Tuesday, March 21, 2006

NAMES, SIGNS, AND SCHEDENFREUDE

CAPTAIN POLITICAL UPDATE:

These are coming in on a daily basis now:

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 .....


Rumpole humbly notes that we scooped the Captain in our post about the Judge McWhorter race by mentioning the rumor that the challenger was going to add the “Hispanic Hyphen” to her last name. Of course negative publicity about name changes never hurt anyone, did it, Judge Macho Camacho Adrien? No truth to the rumor that in his next campaign the chief Judge is going to be listed as Joe “El Jeffe” Farina.


Hey, there’s an idea!!! Send us your submissions of best hyphens or middle names to be added to names. Like “El Jeffe” for Farina, or, say, David “Mucho Anos” Miller. (una pregunta por favor : is it “mucho anos” or “mucho tiempo” ?)

ASA ARRESTED!!

Two readers wrote in about this. The first wrote:

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.

Then the Captain wrote in with the pertinent info: ASA Ray Sarmiento was arrested.
[note that until the Captain confirmed it, we removed a post that named Mr. Sarmiento because we could not confirm it. But the captain had the case number, and it checks out.]


Schedenfreude
There is another term for people’s delight at the problems of another: Schedenfreude A German word that has worked its way into the English Language, and is defined as "taking pleasure in other people's misery".


Judge Victoria Sigler gets her first mention on the blog, and not a favorable one at that, as a reader writes:

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


Rumpole responds: Judge Sigler remains the favorite Judge of quite a few attorneys. However you are entitled to your opinion, and we are sure the readers will follow-up with their own. Our own experience with Judge Sigler is that she is good, fair, and has her own unique way of arriving at just and simple solutions to what appear to be complex problems. She would get our vote any day of the week.



Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs:

More than a few people in the REGJB commented today on what this reader wrote in about:

SPOTTED DRIVING AROUND TOWN:

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


Rumpole notes that we hope its going to take a lot more than that to beat Judge Leifman. Judge Leifman remains mysteriously quiet on the scandal surrounding wannabe politico Juan D’Arce, when more than rumor has it that D’Arce threatened the Judge with opposition. We hope Leifman is just keeping his powder dry and not firing until he can see the whites of their eyes.


See You In Court, and if we catch as case before Judge Sigler, she is as fair as it gets, in our opinion.

PS check out the new poll- and we took Portia's poll down because she has gone silent on us.

93 comments:

  1. COURT CASE: F06008765 State Case#: 132006CF0087650001XX Name: SARMIENTO, RAMON DOB: 03/21/1973
    Date Filed: 03/20/2006 Date Closed: 00/00/0000 Warrant Type:
    Hearing Date: 04/07/2006 Hearing Time: 900 Hearing Type: A
    Courtroom: REGJB-JUSTICE BUILDING, ROOM#:2-8
    Address: 1351 N.W. 12 ST
    Next Case:
    Previous Case:
    Judge: SCHLESINGER, JOHN
    Defense Attorney:
    Bfile Section: F005 File Location: PREHEARING Box Number: -
    Seq# Charge Charge Type Disposition
    1 CONT SUBS/POSS FELONY

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  2. by the way, happy birthday Ramon!

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  3. Ed "stupido-cabeza" Newman

    David "incarce" Miller

    Ivan "putz" Hernandez (for the jewish vote)

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  4. to the sigler basher:

    it takes a certain intellect to understand judge sigler's humor and appreciate her sarcasm. based on your command of the english language, her comments are probably just over your head.

    hint: it's you're, not your. and you may want may want to review subject/verb agreement

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  5. It takes a real lack of class to pile on a person when he is going through perhaps the lowest point in his life. Get some class. If this were one of your clients, you would be screaming about the unconstitutionality of the stop and how he is presumed innocent.

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  6. Rumpole notes: 1) A public law enforcement officer that gets arrested is news. He is presumed innocent, but it is news. 2) It is not piling on to report this. 3) We take no pleasure in this news. This ASA was (and is) a real decent guy.

