AFORMS

Several alert readers forwarded us this missive on a local email listserv we are enjoined from mentioning by name:

 After a brief, shining moment when a-forms were readily available, the Clerk’s Office has gone dark.  It’s close to impossible to get an arrest affidavit in a timely manner.  Does anyone know what’s going on?

The biggest problem for this lawyer was not coming to us first. We have all the answers. 

Call the clerk's office. Duh. Here's what you will experience. 

"Welcome to the Dade County Clerk's office. Please listen carefully as the options have changed. For location press 1. For Court calendars press 2. To obtain arrest reports or documents from files press 3...

3... Welcome to the Dade County Clerk's office. Please listen carefully as ....3  Welcome to the Dade County...3# .... You have pressed 3. To quickly obtain copies (laughter in background) hey stop it I'm making a recording. To quickly obtain copies of an arrest report please press 9 (loud laughter in the background "hey nine ends the call idiot..." ) 9# You have selected 9 if you are done please hang up. To return to the prior selection please press 2222. 2222# To quickly obtain copies of an arrest report please press 9 (loud laughter in the background "hey nine ends the call idiot...") no, wait, press 7, sorry about that. 7# 

You have pressed 7 and want to obtain an arrest report. To verify your selection please press 12. #12.  You have pressed 12, verifying your selection of 7, requesting an arrest report. Please be advised that arrest reports are public records. To verify your identity, please enter or say you date of birth, using the European System. For example if you were born on July 1, 1980, please say one, July, 1980, or using your phone keypad enter 01, 07, 1980. Once having entered your date of birth, please enter your blood type. Using the keypad you may enter zero for O, and then 1 for O-positive or 2 for O negative, 4 for A, then 1 for A positive or 2 for A negative. If your blood type is AB please enter 9 and end the call.  After entering your blood type, using your touchtone keypad, please enter the case number of the arrest report you want, adding the sum of the last two digits for the year and multiplying by 2. For example, if you wanted a case from 2025, 2 plus 5 equals seven. Seven multiplied by two is fourteen, so you would enter a 1 and then 4. Please then say or enter the remaining numbers in the case number backwards. So if the case number was 24356 you would say 65342. Once you have entered all the information, you may obtain an emailed copy of the arrest report by calling this number, entering 666 followed by the pound sign, and then using your keypad, enter your email address where  A,B,V is 1, C,D,W is 2, E,F,X is 3, G,H,Y is 4, I,J,Y is 5, K,L,Z is 6, M,N,P is 7, O,Q,S is 7, R,T is 8, and U is 9. 

Please note the clerk's office cannot send emails to Gmail, AOL, or servers using Outlook. 

Thank you for calling the Dade County Clerk's Office. Please stay on the line for a short 35 minute customer service satisfaction survey. " 

So getting an A Form from the clerk's office has NEVER been easier. Next time you have an issue, please reach out to the blog first. 

WE'RE NUMBER ONE ..... & MATTHEWMAN IS CHIEF .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

DEATH IS DIFFERENT .......

On Thursday, Florida executed Edward Zakrkewski, age 60, for killing his wife and his two children. He was the ninth person put to death in Florida this year, breaking the record for the most executions in our state in one year since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976.  The good news (for those of you who are proponents of the death penalty) is that Governor DeSantis still has five months left in 2025 to extend his record.

In fact, DeathSantis has already signed two more Death Warrants for August. Florida has scheduled the execution of Kayle Bates on August 19 and of Curtis Windom on August 28. Florida executed two men in July, including Zakrkewski.  If he keeps up this pace of two executions per month, Florida will have executed 19 inmates by the end of the year, 11 more than any other year.  Texas and South Carolina are a distant second - they have each executed four this year.

Florida uses a three-drug cocktail to carry out the death sentence: a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart.

Attorneys for Zakrkewski filed numerous appeals in an attempt to stay the execution. They cited Zakrkewski’s military service in the Air Force as well as the fact that the jury voted 7-5 for death. Under current state law, he would not have received the death penalty.

If you are a criminal defense attorney and have an interest in handling Death Penalty cases, you will need to take a death penalty seminar. The two most popular seminars in Florida include:

1. Death is Different. Sponsored by FACDL, the statewide organization hosts this seminar over two days every March.

2. Life Over Death. Sponsored by the Florida Public Defender’s Association, the seminar will be held on September 4 - 5, 2025, in Charlotte Harbor, Florida. You can register for the seminar by going here:  

MATTHEWMAN IS CHIEF .....

Let’s end the week on a more positive note.  Longtime readers know that attorney Bill Matthewman was one of us for a long time. He began his career as a police officer. He eventually went to law school at the University of Florida, graduating in 1983. If recollection serves me correctly, Judges Scott Bernstein and Jonathan Colby were both in Matthewman’s graduating law school class. 

For 29 years, Matthewman was a lawyer, one of the best in South Florida, spending much of his time as a criminal defense attorney. One of his most famous cases was the last case he tried to a jury, here at the GJB, in 2012. In that case, his client was Adam Kaufman, a real estate developer from Aventura who was accused of murdering his wife. The case received heavy media coverage, and Court TV covered the case, gavel to gavel. The case was dubbed “the spray tan murder case” because Matthewman’s initial defense was that Kaufman’s wife may have died from an allergic reaction to a full-body spray tan.  Matthewman dug further and discovered that Lina Kaufman had actually died as a result of an undiagnosed heart condition, myocarditis.  The jury found Kaufman not guilty. Six weeks after the trial, Matthewman accepted an appointment as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida.

On Friday, July 25, Matthewman rose to Chief Magistrate Judge, taking over for retiring Judge Jonathan Goodman. Best of luck, Judge Matthewman, although we know you won’t need it.

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

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT OR COUNTY COURT JUDGE?

