MORE SAO SHAME

 What the below email shows is that the culture at the SAO is broken. Witnesses and cooperating witnesses are saying things different than the prosecutors' view of the case and two things are happening. 

1. The prosecutor threatens the witness if they don't change their story. 

2. The prosecutor does not turn over the Brady material about the first version and the change in the story. 

The Miami Dade State attorneys office cannot be trusted. There is a culture of win at all costs and obstruction of justice. It is as simple as that. If they say the sky is blue, go out and check. Because they do not tell the truth. It is a broken office with a broken culture that has zero ethics. 

To be clear- we did not write the following. An FACDL person did. Unlike Miami Prosecutors we have a penchant for not misleading people and telling the truth. The more we re-read what happened, the more shocked we are. This office has fallen from the top to the bottom of the barrel. No judge should trust the word of any prosecutor who operates in this culture of shady deceitfulness. Shame on you Ms. Fernandez-Rundle. Shame, Shame, Shame. This happened on YOUR watch. You are wholly responsible for this and you have DONE NOTHING to fix it. Resign. Now. Resign for the good of the community. 

The lawyers for your office who did what is listed below need to be disbarred. And maybe prosecuted for obstruction of justice. Shame Shame Shame on you. 

I hope Nadia Bayatzadeh doesn't mind me shouting her out publicly because she deserves a huge congratulations! Sometimes the biggest wins occur quietly during morning calendar...

 

As the next saga to the below story from last month, Nadia was able to get the third co-defendant's second degree murder conviction VACATED and DISMISSED today! Everyone who knew the facts of this case knew he was merely present in the car but he was taken advantage of by the State of Florida and became a cooperating witness and a convicted murderer. He would have remained a convicted murderer for the rest of his life... But after the events of last month, Nadia picked up the baton and got HUGE relief for her client! 

...

Congratulations to Michele Borchew, Adam Goodman, Khurrum Wahid, and Alyssa Espinosa.

 

Their clients sat in custody for six years waiting for their day in court, insisting on their innocence. On Tuesday night, after picking the jury in this homicide case, the lawyers received a response to an outstanding Chapter 119 request for communications between the SAO and the lawyer for a cooperating witness. The response included an email between the previous prosecutor and the lawyer for the cooperating witness that was obviously exculpatory and Brady material. In the email, the previous prosecutor explained that she had “met with Michael Von Zamft” and the cooperating witness’s story did not line up with their theory of the case. The previous prosecutor (who is no longer at the SAO) said that if the cooperating witness wanted to provide a second statement, the state would listen – but otherwise the plea would be a long prison sentence. This email was not disclosed to the defense until the Chapter 119 request (and even then, it was disclosed by accident, as it wasn’t directly responsive to the request because it was from a prosecutor who’d left the office).

 

The defense sent the Brady email to the current prosecutor on the case, who did the right thing and dismissed the case yesterday morning.

 

FACDL-Miami has previously expressed to the State Attorney our belief that an independent prosecutor’s office should be conducting the investigation into Michael Von Zamft and we will reiterate that position again. The email discovered in this case continues to show a need for change at the State Attorney’s Office – and we will continue to push for that change.

 

The email that was discovered through a Chapter 119 request is also a great reminder that Chapter 119 can be a great tool for the defense bar. Much of the misconduct uncovered in the last year has been through Chapter 119 requests – so if you’re not already using this tool, I’d encourage you to do so.

 

Congratulations again to Michele, Adam, Khurrum, and Alyssa. Their clients saw justice thanks to their incredible work. I’m so proud to be a part of this defense bar.

FIRST SUNDAY

Warning: there are parts of this post that will make you very uncomfortable, especially if you have a fondness for donkeys. 

 It arrives every year, unpleasant as can be, like a colonoscopy, tax day, or an arraignment before a DeSantis Drone Judge: the first Sunday without football. 

But fear not. Baseball players have reported for spring training, and our annual summer European sabbatical is close enough for us to start making reservations at hotels and AirB&Bs

Let us address a few thoughts. 

There is chatter and a Miami Herald article about an experienced (and non-DeSantis Drone Judge) who rejected a 20-year prison plea offer in a Domestic Violence Attempted Murder case only to have the jury acquit the defendant who had confessed to shooting at the other party. Lesson? One we preach often: be careful what you ask for in life; you may get it.  

