QUE PASA JUDGE?

Can you spot the very young-someday-to-be-Judge? 




Every actor has an Ishtar and a Heaven Can Wait for every Bonnie and Clyde or Splendor in the Grass. 

Hint- it's not Judge Newman or Rebull. 

See You In Court. 

NCAA FINAL

We've been besieged by emails asking us who we think will win tonight NCAA Men's College Basketball Championship game? 

While we admittedly lack the expertise in College Basketball that we exhibit in other sports,  we think that the combination of the favourite team (Louisville) and the better coach (Rick Pitino) has us leaning towards the chalk and the Louisville Cardinals. 

But it's just the slightest of edges to Louisville against a tough Michigan team that runs a very hard to beat high- post screen offense that confounded the vaunted Syracuse 2-3 zone D.

So there you have the sum of our basketball knowledge. 

Tomorrow: Que Pasa Judge?  

OPA LOCKA CRISIS

No hiring standards for police officers. No supervision of police officers when they hit the streets. They hire police officers thrown out of other training programs for committing crimes. They don't conduct background checks on applicants for the police department. And they promote officers who lie, get arrested, and get fired. 

A third world police department? 
The city police department for Iran, North Korea, or a remote part of Pakistan? 

Nope. 

Welcome to the City of Opa Locka police department. 

The Random Pixels blog ("The second most popular daily blog in Miami") did a great job exposing the mess at the Opa Locka Police department.  And nothing illustrates the total breakdown of order at the Opa Locka police department then this vignette  from Random Pixels about Sergeant German Bosque:

German Bosque's personnel file looks more like a rap sheet than a résumé.

In two decades, the Opa-Locka Police Department opened 40 internal affairs cases on Bosque. Sixteen of them were for battery or excessive force.

Fired five times and arrested three, he was charged with stealing a car, trying to board an airplane with a loaded gun and driving with a suspended license.

Internal Affairs investigations found that Bosque split a man's lip with a head butt. He opened another man's head with a leg sweep and takedown. He spit in the face of a drunken, stumbling arrestee. One time, he smacked a juvenile so hard the boy's face was red and swollen the next day.

Bosque has been caught defying direct orders, lying to supervisors and falsifying police reports. Off duty, he was accused by women of domestic violence and stalking. During inspections, the agency found a counterfeit $20 bill, cocaine and crack pipes in his patrol car.

Still, Bosque has kept his badge. 

How did Sergeant Bosque even get a badge? Excellent question: 

He was kicked out of two police academies, the first for sleeping in class and the second after he was arrested on charges he stole a car, had a gun and impersonated an officer. He was later acquitted.

From the Dec. 2011 Herald-Tribune piece: 

To most Florida law enforcement agencies, Bosque would be toxic. In Opa-Locka, he has been promoted to sergeant. 

Do yourself a favour and click over to Random Pixels and read the whole sordid mess. And don't ever take a plea on case involving these thugs. As a last resort email us, we'll help you get ready for trial.  



THE WEST GROVE
And now a nice story about Miami:
Check out this great Herald Article from Sunday on the West Grove, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Miami, settled by black Bahamian natives in the 1880's. 

So there you have it: The historic West Grove, the corrupt City of Opa Locka, and the criminals who wear badges. Just another day in paradise folks. 

See you in court. 

MC-END

In the end, when they write the final analysis of why we failed, it will come down to McDonalds. 
McDonalds will have accomplished what the Nazis, Japanese, Russians and the Chinese couldn't. 
McDonalds did us in. 

For the first time in several years we had occasion to (reluctantly) accompany someone to a McDonalds for breakfast. 
We're doomed. 
The first thing we noticed was that the drive thru line Saturday morning was at least two dozen cars long. The parking lot was full- we got the last spot. The eating area was jammed and yet there were only two people in line. The efficiency of delivering the food which kills us  was breathtaking. 
We had trouble ordering for our friend (we asked for, and ate nothing). The menu was  confusing only because our companion didn't want one of the two dozen numbered specials. While individuality was accommodated, it was discouraged. 

The order was rung up and as the cashier delivered the change a counter person was handing us the bag. No time was lost. We were processed so efficiently, just like the grain and antibiotic fattened cows on the moving walkway that constituted the other side of this frightening transaction. 