Governor DeSantis signed SB 2508 into law, effective July 1, 2025. It creates several new seats on the Circuit Court and County Court benches in the 11th Judicial Circuit.

The 11th JNC is now requesting applicants to fill one Circuit Court seat and two County Court seats.

Applications must be received by 5:00 pm on Friday, August 22, 2025, as follows:

The “Judicial Appointment Application 2025” may be downloaded in pdf and word format at:

https://www.flgov.com/eog/info/judicial/applications

A redacted pdf of the application must be mailed to each member of the JNC at:

•     jsuarez@continentalpllc.com

•     jrichardson@hsmpa.com

•     jnc@pedroallende.com

•     sdimond@dkrpa.com

•     rfernandez@rhflawfirm.com

•     gmiguel@miamidade.gov

•     walter.harvey@dadeschools.net

•     haydenjnc@gmail.com

•     epedrosa@jonesday.com

If you are chosen for an in-person interview, they are tentatively scheduled to take place on September 9. The JNC could send as many as 18 separate names to the Governor for his consideration for the three new seats.

Good luck.

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

TIME TO GO AWAY

 IT’S TOO DAMN HOT

There comes a time in every Miami lawyer’s summer when the seersucker suit starts to suffocate, the courthouse AC wheezes in protest, and the iced cafecito sweats faster than your last cross-exam under Judge Thomas's stare. That time, dear readers, is now.

It is too damn hot.

Like “sixth circle of Hialeah hell” hot.

 Like “I just saw a bailiff fry an egg on the sidewalk of the REGJB” hot. 

The kind of heat that makes the parking lot at 1351 look like the surface of Mercury and has the usual suspects at the PD’s office fantasizing about taking depositions in Reykjavik.

A few seasoned attorneys have the right idea: briefcases packed, auto-replies set, and they’re already in the mountains of North Carolina or sipping something chilled in the south of France (because appellate extensions taste better with Bordeaux). The rest of you? You trudge from courtroom to courtroom, dodging puddles of sweat and pretending that polyester is “lightweight.”

And yet—despite the melting faces and scorched tempers—justice, like that one AC on the seventh floor grinds on. Judges still bang gavels, ASA’s still offer pleas no one wants except victims, and some poor civil lawyer without a vacay airbnb on the Cape is still trying to schedule a depo in August.

So here’s your legal tip of the week: File that continuance. Reset that depo. Put the jacket in storage. And if your case isn’t first up on the calendar, maybe—just maybe—get out of Dodge. Let the courthouse bake. It’ll still be here in September.

Yours in sunscreen and sanity,

Rumpole

P.S. If anyone sees Judge De La O who is everywhere, covering everyone (but no longer an admin Judge) in robes and flip-flops again, please send photos. The people demand transparency. 

BIG BITES

Topic: Being a summer intern at big law bites.  

No, this is not the expected expose on summer legal internships: "Hey, get me an iced, cafe latte with organic coconut milk and Indonesian beans in a non-plastic cup and re-scan the Penske file..."

When dog bites man....yawn. When summer intern bites lawyers...legal blogs spring into action!

A summer intern from Big Law Sidley Austin has been let go for repeatedly biting lawyers in the firm this summer.

Yeah, that's not a sentence we ever thought we'd be writing (like "And then the judge said, 'dinner is on me' and grabbed the check.") 

Side note: How do the lawyers say their firm name with a straight-face? The firm's name sounds like a pre-school on the Upper East Side: "Sidley Austin, where Manhattan toddlers go for UES enrichment and fun since 1992."

Pedestrianly named "The Big Law Biter" (Yawn) by the usual collection of legal blogs who have no imagination, this is how it's being reported at Above The Law: (motto: "Not the Justice Building Blog, but we try")

According to insiders at the firm, pretty much from the start of the summer, the Biglaw Biter started chomping away at other employees at Sidley Gnaw-stin — not in an aggressive, “we’re beefing” way, but more of a faux-quirky manic pixie dream girl crossed with the Donner party vibe. But like, you’re in NYC for the summer — if you want to get your kicks by biting people, there are more consensual ways to do it.

The final chomp-count is thought to be in the double digits — which is an awfully long time for the nibbling to continue. 

There's more to the story. The intern is reported to have committed a faux pas by ordering a $2,000 bottle of wine at a partner's dinner. But the report does not say whether the indiscretion was ordering a wine too expensive or too cheap. "She ordered the 2018, like duh, the 2015 is so much more complex..."  This is what we imagine they talk about around the water coolers at SA (or in their Whats -App chat, which has replaced water cooler chatter because no one meets in person any more except for Tinder hookups and even then...). 

Memo to Carlos Martinez: WE NEED THIS GIRL!!!

Talk about someone who will fit right in at the REGJB. 

Lawyer 1: "Hey that's the girl who bit all those big law lawyers during a summer internship."

Lawyer 2: "So? My B is all over X as a fin-dom walking some guy on a leash down Ocean Drive last night."

Big Law Biter: "An HR rep tried to get my social security number. I poured lemon-salt all over her arm and bit her and then sipped a chilled chianti..."

Os Mordere

ROY BLACK HAS PASSED AWAY

 He was the greatest criminal defense attorney of his generation. He became the criminal defense attorney that inspired the next generation of lawyers. He was surrounded by legend and an aura of invincibility. And he was ours- from Miami, defending Miami cases at the moment when cocaine would change the landscape of our city, our country, and our courthouses. When the cocaine cowboy cases hit Miami, he was ready. The man had met the moment. 

Roy came up through the Miami Public Defenders Office when Phil Hubbart was elected. He was part of a new group of PDs, along with Jack Denaro, HT Smith, and others, that would transform the sleepy REGJB. No longer content to plea out cases, they filed speedy trial demands and went to trial- forcing old judges (nearly all old, white men) to work past noon and try cases. The judges were in an uproar and yelled at Hubbart  to get his lawyers in line and play ball. Bennett backed his young guns.