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  7. no. CLASSLESS is prosecuting people for illegal drugs and then going home and getting high yourself. i think ramon sarmiento is totally and utterly CLASSLESS and deserves to be spit upon... not sympathized with.

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  8. I can truly say, as much as it pains me to say anything detrimental as to the character of someone working for the state, that one reaps what one sews. Half of me, wants to say that in life, the law is a thing that is subject to change, and what is legal today may be illegal tomorrow. Therefore everyone at some point or other, may well find themselves taking an action that puts them on the wrong side of the law.

    However, that still doesn't excuse the ASA here because while its more understandable that someone who may have done something in the past, could reform and do good, it is hypocritical to prosecute others for the things that you yourself are not following in the present day and time.

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  9. to the person above - can you not post any comments anymore, that one gave me a headache

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  10. How about we wait until the case is over before cursing out Mr. Sarmiento? If you ever had a case with the guy, he was very reasonable. If he has a drug problem, its not like taking a bribe or manufacturing evidence. We see a difference.

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  11. rump, i don't know how you or anyone can possibly justify calling this prosecutor a "decent guy." regardless of how many nice things he's done in the past... this in unforgivable. this is hypocrisy at it's worst. didn't he say he was holding the drugs for some girl? why not send her to drug court too? it's only several months long. or WH/SES? WH/SES is no big deal... it's not really a conviction... right?

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  12. Rump, are you Mr. Sarmiento? You really seem to be in love with the guy.

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  13. Finally, an accusation that someone other than Phil Reizenstein runs this blog. How refreshing! What we are saying is that Mr. Sarmiento has been a decent person to deal with in court, and like anyone else, he is innocent until proven otherwise. Wasn't there another ASA a few years ago accused of something serious, and it turned out to be hogwash? Anyone remember the players?

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  14. rump do you mean when that Shelepi character was said to have slept with......

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  15. The bottom (for all you prosecutors that are writing in as "anonymous" and cant understand how Sarmiento is getting the benefit of tyhe doubt - ie, he may be guilty, but we dont care because he's a nice guy) is that you are like judges - all that matters is how you treat people, not how tough you are.

    Sarmiento gets the benefit of the doubt because people like him. If some of you other angry jerks from the SAO were arrested, we'd all be at the arraignment laughing our asses off.

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  16. rump what div is this asa in?

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  17. she is so god darn sexy. with that red lipstick.

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  18. of all the drugs- x is the most fun on the first try.

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  19. "to the person above - can you not post any comments anymore, that one gave me a headache"

    if your momma had gotten one of those on the night your daddy's loins were burnin, the world'd be a better place jerkwad

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  20. to the person above - can you not post any comments anymore, that one gave me a headache

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  21. i think this asa should be given a promotion at once.

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  22. Regarding the former ASA, it was a serious drug allegation, but no arrest. Something like that.

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  23. my memory fails me. but i do remember when elliot got touched for x.

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  24. rumpole when are you gonna post the pictures of the old fella in the X-5?

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  25. As to the really sophisticated comment by the anonynmous defense attorney who stated that "if some of you other angry jerks from the SAO were arrested, we'd all be at the arraignment laughing our asses off", you seem like a real prince of a person. An ASA possessing illegal drugs is wrong, is newsworthy, and is tragic for him/her. It is not an occasion to laugh your asses off over. No Assistant State Attorneys showed up at the arraignments of Julio Gutierrez, J.C. Elso, Robert Rudolph, or many of the other attorneys who have been arrested over the years and laughed our asses off.

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  26. Why does rudolph carry the metal brief case around the ct house?

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  27. The above comment is well put. No one should take delight in the problems of a fellow attorney or human being. Karma Kramer.

    As to the jokester asking questions about "the old feller" and the X5, this is an inside issue, and the answer is never. It's funny, but not blog worthy.