In the film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock ate McDonalds food exclusively for a month. He gained 25 pounds, experienced heart palpitations, depression, sexual dysfunction, and his blood lipid profiles went to dangerous levels.  

Through the end of last year McDonalds, which sells hundreds of  millions of burgers a year, treated the "meat" for its products- which was really "pink slime" with ammonium hydroxide, a chemical otherwise used in household cleaners, fertilizers, and explosives. 

                   (McDonalds "meat" before it becomes a burger.)

The sodium content of meals at McDonalds range from 2150mg (Big Breakfast with hotcakes), 1700mg (Angus Deluxe burger)  1200 (Crispy chicken sandwich)1360 mg (double quarter pounder with cheese).  The recommended healthy intake of sodium for an adult (children levels are much lower) is 1500 for adults with hypertension and 2300 for everyone else. One meal at McDonalds gives all children and most adults almost all the sodium they should consume for one day. 

The large coke McDonalds sells contains over 20 teaspoons of granulated sugar. The list of health crimes goes on and on. Calories, saturated fat, chemicals, sugar, salt, there is almost nothing at McDonalds that is good for a heathy person to consume on a regular basis. 

US Health care spending was 17% of GDP, meaning 17 cents of every dollar spent was on health care. The Commonwealth Fund ranked the US last in quality of health care among developed nations.  In 2012 almost 50 million americans remained uninsured. 

Obesity rates in the US have doubled since 1970. Two thirds of US Adults are overweight or obese and 31% of low-income preschool children are obese. Source: Food Research and Action Center. 
The cost of obesity in the US is approaching 300 billion dollars a year. 


That McDonalds sells food that kills is nothing new.  The film Super Size me was released in 2004. 

And yet McDonalds has won. 


McDonalds sells 75 hamburgers a second. McDonalds is the worlds largest distributor of toys (how better to hook the next generation of Americans than to give toys to children?).  McDonalds serves meals to 30 million Americans everyday! McDonalds sells over 4.2 million hamburgers a day. McDonalds sells a billion pounds of beef a year and slaughters over 5 million cattle. It takes ten grams of grains to create one calorie of beef. 

The numbers are staggering. The disastrous ecological, economic, and health impact of McDonalds on the United States is inestimable, so interwoven is this insidious corporation into our daily lives. 

What the Germans, Japanese, Russians and Chinese couldn't do through war, nuclear missiles, or economic challenges, McDonalds is doing through the mega-efficient delivery of food that kills us, bankrupts our nation, and destroys the ecology. 

The Good news? 
McDonalds has plans to open one store a day in China for the next four years surpassing two thousand outlets by 2013. 

See You In Court and stay away from those Golden Arches. 

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE

Update: The Herald covers Judge Altfield's stage exploits here. 

All the world's a stage;

and all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts....

And then the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut

Full of wise saws and modern instances,

And so he plays his part. 

"William Shakespeare, As You Like It."

The Miami Acting Company, of which Judge Bill Altfield has something to do with, is staging Man of La Mancha this weekend, and we have heard that there are a few REGJB regulars sprinkled throughout the cast. 

It's either that or the Marlins, and this seems a better value. 

Dr. Samuel Mudd was the physician who treated actor and presidential assassin John W Booth for the leg he broke when he jumped on to the stage after shooting the president. Mudd had also met Booth prior to the assassination. Mudd was later convicted of conspiracy. Blog trivia: What local prison did Mudd serve his time at before President Andrew Johnson pardoned him? 

Will Rumpole be at the play? Well, you can always Dream the Impossible Dream. 

See You In Court, making the impossible possible. 

SCALIA CONFLICTS OFF GAY RIGHTS CASE; JOEL BROWN WANTS JOB BACK?

BREAKING: New Google Scent search. Now you can google unusual scents at Google Nose here and find out what they are. We've tried the app and it is scent-sational!




Two shocking headlines start our Monday April 1 off with a bang. 

First: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has announced that because of "private reasons long ago" he will not participate in the court's historic decision on the Defense of Marriage Act and gay marriage cases argued before the court last week. 

One can only wonder what a young Nino experimented with that is causing him to conflict off these two cases. 