There were a few things that stood out about Roy. The first was that he studied his craft. He ordered recordings on albums of great speakers so he could study their speech patterns. He found transcripts of great trials and studied them. Yes, he had skills that could not be taught, including a nearly photographic memory. But without the hard work, his talent would not have turned into courtroom brilliance. That was the first of many valuable lessons we learned from him. 

The second was the use of humor. Roy was well known as a brilliant cross-examiner. But he used humor as a subtle cudgel. When he got the jury laughing at the witness or the prosecutor, the case was over before they knew it. 

We could go on and on with the stories about him. Pulling off his shoes and taking off his socks in court- along with his PD partner Jack Denaro- and putting their socks on their in-custody client's hands to force the police to get a warrant to take their client's fingerprints. Genius. And more importantly, letting everyone know that things were different now, and PD clients would be zealously defended. 

He handled some of the biggest cases of his times, including his defense in the REGJB of Police Officer William Lozano. 

DOM broke the story on Miami Blogs this morning.  Go to his blog to listen to some of Roy's arguments he has posted.  

Roy Black was one of those lawyers, and one of those men, whose legend doesn't begin to tell the whole story about his greatness. Every time we saw him he had a smile on his face. (Look at the picture above. It's classic Roy. He always had a smile when he was in court, no matter how serious the case. He truly loved his work).  He enjoyed his life and his work. He was a friend and a colleague, and we are much better for having known him. Miami is better for his work, and the entire law profession is better because of the consummate professional and brilliant trial lawyer that he was. 

Rest In Peace Old friend. 

Long time and careful blog readers remember the post on the Lozano case he wrote for this blog. We will have it up later in the week. 

1202 ALARM

 We repeat our post on the Apollo 11 Moon landing, 56 years ago today, because our post was so exceptionally well written. 

 The fascinating part of the historic Apollo 11 landing on the moon (50 years ago today) is the handling of the 1202 and 1201 alarms during the decent of the Eagle to the lunar surface.

Some Apollo-nerd stuff that you only get here: 

The Eagle's computer had three programs to run from the time it undocked to landing. The first was P63: which controlled Eagle from undocking while it was still in orbit to powered descent. P63 controlled the attitude (pitch and yaw) of Eagle and ran the burn which took Eagle out of orbit and into a controlled descent to the lunar surface. PDI (powered-descent initiation) occurred about 500 kilometers east of the landing site and 12 minutes to landing. The first go-no-go from Houston after the go-no-go for undocking was for PDI. When the Eagle is three minutes from landing and 7K/M from the site, the computer ran P64. The P64 program pitched the Eagle forward and gave Armstrong a view of the lunar surface so he could check for landmarks. At this point the computer is telling the astronauts and Houston where it intends to land. If you listen to the raw landing tapes, the guidance officer in Houston is indicating that they are headed for a spot longer down-range than anticipated. 

When the Eagle is 600 meters (2000 feet) from the landing site, Armstrong activates P66 in which he and the computer share the throttle while Armstrong alone controls the descent. 
Somewhere along the way a switch was flipped powering on the rendezvous radar that was supposed to be off. The rendezvous radar began feeding more information to the computer than it was designed to handle at exactly the wrong time- during the dangerous descent phase. How Armstrong and NASA handled this critical error is the stuff legends are made of.

35,000 Feet Above The Lunar Surface And The First 1202 Alarm
As PDI begins, Houston immediately loses signal and data from Eagle, prompting a call to Collins in Colombia to tell Aldrin to re-aim an antenna. Meanwhile Neil Armstrong has several issues to contend with, including no communication with the men who are supposed to guide him. 

As the Eagle descended Armstrong began to realize that the guidance computer was taking him farther down range then it was supposed to and was putting the Eagle into a crater. The Eagle has two guidance systems: PGNS (pings) is the main system, and AGS is the back-up. Both Houston and Aldrin  are monitoring both systems and comparing their data to see if it matches as the Eagle descends towards history. 

As  P63 turns the Eagle around so that now it's Engine is facing the lunar surface, the landing radar and other radar (that's supposed to be off) both lock on to the lunar surface. The computer is overloaded with data, and now come the words that almost ended the mission: "1202...1202 alarm."  Eagle is 33,500 feet above the surface of the moon. 

In the simulator, Armstrong and Aldrin had practiced with several different scenarios, including the loss of various functions of the Eagle, including wrong indicators, loss of communication, and the like. But in the thousands of hours of training, they had never encountered a 1202 alarm.

MEANWHILE ON THE GROUND IN HOUSTON

Here is what happened on the ground in Houston, and their success showed why NASA was able to achieve the extraordinary moon landing:

Gene Kranz was the flight director, later responsible for the saying "failure is not an option" in regard to Appolo 13.  Kranz was the one who made the final decision to allow the Eagle to land. 
Jack Garman was an engineer and part of the team working on the computers and the landing guidance system of the Eagle. At a meeting several weeks before the landing, Kranz told Garman to write down every possible alarm and the response to the alarm.
Steve Bales was the guidance officer who was one of the men responsible to answer Kranz during various "Go-No-Go" calls when Houston had to tell Armstrong if he could continue to land.
Astronaut Charlie Duke was "cap-com" the man responsible for speaking directly to Aldrin and Armstrong. 

Several seconds after the 1202 alarm, Armstrong having heard nothing from Houston, asked "give us a reading on that 1202 alarm."  When you listen to Armstrong, there is some uncertainty in his voice. He is about 30,000 feet above the surface of the moon and less than seven and half minutes from landing. He is looking for a place to land, watching his fuel, working on the high-gain antenna issue (the Eagle had been intermittently losing communication with Mission Control), and now an alarm that may scrub the landing is going off and Armstrong does not recognize it.  

