YOU'RE RIGHT-YOU'RE WRONG

Let's take a look at some recent comments:

Rumpole is wrong:

Anonymous said...

KUDOS to 9:54 a.m.! Rumpole, weren't you a little harsh on the original poster? Come on now, this isn't about folks trying to make it in this big melting pot we call Miami. It's about folks who can't effectively communicate in English (note I did not refer to it as the official language) & who take great pleasure in working against the lawyers who are necessary elements of the system -- all the while proudly parading giant chips on their shoulders.

Monday, November 22, 2010 6:54:00 PM

And the very next comment, Rumpole is right:

Anonymous said...

This contributor is a douche. Who cares if you went to Yale. Treat the people in the courthouse with respect and dignity, and they will almost always help you out. Snotty Yale Douche.

Monday, November 22, 2010 7:49:00 PM

Corrections is right:

Anonymous said...

bythw the woman is Ana and she is very sweet. I think most people know by now that you have to get 3 certified copies with the jail number and cell location on it and give it to her. Prepration makes your life easier. Making fun of her accent is not cool either. She is one of the nicest most helpful people at REG. Maybe your attitude needs adjustment. SHe could of just been an ahole and accepted your order then when your guy was not transported have let you find out the hard way how to do things right but no she is super nice.

Monday, November 22, 2010 6:18:00

Corrections is wrong:

Anonymous said...

KUDOS to 9:54 a.m.! Rumpole, weren't you a little harsh on the original poster? Come on now, this isn't about folks trying to make it in this big melting pot we call Miami. It's about folks who can't effectively communicate in English (note I did not refer to it as the official language) & who take great pleasure in working against the lawyers who are necessary elements of the system -- all the while proudly parading giant chips on their shoulders.

Monday, November 22, 2010 6:54:00 PM

BUREAUCRACY

A foreclosure fiasco!! Former REGJB denizen Alan Soven at the center of a legal nightmare (again). Details on the South Florida Lawyers blog here.

We received this email:

Rumpole: Help!

Here is a description of my encounter with a an individual who works for a particular agency in the Justice Building. My goal was merely to provide them a certified copy of a motion to transport. I won't name the agency, but it rhymes with "directions".

Me: Hi- here is a copy of an order to transport.

Woman #1: Jello...can I help jew?

Me: (to myself: Jew??Hmm...this is not starting out well).

Me: To Woman #1: Yes. Here is a certified copy of a motion to transport.

Woman #1: Weeeeell, dis is not (unintelligible- but I'm guessing she meant "sufficient") Jew need 11 certified copies. (or some ridiculous number).

Me: (to myself: Jew again!)

Woman #1: also, Jew need to add the yale number of the defendant. To get the yale number you need to go to the 4th floor and look at dee big blue book which has dee names and yale numbers of all of dee defendants.

Me: (admittedly somewhat sanctimoniously) I know how to get a "yale number" I've in fact been to Yale. (actually Rumpole, I've been to both, but that's another long story.) I also know how to get jail number. I don't need the big blue book. I can get with a computer. In fact, I can get it with my phone. Can you please take the order?

Woman#1: No. Here is dees memo on orders. You need read.

Me: No. Here is the order. You need read.

Woman#2: (walking over) She jus tryin to hep you.

Me: Really? Because I don't sense that.

Woman#1: If jew read dee memo jew can get dee order.

Me: I have "dee order", please take it. Many people who have studied long and hard have contributed to creating this order.

...and on and on it went. Not much really to say except that it seems like everybody is out to make everybody's life much more difficult than it has to be. I appreciate they have a job to do and so do I. I don't have a problem following rules, and this issue was resolved when I obtained the requisite 37 more certified copies- and I won't even start on what it takes to get one of those from the ninth floor. The clerks look at you like either you are crazy ( you want what??) or you are threatening some horrible act. My point is that people who deal with the general public need more training. Not to say it is not a hard job. It is. But how many times have you been waiting in line only to have the person answer the phone or have another employee come over and start talking to the person helping you about something that could have waited. Yes, I am making fun of this woman's accent. It is more bothersome to have a bureaucrat start lecturing you when they can barely speak english. I applaud this woman for working, I just wish she could lectured me less and done so more intelligibly. Thanks for letting me vent.

Rumpole says: We live in a multicultural society, especially here in Miami. Our opinion is that dealing with an accent is a small price to pay in view of the strengths immigrants add to our country. In light of all the xenophobic rage over immigration, we would be well served if we didn't over react to the short term (hopefully) economic slow down, and remembered that at one time or another all of our ancestors came to this country seeking a better life. Lets not be like the Judges of Miami, who once having been elected, want to close the doors behind them and do away with elections.