Second: Blog tipsters report that former chief Judge Joel Brown has had a "change of heart" and wants to cancel his retirement and relinquishment of the post of Chief Judge for the state courts in Miami.  Brown wants to return to his former post but there is no word on whether current CJ Soto will oblige the former chief judge in his desire to put Humpty-dumpty back together again. 

If we didn't say it before, today is the first day of April. Three months down, nine to go. 

See you in court. 

PROJECT MERCY

Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York is a remarkable man as we and DOM have detailed on our blogs. At this point in his career he is helping institute such earthshaking changes from the federal bench that his role as the lead prosecutor that secured a conviction and lifetime prison sentence against John Gotti is rapidly becoming a footnote to his career. 

Enter Project Mercy. The NY Times reports here about Denise Dalliare, a woman sentenced to fifteen years for a small amount of cocaine. She was recently released after ten years when the sentencing judge, who could never forget the unfairness of her sentence, mitigated the sentence to time served. 

Judge Gleeson, who sits on the Federal District Court in Brooklyn and teaches a course in sentencing at New York University Law School, takes his students and clerks every year to the Danbury prison. He was inspired to do so by his mentor, the late Judge Eugene H. Nickerson, who urged him to spend time in a prison at least once a year to keep in mind where he was sending defendants.

As part of those visits, inmates tell the group about their cases and their lives behind bars. For the past several years, Ms. Dallaire has been one of those inmates...

After his most recent visit to Danbury, Judge Gleeson decided to see if he could get Ms. Dallaire’s sentence reduced. He thought the best way would be to seek a presidential pardon, and he called a friend, Jonathan D. Polkes, a partner in the major New York City firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges, and asked if he would be willing to take on the case pro bono.

The article goes on to state that Judge Gleeson wants to create Project Mercy. 

Modeled on the Innocence Project where lawyers would donate time to research and help inmates, Project Mercy would seek out cases of inmates who are not innocent but are caught in a prison system where their sentences were issued at a time when minimum mandatory sentences ruled the day. 

So we ask the Judiciary of South Florida to follow in Judge Gleeson's footsteps. How about taking day trips to some local state prisons? How about seeking out qualified lawyers to work on cases with sentences that in retrospect seem wholly unfair? 

Do we have any Judge Gleeson's in South Florida? 

JUDGE JASON DIMITRIS

Your new county court judge is Jason Dimitris!

Judge Dimitris was a former ASA and AUSA. 

Everyone's favourite "anti"-twitter tweeter- @btannebaum tweeted that Judge Dimitris is a former Stetson Law School Grad. 

We guess what happens at Stetson no longer stays at Stetson? 

Congratulations Judge Dimitris and welcome to the new and exciting world of those who wear black robes.  In order to get off to a running start here are some things you can practice:

"Is the state ready for trial?"
"The defense's motion for _______ is denied."
(You can insert any of the following: "continuance, bond, suppression, lunch, etc.")
"Thanks for buying lunch."

Anyway, good luck Judge Dimitris. 

See You In Court. 

SUPREME COURT VICTORY

Major blog congratulations go to Miami PD Howard Blumberg who notched a win in the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday with the decision in Florida v. Jardines. 

The decision, authored by Justice Scalia (Motto: "strict constructionist unless it upends my statist conservative ideals") upheld the Florida Supreme Court's decision holding that a dog sniff on private property implicates the fourth amendment. 

We'll post a link to the opinion as soon as we find a working one and then we'll follow that up with what you've come to expect: scintillating legal analysis of Scalia's opinion. 

Here is the opinion. Florida v. Jardines.  "That dog won't hunt." Or sniff either. 

Here's a bit of Jardines trivia: Judge Will Thomas suppressed the evidence at the trial court level before the 3rd DCA reversed his decision here (Wells-who wrote the ill fated opinion- joined by Cope and Salter getting the loss in Florida Supreme Court and US Supreme Court) 

Here's the Florida Supreme Court Opinion. 

"Franky" the nosey dog who started this mess is currently considering offers to appear on 20-20, Dateline and as a "bark-dog" for Pets R Us. 

Until then, see you in court. 