Meanwhile in Houston, when the alarm went off, Kranz was looking towards his guidance officer Bales, or anyone else who knew what the alarm was. Nobody knew. There were blank stares all around as Krantz's landing team started scrambling though massive three-ring binders looking for what a 1202 alarm was. Eventually Krantz asked Bales, and Bales called over to a back room where there were dozens of engineers One of them- Jack Garman - knew what the alarm meant.  

Apollo 11's computer's were rudimentary. The landing radars started giving the computer more data than it could handle. When this occurred, the computer had a line of programing to tell it to prioritize its work and to trigger a 1202 alarm to let Houston and the Eagle know what it was doing. Essentially the computer was rebooting without shutting down. If the computer had shut down, Kranz would have ordered an abort. 

Garman reasoned that as long as the alarm didn't continually repeat, which would mean the computer was in a non-recoverable loop, that they were "go" on the alarm. Garman told Bales. Bales told Kranz. Kranz told Duke and Duke told Armstrong. 

There was another 1202 alarm and then a 1201 alarm at 27,000 feet above the surface. Aldrin tells Houston about why he thinks the alarm is occurring. Meanwhile Garman quickly told Bales that the 1201 alarm was the same type of alarm as the 1202 and that they were "go" on that. 

Armstrong never doubted what Duke was telling him. Kranz had faith in Bales, and Bales knew Garman knew the landing computer software better than anyone. 

5200 FEET ABOVE THE LUNAR SURFACE

At about 9 minutes into the landing, and 5200 feet about the lunar surface, the computer switches to P64 and the program pitches Eagle over so that the attitude of the Eagle is more upright, and it begins to descend in the same attitude that it will have upon landing. Armstrong is now looking at the surface so he can find a place to land.  Kranz quickly runs through a "go-no-go" for landing, and Retro (the controller monitoring the engines) FIDO (flight dynamics),  ECOM (electrical, environmental and consumables), Guidance, and the flight surgeon, all give Kranz an enthusiastic "GO!" for landing, which Charlie Duke as Cap-Com relays to Aldrin and Armstrong. 

 3000 FEET ABOVE THE LUNAR SURFACE

At 3,000 feet they get another 1201 alarm, but they are quickly told they are "go on that alarm" and the descent continues. In another minute, at 1300 feet, they get another 1202 alarm, but they are still go to land. 

 At 600 feet the P64 program is steering the Eagle toward a sea of boulders and craters. Armstrong decides to switch to the P66 program and manually take control of Eagle.  Perhaps the greatest pilot in the world in 1969 is piloting the Eagle in our quest to land on the Moon.  Armstrong begins to use thrusters to navigate the Eagle past a large crater while looking for a flat area to set the Eagle down, all while monitoring an ever-dwindling fuel supply and a host of other issues. 

 300 FEET ABOVE THE LUNAR SURFACE

The Eagle is 300 feet from the surface when Aldrin tells Armstrong that he is "pegged at horizontal velocity",  meaning they are going forward at the top speed on the indicator. At 250 feet Armstrong is now slowing the forward velocity. He sees a landmark he recognizes: "Little West Crater", and he pilots Eagle just past it where he sees a relatively smooth surface to land. The forward velocity has slowed from 50 feet/second to 19 feet/second. At 175 feet they have 94 seconds to land, or they will get a "fuel-bingo" call from Houston and will have to abort. 

 The Eagle had one chance to land on the moon. If the landing was aborted, they would activate the ascent engine, fly back to Michael Collins in Colombia, and headed back to earth having failed in their attempt to land. There were no second chances on this flight. 

 At 100 feet they have 75 seconds of fuel left.  Armstrong is now demonstrating why he was chosen for this mission- he is at the top of his game and pulling off the greatest landing in the history of aviation- and one of the most difficult and dangerous to boot. The man has met the moment.  Thousands of hours of training are paying off for the Apollo 11 landing team. 

 60 SECONDS

At 75 feet the Eagle's velocity has slowed to six feet forward/per second. At 60 feet, Charlie Duke in Houston calls out "sixty seconds": they have one minute of fuel left to land. 

 At 20 feet Charlie Duke calls out "thirty seconds". There is almost no fuel left to land. 

With seventeen seconds of fuel remaining Aldrin calls out "contact light": a 1.5-meter probe below Eagle has touched the surface and humans have landed on the moon.  

 The team worked. The system worked, and Armstrong landed the Eagle with 17 seconds of fuel remaining. 

ON THE MOON

The first words spoken by a human being on another celestial body belong to Buzz Aldrin: "Contact light. Ok. Engine stop. ACA out of descent. Mode control both auto descent engine command override off. Engine arm off. 413 is in." 

Hardly memorable or historic words, but before Armstrong tells the world that from Tranquility Base "The Eagle has landed",  Aldrin had a checklist he needed to run through to make sure the descent engines were shut down and the abort-ascent engine couldn't be accidentally triggered. 

Charlie Duke responds "we copy you down Eagle".

Armstrong says "The Eagle has landed" and Duke responds that there were a bunch of guys about to turn blue but were breathing again. This is in response to the fact that with less than 30 seconds of fuel, the Eagle had not landed and everyone in mission control was holding their breath. 

A half a million people worked on some part of the Apollo program. But on July 20, 1969, it was Kranz, Steve Bales, and Jack Garman who gave the go ahead to Armstrong and Aldrin to continue the landing in the face of 1202 and 1201 alarms.

Brave and historic actions indeed.  And it is, in our humble opinion, humanity's finest hour. It reminds us that if we try together, we as a species can do great things. 