NFL roundup: 1-1 yesterday, 22-15-1 for the season; -30 for the day and + 2320 for the season. Mr. Markus won (7-3-1) and so did we (9-2).

Later this week: Is the blog going to be shut down????!!!! Stay tuned.

NFL WEEK 11 2010

Good morning and welcome to week 11 in the NFL!

Here are the numbers: +2350 for the season; 21-14-1 in our picks.

DOM is 6-3-1 and Rumpole is 8-2.

Green Bay is at Minnesota. At 3-6 the Vikes are one loss away from being all but officially eliminated from the big dance and nobody more than the Packers would love to drive that stake through the heart of the ageless vampire Brett Favre. The over/under is 44 and we like the over for 300 Favres.

In out matchup against Mr. Markus we're going to ride that train called Vick until he pulls into the station marked "Dallas-Superbowl." The Eagles are -3 at home over the big men from New Jersey, and we are taking the Eagles, and also 300 of Pat's Cheesesteaks as well. Because we're hungry. DOM is hitching up his six shooter and putting on his ten gallon hat and taking the Texans +6.5 on the road in the big city against the JETS who btw set an NFL record for winning consecutive overtime games on the road.

We had to make our picks earlier in the week because Sunday is a travel day for us. We may update this as events, and our access to the internet, warrant.

Leyritz guilty!!!!! (of misd only) acquitted on manslaughter !!

EXTRA INNINGS: The jury deliberations in the Leyritz case have gone into extra innings as the Jury initially signaled to the Judge that they were deadlocked, and then went back into deliberations.

"We have reached a stalemate," said a note read to the court by Gold at 6 p.m. Friday. "We have completely decided that we will not agree on this decision. How do we proceed?

Judge Gold read the Jury an Allen charge and sent them home for the night. Deliberations will resume Saturday.

Rumpole says: The alternate said he would have voted for acquittal, which is a sure sign of a conviction as any trial lawyer will tell you. The defense should take the deadlock and run.

The Herald has a story and a You tube video of Miami's finest on Halloween providing some "street adjudication" and other forms of "counseling" to a suspect. The video and story is here (and we couldn't find the blasted thing on you tube no matter how hard we tried.)

FRIDAY UPDATE: The Leyritz jury is out and we will be providing minute by minute analysis of the jury deliberations.....or perhaps we'll just post the verdict after someone give us a tip.

Will the Prosecution in Broward get shut out like the Fins did last night?

Stay tuned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

North of the Border the jury is out in the Jim Leyritz trial. We can't call it a DUI/Manslaughter trial because the Judge JOA'd the state on that one. A Driving with Unlawful Blood Alcohol Level (UBAL) Manslaughter charge is the only felony remaining.

Say what you want about Dave Bogenschutz, but he earned his fee in this one. He did a great job no matter what the outcome.

We still can't figure out how he got the issue of the decedent's impairment out before the jury when the judge had ruled it inadmissible pre-trial.

DOM posits that Supreme Court Judges are tech-deficient.

What do you do when you get arrested after bringing a gun to the drug deal set up by your stripper girlfriend? Well if you're a Federal Judge you plead guilty, and probably avoid the 924(c) 5 year consecutive minimum mandatory for using a firearm during the commission of a felony.

It may be campy, but Judge Camp will be pleading guilty real soon according to ATL.

Short week next week. Court closes after Wednesday.

See You In Court.

FACDL UPDATE

UPDATE: We received this comment:

Michael A. Haber, Esq. said...

Hey Rumpole - Thanks for painting me as a racist - I am sure that ths was inadvertant. Please understand that a) I am not a racist, I dislike everyone equally; b) my comment would've been the same had I received what I consider to be an improper list-serve post; c) my point, to be clear, is that the list-serve should be used by members for FACDL-related topics ONLY; and d) I have always considered list-serve posts to be private communications between FACDL members and not public items; accordingly I take execption to your having posted my private response without my permission. In this case, as I am confident that we now understand one another, I expect mutual consideration in the future.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 4:54:00 PM

Rumpole says: There is some humor in Mr. Haber's comment, but we take his complaint very very seriously. Not only do we think that we did not paint Mr. Haber as a racist, we think our comment showed that there was a very legitimate side to his comment. Namely that the listserv should be used for legal issues and that any expression of religious beliefs -no matter how well intentioned- would open the flood gates for preaching.