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  28. what about the metal brief case?

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  29. yes it is but this is your show.

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  30. I always thought Sarmiento was a pretty stand up guy. But even if he wasn't, laughing at his misfortune shows no class of any kind. Unless the guy is shooting people, he's not so evil that we need to laugh at him.

    I don't care if he prosecuted your best friend, he was just doing his job. What was he supposed to tell his boss? "Sorry, I can't prosecute drug cases, because I got high last night?" Was he supposed to quit his job because he had a drug problem? There are plenty of my fellow defense attorneys who have had their share of drug problems, and just because someone's an ASA doesn't make him immune to the same temptations as everyone else has.

    I always thought that law was to be practiced in a sportsmanlike manner. You try hard as heck to win, but it's nothing personal at the end of the day.

    I say, we should all send Ray our best wishes to successfully get over his drug problems and have success in the future. I know you would want the same said of you.

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  31. The headache thing is getting retarded.

    And exactly on karma, no one is laughing at what happened to an attorney Marlene Montaner.

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  32. if he was offering jail time on drug cases, and he is found guilty of poss. of mdma, that is a big problem. but, if he was lax on drug cases, like most good most good div. chiefs at the sao do, give the man a break.

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  33. Quote: "Why does rudolph carry the metal brief case around the ct house?"

    It's so it won't break as he stands on it to see over the podium.

    BTW, how 'bout "Special Ed" Newman? Yaaayyy! I want to go to Hawaii...Yaaaayyy!!!

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  34. this is precisely why I could never be a state attorney - I like taking drugs so much.

    just go private Ray and your troubles will be over quickly.

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  35. Why did one of the previous posts imply that Ray had a drug problem? And the "he was just doing his job" thing is pretty lame. There are certain people society holds to higher standards and I think it's extremely hypocritical to prosecute people for things you're doing. Or is it only wrong if you get caught?

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  36. Ray Sarmiento is one of the nicest ASA's around. We should all support him. I'm sure that he's innocent of this and his reputation will remain intact. Most of us at the defense bar would offer to handle this case free of charge. Ray, keep your head up. Jesus Christ says he will never leave you nor foresake you. Sometimes he lets us go through problems so that we become stronger. Years from now, you'll look back on this and realize that it did not change the way anyone viewed you. It will be "No Actioned" in no time.

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  37. Josh Weintraub is a prick. I think he is the most unreasonable prosecutor in the SAO. Can someone please tell him to get a grip and drop his racist tendencies? The only reason he's still in the office is because he has the protection of his "mommy". Everyone agrees, right?

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  38. Judges Victoria Sigler and David Miller are two of the best judges around.

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  39. J.C. has been brought into the blog. And I don't mean Planas.

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  40. the comment that says "give the man a break if he was lax on drug charges" is fucking ridiculous. i'm willing to bet my life that sarmiento has... at some point during his career... given someone jail time for drugs. actually, he's probably given MANY people jail time for drugs. but even if i'm wrong... even if he's always given drug court, or WH/SES, or at worst ADJ/CTS... he's still a "hypocrite douchebag." all of those things... no matter how benign we as lawyers consider them to be... can have significant collateral effects upon a person's life. people fuck up drug court all the time. people can get deported for a WH/SES. and with an ADJ/CTS you have court costs... you become a fucking CONVICTED FELON... you lose your civil rights... you can lose your job... it can be difficult to get a new job... you can lose access to student loans... etc. i'm not LAUGHING at him... i'm PISSED that he could so carelessly ruin the lives of other people for the same stupid shit that he was doing himself. someone asked, "what was he supposed to do? quit?" well, the answer is YES, if he had an ounce of fucking integrity, he should've found a different career. but then again, ASA looks great on his resume, so who gives a fuck about a few hundred nobodies arrested for drugs? right? he was just doing his job? right? yeah, like the fucking NAZIS were just doing their jobs.