Happy Apollo 11 Moon Landing Day.  We are go on that 1202 Alarm. 

 

MIAMI JUDGE RIC MARGOLIUS HAS PASSED AWAY

 

Sad news to report that retired REGJB Judge Ric Margolius a/k/a Ric Zweig has passed away. 

This is a complicated obituary to write. Much like Jimmy Carter, Ric Margolius accomplished a lot when he left the bench. A music career that earned him accolades and in which he donated profits of CDs to charity.  Click here and here. 

When he returned to the REGJB to do some coverage, he was, well, a character. We once saw security stop him in a back hallway, sure the person they were seeing did not belong there. 

Ric Margolius started his career as a prosecutor and then a public defender. Even at the beginning he was a mixture of black and white, odd and even, and perhaps more aptly - hot and cold. He could run that way - changing temps mid-sentence as he praised a lawyer and then berated them. He served on the bench during a time when there was not 24/7 scrutiny and exposure of every little thing a person does. To put it politely he did not suffer fools lightly. His manner in court could be caustic, cantankerous, or just ornery. He would not get high marks on Judicial Temperament. 

But that means he called it as he saw it. He was not afraid to lambast a prosecutor who was stepping over bounds or hiding behind a "victim wants max" mantra. He wanted to see justice done. And he was not beyond giving a defendant a good old-fashioned dressing-down when they pled guilty to a crime. 

But there was obviously another side to him, and his life after the bench, spent making music and working for charities speaks a lot to the heart he had and his desire to make Miami a better place than he found it. 

We are certain we will not see his like again in our courthouse. He spoke his mind freely, and did what he thought was right, regardless of the consequences or who was offended. 

 He was certainly one of a kind.  May he rest in peace. 

CITRA REGISTE JOSEPH HAS PASSED AWAY

UPDATE: This young woman, who passed away way too young leaves a family. We know we just asked, but if you can....

Go Fund me     for Citra Registe Joseph. 

Erian White shared the sad news of the passing of Attorney Citra Registe Joseph. We did not know  her. She has passed much too young.   

Good Morning All,

I wanted to share with you that Citra Registe Joseph (former ASA) has passed away from T-Cell Lymphoma.

I'm not sure if any of you ever got the opportunity to work with her but Citra was easily the most honest and well meaning prosecutor I have ever come across. She was also my Sorority sister and friend. 

She will be missed dearly. If anyone is interested or wishes to support her family during this time, the details for her arrangements are below.

THE START OF OUR FINEST HOUR

UPDATE. We asked and you delivered.  As of Wednesday morning the Go Fund me account for Greg Gonzalez raised over $50,000.00  Thank you.  We criticize a lot,  but the people who work in the REGJB and the Miami criminal law community are the best in the nation. Thank you for caring about a great man who needed our support.  

July 16, 1969 was the culmination of a decade of work that would result in America's finest hour four days later.  The 1960's, and 1969, and Apollo was a time when petty people didn't cancel government programs because some other president started the process. Kennedy started the quest for the moon, Johnson continued it, and Nixon made sure NASA had the funds to carry the ball over the goal line. 

It was a time when science mattered and was respected. When the laws of physics governed whether a rocket carrying Americans could get into space, leave earth orbit, transit space, enter lunar orbit, land on the moon, and then do it all in reverse and return safely. Prayer didn't get Aldrin and Armstrong to the Moon, science and hard work did, along with tens of thousands of government workers who did not have to fear being fired for doing their jobs. 

The moon landing is the ultimate intersection of government support and capitalism. Only the United States of America had the entrepreneurial spirit to produce men and women who could design a plan to land two people on the moon and return them safely.  Fifty-six years later, we are still the only nation on earth to do so. It was a time when competence, science, and intelligence mattered. How times have changed. Sadly. 

But enjoy the liftoff. And you can best expect our nerdy 1202 Alarm post on July 20. 

MONDAY FUNDAY

 Good Monday morning. Let us help you denizens of the REGJB who are making that long, slow slog from the parking lot to the courthouse in 90+ degree heat with 101% humidity - and for those of you whose pronouns are him/he- wearing a jacket and tie (which is lunacy if you think about it) start the week on a good note.

Monday is National Mac and Cheese Day! 

Homemade is best, but when you're not feeling well, Kraft Mac from a box works fine. We like ours simple and plain. Make mac and cheese great again. MMACGA! We will tolerate some breadcrumbs toasted on top, especially at Thanksgiving. What we do not like is lobster mac and cheese. It is too rich. What we do love, which is rapidly disappearing, is a homemade mac and cheese served as a side at a southern eatery. 

We used to have one of those in Miami. The S&S cafe, which was a historic "meat and two sides" classic southern diner.  Wednesdays (we think?) was Turkey Day. In the doldrums of August you could go and get a roast turkey plate with stuffing, mac and cheese, and collard greens and dream of a cooler November. We went for decades on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was like a warm-up for the big day- and the tureky was often better. It was a great place to fuel up in the mornings before court. Our favourite? The creamed asparagus on toast. It may have been the last place in the US serving that dish.  The waitresses worked there 30 and 40 years and knew all the judges and lawyers and the latest courthouse gossip. We would leave a large tip for the staff every December. It was like a family, and we miss the S&S, but alas, as we often say, change is the price of survival. 

And finally, take our strong recommendation on this.  We are a well-known bibliophile. Audio Books are a distant second, reserved for those long drives we used to take to try cases in Deland, Florida (practice tip- avoid taking cases in Deland). 

But you MUST get and listen to Project Hail Mary, by our friend Andy Weir. Weir wrote the surprise best seller novella The Martian more than a decade ago (and the movie isn't bad either). His subsequent projects were mostly a miss. Then this- Project Hail Mary. And here is the thing, the audio book is the way to go for reasons we cannot explain without spoiling the plot. It is a great story and one of the very unique ones that is better being told than read- and the narrator Ray Porter is absolutely perfect for the story- inflecting humor, panic, sadness- feelings that are more powerful when you hear them. 