If it was not clear- let us be very very clear- Mr. Haber's comment was proper, well thought out, well meaning, and in our opinion not directed in a hateful way at anyone or any religion. He was very clear that his comment was meant for all kinds of off topic comments, from the availability of a car for sale, to personal comments. He is not a racist. He does not have that reputation. From our admittedly limited knowledge of him personally, he is a very fine attorney fully committed to the constitution and the ideals of our country.

Lots of news about the FACDL (Motto: "Dues, please") so lets get right to it:

Item one: Congrats to Arnie Trevilla who won a DUI trial before Judge Miranda yesterday. But just to show you that his heart is in the right place, here is his email when the jury went out, and kudos to his praise of the judge BEFORE the verdict:

arnoldtrevilla@gmail.com to khurrum, Facdl

7:04 PM (16 hours ago)

Jury just went out on my dui. Miranda gives a great trial!!!!!!!! Love her...

And here is his email 78 minutes later later:

arnoldtrevilla@gmail.com to khurrum, Facdl

8:22 PM (15 hours ago)

Ng!!!

Item Two: Earlier in the day Khurrum Wahid sent out this email:

On Tuesday, November 16, 2010, Khurrum Wahid wrote:

To all my brothers and sisters in the bar, today is Eid ul adha.

Muslim holiday marking the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca called Hajj which all Muslims must to once in their lifetime.

Just by way of FYI, Hajj itself is purported to mark the event where God told Abraham to sacrifice his child for God and God replaced the child with a goat. This pillar of Islam shows the common link between Christians Jews Muslims and other faiths that trace their origins to Abraham.

Say Eid Mubarak to your friends and whether Muslim or not because we have more in common than not on this planet.

And the predictable contretemps erupted including this email from Michael Haber:

Please, pretty please, w/ powdered sugar & rasberry sauce on top, STOP USING FACDL's Google Group for posting non-law related issues. If u wanna sell your used furniture, lease office space, pat someone on the back (proverbially), celebrate a holiday (of any nature), share an anticdote or whatever, please use your personal e-mail and spare the rest of us your inconsiderate (& inappropriate) thoughts, comments or observations (as this would be but for my having been exposed to happy Muslim day emails on FACDL).

Rumpole says: Mr. Wahid's email conveyed wonderful sentiments and certainly the world would be a better place if we all had his wonderful view of life and religion.

Eid Mubarak....

BUT...one could speculate that such an email would open up the floodgates to those who would wish to prosthelytize their own religious views.

Item Three: Sabrina Puglisi - Commissar of the Miami Chapter of the FACDL had this startling announcement about the upcoming FACDL: Board meeting:

Just wanted to update yesterday's announcement. Chief Judge Federico Moreno
has accepted our invitation to attend. He will stay for the first 15
minutes and answer questions.

Rumpole says: There will be a "meet and greet" afterwards and the Judge will pose for pictures and sign autographs suitable for forging his signature on orders, which is becoming generally accepted in the South Florida legal community.

So there's your FACDL update. Lets remember, we're all on the same side (cashing cheques) so lets try and get along.

Eid Mubarak

COUNTY COURT CONTINUED

First- for the unenlightened few who read this blog and left comments yesterday, how difficult is it to understand that we did not write the post? It was written by a contributor who calls him or herself (their identity is unknown to us) The Colonel of County Court. So to those who wrote posts questioning what we wrote, we just have one thought- keep plugging away at that GED and someday you may get it.

Second- we won our three team teaser for +600 and our MNF pick for +500 so we were +1100 for the day and a comfortable +2350 for the season. Our totals are 21-14-1 as we count the teaser as one bet. Both Mr. Markus and Rumpole won their picks and the standings are DOM: 6-3-1 and Rumpole: 8-2.