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  41. someone wrote that this is hypocrisy at it worst. i respectfully disagree.

    jane doe's list of hypocrisy at its worst:

    1. priest who molest children;
    2. prosecutors (like sarmiento) who use drugs and commit other crimes while prosecuting people for the same exact things; and
    3. cops who break the law and lie under oath in the name of "justice."

    and rump, i also think it's lame to say, "well, he is still a real decent guy. he was always really great to work with." that's like saying, "well, i know that preacher smith has a penchant for raping little girls and boys... but he was always really nice at church and he still gives great sermons."

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  42. Weintraub is the typoe of prosecutor that would garner people to "go to his arraignment and laugh their asses off." He's not in the office because of his mommy, he's there because he's been there too long to get hired by anyone in the private sector.

    BY the way, most of the posts saying we shouldn't give sarmiento a break, which he deserves, are prosecutors who live in glass houses (just not real nice ones)

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  43. i know that asa. he is a great guy. pull the rag out jane.

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  44. "Pull the rag out Jane" is an inappropriate comment. It implies that a person's comments are unworthy of consideration because they are made by a woman. Such a comment insults more than Jane Doe...it insults all woman.

    I'm not saying you should pull your punches. Call her a fucking moron. Or a dimwitted fucktard. But consider passing on the sex-based denigration.

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  45. Regarding Sigler's humour. Beyond intellect, humour doesn't easily cross all cultural boundaries.. Her humour is sophisticated, understated sarcasm. If you're not used to it, it's just annoying.

    When my future wife met my family, I carefully instructed her to take NOTHING my father said at face value. At dinner, he would say something funny, and I would translate it into "straight" humour. First she lost her fear that he was insulting her. Then she started to pick up on his double-entendres. Now she finds his straight faced sarcasm hilarious.

    Back to Sigler. She's smart, funny, and self-deprecating. If you can't learn to appreciate her humour, you're probably to stupid to be practicing law.

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  46. Leifman has about $45,000 in his campaign chest. All of it, I believe, collected before he had opposition.

    Gonzalez has yet to file any financial reports. Leifman is surely waiting to see those reports to know what kind of campaign he needs to wage.

    When Gonzalez releases the financial reports, it will likely reveal expenditures to Pericles Consulting. Certain newspapers will skewer him for that. Moreover, we'll finally learn if Gonzalez has 5k or 50k to take on Leifman. If it's 5k, he's pissing into the wind, and we might as well move along to more interesting races.

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  47. Just to respond to the comment made about Judicial Candidate Patricia Marino-Pedraza. Pedraza is her married name and she has used it ever since she married, 7 years ago. Now, she has been a member of the florida bar for about 15 years...could it be that the records have not been updated to show the Marino-Pedraza. She has every right to use the last name, hello, wouldn't you change your name is you got married?
    Now get over it.

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  48. Having been throughly beaten up on this blog for other reasons, I will comment on Ray Sarmiento. I have tried a case against Ray, and in another matter pled a case with concurrent time in Broward. When Broward did not want to honor the plea (surprise surprise) Ray stepped up and agreed to allow my client to withdraw the Plea in Dade. I like Ray and hope all works out for him.

    Also, I was the attorney who represented a prosecutor that was under investigation by a Federal Grand Jury in Alabama for something that was very serious, and yet the allegations were completely false. The prosecutor was suspended without pay, hung in limbo for a year, until a very fair Federal Prosecutor in Alabama closed the case with no action against him. So the point is, people should wait until all the facts are out about Ray. As defense attorney we live by the presumption of innocence, and that applied to cops, prosecutors, Judges, etc.

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  49. To the chap who keeps dropping F-bombs and douchebag adjectives to describe Ray Sarmiento, I feel very badly for you. You are an angry little person, with so much rage. I am quite sure that the legitimate targets of your angst should be informed of your frustrations, whatever those may be. Perhaps then you may embrace the emotional balance required of those of thus who have undertaken this, the noblest of professions.