Do yourself a favor. Find some cool shade, get a tall glass of iced tea, stretch out, close your eyes and prepare to be taken on a wonderful journey. You can thank us later. 

GREG GONZALEZ

UPDATE:  They are at $30,000.00 in just over two days of opening the go fund me account and us posting it on this blog. It is an absolutely wonderful response and speaks so well about the hearts of the people in our REGJB community. BUT, we are going to ask you to consider digging a little deeper. We can get this to $50,000.00. If you have friends who are civil lawyers (and yeah, it's hard to be friends with those people, we get it) tell them what is going on and ask them to donate. If you sent $100, then skip Starbucks this week and send another $25. We are asking a lot, and we have no business doing so, other than we have a friend who we know would have been the first to contribute if this had been anyone else. If you know Greg, then you know he would have dug deep and spread the word. Let's do the same for him. Thank you. We never ask. We are asking now. 

HR

We have rarely done this.

  
Many of you know that Greg Gonzalez has battled a deadly brain tumor for the past several years. We have now sadly learned that he has entered hospice care and a go fund me account has been set up for him to receive palliative care at home.  We urge you to donate. 

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-gregs-palliative-care-journey?modal=share&source=fundraiser+sticky+footer

Greg was a fixture at the REGJB for decades. He truly was a person who always had a smile on his face. He was the first person to volunteer to help someone - a lawyer or a client.  He was instrumental in supporting the creation of the Veterans Court because Greg served our country as Airborne.  Like his military service, he was often first in on a difficult case or when a lawyer asked for help. 

We cannot think of a better person who deserves an outpouring of love and respect for the life he has lived. If you can, please send something. Let him know that we all support him, as he has supported us with his military service and friendship.  
Thank you. 

UPDATE the list of names of people who have generously donated is so heartwarming.  Judges. Former judges. REGJB support staff. Prosecutors. Pds. Regional Counsel. Defense attorneys. It’s amazing. Sometimes we can all come together and help a friend in need. From the bottom of my heart I thank you one and all for stepping up and showing that in many ways our courthouse is special and we are a family of brothers and sisters that help each other.  

I BEFORE E EXCEPT AFTER T(RUMP)

 The president sent out letters earlier this week to various heads of state informing them of pending tariffs. Unfortunately, grammar matters. 

GATORS

 

(This is the way some judges look to us on a rough Monday morning.) 

Florida’s newly infamous Alligator Alcatraz is open. Channel Six here has a report on conditions. 

Leamsy Izquierdo, also known as Leamsy La Figura, a self-described Cuban urban artist, was arrested for a violent incident and has been at the detention center out in the Everglades since Friday. “There is no water here to bathe,” he told Telemundo 51, adding it’s been four days since he showered. He believes there are about 400 people inside the facility. “They give you food only once a day, food that even has worms in it,” Izquierdo said.

This is wonderful. No great nation wants to be known for humanely treating its prisoners. Be like North Korea and Iran!” Should be our motto. 

If you scan social media, there’s dozens of interviews popping up with immigrants who voted for the president only to now find out that the government is now seeking to deport them and/or a family member.

Which leads us to this Rumpole maxim 

Be careful what you ask for in life; you may get it. 

HAPPY FOURTH

 This is actually from the Declaration of Independence. We did not make this up. 

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

…

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

…

   He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

…

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:                

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:                 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us… (Iike all if these, this really is in the Declaration of Independence. The more things change, the more a despotic president reverts to trying to be a king. ) 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.Ω and payment of their salaries.            

We couldn’t make this up if we tried. Really. 

Happy Fourth Of July. 

Two dogs, mustard and k etchup, relish, a pickle and some fries please along with a cold one. And some fireworks. 

          

HALFWAY DONE

 July 2 marks the half-way point of 2025. We are somewhat hesitant to report this, lest we cause a dozen or more DeSantis Judicial Drones to reflect on their year and how many defendants they have sentenced to the max after losing at trial- mindful of course that there is no such thing as a judicial tax for losing at trial. 

But putting aside the misplaced aspirations of robe wearers to be known as Maximum, how has your year gone? What are your goals for the second half of 2025? 

Rumpole’s Thoughts 

Fight The Power

Rebalance - more resistance training, less cardio. 

Stop work by 7pm on weekdays, 3pm weekends. 

Max of 4 Trulys per week (down from 6)

Finish up those 2023 cases. Time to try those suckers. 

Let go of that Assistant AG who objected to a first extension, and then got hammered by the DCA. We keep wanting to send them a copy of the opinion. “When starting off on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” 

Listen to all seven of Bruce Springsteen’s new albums - released as Tracks II The Lost Albums. 

And catch Bruce and the E Street In Europe for the third summer in a row. Time is running out. We just missed the shows in Germany and Milan due to a tricky issue in the EDNY. 

Bite the bullet, wait in line and get a cheesesteak at Danny and Coop’s- Bradley Cooper’s joint that is causing such a ruckus in the City food scene. 

And while we are there, catch a few Mets games and make arrangements for playoff tickets. #LFGM

We start so many books, but finish so few. They just aren’t that good. 

Rumpole’s Fourth Of July reading list:

The Admirals. Four men achieved the rank of Admiral of the Fleet- King, Halsey, Leahy, and Nimitz. This is their stories. 

The Fate Of The Day. Second installment of Rick Atkinson’s series on the Revolutionary War. Rumor is everyone in DC is reading this, 

Final, scary thought. We are now, officially and mathematically closer to 2050 than 2000.  

“We’ll have another tequila shot please … actually make it a double.” 