THIRD: Dr. McGriff who runs a PTI program wrote this in response to the Colonel's missive:

M. David McGriff, Ph.D.,CEO, The Advocate Program, Inc. said...

Problem #2: PTI
Allow me to take strong issue to the “problem” of PTI mentioned in the Justice Building Blog. The Advocate Program has been providing PTI services to the State Attorney’s Office and Courts for over 30 years (and on an exclusive basis to the misdemeanor division until about 6 years ago). While we run this agency as a business, and have managed to do that successfully for a long time, as a Not-For-Profit 501 c 3 agency, we have neither owners nor shareholders to please. So we have always been able to set our fees at the most reasonable levels possible. Every time we have an audit done, we send the results to both the State Attorney and the Chief Judge.
It has never been the policy of this Program to discourage a defendant from seeking legal counsel and I should know since my involvement with this Program goes back over 35 years. In fact, I can’t remember when an Advocate PTI letter (and we have been sending them since the late 1970’s) didn’t include the admonition to a prospective client to bring the letter “(with your attorney if you have one)”. We try, as best we can, to determine if an attorney has been retained prior to sending a letter. If the blog was referring to the new Criminal Traffic Diversion program, we have not sent letters on those cases although, per the State Attorney’s Office, we reserve the right to do so. And as always we would never discourage a defendant not to retain an attorney in those cases or any other. Contrary to the blog we’ve always considered the Defense Bar as a critical referral source for us and have worked together in the interests of defendants for a long time. We both understand that a “not guilty” plea and a nolle prose as a result of a PTI program are much better alternatives to a “no contest” plea and a withhold of adjudication which have become the standard results for unrepresented defendants in the misdemeanor Criminal Division. As always, this Program stands ready to work with all of our system partners for the benefit of the citizens of Miami-Dade County and defendants of the 11th Judicial Circuit. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or other issues.

M. David McGriff, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Advocate Program, Inc.
mdmphd@advocateprogram.com

And the Colonel responds: With all due respect to the good doctor, I have called the program (both Advocate and Court Options) several times posing as a defendant who received a letter. I will engage the person in conversation and at some point will wonder out loud whether I need to consult a lawyer about my choice. Invariably, indeed in every occasion but one, the person will respond to the effect of "why pay money for a lawyer when we can get your case dismissed?" Therein Dr. McGriff, lies the problem with your PTI program. But as long as the SAO and the court give you the unfettered license to practice law without one, there's not a whole lot we can do about it except shine the cold hard light of truth on what is going on.

Rumpole says: This is what the blog is for- a discussion of the issues when not betting or drinking. Have at it.

COUNTY COURT CRISIS?

A report from the Colonel Of County Court:

Good morning Rumpole and readers, with a criminal county court bench in flux (two judges- Bloom and Seff are out in the new year) there are troubling issues that are already bedeviling county court. These issues are reported after several weeks of witnessing most of these problems myself and with speaking with several long time county court practitioners

PROBLEM #1 EX PARTE COMMUNICATION:

Judges (and prosecutors who are being encouraged by Judges), are routinely engaging in ex parte communication with clients in an effort to clear their courtroom. Here's what happens: All judges are different in their ability to timely move their calendars, which usually are set every half hour. A solo practitioner may have to go to Judges Miranda and Krieger-Martin for a 9 am trial (both on the 5th floor) then race up to Newman and Bloom on 6 before trotting down to Schwartz on two. Meanwhile it is now 9:30 and the practitioner runs to Seraphin on 4 and waits in a long line until getting called at 10:15. In the meantime one or more of the 9:30 am cases that he or she hasn't gotten to yet has been dismissed. While the attorney is in another courtroom the judge in one of the 9:30 am cases tells the client to leave or the prosecutor does at the encouragement of the judge. The attorney runs back to that courtroom-can't find the client- calls him or her and the client says "the case was dismissed without you... why did I even need to hire a lawyer?" Now the lawyer has to explain that the case was dismissed because of the ten hours of work he or she did in getting the client a new license and then communicating that to the ASA before the trial was set or because the ASA agreed with the motion to suppress or dismiss that was filed, or for any other reason based on work the attorney did and the client didn't see.

Bottom line: Judges and prosecutors do attorney great harm when they start talking to their clients, even in a misguided belief that they are helping the client. It's also against the rules of ethics. So stop it.

PROBLEM # 2 : PTI: Basically the SAO and the courts have sold out to the PTI programs. Lets be clear about this - this was a decision based solely on money and not on anything else like a desire to help defendants. Defendants who get arrested are now receiving letters from people who are not attorneys basically telling them they don't need a lawyer to get their case dismissed. And these letters are sanctioned by prosecutors and Judges. Never mind the fact that a PTI disposition is now being used against clients in a whole host of situations, or that innocent people are being coerced to accept something other than vindication. It's not the existence of the PTI program. It's the way it is being marketed to clients before they have a chance to consult with an attorney: the marketing encourages the clients NOT to hire an attorney. If attorneys were allowed to first meet their clients and thoroughly discuss their history, the availability of PTI would be beneficial to all. Would you go to a surgeon without first getting tests and consulting with a diagnostician?

