Monday, March 20, 2006

A BROWARD BLOG?? NEW DADE ELECTION UPDATE

Anonymous writes in:

a war has started north of the border; Sun-Sentinel Buddy Nevins reports that Judge Robert Diaz has a challenger, anyone know Brian P. Wolk who is running against Judge Diaz in Broward?

Rumpole Responds: Article II section 4 of the Broward Judicial Code of Conduct mandates all sitting judges treat attorneys who challenge a sitting Judge in the following manner: “The challenger shall have his/her case always called last; the challenger shall have any motion filed, denied. If the challenger wants a continuance, it shall be denied, if the challenger is ready for trial, the case shall be continued.”
Say what you want about North of The Border, but they look after their own.

The Captain, not content with being our Dade Political reporter, expands his horizons North Of The Boarder, where Judges leave messages on their answering machines that they are busy “so many bad guys….so little time.”

BROWARD COUNTYFor those who have any interest in those judicial elections "north of our border", the Circuit Court shapes up like this:

11 races with one contested race:
Group 6(an open seat)
Charles Kaplanvs V Kenneth Padowitz

In the County Court:Again, 11 races and only one contested race:
Group 10
Robert Diaz - who has raised $28,025 from 125 contributors; and also put in an additional $25K of his own money.vs.Brian Peter Wolk
Mr. Wolk, Esq., was admitted to practice law in Florida on December 19, 2001 meaning he would be eligible to take office on January 1, 2007; (the rule requires one to be an attorney for 5 years before becoming a judge). He squeaks in by 12 days!

The Sun Sentinel wrote about the contested race this week and said:"Broward County judges rarely are challenged for re-election, but County Court Judge Robert Diaz picked up an opponent this week -- Brian Peter Wolk of Weston.
Wolk said he decided to run against Diaz because "I looked at a place where the county would be better served having me as a judge." That's as close as he got to mentioning Diaz's problem with the Florida Bar last year. Diaz served a two-week unpaid suspension and paid a $15,000 fine for sending vaguely threatening anonymous e-mails that implied a fellow County Court judge was reporting illegal immigrants to federal authorities.
Wary that the suspension and fine might leave him vulnerable in a campaign, Diaz said, he has raised more than $65,000 to fight back.
Wolk is a former vice president in the family business, the defunct Peaches music store chain. Now a lawyer, Wolk said that since anybody could appear before him in county court, he won't take any campaign contributions. County court judges hear disputes under $15,000 and criminal misdemeanor cases."

By the way, in Dade County we have 2 contested Circuit Court elections out of a possible 22; and 6 contested County Court elections out of a possible 25.


Captain has two updates today

IT'S OFFICIAL:

We have yet another contested County Court race, as an incumbent judge (who first ran and beat a sitting incumbent County Court Judge Kevin Emas) now has opposition. Now he will get to taste what it is like on the flip side of the burger!

GROUP 14 Michael Samuels - $60,000 (all of which he has loaned to his campaign; he has raised no money from any contributors)
vs.
Gloria Gonzalez-Meyer, or should I call her Gloria Gonzalez, as she is registered to practice with "The Florida Bar".

She has been an attorney since 1994. She put her name in for an open Circuit Court seat in 2005.
She works with attorney Michael Kirby and they exclusively handle Progressive Insurance company, insurance defense cases.I can't wait for the political pundits, who will surely have a field day with this female, hispanic\hyphenated jewish attorney who has her name one way with the Florida Bar and another way with the voters of Miami-Dade County.
By my count, that now makes eight County Court contests, with no less than six sitting County Court Judges who could be looking for work next January:
McWhorter vs. Marino
del Pino vs. Jacobi
Leifman vs. Gonzalez
Samuels v. Gonzalez-Meyer
S. Schwartz vs. Sanchez-Llorens
Millan vs. Twombley
B. Miller vs. Alvarez
Rippingille vs. Cohn

I WONDER WHO WILL BE NEXT......


Captain’s question is answered?

