BROWARD COUNTER ATTACK

Judge Carlos Rodriguez is not going quietly into that good night; while he stares into the abyss of losing his entire criminal division to an onslaught of state motions to disqualify, he has struck back.

The Judge has struck at the soft underbelly of the Broward SAO: He has ordered the State Attorney, Mikey Satz himself, or the Chief Assistant State Attorney Chuck Morton (who happens to be a nice guy) or the the Chief of the Felony Division Jeff Marcus (a/k/a Dr. No) to be present for the soundings on October 7,13,14, 19,27,28 and November 3,4,10,17, 18 and December 1,8,9 ostensibly to assist the in court prosecutors who apparently have to keep leaving the courtroom to call their supervisors for permission on pleas. Apparently the same disease that infects the Dade SAO has spread to Broweird.

Talk about hitting below the belt! Talk about not fighting fair! It's one thing to undercut the prosecutor in court, but to order a supervisor to spend his valuable time in court during a calendar?? Why, that is almost unheard of. Who will count the coffee cups? Who will write the mind numbing emails outlining the latest new policy ("henceforth no prosecutor shall lend his or her in court copy of the Florida Statutes to any individual who is not an employee of this office..." ) ?

A copy of the order, courtesy of the JBB Blog is here.

From the order: "The volume and inability to handle the docket and issues requires a supervisor as designated in the above order from the State Attorney's Office for the orderly administration of the Court's docket. See, Code Of Judicial Conduct, Cannon 3B(3); The Rules Regulating the Florida Bar, Rule 4-3.5."

Thwack!

That sound you heard is the ball being soundly hit back into the court of the Broward SAO. How will they respond? We can hardly wait.

See You In Court.

BROWARD WAR!!!

Are you curious about the war? Well, according to Judge Carlos Rodriguez's retort to ASA Jennifer Hilal, "Curiosity is for cats." The title of the post links to the SAO's motion to recuse the judge. One of 450 (!!!!) motions filed.

Yes, it's war in Broweird County, and the difference here is that it's the SAO going to war against Judge Carlos Rodriguez.

The date: September 20, 2010.

The Judge: Carlos Rodriguez.

The ASA: Jennifer Hilal.

Case 1: State v. Benjamin Elmore.

Status: Open plea to the court.

Charge: DWLS and Possession of Cocaine.

Priors: Mr. Elmore had 4 prior possession of cocaine cases.

First Proposed Court Sentence: Adj, and CTS. Upon learning that Mr. Elmore had obtained a hardship license, the court decided to change the sentence to a withhold so Mr. Elmore would not lose his license. The State pointed out that it was an illegal sentence because of the number of withholds Mr. Elmore had for the same offense. The court then accepted the plea on the DWLS and set the possession charge for trial.

Objection: ASA Hilal, having heard the court say that he did not want to see Mr. Elmore lose his license after he just got one, moved to recuse the court because she felt the court had already prejudged the case.

Best Quote: "THERE IS NO CURIOSITY IN COURT. CURIOSITY ARE FOR CATS" (sic)

Case 2. State v. Pelfrey.

Charge: Grand Theft.

Plea: State and defense worked out a plea to a withhold and 12 months probation.

Court: Rejected plea and sentenced defendant to a withhold and one day probation.

Objection: State objected to plea and asked for time to have the victim address the court.

Best Quote: Ms. Hilal: So you don't want to hear from the victim in this case?"

Judge Rodriguez: "Have a seat at counsel table will you?...And stay there."

Motion to recuse: "There was no reason for Judge Carlos Rodriguez to order Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Hilal to be confined to her chair..."

In the third case, Judge Rodriguez rejected a negotiated plea to 18 months probation between the state and defense and imposed a one day probation period, which he promptly terminated. When the prosecutor objected and asked for time for the victim, a law enforcement officer to be present, the court said that the case was set for that day and it was the prosecutor's problem as to why her witnesses were not in court. When the prosecutor rightly stated that she had a deal with the defense and thus had no reason to suspect the plea would change, Judge Rodriguez stated that she was now on notice that any time a case was set, even for an agreed upon plea, the court reserved the right to reject the plea and impose a plea of its own.

CONGRATULATIONS JUDGE CARLOS RODRIGUEZ. We have been practicing law in Florida courts for more than a quarter of a century and you are the first judge to make us feel sorry for a prosecutor.

The fact is that when a Judge does what this transcript shows, it demeans the court and the entire judicial process. There were law enforcement officers who were victims who had been told the defendant would be getting 18 months probation. They had no reason to suspect a judge would act crazy and start rejecting pleas and giving away the courthouse.

The transcript shows a Judge who was demeaning to a prosecutor, who did not treat her with the respect all lawyers are entitled to be treated to, and who had a blatant disregard for the legal process. For the first and perhaps only time in our career, we are on the side of the Broward State Attorneys Office. And prior to today we would have bet a million bucks we would never write that sentence.