LOVE, MARRIAGE AND BONDS PART II

WSVN-TV -



There's something about Judge Rodriguez-Chomat and the elan he brings to bond hearings. Troubled defendants seem to find him like a down and out lawyer and a bondsman, or a Judge and a free lunch.

And we thought this was going to be a quiet week in court. But then "Roddy-Cho" drew bond hearings.

See You In Court. 

LOVE AND MARRIAGE AND BONDS

The Supreme Court takes up two separate "Gay Marriage" cases this week. On Tuesday  the court  hears argument in  Hollingsworth v. Perry, which examines whether the State of California violated the Due Process clause when voters enacted a law that prohibited Gay Marriage.  On Wednesday the court hears argument in US v. Windsor which examines the scintillating issue of whether section three of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the fifth amendment's equal protection of law guarantees. 

Here is our take: WHO CARES? How does it bother anyone if two people of the same sex get married? Who does it affect and how does it affect them? Even better,  lets say two people of the same sex do not get married but walk around and introduce themselves as a married couple. Should that be illegal? 

Passover this week, so it should be a light week in court. 

LET MY CLIENT GO
Judge Firtel caught some flack this weekend for granting a bond in a case in which the defendant failed to appear.  The Herald Hyperbole is here. 
Nothing good can come of this. 
Every time a judge gets negative publicity for granting a bond, it gets harder for the rest of us to get one for our clients. 

That's why we have two recommendations:  First:  from now on, every time your client gets a bond over the opposition of the prosecution and appears in court for a hearing, we recommend that you continually remind the judge of the prosecution's initial opposition. 
"My client is present your honor. If you recall, a year ago the prosecution vociferously argued against bond, and yet my client has made every court appearance and has not been re-arrested." 
Try it. It works. It's a way of reminding the judge that his/her decision has been validated. 

Second: email "you know who" at the Miami Herald and see if the Herald will publish an article: 
"MAN RELEASED ON LOWERED BOND RETURNS TO COURT!" 
By YKW
"John Smith, whose bond Judge Fairness lowered from $250,000.00 to $30,000.00 eleven months ago, returned to court today for trial, despite the prosecution throwing a fit during the bond hearing in which they whined that the defendant wouldn't return and would surely engage in a one man crime wave rivaling that of the fictitious Tony Montoya in Scarface."

 The second thing will never happen. The story doesn't sell newspapers. But our brethren criminal defense attorneys could and should continually remind judges that the prosecution opposed their client's release every time the case appears in court. 

Let my clients go. 
See You In Court. 

CHIEF JUDGE SOTO

The gavel was passed today from Joel Brown to Bertie Soto, who became the chief judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade County, Florida. 

There was an overflow audience in attendance today  in the ceremonial courtroom in 6-1 at the civil courthouse on Flagler Street in downtown Miami. After getting directions and arriving late and squeezing into a disappointing vantage point to watch the ceremonies,  we saw a beaming Judge Soto  sworn in as Miami's next Chief Judge. 

Our reflection on the speeches, proclamations and pronouncements leads us to say this: it does Judge Soto a disservice to continually reflect on the fact that she is both the first Hispanic and first woman to be Chief Judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit. Not that those accomplishments aren't something to be proud of. They are.  

But Judge Soto was elected Chief Judge by her colleagues not because she is a woman, or because she is Hispanic, but because she is a hell-of-a judge. She earned this election and appointment by her colleagues  not because of what she is, but because of who she is, and in the end, doesn't that mean so much more? 

Au Revoir Judge Brown and Congratulations Judge Soto. 

And when you have a moment can we chat on the portion of the parking lot those people from the department of health stole from us? 

A beautiful spring weekend leads us into the Jewish holiday of Passover next week, so there won't be a lot going on.  As we were saying while waiting for an aging elevator in the civil courthouse to flee from the premises while surrounded by an uncomfortable number of civil lawyers: "Let my people go." 

See You In Court. 

A WARNING TO A PROSECUTOR

A LAWYER SHALL NOT.....

(d) engage in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly, or through callous indifference, disparage, humiliate, or discriminate against litigants, jurors, witnesses, court personnel, or other lawyers on any basis, including, but not limited to, on account of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, employment, or physical characteristic;
FL ST BAR Rule 4-8.4

This is a warning. It probably doesn't apply to you, so you can click on over to  Amazon or DOM, or  "court reporters gone wild" or whatever. 