DA-VID MIL-LER DA-VID MIL-LER


See you in court, where things are getting very interesting.

52 comments:

  1. Miller is a duck pin. His last election he went against David Peckins who of course would have made an exellent judge. If a well financed latin stepped in on him the kig is up. But with the exception of Ms. Miranda, it seems thatnone of these people are raising any money and none have any to post.

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  2. Gonzolowitz is a perfect county court candidate - typical former mediocor government lawyer languishing in insurance defense irrelevancy, looking for a pay increase. Nice girl - she beats Samuels.

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  3. Whats the bet Marino uses dolphins colors.

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  4. If you put Don Cohn and Rippingale together, they kinda look like Fred and Wilma, no?

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  5. this blog is bullshit - go do the dade county elections site -

    samuels has no opposition
    glazer has no opposition
    mcwhorter has no opposition

    and Rumpole is worried about a rumor that a judge is having an affair, BECAUSE IT MAY NOT BE TRUE (YEAH, RIGHT!)

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  6. Speaking of Broward, one has to wonder if Brett and Jennifer Schwartz really get it.

    They are clinging to this illusion that there kid was abused by that nanny. How sad that they cannot acknowledge that they rushed to judgment and basically ruined this ladies life.

    As those of us who practice in Broward know, the evidence of innocence must have been pretty damn convincing for that prosecutor
    to drop the charges all together.
    Normally (north of the border), the state's attitude is let's just try the damn thing (even in the face of quite convincing exculpatory evidence).

    I understand the Schwartz's concern
    for the safety of the child, but it
    now seems pretty clear that the nanny was taking care of the child
    and meant no harm. Moreover, the kid wasn't even hurt at all.

    I'm glad the guy is not a prosecutor anymore, but imagine being defended by him now.

    Next time Brett get a camera that
    actually records in real time and
    you won't make an ass out of yourself. It really is an embarrassment.

    On another note, how stupid must the nanny agency feel now for settling the civil suit against the Schwartz's.

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  7. leave Brett alone, after the elections, his Dad and Larry are going to join up as Schwartz, Schwartz & Schwartz and take over the defense bar.

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  8. the crazy part about it is that they settled a civil law suit. they should fork the $ they won over to the nanny and call it even.
    we all saw the video. if it were my kid i would have gone after that nanny also. it's just a fucked up situation all around.

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  9. The Blog and the Captain are not bullshit (in response to anonymous, who feels otherwise):

    The CAPTAIN stands by his earlier reporting and has confirmed with the Dade County Elections office that both Judge McWhorter and Judge Samuels have opponents who have filed papers to run against them.

    The CAPTAIN has never reported that Judge Glazer has opposition; that has only been a rumor mentioned by other anonymous bloggers. And, by the way, you won't find Judge Glazer's name in the Dade County Elections website (as you suggest) as she is a state elected official and her name is on the State of Florida Elections website....

    so, anonymous, stick to what you do best...sitting on the crapper .... dripping diarrhea ....

    and the CAPTAIN has spoken.............

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  10. Now that Diaz has opposition, anyone hear of anyone thinking of running against Feiner?

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  11. Aye, Aye, Cap-i-tan!!!

    Interesting to see someone doesn't believe what's posted here, but puts full faith in a website run by gov't. officials.

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  12. victoria sigler need to be tought a few lessons.

    1) Be polite
    2) your not funny
    3) drop the sarcasm
    4) do not pre-judge defendant on their attorney
    5)study the Rule of criminal procedure
    6) remember who you are and quit trying to be someone who you are not
    7) do the right thing not what is political

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  13. co-captain - i checked the state elections site, and glazer has no opposition

    wheres the toilet paper

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  14. SPOTTED DRIVING AROUND TOWN:

    A billboard truck with a yellow sign that says smoething like "DADE COUNTY ELECTIONS PREDICTION - JUAN GONZALEZ - 69%, STEVE LEIFMAN, 31% - LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN"

    anyone else seen it?