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  50. The comments that have sprung forth from the defense bar are somewhat surprising to me. I half expected at least one of you to say, "What do you expect, its a City of Miami cop!" Haven't any of you had a client put on contract at one of these clubs? If so, don't you recall that their contract usually required the assistance in forming quality cases against alleged traffickers and dealers? Doesn't anyone see the problem with a bartender/bouncer/whoever noticing one guy, in a club of thousands, putting something in his mouth, and then feeling so strongly about it, that he/she points out this outrageous behavior to the cops? At club Space, of all places? And then, the police would have you believe that Ray, who is a smart guy, a) instantly confessed, and b) ratted out his girlfriend. Of course the Aform is worded very carefully and deliberately, but please, if ANY drug bust ever cried out for suspicious targeting of a "suspect", then this is the one; and it has nothing to do with the fact that Ray is a prosecutor. He pissed of somebody, because that's the only explanation for the police finding that little pill in a dark sea of raving clubbers packed together like tuna in a can.

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  51. I may be looking at the collegiality of the REG through rose colored lenses, but wasn't it sad to see an ex-ASA on channel 4 attempt to boost her career aspirations on the back of Sarmiento's situation?

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  52. #1--Folks who work for the State prosecution have no choice but to maintain a strict personal lifestyle, i.e. no criminal acts. #2-Ray is a good guy, and was a fair prosecutor. But, he did participate in a system that locks up drug users and dealers--Is his friend that sold him the drugs goona get prison? Should He? Should anyone? Ray has certainly participated in cases where dealers got prison. But, those folks weren't selling to him. #3-No one should lose their liberty for even one second for the use, transfer, or sale of any drug, not even hypocritical ASA's.

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  53. the Brian Tananbaum interview offends me more then the arrest.

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  54. Rumpole loves Brian T. Now, lets just wait for Rump to criticize you for anonymously criticizing Brian t. (unlike Rumpole, of course, who uses his real name)

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  55. Rumpole
    What do you love about Brian?

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  56. Whoever posted the negatives on Sigler is soooo far off target. She is one of the most intelligent Judges on the bench and she'll give you a fair shake. Next time you post a--hole, spell the words correctly, cause you are looking like an idiot who didn't get what they wanted from Judge Sigler.

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  57. I think that every candidate who has opposition better worry. There are 2 million residents in dade county. This is only a judge race and for 99.5% of our voters they dont know or care who these people are. Some follow the miami Herald advice but most decide while in the voting booth. I expect many new faces on the bench. Most of these judges with opposition get what the deserve.

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  58. Why arent more attorneys running for judge? The money isnt bad. The hours are short. No late Nights or weekends. Worry free vacations. Imagine never being late again. Court starts on your time. Wow! How can i sign up?

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  59. Katie Phang definitely has her finger on the pulse of the courthouse....and the other on the red phone with a direct line to CBS4.

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  60. She defended Ray when Don Horn was telling the entire public that Ray has a drug problem. How he knows this, I have no idea. At least she said Ray is a stand-up guy.

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  61. True, true. However I'm not so sure that everyone who has taken drugs is an addict. That's a harsh brush to paint with so casually and matter-of-factly. If everyone who went on a bender was an alcoholic then the Gerstein building would be the world's biggest AA meeting, with escalators, bailiffs and everything. You're right though, it is better than calling him a douchebag. I'd take a Katie compliment over that anyday.

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  62. Phang and Tannenbam should have never gone on tv and defended that guy -

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  63. Why? Were you there? Have you deposed the police or talked to Ray about it? Why not just shut your hole then.

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  64. Hey Rump, what do you think Ed Griffith will say about this? Speaking of Griffith, why doesn't the State Attorney allow her prosecutors to comment to the media, rather than shuffling reporters through a PR department?

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  65. b/c ed griffith will say what she wants him to say...

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  66. The comment re Don Horn is stupid. Give the man and the office some credit for handling it the way they have. Horn's comments were sensitive and fair. He didn't hang Ray out to dry (which he could have).