PROBLEM # 3 SLOM LOCKS THE DOORS.

This problem is mostly confined to Judge Slom and his totally intransigent and difficult bailiff. Basically, when Judge Slom covers for one of his Judges, there are times when he apparently wants to segregate the defendants by the calendar and only let the 9am defendants in the courtroom until he is finished with the 9am calendar. A couple of problems with this: First- this is the United States of America and any citizen has a right at almost any time to enter any court of law and observe. Except in Judge Slom's court. Second- to facilitate this segregation- the bailiff locks the door. Thus if an attorney is running from courtroom to courtroom and doesn't time it right- he or she is locked out of Judge Slom's courtroom while the client is inside. Third- Florida has a statute and procedure for closing a courtroom. It involves among other things notice to the media and a hearing on the attempt to conduct court business in private. To my knowledge Judge Slom is not following this procedure.

Additional issues: some Judges are overly influenced by Judge Slom from everything to case law interpretation to exactly how to run their courtrooms. Thus there is this new Slom inspired practice of playing a pre-recorded introduction to court several times throughout the morning, and usually doing it while several attorneys are waiting to dispose of cases.

That's it for now. And remember: There's gold in them there misdemeanors.

Rumpole says: Judges, ASAs, and criminal defense attorneys are invited to respond via comments or email which will be posted on the front of the blog unedited if they so request it.

We forward one urgent help wanted request:

"Help wanted. Professional sports team in Davie, Florida, needs one or more quarterbacks, preferably with experience. Inquire at Sun Life Stadium, attn: Tony Sparano."

NFL WEEK 10 2010

Good Miami Dolphins-Chad Pennington -Football Sunday!

It's a beautiful day and the Dolphins have a new starter at QB.

Fun fact: two players making their first start for their teams today in Miami -Chad Pennington and Randy Moss- both played college football at Marshall.

Mr. Markus (5-3-1) must be warily eyeing the calendar and beginning to note in his epic battle versus Rumpole (7-2) that he's down by two in the win column and before he knows it, time will be running out. But not yet. And we have our lead to protect.

A couple of intriguing games today but we're going with the game tomorrow night versus DOM: Michael Vick and his Eagles in DC against the Redskins and their cardiovascularly deficient QB.

Eagles -3 at DC and we'll throw 500 Geno cheesesteaks on the boys from Philly for good measure.

Mr. Markus responds that the Dolphins are ready for a home win and Chad Pennington is just the guy to lead them to victory. DOM picks the Fins +1.

Bengals at Indy (-7) and Jets(-3) at Cleveland are the two other games we've pondered this week while sitting in court and listening to prosecutors drone on endlessly. Thank goodness for internet access in court, otherwise there would be nothing fun to do during a trial.

So lets have some fun. What kind? How about the kind when you're walking down Bourbon street at 2AM and see a scantily dressed woman giving you a wink and motioning you to join her at the bar kind of fun. *

In other words, sounds like it's time for a Teaser Bet!!!!

There are lots of different teaser options out there, including 6 point, 6.5 point, and 7 point teasers. But we will stick with the Vegas Teaser, which is six points, and the odds adjust on the number of teams you pick.

How about a three team teaser at 2 to 1? Indy teased from -7 to -1; Browns teased from +3 to +9; and Carolina at Tampa Bay from -7 to Tampa -1. And we'll risk 300 Po Boys on this extravaganza.

Rumpole's tip: The key to teaser bets is that you want to find a spread where you move the line past a key number, like 7 or 3. So when the Browns go from getting a field goal to past a TD and up to 9, it becomes attractive. Ditto when Indy goes from being a TD favorite to 1, which moves them below a field goal.

Anyway, enjoy the day, we wish we could be at Sun Life Stadium today rooting on Chad Pennington, but duty calls.

*All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or events, possibly including one late night in New Orleans in July several years ago, is purely coincidental.

BOLO- sorry to let work intrude on a football Sunday, but CBS4 reports a BOLO and arrest warrant was issued for Coral Gables Police Lieutenant Edward Claughton for battery on a hotel employee in Marathon.

MIAMI MELTDOWN

Heat horror! The home town cagers in free fall as the Heat suffered a second straight loss at home last night. The team is now 1-3 in the last four games as they stagger towards the cellar and a losing record.

Meanwhile our Fins make a change at QB as they try and avoid another embarrassing loss at home this weekend.

And that's your blog sports wrap up.

COUNTY COURT CRISIS!