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  15. SPOTTED DRIVING AROUND TOWN:

    A billboard truck with a yellow sign that says smoething like "DADE COUNTY ELECTIONS PREDICTION - JUAN GONZALEZ - 69%, STEVE LEIFMAN, 31% - LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN"

    anyone else seen it?

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  16. Saw the billboard around the courthouse; Some real banana republic shit.

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  17. phil,
    get off this "i'm defending my family" bit. Everyone knows that your wife could take this kid down with one hand behind her back. If she was that threatend, why did she open the door? why didn't she wake you up to have you defend your home then? why didn't she call 911? Yeah, it was wrong of him to show up at your house but to make this big a deal of it seems petty.

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  18. true true. these men need to shake and make up. they look like children.

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  19. how about zack, anyone want to run against him, they could really clean the county court bench

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  20. Feiner is worse, but the
    three of them are thickasthis and the real trifecta

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  21. some of these gringo judges with opposition need to retire before they get waxed.

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  22. UPDATE:

    (especially for diarrhea breath):

    The Miami-Dade County Elections website has officially updated their webpage and now has the information that I previously reported about Judge McWhorter and Judge Samuels....drawing opponents.

    But, I must add that Ms. Marino has followed the lead of Ms. Gonzalez (aka Gonzalez-Meyer)......

    Patricia Lea Marino, as she is licensed to practice law with "The Florida Bar" is running for County Court Judge as:

    Patricia Marino-Pedraza

    I must comment that I believe the voters of Miami-Dade County deserve better than two judicial candidates, who are running to uphold the administration of justice and to be fair to all parties that appear before them and to not "prejudge" anyone or any case ... these two candidates first acts are to try and pull one over on the voters.....because they believe that there names will best be "prejudged" by their ethnicity .....

    First, Ms. Gonzalez has become candidate Gonzalez-Meyer and now Ms. Marino has become candidate Marino-Pedraza ....

    a very disingenuous opening act!!!!

    sounds like something we might be reading about in a Joan Fleischman article real soon.

    and the CAPTAIN has spoken .....

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  23. Is there any rule which requires them to run under their "real" name? Didn't this issue come up recently with the Bar where they require people not to practice using nicknames. Did either of them legally change their names? If not, can they advertise using the married name?

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  24. the Supreme Court of Florida should set qualifications for those mwmbers of the bar who run for judge. for example, 10 first chair jury trials. 10 years as a lawyer, etc. but stop the ethnic unfairness arguement. if you dont like what is happening to the gringo, move north of the boarder.

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  25. what's wrong with changing your name for an election captain? i thought the idea was to win.

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  26. It has nothing to do with the broward county judges being gringo's its a good ole boys club up there. Feiner, Zack and let's not forget good ole Judge Lazarus! and we wonder why those boys never got elevated to the circuit

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  27. FYI funny things happen when a woman gets married--SHE TAKES HER HUSBANDS NAME!! It is a simple proposition--no ploy.

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  28. thats right - women take their husbands name, like:

    Marilyn Milian
    Diane Ward
    Mary Barzee
    Bertilla Soto
    Beth Bloom

    shall I continue

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  29. She may "take" it but there's still a legal process to deal with.

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  30. What about about Judge Adrien, who last election took his mother's maiden name and became Peter Adrien Camacho. Nobody could do anything, but the Cuban American Bar Assn. was pissed and fired off letters to a bunch of politicians and the JQC. Nothing happened and the the rest is history. Maybe I'll call myself Maria Perez-Schwartz and run for office. Or use my pen name "Bush" and use up all those Viva Bush bumper stickers.

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  31. Ok wise guys, when Judge Terri Ann Miller got married, her husband Ari Herman changed his name to her name and is now Ari Miller. DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING!

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  32. hey rump, how about we talk about that scumbag assistant state attorney who got caught with ecstasy in his pocket? i wonder how many poor schmucks he's locked up because of even more petty shit. personally, i don't give a fuck if someone smokes a little weed or pops a few pills from time to time, but an assistant state attorney who does it is a scumbag asshole hypocrite douchebag.