    He said, "IF" he has a problem...

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  67. There is no excuse for anyone (let alone prosecutors) using or possessing illegal drugs. End of story.

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  68. I wonder if Sarmiento's bondsman offered him a good attorney?

    Rump, what's up with this issue?

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  69. I saw the Juan Gonzalez mobile billboard circling the courthouse yesterday. A dirty campaign tactic. And I think it may be a campaign violation.

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  70. yes, Juan Gonzales is a campaign violation

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  71. The mobile billboard gives Juan Gonzalez 69% and Leifman 31%. If 69% or close to it are latin registered voters I think that Leifman has a problem. Maybe he should shift seats. I think that any american running against a latin better come up with a gimmick or their screwed.

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  72. A 3rd candidate has decided to also enter the leifman-gonzalez race. He was printing flyers at the gables office depot. He was telling me he moved to miami 2 yrs ago from Gainseville. He asked me not to Id him till he files. He is never in dade he practices in ft. lauderdale. Unfortunately he wont be able to file this week but plans to file in 3 weeks.

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  73. can you at least tell us if he is female or male? american or hispanic?

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  74. A 3rd candidate has decided to also enter the leifman-gonzalez race. He was printing flyers at the gables office depot. He was telling me he moved to miami 2 yrs ago from Gainseville. He asked me not to Id him till he files. He is never in dade he practices in ft. lauderdale. Unfortunately he wont be able to file this week but plans to file in 3 weeks.

    QUESTION, HOW DOES ONE SPEND MONEY ON A CAMPAIGN BEFORE ONE FILES?????
    ALREADY A VIOLATION OF RULES.....TELL US WHO IS THE PERSON WHO WANTS TO JUDGE OTHERS THAT DOES NOT FOLLOW THE LAW.

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  75. Most of us will spend half our lives at our jobs. For us lawyers a good chunk of that time will be at the courthouse. So we make friendships while we are there with some of the cops, opposing counsel, clerks, bailiff's, etc. When one of the nice guys gets in trouble our hearts go out to them. Ray is one example. He made a stupid mistake and prosecuted this stupid law as his job unfortunately required, but as a "co-worker" from the opposing side I just hope you get thru this ok. Your a good guy and most of wish you the best.

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  76. WOW! What a lot of "stuff"... I liked Ray too and still do.. BUT it is true that an ASA really needs to be extremely law abiding in their personal lives. I keep reading about his "drug problem" and addiction... Are you guys serious??? An ECTASY addict? Now that's funny! Look, I hope Ray comes out on top. I never like to see someone get into trouble.. especially for something I think should probably be legal... X has hurt a lot less people than booze for sure. And please fellow defense atty's let's not foget INNONCENT until proven guilty.. I'd much rather see someone address the bondsman attorney connection than an asa who is charged with a crime. The bondsman attorney nonsense hurts our business THAT needs to stop.

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  77. Bondsmen may steer clients to certain attorneys for alot of people, but do any of you really think that Ray is going to be spoonfed an attorney? I think he knows how to pick a lawyer on his own.

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  78. I love when losers respond to a post by calling the poster ignorant and dumb and a pot head b/c of a typo. This is a blug, and if I missspell something, deal with it. Take a deep breath and relax. It's not a federal brief, douche.

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  79. This blog makes me wonder what meaning the words we choose have. Calling someone a dog, for example. My dog is great, but for some reason calling a person a dog is supposed to be a bad thing. I love my dog. I don't pat most people "dogs" on the head because they're not nice like my real dog. Asshole is another word. Why is it such a bad thing? I guess only when its acting up. And as for the one who calls people douches, well, I don't know anything about that. I can only imagine that its a relatively innocuous product, useful to many people, and that really isn't that offensive. So yes, we all know what you mean, but your chosen words don't really make much sense. I agree though, that typos shouldn't be criticized so harshly. Bad rabid dog.