This Monday, only on your favourite legal blog, the Colonel of County Court files his (hers?) exclusive report on the crisis in County Court.

Judges locking doors "ala Broward".

Judges and prosecutors speaking with clients who have representation without their attorneys present.

Calendars out of control.

PTI wrecking havoc for private practitioners.

This may be your favourite local blog but something tells us Judge Slom won't be sharing that opinion after Monday.

DOM has the applicants for Judge Huck's seat and they include state court Judges Barzee, Butchko, Bagley, Robert Scola, Peter Lopez, John Thornton (is the paint even dry on his chambers yet?) and Will Thomas.

Bagley was the hot name two seats ago, and then Scola the last seat. Our thoughts? One of the Fed Magistrates or a private practitioner. Michael Hanzman has been cultivating political clout that comes with the succe$$ of his class action suits. He is one to watch.

Enjoy your weekend, go Fins, and check in Sunday for our picks.

YAHWEH BEN NOT GUILTY

OVERNIGHT UPDATE: The Heat lost again, this time giving up an astounding 40 points in the fourth quarter alone. The loss was at home and does not portend well for the rest of the season. The Heat are two games over a mediocre .500 and remained mired in third place.

LEYRITZ TRIAL UPDATE: The toxicologist testified yesterday that Jim Leyritz probably consumed the equivalent of 11 alcoholic drinks based on reverse extrapolation and his known blood alcohol level at the time it was taken.

BREAKING: Miami 1:30 pm REGJB: Congratulations to James Demiles and Tom Cobtiz for their not guilty- out the door- go on home verdict for the father and son they represented who were charged with first degree murder!

The jury was out about 7 hours and it was a well earned victory for a trial that took three weeks.

Rachel Waters took the loss for the prosecution.

The case was profiled in the Herald as it began, and the two defendants were portrayed as followers of Yahweh Ben Yahweh, who long time Miami residents will remember was targeted for prosecutions in the 1980's for repeatedly violating the litter law, along with various murders.

Tom Cobitz was appointed as private counsel while James Demiles chalked the win up for Regional Counsel.

TRIVIA ANSWERS: Bob Josefsberg represented Jim Morrison, Terrence McWilliams, who has since passed away, for the prosecution. McWilliams was one of the very great trial lawyers to come out of our humble REGJB. Ditto Mr. Josefsberg, who is still very much with us.

Miami Dolphin great Mercury Morris was convicted of trafficking in cocaine over 400 grams. George Yoss for the prosecution. Judge Ellen Morphonious was the Judge, who after sentencing him was heard to say "Sorry Merc."

Don't remember who Mercury Morris's attorney was. Morris was later released after his conviction was overturned on appeal and he was ordered discharged.

ADVERSE POSSESSION

Means never having to say you're sorry- as long as you do it openly, continuously, and notoriously.

The NY Times reports here that Florida's adverse possession statute, circa 1869, is back in vogue as an enterprising realtor is using homeless families to help him take possession of abandoned homes. The article is here.

Remember when?

The prosecution of ex-Yankee star Jim Leyritz in Browierd got us to thinking about other prominent sports stars that have run afoul of the law in South Florida.

As near as we can remember, one case started it all in the 1970's in Miami. It was a drug trafficking charge. For extra blog credit, who was the sports star, who was the Judge, who was the prosecutor and who was the defense attorney? Double extra credit- when the star was found guilty and the judge imposed the 15 yr min man, what did the Judge say as the star was led away?

And lets go back even further. The Doors Jim Morrison was convicted right here in Miam-ah in 1970 for exposure of his sexual organ during a concert. Who was the great prosecutor in that case? Who was the Judge and who defended Mr. Morrison?

"Don't ya love her madly...Don't ya need her badly...Don't ya love her ways ... Don't ya love her as she's walkin out the door?"

3RD DCA FINALISTS

As blog posters have repeatedly mentioned, your three finalists for the 3rd DCA are Judge Kevin Emas, Judge Ivan Fernandez and Ed Scales.

Thoughts and comments?

Mr Markus and Rumpole both won their picks yesterday bringing their season totals to 5-3-1 for the Fed and 7-2 for Rumpole. Otherwise it was a down day for us, as we went 1-2 for a season total of 19-14-1 and taking 350 from our season total of 1660 leave us with 1250 to play with.

One final note from election day: The good people of Oklahoma voted last Tuesday to ban state courts from relying on Sharia (Islamic ) Law.

