for help:

I Am a researcher studying the trial of Mary Ivonne Axelson Cropper, 1975 for the 2nd degree murder charge, accused of murdering her mother, Mary McDougal Axelson.

 

Mr. Kogen successfully defended Ms. Cropper.

 

Tried in vain to obtain a transcript of the trial, or at least a synopsis of some sort detailing testimony.

 

Do you know anything of this trial or can you point me to resources?

 

Aloha,

Larry Bartley

Kailua, Hawai'i 96734

We have received permission from Mr. Bartley to post his email so that anyone who can help him can contact him directly:   larryknb@hawaii.rr.com

Keeper of the REGJB flame though we may be, this trial escapes our memory. We would love to have someone educate all of us about this. 







8 comments:

  1. I don't recall the case either. Isn't Max still alive? Last time I saw him in Judge Gordon's chambers he was racing greyhounds. Would his then partner, Jerry Kogan might have some info on the case?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary Ivonne Axelson Cropper (44 years old) was arrested in 1973 accused of killing her mother (82 years old) while her mother was a patient at Doctor's Hospital. The mother was beaten to death. Cropper was charged with second degree murder. Judge Tanksley handled the bond hearing. ASA was Alan Postman and Defense attorney was the aforementioned Max Kogan. Tanksley released the defendant on a $10,000 bond.

    Cropper was tried before a jury in 1975, with Judge Ralph Ferguson presiding. The defense was insanity. The jury returned a verdict of NGI. Apparently the defendant had a long history of schizophrenia.

    Captain Out .......

    ReplyDelete
  3. Big Mac and fries? Soooo . . . 20th century. As is a size 12 black wingtip compressing a skull against a concrete floor. We are an advanced civilization: nowadays, a not so compliant suspect is handed an iPhone 11 with Tik Tok app and threatened with the alternative of 12 consecutive hours of VHS tapes playing re-runs of the Brady Bunch unless he signs on the bottom line. Works like a charm.

    ReplyDelete
  4. God, I miss the Postman. He was the best. Didn’t you love appearing before him? How fun was it to treat him to a delicious lunch at Joe’s Stone Crab or Morton’s. He also loved Cye’s Rivergate.

    Do we have anyone on the bench now with the “Postman Style?” He always had a smile.

    ReplyDelete
  5. With all the outstanding defense attorneys in Miami, how the hell did Mike Grieco land the huge NFL case? And how will the broward SAO deal with the witnesses clearly getting paid off to change their testimony less than two days later to give Grieco affidavits completely changing their stories? Grieco should be investigated (again) because his stink is all over their sudden change of heart. I honestly have no idea why anyone would want him to represent themselves.

    Current ASA

    ReplyDelete
  6. That case brings back a lot of memories. The "Tanker" was a no nonsense Judge but a great guy off the bench. He got his hair cut at Pete's. Unfortunately he had Alzheimer's and died in Georgia. Ralph Ferguson was a bulldog DUI lawyer in the 70's. I recall trying a murder case when he was a judge. When the jury was sent out to deliberate, he invited all counsel to his house which was very close to the courthouse and we would have drinks until a verdict was returned. We do not have those types of Judges anymore in this era. Postman was a prosecutor from NY. I tried a number of murder cases against him and he never won. Although he claimed he won one, but I won the sentencing.When he became a Judge he would troll through Sally's( as it was then called) and would ask for checks for his reelection. As he once was quoted in the Herald, a contribution would not influence him but it might cause him to grant a continuance. Overall he was one of kind. Those were the days never to be revisited. A lot of fun in vastly different times......

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wonder at the same thing as 8:51. But remember the football players are not very smart and are influenced by a former Dj turned disgraced attorney. Baffling

    ReplyDelete
  8. 10:05, the line was that the contribution "might buy you a continuance down the line".

    ReplyDelete