REGIONAL RE-SET

(cue Dragnet theme)

The story you are about to read is true.

The names have not been changed, although the individuals are innocent.

On September 6, 2011 Attorneys Gene Zenobi, Kellie Peterson and Rene Palomino were dismissed from their jobs as assistant regional counsel attorneys for imbibing wine some 60 days previously.

Trial was held in the court of public opinion.

In a moment, the results of that trial ....

On October 4, 2011 the Governor of the State of Florida appointed Gene Zenobi as Regional Counsel, replacing the individual who fired him. Mr. Zenobi was exonerated.

Shortly thereafter (and we believe this is a scoop) Mr. Zenobi rehired and re-instated Kellie Peterson and Rene Palomino to their former positions at Regional Counsel. No confirmation on the rumor the parties toasted to their good fortune with a simple yet intriguing Cabernet.

Ms. Peterson and Mr. Palomino have been exonerated.

Dum da dum, dum da da da dum...

Judge Chin on sentencing: This is a great NY Times article on the education of SDNY Judge Denny Chin and his views on sentencing defendants.

GENE ZENOBI

Gene Zenobi is your new Regional Counsel. Once again our embattled Governor has made an outstanding pick.

Mr. George is out and that comes as a big relief to those who have worked and suffered under what was widely reported as his oppressive regime.

The good news is that there is a real professional now running a state funded criminal defense firm and we will all be the better for it.

Congratulations Mr. Zenobi, there are very high expectations for what you can bring to the job.

Here is the Governor's press release.

Now, to paraphrase our Governor- Get to work!

See you in court, where we expect to see a smile on the face of every assistant Regional Counsel.

A POLICE STATE

"The Office was run like a police state": That was Candidate Gene Zenobi to the JNC Saturday about the Regional Counsel Office run under Joe George. The Herald's David Ovalle's article is here.

A police state that frowned on wine.

Meanwhile Joe George fired back stating that the firing of Zenobi had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Zenobi filed to replace him. In the movie, Mr. George will be portrayed by Claude Rains, who is best known for his portrayal of Captain Renault in Casablanca.

According to Ovalle, JNC member Bob Butterworth had to this to say about the employee Mr. George fired:

As the interview concluded, committee member Bob Butterworth, former Florida Attorney General, praised Zenobi.

“If governor selects you, I believe you can change the agency,” Butterworth said. “You are able to attract people of the very highest quality who would like to get back into public service.”

The three candidates have flown to Tallahassee. They have met with the Governor's legal counsel and his assistant. So far all the smoke from the Capital has been black.

We are waiting and watching.

Judge Bill Altfield:

Feel good story of the year as former Bailiff (and former prosecutor) Bill Altfield is robed and announced on his first day on the job by his dad, who also happens to be a retired bailiff. The Herald article is here.

WHO WIIL IT BE FOR RC3?

Who will the Governor choose?

Who should the Governor choose?

Gene Zenobi?

PD Kevin Hellman?

Shari Vrod?

Has it occurred to Joe George the monumental disaster his completely without cause firing of Gene Zenobi has wrought to his career? But then again, since he literally phoned in his interview to the JNC, does Mr. George even care?

All these questions and more, answered shortly, as three hopeful attorneys wing their way to Tallahassee hoping for an appointment.

The Trial Tax in Florida, examined by the NY Times here. But no, we don't punish people for going to trial in our great state. Of course we don't do that- we're too busy shoveling snow from our driveways ten months a year.

See You In Court.

JNC SAYS NO GO TO JOE

We can't tell you who is in, but we can tell you Joe George is out. (According to reliable sources).

And so comes to an end an experiment in handing over the reins of a major criminal defense firm to a person with no experience in criminal court. From those heady early days when Mr. George was seen scurrying around the REGJB with former Judge Bruce Levy in tow, to the current turbulent times when Mr. George saw fit to gut his capital crimes unit for reasons unknown or not believable, the Joe George experiment is over. Mr. George leaves with little respect, questionable leadership skills (not to mention a burgeoning inquiry into his travel expenses) having engendered much bitterness with little bonhomie among the denizens of our humble courthouse.

Good bye Mr. George. We hardly knew ya.

JNC nominations to come...

ANOTHER BLOW FOR REGIONAL COUNSEL

You can often tell assistant regional counsel attorneys in the hallways of the REGJB. They're the ones with the slightly defiant look, tempered by the fact they work for a man best described as a bit "mesughenah." The dead give away however is when they buttonhole you and tell you how unfair it is that the counties refuse to pay their fair share of the regional counsel's budget.

A little background is in order.

When the State Legislature formed the Regional Counsel system, someone had the bright idea of requiring the counties of Florida to pay the fixed office costs (Rent, pens, paper clips, bottles of wine) of the various regional counsel offices. The counties got together and to make a complicated legal issue simple, their response to the legislature and Regional Counsel was...well this is a family blog, so lets just say the response had the letters "F" and "U" in it.

The Regional Counsels sued and lost in state circuit court and the first district court of appeals which held the applicable part of the law requiring the counties to pay unconstitutional.

Thursday afternoon things got worse when the Florida Supreme Court upheld the first DCA's decision in favor of the counties and against the Regional Counsel offices across Florida. The decision in Lewis v. Leon County is here.

It really stinks when your boss fires your best attorneys and no one will fund you and no one cares.

See You In Court.

THE NOOSE TIGHTENS

You don't spend more than half a lifetime in this business without being able now and then to put together seemingly unconnected events to reach a conclusion. Lets try:

Item: The Governor tells the JNC to speed up interviewing candidates for the Regional Counsel office. The Governor further announced that the nominees shall travel to Tallahassee the following Monday where one will be selected.