About two weeks ago a jury returned a not guilty verdict in a murder trial before Judge Rodriguez-Chomat, The trial was hard fought and lasted two weeks. 

As the jurors were being discharged by the judge and filing out, the prosecutor loudly stated his intention to try the defendant on a separate, pending felony charge, the existence of which the jury was unaware. The prosecutor said this as a way of expressing his anger with the jurors and to try and let them know they had made a bad decision. 

The prosecutor's conduct was beyond outrageous. It affects the administration of justice. Those jurors are tainted from ever serving again.  

A state attorney's office supervisor needs to speak to this prosecutor. If this is how he handles a loss, one can only wonder what he would do when confronted- as another prosecutor was recently- with turning over exculpatory evidence during a high profile murder trial. That prosecutor acted in the finest traditions and obligations of a prosecutor. 

This prosecutor- sniveling about his loss, decided to try and publicly humiliate and blame jurors who were just making a decision based on the evidence he provided, or failed to provide. 

This prosecutor should take a lesson from  the responsible prosecutor who told the jury this during his closing in the penalty phase of the recently concluded Lebron trial:

"The fault dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves."

 Mindful of our obligations as a blogger, we have not published this prosecutor's name. But it doesn't mean we won't if this matter is not addressed. So for the moment, don't try and post his name in the comments section.  But we warn him and his office, because other rules are at play here and the judge and the defense attorneys might not be as patient as we are:

(a) Reporting Misconduct of Other Lawyers. A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

FL ST BAR Rule 4-8.3

DR JOE DAVIS HAS PASSED AWAY

UPDATE: ECOBAR JURY HUNG. A mistrial was declared today in the case involving the murder of City of Miami Police Officer Victor Estefan. The Herald article is here, with quotes from the jury foreman. At about 3:30 today Judge Firtel declared a mistrial after the jury, having been out for five days, declared that they could not reach a verdict. The jury deliberated almost one full day after being read an "Allen Charge" yesterday after they first notified the court they could not reach a verdict. Rumor- yet to be confirmed- is that the split was in favor of acquittal.  
David Ovalle  @davidovalle305 tweeted that foreman stated split was 8-4 for acquittal. 
Reid Ruben, Kat Cortez and Penny Brill for the prosecution. 
Phil Reizenstein and Kellie Peterson for the defense. 
No word on what happens next. 

Dade's famous and  long time Medical Examiner, Dr. Joe Davis has passed away. He was 89 

Here is the updated and wonderfully written Herald obit  on Dr. Davis. 

Dr. Davis was the medical examiner for Dade County from 1957-1996.  He trained generations of medical examiners, not to mention prosecutors, and probably more than a few defense attorneys. He was a doctor who made a great difference in this community and it is fitting that the ME's office is named after him. 

MONDAY'S TWEETS

UPDATE: Escobar jury on case involving murder of City of Miami Police Officer Victor Estefan asked to come back Tuesday after receiving an Allen charge Monday afternoon. 
David Ovalle tweeted this:

David Ovalle ‏@DavidOvalle305

BREAKING: Deadlocked Escobar jury, citing progress in deliberations, wants a "good night's sleep," to return tomorrow

Query: We think this is day five of deliberations. What's your personal record and what's the REGJB record? This case has to be close. 



Monday started off with a bang on Mr. Markus's blog with two posts: one dealing with the 9th circuit's reversal of a a death penalty conviction of a woman based solely on the word of a discredited detective that she confessed to him, and the second on the US Supreme Court's grant of cert (latin for "sure, why not, we'll consider your case")  in a South Florida case involving the federal forfeiture statute. 
You can peruse all the action here. 

We saw some news report over the weekend (probably on MSNBC) about the trend in states to outlaw the death penalty. At some point it will just be Florida and Texas and Alabama and Mississippi. Mitigation y'all? 

@Davidovalle305 tweeting all the latest in Escobar/Estefan jury. We'll be the second to let you know if and when there is a verdict. 

See You In Court. 