COMBS VERDICT WATCH

 The jury in the Sean Combs case has been deliberating since Monday. Around 5pm on Tuesday they informed the Judge that they had a verdict in every count but the RICO count. 

What does that mean?

In our opinion, and we hate reading jury tea-leaves, it is not great for the defense. An acquittal is an acquittal. And the RICO count was the most far-reaching count, meaning that if the jury was acquitting Combs it would be the easiest count to reach a NG on. The fact that they are hung on this count, indicates to us that they have convicted him on at least some of the counts, but cannot get unanimity on the far-reaching RICO count. 

All is not lost however. The verdict on the RICO count has significant consequences, including a 15 year min man, (and you know how much we hate min mans), and an exposure to a life sentence. 

Our view on the evidence?  It's complicated. 

This was NOT a RICO case. 

But Combs did a lot of things wrong, mostly using his power and wealth to manipulate vulnerable women. But these women entered into a consensual relationship, and remained despite being manipulated into very unpleasant sexual encounters. But where do we draw the line between culpability and complicity in a complicated relationship? It is a very hard line to draw. 

If we were the judge and had unfettered power to sentence Combs, we would send him to prison. But for how long? Two years? Sure. Four? Yeah....Over five? That is a hard call. Combs used his power. But that is what powerful people do. And having wealth and power is not a crime. Using it to satisfy your prurient sexual interests is also not a crime until a line is crossed. And that line is consent, the age-old question in many sexual crimes. 

This case is a tough one to unravel. 

Your thoughts? 

 

JUST HANG ON HONEY

 Of all the mistakes we could make whilst arguing a case this, most assuredly, is NOT one of them. 

“Listen, you’re not understanding the issue. Try reading the briefs and not your clerk’s notes….” Yeah, that could happen.  

And 

“I understand your confusion, having not read any of the cases I have cited …” Sure, that might slip out.  

But this mistake? NEVER ever ever. 

FUN WEEK

There was some confusion about courts being open Thursday July 3 with Governor Detain Immigrant Children closing state offices. It appears Courts are open. Ask for a Jury. Don’t waive speedies. 

The big beautiful bill is being debated in the senate on Monday, Of the many many many problems (like paying for tax cuts by reducing health insurance for about 11 million Americans by making it nearly impossible to qualify and stay insured) are not only the canceling of tax cuts for wind and solar energy but the actual tax increases on those industries.  Why is this so important? We are in the midst of a third revolution- AI. And AI runs on vast data centers that consume enormous amounts of power. The centers can be powered by wind and solar energy, but now we are removing that option. 

How much power are we talking about?  By 2030 data centers alone will require more  electricity than what is now consumed in the US for all manufacturing.  So naturally the geniuses  in DC want to cripple  our ability to cleanly and cheaply produce that energy. Smart.

Also, skip those shots. Flu. Covid. Measles. Mumps? Fake news. Cod liver oil cures all. Here’s a heart warming story on why no one needs the measles shot anymore(note that this is sarcasm.)  Measles is now killing Americans. Something that we would have never said or written in 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020.  But this is 2025 and we are speeding towards the dark ages as fast as many in Washington can take us, Prayer cures all- until your appendix bursts and you need a surgeon but won’t agree to her wearing a mask during surgery (masks don’t work right?)  or giving you anesthesia full of drugs you haven’t researched. 

 Two sad stories.

First, the U of Virginia caved to blackmail and fired their very popular and talented university president to resolve a Justice Department investigation. The crime- U of V did not sufficiently dismantle its DEI programs expanding inclusivity in the college experience, thus violating, in the view of DOJ cretins prosecutors, the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The DOJ demanded the resignation of President Jim Ryan to settle the investigation., Truly Orwellian. The article is here. 

And here is the sad story of the son of Moroccan immigrants whose parents cannot accept his sexuality.We have a take on the end of the op ed piece which we will share later after you have read the story which is here, 

YOUR MONDAY FUNDAY   Brain teaser. 

Four  men are in a room. 

Barack is reading a book. 

Joe is playing chess. 

Bill is texting on his phone. 

What is the fifth man doing? 

(Donald is absent, playing golf). 

PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE

 This is a plea. Maybe it can be dismissed as a plea made by a grumpy Non-Gen X,Y,Z,A male blogger. But maybe you should pause a moment and consider it. 

First, what we are not asking. Keep your phone on whilst waiting for your case to be called in court. The Judge is playing candy crush on her screen on the bench, so there is no reason why you should not be trying to advance to the next level. 

Keep your phone on during that bad Hinge date because maybe you get a Tinder match and can hook up once you ditch Mr. I’m getting an MBA to work at Goldman Sachs and then in twenty years I’m going to use my Art History Degree to open a Bed and Breakfast in Bend, Oregon and decorate it in post modern 1870’s  Egyptian Street Art,  or Ms. I left my job at an advertising firm and make 40K a month as a food and bar influencer for NYC concentrating on FIDI so please take my IG and Tik Tok… 

We get it. You need your phone. We all do. 

Flash back to last year. Rumpole is blissfully wandering through the Van Gogh exhibit at the Met in NYC on Fifth Avenue. We are a member so we don’t wait in lines. In the galleries there are an overwhelming number of tourists. We can tell by the foreign languages they are speaking. And we can tell because they ALL- EVERY ONE OF THEM - have their phones out and are relentlessly and furiously recording every single picture. A middle aged Asian woman from China, her brow furrowed, darts from Van Gogh to Van Gogh, a ten second video and vroom! She’s elbowing her way to the front of the next one to do the same. It’s like the paintings are the plans to the Atomic Bomb and she’s Ethel Rosenberg. *

Recently, some idiot tourist sat on a crystal chair in the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, Italy, breaking it. Last week a tourist in the Uffizi in Florence backed into a 17th century painting of Fernando de Medici, tying to replicate Medici’s pose for their selfie. 