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  80. Who is the genius who said it was "TRAGIC" for an ASA to possess drugs. What planet do you live on. Do you include aspirin and caffeine and penicillin as drugs which are "TRAGIC" to possess, or only the ones which all the politically motivated legislators deemed illegal. I think death, terrorism, violent crimes, etc are TRAGIC. If possession is a tragedy, then a large portion of this city is a walking tragedy (probably true anyway, but for other reasons). The scary thing is people actually believe a little herb or blow is tragic. Drug test the attorneys and judges, fire all who fail, and let the do gooders handle the justice system that will grind to a halt.

    By this definition, the previous two preseidents were TRAGIC b/c they inhaled and did some blow back in the day.

    DRUG LAWS CREATE CRIMINALS

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  81. since when does possesion of a personal amount of drugs mean you have a drug problem. do all the people in the world who have a beer in the cooler or a nice bottle of vino in the wine cooler have alcohol problems?

    drugs are fun. real fun. i do them about twice a week for about 20 years. nothing tragic here. i have a decent practice, and a good family.

    i have a feeling my alcoholic counterparts drink all the time and then drive. give them probation. but pop a pill, well, you're an addict, you have aproblem, you are a tragedy, blah blah blah.

    its about time we drug test ASA's. that way 20% of the office will be gone and the other 80% of the do gooders can cover there cases.

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  82. Everything being done in the Gerstein building relates to either someone's liberty, or to someone's status as a crime victim. Both issues are equally worthy of respect, and both sides have an advocate. This vitriolic banter back and forth, as though prosecutors and defense attorneys should be sworn enemies only tells me that one side or the other is convinced that opposing counsel is acting in bad faith. If a prosecutor doesn't believe in his or her case for whatever reason, the case should be dropped; it's that simple. If getting "approval" for a KNP is difficult, then work harder to explain to your DC why that should be the result. I never heard of any ASA having a GENUINE problem with the office for refusing to prosecute a case on principle. If you're an ASA, don't be afraid to go to your DC, and then to a chief if necessary to tell them you won't prosecute the case. Its really not that scary; Imagine what they would have to say in order to give you a problem...."Uh, I'm sorry, I know you swore to uphold the law and the ethics of the profession, but uh, you have to prosecute someone you think is innocent because the victim is raising cain." Not going to happen. Get some stones. I think cowardice is the true genesis of any malice between the state and the defense bar. Nobody got fired for refusing to prosecute, its when you go half-ass on a case you don't believe in that a) gets you in trouble, and b) causes this blog to have so many angry postings its like a perpetual catfight.

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  83. I dont see what the big deal is about the bondsmen. So what if we give them a kickback. without them I would have less cases and i dont see it as less money. I see it as more money because without them I would have less money coming in. Maybe when i been around for more than 3 years i might be getting these cases without the bondsmen but for now i need the work.`

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  84. Well reading how phil is sucha great attorney and has all these cases is giving me a headache maybe sarniento should hire you PHILLY.

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  85. "If you're an ASA, don't be afraid to go to your DC, and then to a chief if necessary to tell them you won't prosecute the case."

    As long as you have a legal reason, then there's nothing wrong with that. But if its just: his wife just got laid off from her job, his dog died and I think the cop might be lying because you know they always do, then be for real, that's got nothing to do with ethics at all.

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  86. Sorry, I think phil only does triple murder cases.

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  87. "He was just doing his job. What was he supposed to tell his boss? "Sorry, I can't prosecute drug cases, because I got high last night?" Was he supposed to quit his job because he had a drug problem?"

    1. It is not a job, it is a vocation.

    2. There is nothing wrong with getting high. It is morally wrong to prosecute humans for getting high. It is twice as wrong to prosecute people for conduct you yourself engage in.

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  88. No truth to the rumor that in his next campaign the chief Judge is going to be listed as Joe “El Jeffe” Farina.
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