THE IDES OF MARCH

The jury in the re-trial of Dennis Escobar, accused of killing City of Miami Police Officer Victor Estefan in 1989 resumes a fourth day of deliberations Monday. 

What a lawyer says: THE RACE CARD?

To recap the controversy in yesterday's blog post and comments, readers are on both sides of the Assistant Public Defender's opening statement, and description of two men who shot the defendant after he tried to run them over with his pick-up truck:

“two young hip hop punks.”

The race card? We think not. To us, that describes, as a good trial strives to do,  an attitude, perhaps a sense of lawlessness or dangerous associated with unruly teenagers or young men. To us, race has little to do with that.  Is it a stereotype? Sure. Just like in the 1960's or 1970's one could have described someone as a "drugged out, long haired hippy" (notwithstanding the fact that many of those hippies are now hedge fund managers with mansions in Connecticut).  In the 1950's one could have used the description  "leather jacketed greaser". 

The point is that the PD was trying to convey to the jury that his client had a sense of fear based on what he was seeing and the attitude the complaining witnesses were conveying. 

Should people act on how others look? Of course not. The essence of any "ism" (sexism, racism, etc) is making judgments on appearances.  But the fact is that not only are we humans with eyes, but the self defense jury instruction ALLOWS for the lawful  decisions to use force based on appearances (and not actual danger).  Florida criminal trial lawyers know that in Florida, the danger must not have been real, but must only have appeared to have been real to the individual who claims to have acted in self defense. 

Thus, Florida law allows for a defense based on evidence of how someone felt about another based on how they looked and acted. And in that regard the phrase "young hip hop punks" is lawful and proper in an opening statement.  Race inevitably rears its head when the witnesses and defendant are of different races. But that doesn't mean the lawyer "played the race card". 

Enjoy a beautiful South Florida spring weekend. 

POPE DAY ONE-DELIBERATIONS DAY TWO

Thursday saw the first full day of the Papacy of Francis I and the second day of deliberations of Judge Firtel's jury in the case involving the re-trial of the homicide of City of Miami Police Officer Victor Estefan.

The Pope started his day by celebrating a Mass at 8am and then foregoing his limousine and security detail and taking the bus first to his hotel where he stayed before the Conclave and checking out after settling his bill (no video on demand charges we assume) and then walking across the street to meet school children and tourists. 

Judge Firtel started his day with the read back of hours and hours of testimony from the trial. According to David Ovalle on his twitter feed (@davidovalle305) the day ended with the read back of testimony not complete. 

So who had a better day?

Certainly not defendant Luis  Gonzalez who was convicted of aggravated assault with prejudice (the hate crime enhancement) as a lesser of the charge of attempted second degree murder with prejudice. Ovalle's article in the Herald is here.  ASAs Breezye Telfair and Manolo Reboso notch the win while veteran Assistant Public Defender David Sisselman and APD Maria Della Guardia get the lesser.  Judge Rodriguez-Chomat gets to sentence the defendant after the PSI is completed. UPDATE: Several alert readers pointed out to us the difference the lesser included makes: the defendant's potential sentence drops from life with a 30 year minimum mandatory to 30 with a 10 year mm. A big difference. The PDs saved this man from life in prison. On a different but related note: is there any charge more over used (and over charged) then attempted murder? 

So goes another day and week in our REGJB. 

See you in court. 

HABEMUS PAPAM

We have a Pope!

He is Pope Francis I, formerly the archbishop of Argentina- Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Pope Francis is the first Pope from the western hemisphere, the first Pope from Latin America, the first Jesuit Pope,  and he seems to have been the  consensus alternate choice  after Cardinal Scola of Milan- the first choice of Cardinals looking for a radical outsider to shake things up and Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Brazil - the archetypical Vatican insider who is a part of the Curia and would have represented a status quo pick.

With both the ultimate insider and ultimate outsider not acceptable to a majority of the Cardinals at the Conclave, Cardinal Bergoglio, who was rumored to have been runner up to Pope Benedict in the last conclave,  quickly became consensus alternate choice. 

Meanwhile as the Cardinals were arriving at their choice for a Pope,  ace Herald reporter @Davidovalle305 was live tweeting the closing arguments of both sides in the re-trial of the case involving the murder of City Of Miami Police Officer Victor Estefan. The jury has been sent home for the day and deliberations resume tomorrow.  All in all it was a busy and fun day if you were monitoring twitter. 