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  33. which Asa got busted?

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  34. what about the asa that puffs and snorts from time to time but then cts and dismisses those types of cases at every turn. is he a scum bag?

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  35. Has anybody read the a-form on this ASA? It is such a bad search that even jane doe will be able to get this guy off the hook.

    Question: If the presumption of innocence is never overcome, is the guy still “a scumbag asshole hypocrite douchebag?”

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  36. I agree with Jane Doe. Even if the drugs are thrown out... and he's not convicted... he STILL had the drugs on him. So yes, he is a SAHD (scumbag asshole hypocrite douchebag) and I hope he does at least some minimal amount of jail time. Considering his position, he should be held to a higher standard.

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  37. anyone who goes to club space is presumed arrested

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  38. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ASA WHO LOVES TO SNORT LINES OFF A BABES ASS ON A SUNDAY NIGHT AND THEN WAKES UP ON MONDAY MORNING AND OFFERS CTS ON A COCAINE POSS CASE? IS HE REALLY THAT BAD?

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  39. State v. Former ASA

    Motion to Suppress Hearing:

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: He was sweating profusely.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: He appeared nervous.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: He told me he was an ASA.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: I became concerned for my safety.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: it was a small space we were in.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: I searched him to make sure he had no weapons on him because he was wearing a loose fitting shirt.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: While searching for the weapon, I felt what appeared to me to be a plastic bag containing seven pills of ecstasy in his right front pants pocket.

    Prosecutor: And then what happened officer?

    Officer: I busted him.

    Question: I wonder if the Governor is going to appoint a standing prosecutor to handle all of the cases that come out of Club Space that the State Attorney’s Office has to conflict out of?

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  40. what does rundle have to say on the club space arrest? I mean of the ASA, not her kid.

    I saw Don Horn on tv from the lobby of the SAO, probably blocking them from going up to talk to KFR

    Our elected state attorney will surely comment on the arrest of one of her own, right, right? Kathy????

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  41. look, i am not defending his actions or conduct, but could we act with a little maturity? jane doe calls him a "scumbag asshole hypocrite douchebag?” i'm sorry, i thought we all graduated from junior high school....

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  42. i don't know about the rest of you, but i think douchebag is an excellent choice of words.

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  43. Rump lets ask all the judicial candidates to post info on themselves that we care about. not whether they picked up a hammer for habitat for humanity or if they paid twenty to go to a FAWL luncheon.
    HOw about the following:
    How many felony jury trials or civil trials
    what are the most important cases you have handled?
    how many misdemeanor trials?
    appeals written?

    these questions are things that we as real lawyers who actually go to court would like to know. i suggest an open invite to all the judges and candidates to answer these and other questions. please please spare me the info on kids, husbands/wives, caba membership etc

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  44. How many felony jury trials or civil trials
    what are the most important cases you have handled?
    how many misdemeanor trials?
    appeals written?


    good questions, for the 9 people who care. Give me a free danish and I'll vote for you

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  45. Leave the kid alone, he's a nice guy. we don't know shit about the "facts" of the case,or if the pills will even test out positive.
    Remember this is a city of Miami caseANYTHING is possible.
    Besides,I would require all state attorneys to use ex monthly. what a touchy feely office that would be

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  46. i have partied with many x and current asa'a. those of you have come down so hard on this guy should look in the mirror and ask yourself- why am i such a pussy ass bitch failure in life?

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  47. What? I'm a pussy-ass-bitch-b/c I find it fucked up that people who throw others in jail for drugs are out there doing the same shit during their free time? I think you got your insults backwards.

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  48. Don Horn on TV? Wonder if he got through an entire sentence without mangling the English language?

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  49. Miller is a good guy, and packs more firepower under his robes than Judge Gordon! Too bad Judge Dredd is going to civil, but at least 73 West Flagler will be well guarded.

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  50. Sigler needs to read the Rule of criminal procedure? Which rule would that be? Is there more then one rule? Wow, that could like, take a lot of time.

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