In the Met, few were contemplating Van Gogh’s masterpieces. The golden wheat fields, the beguiling self portraits, one done months before the artist took his own life. The impact of art on the soul was lost. The experience became one long post card- a picture of the leaning tower of Pisa, or the Eiffel Tower, or Buckingham Palace- I was here- LOOK. LOOK AT ME NEXT TO VAN GOGH’S SUNFLOWERS … I WAS HERE… I DID THIS….DON’T YOU WANT TO BE ME?

No, we don’t. There is not one piece of art that has not been digitized and is not available for free on line. So why lose the experience of art on the desperate desire to prove you saw the painting? 

It makes no sense. 

We can spend an hour looking at one or two Rothkos and get lost in the wonder of how a few stripes of paint on a canvass makes us feel. And then we can repair to a favourite coffee shop in the West Village and debate Rothko’s influence over a dark espresso and crusty croissant. Is there not a better way to spend a day?  How can anyone who races through an exhibition with their phone out recount how the art affected them if they don’t spend time contemplating the picture? 

It makes no sense. 

One last analogy. Imagine watching Tom Seaver in 1969 pitch a two-hit shutout as the Miracle Mets were on their way to an improbable World Series victory. Seaver was one of the great pitchers of all time.  We saw him do this at Shea stadium that year. The sound of the ball popping in the catcher’s glove is indelible. The frustrations on the faces of hitters who could not figure him out remains with us to this day. And we had no phone. No camera. We just sat and watched and were washed over in the experience of being there. 

 That is what our phone generation is losing- the experience of seeing and feeling. They are replacing it with the proof of presence. I WAS THERE.  I DID THIS. 

But can they answer the most important question of all: How did it make you feel? 

* Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were innocent. But that is a post for another time. 

FOURTH OF JULY CLOSURES

 Florida’s Governor (“ I don’t believe in Covid or Global Warming so how did I not get elected president?”) has announced the closure of State Offices on Thursday July 3 as well. So you can enjoy a  long weekend celebrating American exceptionalism (like defunding HIV treatment in Africa!! USA all the way. Let people get AIDS every day!).

  What a guy. Just don’t use the term “global warming” if you’re a state employee or you will find yourself Trumped. 

The Gov is term limited. He has a year left. Perhaps there’s an animal shelter he can defund before he leaves. Or some low income food for the elderly programs he can shutter. Or some children of immigrants he can cuff in front of their class and have their friends loudly mock them for being foreigners before taking them out of kindergarten and to a concentration camp in the Everglades. The  kind of things we now want America to be known for.  Enough of that nonsense of feeding hungry children and innovating health care to end things like Smallpox.  

You know, the kind of stuff it takes to run for the presidency.  

BEARS 

Summer time leads to fall and that’s the best time to tune into the Bear Cams of  Katmai National Park in Alaska and watch Brown bears peacefully feed on the salmon run until the current administration approves of oil drilling at the Katmai falls. 

Check it out here. This is our favorite on line activity (other than betting against the Marlins). 

SCORECARD

 Update : In response to our snarky riff on the Problem Solving Judge, we had THE PROBLEM SOLVER spoon it right back to us, proving that she’s the right judge for the job. 

 Margie Verde-Yanez

Thanks for the correction, I’ll let Chief Fajardo know. It’s Problem Solving Courts Administrative Judge. Problem Solving Courts include our Mental Health Courts and Drug Courts and Veteran’s Court, which we have in Circuit Criminal, County Criminal, DV and Dependency. They are all being consolidated into one division. So many of our participants’ lives are transformed through our program. Instead of prison and jail, we offer rehabilitation and recovery. Those of you who do not understand what we do in PSC are welcome to visit our courtroom in 4-4. It might become your favorite division. I look forward to meeting you though I won’t be able to help you with your black bean recipe.

Personally we think she should keep the title as is. Why not have a problem solving judge in an age when we have so many problems that need to be solved? 

Here's your winners and losers, judge-wise. Pretty much all of the administrative judges from the prior administration are O U T out.  So much for competence, as opposed to political payback being the deciding factor. 

Take a look at the new lineup, and if you are a long time and careful reader of the blog, what title immediately would catch Rumpole's eye? The answer is below. 

 

SO....we cannot resist. There is a Chief "Problem Solving" Judge? Really? Because our well known view is that Judges are problems, and cause more than they solve (and this has nothing to do with the current "problem solver").  

How does this work? 

Hmm...I'm having a problem with solving Fermat's Last Theorem.  What to do? Oh, wait! I know, I'll call the Problem Solving Judge. 

Or is it like Dear Abby? 

Dear Problem Solving Judge, I'm having a problem with my mother-in-law. She doesn't like my black beans and rice. But my husband tells me that I make better moros than his mother. My mother-in-law is now coming over every day to watch me make dinner.  I can't think of anything to do other than cook a second dinner once she leaves. Also, I am having problems filing in probate. Can you help? 

Cuban Cook & Probate Lawyer. 

There is just so much here. Sometimes the blog-gods are just too generous to a humble blogger hacking away trying to post decent content. Days of draught and endless re-writes of posts trying to find something to say are rewarded when we learn there is a Chief Problem Solving Judge. 

Look! In The Courtroom. It's Justice Roberts...It's Justice Cardozo, NO It's the PROBLEM SOLVING JUDGE

Yes, it's PROBLEM SOLVING JUDGE, strange visitor from another jurisdiction,  who came to Miami with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal judges. PROBLEM SOLVING JUDGE, who can change the course of mighty rivers  feeding the Everglades with an opinion, stop US steel from being sold with a simple injunction. And who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered Judge in a great metropolitan courthouse, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and no more continuances.