Rumpole notes: Now there are dozens of appellate briefs that will have to be re-written. and thank goodness the people of Oklahoma can still rely on their courts to use Soviet Law, Chinese Law, National Socialist Law, New Zealand Law, or any other law those idiots didn't put in the law.

This was obviously a straw man used to bring conservative voters to the polls in Oklahoma. They should be ashamed of themselves. Now back to our brief before the 3rd and how do you cite to Ayatollah Khomeini? Is is capitalized and underlined?

Leyritz DUI Trial: Here's the Sun Sentinel's Tonya Alanez on the Broward DUI Manslaughter trial. The prosecution has made several mistakes, and the trial has been the talk of the courthouse in Broward.

We are truly puzzled by an occurrence in the trial and perhaps our readers can help: Judge Marc Gold had previously ruled pretrial that the decedent's level of intoxication was irrelevant. It's a ruling we disagreed with, but so be it. How then- and we are serious about this- does Bogenschutz ask those questions during cross examination? As an officer of the court is he not required to abide by the pre-trial rulings? Now as it turns out the prosecution completely dropped the ball by not objecting, and the testimony came in. But what gave Bogenschutz the right to ask the question? Was it asked so as to preserve error? Or was he required to do that pre-trial? It has really been bothering us because it has worked out well for the defense and we're pretty sure we would not have done it.

See You In Court.

NFL WEEK 9 2010

Good Sunday morning football fans and investors!

It was 54 degrees at 4 AM this morning, with the winds out of the NW at 9mph. The winds will swing to the north and increase to a breezy 20 MPH while the high is expected to be a very comfortable 72 degrees. The week will warm up: by Friday the lows will be in the low 70's and the highs in the low 80's as the winds, while staying out of the north, moderate.

Congratulations again to your Blog 2010 Suicide Pool winner, Miguel De La O.

The game we like today is Indy at Philly. Eagles coach Andy Reid is 11-0 coming off a bye week. Mike Vick starts again today for the Eagles, and the line is Eagles -3 at home.

Some other games we are looking at are San Diego at Houston: look for the Chargers to revert to their normal, poorly coached team; Cowpokes at GreenBay: The secret is out-the Cowboys have quit on their coach and the bidding war for Bill Cowher has begun; we think our Dolphins on the road at Baltimore have a shot to keep it close; and we like the Bucs getting 9 in Atlanta and the Cheaters giving 4 at the mistake by the lake (Cleveland).

Our season total is 18-12-1; our campaign war chest stands at +1660; and DOM is 4-3-1 versus Rumpole who is 6-2. All in all things feel nice.

In our matchup against the dauntless defender of desperate Federal defendants, we will go with the Pack -7 over the cowboys (they don't deserve to have a capital in their name) and we'll risk 200 blocks of cheese as well. DOM doesn't think much of our hot streak, he is taking the Colts, on the road in Philly +3.

The fun game of the day is the KC Chiefs against your Oakland Raiders, in Oakland, for first place in the AFC west. We have been kicking ourself all year against not seeing he reemergence of the Chiefs. With Romeo Crennel (a former head coach out of the Bill Beichick tree) running the defense and Charlie Weis (ditto) running the offense, this team was poised to take off. While we liked the Raiders at the start of the season, we like the Chiefs now. KC -1 +200 Cassell's.

And lets put our money where our mouth is- Eagles -3 over Indy for 300 Pat's Cheesesteaks, "wit" of course.

THE BLOOM IS OFF THE ROSE

And come New Year, Bloom is out of county court.

Your new REGJB County Court Judges are.......drum roll please......

DARRIN GAYLES FOR FLORA SEFF......AND

ANDY HAGUE FOR BETH BLOOM.

Which means if you now have a DUI, you don't have to go to the Netherlands to practice before The Hague.

First cool weekend of the fall. Enjoy. See You In Court.

Blog trivia- name cities that are properly referred to with "The"....The Hague...The Vatican....and The Bronx (which is technically a borough, but still it's kind of funny.)

COURT REPORTERS TO STRIKE??

Court reporters of Miami-Dade Unite!!!

You have nothing to lose but the chains of your low per-page rates and your shameful treatment by the Florida Legislature!

Many of you saw the Miami Herald, (reprinted on this reporting blog) article this past Sunday in which long time court reporter Vanester Collier refused to transcribe the trial of a defendant who was indigent because the Florida Legislature changed the per page rate for indigent defendants from $5.50 per page to $3.95 per page. This provision was sneaked into the budget at the last minute and in Ms. Collier's case, it applies retroactively to the work she has already done.

