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.
12 comments:
So sad.
Who among us Rumpole will be future legends?
With warmth and integrity like Bob Josefsberg? With a brilliant mind to cross exam like Roy Black?
Is the best of the Justice Building behind us? History?
Are there no one of us considered future legal legends who actually try cases to verdict and are fearless in court?
Even Alex was fearless and zealous. Sy Gaer is legend.
Please don’t tell me our legends are simply all heaven.
Roy was a dear friend and colleague. I first met him in 1976 when I was the lead detective in a case he was defending. I took his workshop in law school and he hired me right out of law school as an associate to work with him on the Luis Alvarez police shooting case. As time passed, I became his partner. When I opened my own firm, we continued to work together on cases. I learned so much from him! He. was brilliant, eloquent, tireless and dedicated to his craft. Despite that, he retained his humanity and feel for the common man. His passing is a great loss not only for the legal community, but for me personally.
Add Richard Sharpstein to the list of legends? Gone to soon.
Sorry to hear about Roy. He was recruited by Phil Hubbart, not Bennet. Roy saw him on the corner of bird and US 1 while Phil was campaigning for the PD election. They went into the restaurant on the corner and the rest is history. While Jack and Roy were the first recruits, the next class became the "young Turks" and tried case after case to juries. They made Morophonios, Sepe, Paul Baker and Goodman work well into the late-night hours. Very often one jury would be deliberating, and we would be picking yet another jury. It was truly Camelot time. Many of great trial lawyers came out of that office.
After leaving the state attorneys office, too many times to count, I would call Roy and ask for his advice on a case, voir dire, arguments, etc., and he would always provide it. This included inviting me to come to his offices to sit and discuss it with him. He would pull out boxes and notes from prior trials and let me go through them and explain why certain things made sense and others may not.
Roy had no reason to give me this much of his time, other than at heart in addition to being the best lawyer, he was the best teacher.
Roy was one of the most generous mentors to me and many other lawyers - young and old. It is important that that aspect of Roy also be remembered.
Loosing him and Josefsberg in quick succession has been such a terrible blow to the community.
Well said. You both were a fearsome duo to oppose in court.
I would not mention Sy in the same breath at Roy or Bob. Sy was unique but not a great lawyer or someone to be emulated by young lawyers.
You are 100% wrong. Sy was great in his own way. And I can guarantee you he won more state murder cases than Roy did- tried more, won more and had his own way of doing it. Who would I choose if money was not an issue? Roy of course. But Sy provided reasonable doubt at reasonable price and there are probably well over a 100 people walking around Miami who owe their freedom to him for his work in various (not just murder) cases.
There are potential future legends now. I would not cheapen a post about Roy Black by naming them. However in 30 years when unfortunately all of Roy and Bobs contemporaries are dead, it’ll be clear to those of us who will have stuck around doing this work in South Florida for 50+ years who they are. And there’ll be young lawyers then who barely know who we are and are kicking ass in their own way. That’s how it works. Probably the only thing that won’t change is the physical criminal courthouse, though one can hope.
I’m approaching year 40. I believe I am well known and well thought of. I remember starting as an ASA in August 1986 and seeing well known lawyers whose names have now faded , walking down the hallways. I wanted to be half the lawyers they were. Vince McGhee who died way too young. Paul Pollock who was as an original a miami character as there ever was. So many names have faded from memory. Sharpie and Roy of course. The Cuban Rocket whose Colombian cartel client blew him up in his car (he shot through the sun roof and survived. ) Mel Kessler - who looked and acted like he stepped off the set of Miami Vice as a criminal defense attorney. Julio and Sy were partners. Mishkin. I was in awe of Alan Ross. Goldstein and Mechanic. Bill Clay was as fine a trial lawyer as we had in Miami. Jose Quiñon ditto and still is one of the very best. The names go on and on. When I and my generation retire, those names will be lost for all time. And they did legendary things in our courthouse. James Jay Hogan. John Hogan. Abe Laeser. State Attorneys who made their work a career. Richard Shiffrin. Mel Black. Ed O’Donnell sr who is still around around and a legend in his own right. He was and is as good as they come. Jeff Weiner and Bill Tunkey - partners with Alan Ross. What a firm that was! Ed Shohat is still dazzling juries with skill beyond those of his contemporaries.
I was very young when I started. 24. And these giants were in court every day representing big clients in serious cases. I never dreamed I’d have a chance to do what they did on their level. If I was lucky enough to sit at their table in the old Casolas in the courthouse and just listen to their stories my day was made. And when I got to know Roy he was as kind and decent and welcoming me to the brotherhood of criminal law as any of them. He was never ever full of himself. I am lucky to have him even know my name. And recently when I was lucky enough to win an award he reached out and sent me a very very kind text message. I felt so honored. He was such a decent man beyond his brilliance in the court.
Good people die and assholes live forever
5:24: 1. The Cuban Rocket was Gino Negretti.
2. The restaurant in REG was Cozzolis, not Casolas.
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