Item: The current RC fires the two lead people in their death penalty defense unit.

Item: Miami Facdl Presidentrix Betty Llorente sends out this email today:

Dear Members: If you are a Death Qualified Attorney, please send me your information as soon as you receive this as I need to forward this information to the Court by next Wednesday. Thank you.

Rumpole says: Even a City Of Miami detective would reach the conclusion that something is in the works betwixt the court and the FACDL against the Regional Counsel's office. Can the court be preparing to use its inherent and statutory authority to strip RC of its death penalty cases? Who would hold such a hearing? Would it be open to the public/bloggers? Who speaks on behalf of RC now that only the janitor and an elderly security guard are apparently the only full time employees left? Is this the first crack in the *damn of the RC system? Will the Dolphins fire Tony Sporano before the end of the month?

These questions and others will all be answered in due course as the RC turns.

Stay tuned.

See You in Court.

*"damn" is probably more appropriate than "dam" in describing that damned office.

A DATE IS CHANGED

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy not coming, but on our readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable."

Sun Tzu.

The Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) has seen fit to move up the interviews for the embattled Regional Counsel position to Saturday September 24, 2011. The JNC will then announce the nominations at the end of the day. Those nominated will appear in Tallahassee on the following Monday, September 26, 2011 at 2:30 PM for a meeting with the Governor.

The Governor and his cabinet will then meet until the time the traditional white smoke from the Capitol heralds the appointment of a new Regional Counsel.

The rumor: That the Governor requested the JNC to move up the date based on complaints about the current Regional Counsel (Motto: "You're fired!") from certain individuals in Miami known to wear a black robe while at work.

The Skinny: This cannot be good news for Mr. George. An objective view of this is that the Governor was close to removing "Mr. Fire em all" and instead asked the JNC to move quickly so the man can be summarily replaced.

"Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."

*Shemp, The Three Stooges Go to China

*not really- that was Sun Tzu too.

ANOTHER LOOK AT REGIONAL COUNSEL

Deep inside Governor Scott's security bunker at an undisclosed location outside of Tallahassee. The morning "state of the state" briefing is concluding:

Aide#1: "Item 11- the rest of the Republican candidates have all contacted us. They agree with Governor Perry's plan to have you endorse the President in the general election. It will swing the state against him for sure."

Governor Scott: "Any news on my seats at the Convention?"

Aide#2: "Uh, yes sir! Good news on that front. The Hooters they have you at has agreed to reserve two spots at the bar right up close to the television."

Governor Scott: " Ok, lets wrap it up. "

Aide#1: "Last item: We have that problem with the criminal defense guy in Miami."

Governor Scott: "Well if that idiot hadn't decided to sue the state he might have done better with his budget. "

Aide#1: "No sir. Not that idiot. That's the Public Defender you are talking about. We have a problem with that other criminal defense agency. You know, the one that was created to take conflicts from the PD."

Governor Scott: " Didn't the state used to contract with private attorneys before this large agency was created?Can someone tell me what liberal commie pinko big government loving fool created that agency?"

Aide#2: "Ummm....that would be the last two republican Governors and the republican controlled house and senate that created Regional Counsel."

Governor Scott: "And why in the name of Lawton Chiles did they do that? "

Aide#1: "Well apparently the choice was between creating another big government agency or screwing the trial lawyers, and when the choice came down to that, it was pretty clear."

Governor Scott: "Yeah, I can see their point. What is going on in Miami? I need another problem like I need another federal investigation for healthcare fraud."

Aide#2: "The head of the agency has gone a bit nuts and fired almost everyone."

Governor Scott: He has? Fired almost everyone you say? hmmm...I like what I'm hearing. An agency head cutting government employees and downsizing? That man is a genius, he can go far with us."

Aide#1: "But sir, the problem is that he has decimated the agency and it can't do it's job. Criminal defendants aren't getting good representation and......oh wait....I see what you mean."

Governor Scott: "Get me this man immediately! He is being wasted in Miami. Together he and I can do great things, Why, when we're done, we'll be bigger than US Steel."

Aide#2: " Sir, US Steel went bankrupt in 2003."

Governor Scott(rubbing his hands together with glee): "Exactly! Fly him to me today! When I'm done with him they'll be begging me to sit in the convention next summer. And then we'll see who wants my endorsement."

Rumpole: And so on....

BY GEORGE

UPDATE: Here's the Herald article on the 3rd firing. While it is technically illegal to consume alcoholic beverages in a State building, 1) RC rented offices from a private landlord in a building not owned by the state. 2) This smells rotten.

"YOUR'E FIRED!"

No, that is not a replay of a famous Bill Barzee opening statement, which set the legal community in NYC on fire earlier this year (see the article here).

Instead, that was the statement made three separate times over the last two days to three attorneys who were fired from the Regional Counsel's Office.

Here's what we know: Three lawyers were fired. Two of them were, as the Herald reported on Wednesday morning, counsel for a capital murder case re-trial. One lawyer had filed papers seeking appointment to replace the current Regional Counsel (Motto:"The Me Nobody Knows").

Here's what we don't know: Why they were fired.

Here's what everyone needs to keep in mind: We are dealing with people's livelihoods and professional reputations. Everyone needs to tread carefully and not make accusations that cannot be supported. This will eventually all come out in the wash, and we will not be a part of savaging someone's reputation for the sake of a few sensational headlines.

Everyone calm down and keep their head about them, although others around them may be losing theirs and blaming it on you.... (See, Kipling, Rudyard, If)

See You In Court.