See You In Court. 

GIDEON DEAD AT 50: AN OBITUARY

For those of you who are casual or non-esq readers of the blog, or for those of you who wear a black robe to work, the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright established the foundation for ensuring that every criminal defendant facing incarceration is provided competent counsel for his or her defense. In other words, Gideon breathed life into the 6th Amendment. 

Justice Hugo L. Black, wrote the opinion for the Court in Gideon. Black wrote  in another case that ''there can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has.''

The petitioner in Gideon-Clarence Earl Gideon- was prosecuted in Florida. A Florida prosecution was the genesis for the case that set the standard for representation of the indigent. Which makes the situation in Florida all the more ironic and troubling. 

In 2003 the NY Times interviewed Bruce Jacob, the lawyer who represented Florida against Gideon and his right to counsel:

''I hoped that legislatures would meet the challenge,'' Jacob wrote. ''That was at a time in my life when I still believed that legislators want to do the right thing. . . . The record of the courts in fulfilling the hopes represented by Gideon is a dismal one.''

Little did Mr. Jacob know what the Florida Legislature had in store for indigent defendants. 

Last year Florida enacted, and Dade County implemented, the "Limited Registry" which represented the final death blow against the decision in Gideon and the 6th amendment right to counsel for indigent defendants. 

The Limited Registry capitalized on tough economic times for lawyers. Lawyers who signed up  had to sign a contract signing away their rights to ever ask for more money on a case. Once they accepted appointment, based on the level of the felony- no matter how complicated the facts of the individual case was- they agreed to a flat fee- NO MATTER WHAT. 

And just to give you an idea of the level of that flat fee- the fee for handling murder cases, which are usually the largest and most complicated cases in our criminal state court system, where the penalty upon conviction is  life without parole, is ....steady yourself......$2,000.00!

So pick a basic inner city/gun violence murder.  Generally you might have a prosecution witness list of two dozen officers, crime scene technicians, a medical examiner, a firearms/ballistics/gunshot residue expert,  and perhaps a few civilian eyewitnesses. Twenty five witnesses, assume the attorney deposes half for an hour each and spends another hour reading and notating each of the depos once they are transcribed. 

Figure  few hundred pages of police reports that will require another five to ten hours to read and notate, five hours of case law research and a minimum of twenty- one hour visits with the client. So far without stepping into court the attorney has spent 60 hours: 2000/60= $33.33 per hour. 

Court appearance, preparation for motions, and discussions with the prosecution would be a minimum of another 20 hours (more likely 40, but lets assume 20.) Now if the attorney is diligent and gets a witness list from his client and investigates it- or investigates an alternate theory of defense- diminished capacity, self defense, etc.,  the figure quickly reaches 100 hours or $20/hour- or less than a well qualified legal assistant the attorney might employ- and certainly less than the attorney pays his/her  plumber or car mechanic. 

Very successful attorneys who want to handle a murder case every few years as a semi-pro bono endeavor could afford such rates. But that is not the makeup of the Limited Registry. The Limited Registry is comprised of attorneys who have made an economic calculation that by quickly settling most of their cases before they do a lot of legal work, they can squeak out a profit. 

Let's say that again slowly: the Limited Registry provides an economic incentive for attorneys to 1) not fully investigate cases; 2) quickly settle those cases. 

Put aside a murder case and focus on an armed robbery case or an armed burglary or a sexual battery case (where the flat fee is less and $2,000.00)  where the plea offers can often start at 50 years. The attorney spends a few hours, takes one or two depos, the prosecution witnesses get a little edgy and the plea offer is reduced to 20 or even 15 years  and the defendant takes it. Except s/he is innocent, but so poor and perhaps of such limited intelligence that they cannot refute the logic that 15 is better than 50. 

Let the Florida legislators  waste 15 years of their life in prison for a crime they didn't commit. Let some Florida legislator try and deal with a Limited Registry attorney representing their mildly mentally impaired 19 year old son on a sexual battery charge he didn't commit- where all the attorney wants to do is close the case quickly. Then lets see how they feel about the Limited Registry. 