Put another way, the Legislature changed the rules in the middle of the game and there's nothing Ms. Collier can do about it. Except STRIKE BACK.

In response to this outrageous treatment, which is nothing less than down right theft of services, Rumpole calls for the Court Reporters of Miami-Dade to go on strike. STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE. Lets get 60's and take it to the streets! Log on, tune in, and drop out for a day.

Which day?

Thanksgiving is Thursday November 25. We offer two suggestions: the first is Wednesday November 24, which would be a somewhat conciliatory move on the part of court reporters as the day before a holiday is usually light in terms of courtroom work. However, if they really want to make a statement, then they should go out on strike on MONDAY November 22, 2010.

If the State Legislature thinks they can treat people this way, let them see what it's like if these people just say no. If, like the plot of Atlas Shrugged, the court reporters, who are as important in the justice system as the clerk, judge, or lawyer, just go on strike rather than accept the shoddy treatment of their profession, they might get treated with a little more respect by the politicians in Tallahassee.

Rumpole says STRIKE. What say you Court Reporters of Miami-Dade?

ELECTION NIGHT 11/1/2010

Morning Update: Sink sunk. Now lets get to work. Rumpole says that the turnout in Miami-Dade, Broweird and Palm Beach was not enough. She needed close to 45% to safely put her over the top.

9:30 Update: Before Rick Scott and the Republicans begin celebrating a victory, we note that Miami-Dade and West Palm, both solid Democratic counties, have 0% reporting statewide races as per the Florida Elections website. Scott and her ticket are well within striking distance depending upon the turnout in those counties. Our information leads us to believe the turnout in Miami-Dade will not be sufficient to help Sink gain the ground she needs.

9:15 REGJB UPDATE: Both REGJB candidates- Rod Vereen and Lisa Lesperance appear headed for defeat. But we should all be proud of them. They entered the arena. They fought a good and honourable fight for what they believed in. They did not cower to the crowd, nor did they pander to the easy vote. They stood up for their principles and they did themselves proud. They are the proud combatants "In The Arena" that Theodore Roosevelt wrote about so long ago, and which we often quote when consoling friends in defeat.

UPDATE: Senator Rubio. And not only that, but by a margin that at the moment beats the combined votes of Crist and Meek. Mr. Rubio officially heads the short list of Republican Vice Presidential candidates. Romney/Rubio anyone?

First the important stuff: NFL= 18-21-1; our bankroll a healthy 1660 Pelosis'.

DOM is 4-3-1 and Rumpole is 6-2.

Election predictions 6:50 PM. : The Democrats retain the Senate; the House is closer than pollsters have indicated. However, the issue is turnout. If Democratic turnout is high, the Dems hold on to more seats and perhaps the House. If it is low, they lose the House. The poll numbers discussed for the last few weeks have the potential to become a self fulfilling prophecy as discouraged Democrats stay home because of the impending defeat.

Our own view today is that turnout is lower than the Democrats need. But we are crunching some numbers not yet available for public review, as we have some friends and experience in these matters, and some poll data has been emailed to us.

More later.

ELECTION DAY 2010

UPDATE: Long time ASA Howard Pohl has resigned. It was an amicable resignation reportedly for personal and not professional reasons. Howard leaves a long legacy as a superb prosecutor. His skill, wisdom, guidance, humor and experience is a loss the SAO can ill afford. We wish him well.

Good Tuesday Morning! It's election day. Honor the men and women who have fought for your right to vote and tell that judge you will be back in a few hours because you're going to vote.

We went 5-0 on our NFL picks, winning our final MNF IF bet. The totals later.

We want to recognize two REGJB regulars who are on the ballot today:

Lisa Lesperance for the State legislature. She has the endorsement and backing of the State Democratic party. GO LISA!

And Rod Vereen for Congress. He is running as an independent which might just be the right move in 2010. GO ROD!

Stay tuned tonight for your most complete local blog coverage of the national elections.

Coming soon: Halloween is over, but not for Judges Brown and Soto. Their worst nightmare is about to come true. COURT REPORTERS ON STRIKE. Low pay and general disrespect force local court reporters into a one day strike to let judges and lawyers see just how important they are.

(Here's a preview of our soon to be award winning blog post)

Court Reporters of Miami unite! You have nothing to lose but your low per page rates.....

Only on your favourite REGJB Blog.

Now go vote for Lisa and Rod.

Has a long time chief ASA resigned? We're hot on the rumour.....