Here's a fun immigration fact. What did the new administration do in support of their increased attempts to deport people? Why the obvious of course- fire a bunch of immigration judges. Duh,   The report is here: Judges Fired. 

Several CLI/Law school interns at the SAO and PDs office are mulling offers for top positions at the Department of Justice, as there are almost no supervisors left to do the bidding of the Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

And finally, this nearly unspeakable act of cruelty. Do fake goods from China worry you? They should. And whatever you do, do not, repeat, DO NOT buy a Zebra from China. Most likely you will get a donkey with black and white stripes painted on. 

All the tragic details are here. 

And the MAGA crowd spends their days fretting about RHINOS. Sheesh. 

Don't be fooled. It's a donkey. 

 

THE DIFFERENCE

 We weren't going to post today. But then we came across a quote and we realized we would never have a better opportunity to show the difference between an ignorant moron and an intellectual. 

The ignorant moron, we call him Moe, you know him as the current secretary of defense Pete Hegseth. 

Moe

Sec Def

Hegseth said this in a speech to Nato at Brussels this past Thursday: 

"We can talk all we want about values. Values are important. But you can't shoot values. You can't shoot flags. And you can't shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for power." 

Maybe long time and careful readers of the blog will know where we are going next. 

It's a good thing Hegseth was not prime minister of England in 1940. Because before they had enough bullets and tanks and aeroplanes to fight Germany, they had Churchill. And Churchill had the English language. 

In what is our opinion the greatest peroration in the history of the English speaking peoples (Lincoln's Gettysburg address is the greatest speech)  Churchill "mobilized the English Language and sent it into battle." He rallied a nation who had just barely saved its army from capture at Dunkirk. He told a worried island nation that if invasion came they would never surrender. And he saved humanity from Nazism. 

If you want to hear the quote, scroll ahead to 5 minutes. But spend the seven minutes and watch the speech. It changed history.  It did what Hegseth's view of "power" could never do. Because it set the vision for using power in defense of "values" and ideals. 

There is no effective use of power without values and ideal. Ask the Chinese tank commanders at Tiananmen Square. 

This, dear readers, is the difference between an ignorant moron, and a genius leader. 

WILL THE LAST PROSECUTOR OUT THE DOOR AT THE SDNY PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS

 We do not often say nice things about prosecutors. But these ones at the SDNY quitting before following the orders of the Evil Sith Lord Emil Bove III to drop the charges against Adams The Hutt are heroes and this guy Scotten? He is great. Best letter we have read in a long time. And that last line in the penultimate paragraph? "But it never was going to be me." 

F'ing perfect. Heroic.  Hagan Scotten is THE MAN! 

 Love it. 

Letter Resignation by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

CHAPTER 23 THE EVIL SITH BOVE III

 A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

Chapter 23. The Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

The Emperor found a weak point over Adams The Hutt who rules the province of New York. 

"Dismiss the charges against him" the Emperor said. "But not permanently. Hold them over Adams the Hutt's head so he has to do our bidding on immigration." 

"Yes" said the Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

The Evil Sith Lord Bove III

The Evil Sith Lord Bove III directed Princess Sassoon who was heading the Southern District of New York's prosecution of Adam The Hutt to drop the charges.

Adams The Hutt

 "No" responded Princess Sassoon. Her letter is here. Such an action "is inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts."  

The Evil Sith Lord Bove III was brought to anger. His letter is here. "In no valid sense do you uphold the Constitution by disobeying direct orders implementing the policy of the Emperor. ..and anyone romanticizing that behavior does a disservice to the nature of this work and the public's perception of our efforts." 

Princess Sassoon's resignation was followed by another resignation in her office, and then two more resignation's by two prosecutors who led the Public Integrity Section in the DOJ. Kevin Driscoll, who headed the Public Integrity Section resigned, as did his deputy John Keller. Both are distinguished, career prosecutors.  

For more on what this represents, see our post on the Saturday Night Massacre. 

In response to the pressures placed on Adams The Hutt, Adams issued an executive order allowing, for the first time, the Emperor's Immigration Officials into the Rikers Island Club to search for aliens from other galaxies to deport. Prior to the order New York City had been a sanctuary city and had not allowed agents of the Emperor into the Rikers Island Club. Not that there is any quip pro Bove III between the dropping of the case and the change in policies. 