But since that won't happen, we are stuck with watching the corpse of Gideon rot in a stinking mess in our courtrooms every day. 

We are forced as Judges and Lawyers to turn away from the spectacle of the Sixth Amendment writhing on our dirty courtroom floors as it gasps for air. It's as if we are a pedestrian who sees someone hit by a car and rather than rendering aid we quickly duck into a Starbucks and pretend we didn't witness an accident.  

The Limited Registry turns what should be a great justice system into a Henry Ford assembly line, where the Limited Registry attorneys are semi-skilled line workers feeding their clients into the maw of assembly line "justice" (read: prison). 

Gideon is dead. And we helped killed it by our silence=complicity. 

RIP. 

Post Script:
The situation in Florida's misdemeanor courts are even worse. According to the recent  NY Times article on Gideon last week:
In 21 counties in Florida in 2010, 70 percent of misdemeanor defendants pleaded guilty or no contest — at arraignments that averaged less than three minutes.

Try getting a job these days with even a misdemeanor record, not to mention qualifying for a mortgage or a credit card. The American dream is being lost to an assembly line criminal justice system meting out fines, court costs, and criminal records to unrepresented defendants at a record pace. 

CONCLAVE SET

SUNDAY UPDATE: Don't forget to "spring ahead" or you will show up in court tomorrow an hour late (or just when your favourite robed reader ambles on the bench). 

The College of Cardinals in the Vatican have set next Tuesday to begin their conclave to select the new Pope. "Conclave" means "with key" and the Cardinals will be locked in the Sistine Chapel to begin deliberations for the new Pope. The Conclave will begin with the traditional words "Extra Omnes" ("everybody out!"). Prior to the Conclave the Cardinals will hear two sermons that are supposed to deal with the state of the Church.   On Tuesday morning the Cardinals will first gather in Saint Peter's Basilica to celebrate the Eucharist. In the afternoon the Cardinals will then gather in the Pauline Chapel in the Palace of the Vatican before  they move in procession to the Sistine Chapel while singing "Veni Creator Spiritus" ("Miami has the Dolphins, the greatest football team....") 

The Cardinal Camerlengo (the Chamberlin) takes possession of the Pope's Ring of the Fisherman and the Papal seal and destroys both before the College Of Cardinals. In earlier times the Cardinal Camerlengo would gently strike the head of the dead pope three times with a silver hammer to prove to the College that the Pope was dead. 

More on procedure next Tuesday. 

Our predictions: If the next Pope is Italian, Angelo Scola (no relation to our federal judge Bob as far as we know) who is the Archibishop of Milan is a dynamic choice. Eight years ago he was one of the principal contenders. Con: he is 71 and the Cardinals are looking for a Pope in his early 60's. His time may have passed. 

The first black Pope could well be Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana. He is the perfect age at 63. He is considered a leader among the College of Cardinals and is an excellent communicator. Africa (along with South America) is quickly overtaking the Euro-Centric Catholic Church. Con: Africa is seen as more disconnected from the Church then South America. But Cardinal Turkson is a legitimate superstar among the Cardinals and is well liked and greatly admired. 

The first Pope from Latin America was almost Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio,  who was probably the runner up in 2005. But at age 75 he might well be viewed as having missed his chance. 

Cardinal Marc Ouellet from Canada is a strong choice. He is a humble man who speaks English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. Ouellet is the obvious choice of the new "Global" church. Con: There is no "hockey night" in the Vatican. 

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines would be the first Asian Pope.  He is 55 years old and has over 123,000 "likes" on Facebook, making him the most active Papal Candidate on social media. Con: 55 is seen as a bit too young. 

Long shot: New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who has a radio show on the Sirius satellite network could be the first American Pope.  Pros: Dolan is a dyed in the wool conservative Catholic Cardinal cut from the same philosophical cloth as the former and now retired Pope. Cons: If the College is going to pick a Pope from North America, Dolan loses out to Canadian Ouellet every time. 

Beautiful weather "forced" us to take the day off Friday. Enjoy your spring weekend and don't forget to "spring ahead" your clocks on Sunday. Yup folks, we lose an hour of sleep this weekend.