We shall endeavor to sift fact from fiction, truth from rumor, all the while remembering that this is Broward, so anything can and probably will happen.
Rumour: The Florida Supreme Court has appointed Jimmy Carter as election monitor.
Rumpole says: NOT TRUE. A spokesman for the former President said that because there was not any affordable parking near the courthouse, the former President would regrettably be unable to attend.
Rumour: Each judge will enter a Survivor type voting area where they will hold up their choice and explain their vote for the TV camera.
Rumpole says: POSSIBLE. Judge Ross has declared the courtroom where the votes will take place off limits to the public. "Openness has no place in our democracy" Ross was quoted as saying. Since the voting is secret there is no way to know just exactly what those 88 robe wearin, party type people will be doing.
Whatever the result, we will endeavor to report it as quickly and as fairly as possible ( as soon as we regain our composure and stop laughing.)
JUDGE FEDERICO MORENO IS NEW CHIEF JUDGE OF THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA.
As surprising as it seems, the Feds were able to appoint a new chief judge for a term specific seven years without any controversy. Judge Moreno, who got his judicial start in our own County Courts of the REGJB, is the new chief of the Federal Judges for the Southern District of Florida. Before that Judge Moreno was in private practice, and before that he was a member of the Federal Public Defenders Office.
Longtime and careful readers of the blog may remember that while in County Court, Judge Moreno was forced to issue a bench warrant for one of the Miami Dolphins who did not appear in court. The warrant was issued with this admonition: "Do not arrest on Sunday." (We vaguely remember the Dolphin in question was one of the wide receivers- Clayton or Duper, if we recall. Any one else remember who it was?)
With this kind of wit and wisdom, we think Judge Moreno will do a fine job and the Southern District of Florida is in good and capable hands. We wish him well.
10 comments:
To clear something up that I wrote yesterday: the appeal in Scooter Libby's case continues, as his sentence was commuted; he was not pardoned.
According to a NY Times Article:
According to Justice Department standards, “requests for commutation generally are not accepted unless and until a person has begun serving that sentence,” and they are generally not granted to those appealing their convictions. Cooperation with prosecutors is usually considered a factor in granting such requests.
This quote from the previous article sent me home for a clean pair of pants JUST FUNNY!
"Butch up, Rump...hmmmm "Rump" is there a double entendre there?"
Listen up all you defense lawyers.
I need all the convictions for perjury that involved any jail time in the federal pen. Note: only convictions for perjury involving jail time.
You have 5 days to get all the case data to me. I will prepare a overnight package directed to the President of The United States informing him that all the convictions attached contain jail sentences, and based on your current stand jail sentences for perjury is just too harsh a punishment for all Americans.
Mr. President, please immediately and without delay commute the attached sentences to probation and fine.
Since this package contains over twenty (20,000) thousand convictions for perjury with jail time, I have enclosed all the paper work at this point all that is needed is your signature. To speed things up a bit I have enclosed is a pre-stamped, pre-inked, signature stamp.
Sincerely,
Florida's Defense Counsel.
& David Marcus
the full pardon will come later.
11:20 cute real cute.
Here you go Markus:
USA Today:
The Supreme Court made it harder Thursday for most defendants to challenge their federal prison sentences.
* * *
The justices upheld a 33-month sentence given to Victor Rita for perjury and making false statements. Rita is a 25-year military veteran and former civilian federal employee.
ABC News:
Rita had sought a sentence lower than 33 months, based on his physical condition -- he has diabetes and other illnesses -- his likely vulnerability in prison and his military service in Vietnam and in Operation Desert Storm.
I have to say that I am very disappointed with all the conservatives who couldn't stop bitchin' about Clinton pardoning Mark Rich but now are silent over this nonsense. I guess evading taxes is worse on their list of crimes than outing a CIA agent and lying to a grand jury.
SCORE: BONDSMAN 0,CROOKED LAWYERS 0, REGULAR GUYS(GALS) WIN. NOW BAIL BONDS CAN ONLY BE POSTED AT TGK, AND BNDSMAN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HANG OUT AT DCJ FOR ANY REASON. MAYBE NOW THE HUSTLING WILL STOP AND WE WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN BUSINESS. ONE (WON) FOR THE REGULAR GUYS (AND GALS.)
AS OF JULY 2, 2007. I HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS AS WELL. GREAT, I HOPE THEY REALLY ENFORCE THIS.
Here's another Markus:
In February 1985 an African-American woman was raped in Harris County, Texas. She told investigators that her assailant was a white man. Four months later in an east Houston grocery store the victim spotted Kevin Byrd, a soft-spoken carpenter, and claimed that he had raped her. Oddly, Kevin Byrd is a black man. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, no circumstantial evidence, no history of violence or sexual misconduct by Byrd, and no explanation as to how the primary suspect had changed color: Byrd isn’t even light-skinned. Still, he was arrested.
Suddenly, the evidence began to change. The assailant’s pubic hairs, recovered from the victim, were first deemed those of a white man, and then those of a black man after Mr. Byrd’s arrest. The victim had been face down in a dark room throughout the encounter, but was dead certain that Mr. Byrd was the perpetrator. Police officers Donald Duke and K.A. McDonald each wrote reports describing a white assailant; then testified that “white” meant “Latin American” and “light-skinned” black. On the stand a crime lab chemist admitted that the African-American pubic hairs discovered were actually those of the victim, and that the other hairs were probably from a white person. Mr. Byrd’s father and stepmother testified that he was home during the attacks.
After deliberating for two hours, the jury found Mr. Byrd guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. He appealed three times, but all his appeals were turned down. Routinely, Harris County destroys rape kits after all appeals are exhausted, but a clerical error preserved the evidence from Mr. Byrd’s case beyond its expected life span. A friend hired a lawyer and paid his own money for a DNA test for Mr. Byrd; DNA testing did not exist at the time of his original trial. The results came back negative; it was not his semen on the victim’s clothes.[21]
Mr. Byrd was released on bail after 12 years in prison. District Judge Doug Shaver, Sheriff Tommy Thomas and District Attorney John B. Holmes all petitioned Governor George W. Bush to pardon Mr. Byrd. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously for a pardon, and it appeared that Mr. Byrd was about to be officially cleared.[22]
But Governor George W. Bush decided not to grant a pardon. His general counsel, Alberto Gonzales wrote, “The governor respects the role of the judicial branch and feels the courts should be given an opportunity to determine whether a jury conviction should be overturned.” But Mr. Byrd’s lawyer, Randy Schaffer, asserted that Governor Bush “punted for political reasons.” Fearful that Mr. Byrd might commit a crime after the pardon, the Governor decided to have the courts first exonerate him, to be followed by a pardon.[23] Another furor was raised when it was discovered that 13 of the 14 pardons granted by Gov. Bush, up to that point, had gone to white people. “I take offense when people accuse me or intone that I make decisions based on race,” Bush protested. “I have no idea about the race of the people. I’ve pardoned 14 people based on recommendations from my staff and criterion [sic].”
But State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) called the Byrd case an example of how the justice system works against African-Americans in Texas. “The Board of Pardons and Paroles wants him to get a pardon. The District Attorney wants him to get a pardon. The judge who heard his trial wants him to get a pardon. So what’s the problem?” she asked.[24]
A new evidentiary hearing was held, Mr. Byrd was excluded as a suspect, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a new trial, and Judge Shaver dismissed the charges against Mr. Byrd. He received his pardon on October 8, 1997, and has lived peacefully since then.
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