The story did not end for Princess Sassoon and her ragged band of prosecutors who defied the Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

The Sith Lord, with the approval of the Wicked Witch of the South Pam Bondi (sorry to be mixing metaphors and Star Wars and The Wizzard Of Oz but it had to be done), set forth the agents of the DOJ after Princess Sessons and her band of prosecutors. The Evil Sith Lord Bove III opened and investigation into the actions of Princess Sessons and the others who resigned from her. 

The Wicked Witch Of The South

"I am not done with them yet" The Evil Sith Lord Bove III said, rubbing his small hands together in evil delight. 

The Emperor and The Evil Sith Lord Bove III

NO JUDGE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO....

 Before we begin, do you understand just how remarkable our Super Bowl predictions and picks were? From telling you that the game would not be close and the Eagles would win going away, to giving you the bet that the Eagles would win by more than 7 and less than 19 points, to the successful two point conversion, and of course by giving you the can't miss coin flip bet (tails) we had an amazing day yesterday. We took our mid five -figure bankroll that we built over the season and literally doubled it! 

You're welcome. 

The current president was quoted as saying that "No judge should be allowed to rule against" the changes his administration has been making. Outlawing the possession and use of reason for example. Jailing anyone with a science degree who uses the phrase "climate change". Etc. 

While we find little we can agree with the president on, we did think that there is some use to the phrase "No judge should be allowed to..." 

We will start the conversation and you can add to it in the comments. 

No judge should be allowed to: 

Deny a motion without reading it;

Talk about how to try a case when they never did so in private practice;

Correspond privately about cases with the prosecutor. Call it the "3rd DCA Rule"; 

Set cases for trial the week a lawyer returns from vacation; 

Deny a motion for continuance because the lawyer did not follow the obscure rules of judicial administration; 

Keep jurors after 5 pm even if they ask for it; 

Sentence a defendant more harshly for exercising her right to a trial by jury. We know every single judge from here to Los Angeles and back denies that they do this. But the president denies that he is persecuting his enemies, so most of these denials are not worth the paper they are written on. 

This is a good start. We are sure you can add to it. 

What should we buy with the more than 16k in cash we suddenly find ourselves owners of? 

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY 2025

 Here we are. Super Bowl Sunday. The day promised to all Americans in the Bible as a reward for American exceptionalism.  A day when everyone has to sing the national anthem a dozen times and wear the American flag on their person. 

Can we please stop mixing nationalistic jingoism with sport? Sing the national anthem once on opening day and be done with it. And there is no reason that the military has to be mixed in with sport. Jets that are designed to bomb and kill people have nothing to do with a football game. 

Anway we have three words for Super Bowl Sunday. 

Are you ready? 

Fly Eagles Fly! 🦅

We are all in on Philly. We sold a few Eth coins and a couple of shares of Nvidia and called 8th Street Ernie and told him we are putting it all on Philly money line. No points. We got +120 but most online sites will only give you +100 or even money. 

Here are a few prop bets we like. 

We LOVE the bet that there will be a two-point conversion attempt. We got +320 for their being two -two-point conversion attempts and we also put some money on a successful 2 pointer. 

Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurst - Philly QB- going over 1.5 passing TDs?  +150.  Over 218 yards?  -105. And the parlay over 1.5 TDs and over 218 yards> +260 on Hardrock. 

The Over/Under? We aren't sure. Probably going to pass. 

Here is a fun one. +6000 for any member of the Philly D line getting an INT. It would be on a tipped ball and we think the Eagle D Line will be in Mahomes face all day. He will be seeing them in his dreams tonight. 

Eagles winning by between 1-6 points? +325. This is a great bet. Eagles winning by 13-18 points? +900. $50 bucks for fun on that one. 

And finally, the bet you are all waiting for. After 0ver 100K simulations, taking into account the latitude and longitude of New Orleans and the Coriolis effect on that area, we are very certain that the coin flip will be.......

TAILS!

It's gonna be a Green Super Bowl. It won't be close. We will be enjoying the game with a few cold ones and a Pats Cheese-Steak we had flown in last night for the game. 
"Wit" of course. (If you don't know what "Wit" is in a cheese steak order, go on to Mr. Markus's blog We are sure you can find a lively discussion on pending changes to the federal rules of evidence that may be more your style).