JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

ONLY NORTH OF THE BORDER


Embattled Broward Circuit Court Judge Pedro Dijols- he of the third place finish in the most recent Judicial Election- is suing the second place finisher-Mardi Levy- to have her name removed from the ballot this fall in the runoff election.  The title of the post links to the DBR article. 

Levy nee Cohen (we'll get back to that in a minute) edged out Judge Dijols by a scant 72 votes to make the runoff.  At the manual recount,  Circuit Judge Dale Cohen stopped by to lend a hand and make sure everything was going ok. 

Slight problem: Circuit Judge Dale Cohen IS MARRIED to candidate Mardi Levy. Levy was previously tagged with a Florida Bar "minor misconduct" (5 minutes in the Panthers Penalty box) and ordered to pay $1,250.00 in administrative costs when she displayed a picture of her dear husband- in his judicial robes- on her firm's website. 

Dijols's lawsuit seeks to remove Levy from the ballot because she did  not use her maiden name- she uses Mardi Levy-Cohen" in her private practice and before that as a prosecutor. Levy appeared on the ballot as "Levy" and not "Levy-Cohen" which she uses in her professional life. 

Now here's what we just could not make up if we tried. If you had one name to guess as the Judge to whom the lawsuit has been assigned- who would it be?

Yup. Everyone's favorite Circuit Court North of the Border Judge.  She's been labeled "an unfair evil witch" by an attorney who practiced before her. She was the subject of a much publicized JQC trial over her treatment of defense attorneys in a death penalty case. 

The right and Honorable Cheryl Aleman will bring all her legal acumen, judicial skills,  and hard earned wisdom, not to mention her wonderful courtroom demeanor, in handling Judge Pedro Dijols's lawsuit to remove Mardi Levy from the ballot. 

You just have to love Broward.  You can't spell "wacky" without the W in BroWard.  

Quick summary: Lawyer runs under name she doesn't use; her husband- who's a judge- stops by to view the recount; lawsuit filed; arguably the most disliked judge in the County assigned to the lawsuit. Script optioned to Spielberg for mid-level seven figures. Danny Glover to play Dijols; Britney Spears to play Aleman.  Dale Ross "as himself". 

SUICIDE UPDATE: "SURPH" emailed us a pick for Denver prior to the start of the late Monday night game. He's in. 


Former Miami Dade Police Officer Ayalon got eight years state prison in Broward for a felony leaving the scene of an accident with a fatality. Sam Rabin for the defense. 

This business of sending people to prison for traffic related crimes has got to stop.  People do stupid things behind the wheel of a car. Absent a crime with specific intent- like aggravated  battery with a vehicle- suspend their license for life; give them probation and restitution, but stop sending people to prison for panicking and doing something stupid while driving.  It is the constitutionally protected right of every american to be a moron behind the wheel of the car.  Hamilton and Maidson debated this issue in the Federalist Papers. 

RUMPOLE'S PICKS: The Packers won and covered and the point total was over, so we won our last two bets of the weeks (Packers -3 +75) and over 38 (+25) for a total for the first week of football of 422.50.  7-1 in picks. We challenge any expert to top that for an opening week. 


ROC UPDATE: All the other circuits in the State of Florida have assigned their 3rd degree felonies to the Dade ROC office, under the theory "It's Dade. We hate them. Pile on."  Judge Blake will rule on the constitutionality of every other county in the state hating us later this year. 

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought Mari Levy changed her name because she no longer wanted to be a Maricohen?

Anonymous said...

Broward insider here- his name is DIJOLS. We know that in Dade ya'll have a hard time with the english but this is a spanish name for Goodness sake.

Anonymous said...

What kind of idiot is Randy Shannon? Calling the Gators out for a late field goal? Didn't the Hurricanes score a touchdown with 2 minutes remaining against Charleston Southern to pad their 4 touchdown lead? What a jerk.

Anonymous said...

BLOG HAS JUMPED THE SHARK

Anonymous said...

WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM TO BRING YOU THIS UPDATED BREAKING NEWS:

The Princess and I are getting matching bath robes.

Anonymous said...

1:48

listen you right wing putts- it was good for recruiting

Anonymous said...

I heard that the "trialmaster" got a multi-million dollar verdict in a civil case recently. Is this true?

Anonymous said...

Love Sam - King of pleas....

Anonymous said...

Have you guys seen the DBR blog making fun of Rick Freedman?

http://dailybusinessreview.typepad.com/insidetrack/

Sounds like a party, smells like self promotion....

Anonymous said...

2:50, can you put in a good word for me? She's rejected 102 of my comments.

Attorney Rejected By The Princess,
proud member since 2008.

Batman said...

Actually every judge in Broward should disqualify themselves and allow the Chief Justice to appoint someone to hear the matter. But, this is Broward and the Code of Professional Responsibility be damned. It will depend on which of the two sitting judges, Cohen or Dijols, has the most clout with his peers.

Stay tuned this is hardly over.

Anonymous said...

Today's post is everything I love about this blog, Timely. Witty. Funny. Sharp. Right on Rumpole. Keep the faith and keep writing.

Anonymous said...

If Dijols says the Levey-Cohen votes should not count, doesnt that make it a two person race back in August? If that is the case, Dijols lost.


Can't these women stop with the freakin hyphens when they go on the ballot?

Anonymous said...

2:50, I always bought her 'Victoria Secret.' (The outfit didn't stay on for very long....)

4:21, I heard the same news, haven't been able to confirm it yet.

5:37, Batman where have you been?! Miami is in dire need of your services!

Anonymous said...

Rick's a decent guy. He was just having fun. The DBR article is a disgrace. I mean, let's get real. You think that anyone saw that picture and thought, "oooh. He's buddies with Roberts?" Please.

Self-promotion? Naw. You'd think the DBR would have better things to do and more scandalous things to investigate/write about.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

Hey Broward Insider...........go back to your own joke of a blog and resume bad mouthing everyone and their uncle about the most personal of issues. We don't give a crap about what you think here.

BTDT

Anonymous said...

well, at least we know that rick freedman is not rumpole. if he was, he would have never allowed not nice things to be said about him in the comments...

by the way, rick is a good guy. i went to law school with him and he wants to have the best system of justice that we can.

i also heard that phil r. was having lunch on lincoln road with justice thomas on thursday if rick wants to go down there for a photo shoot...

Anonymous said...

Heard that Rex Ryland passed away. An old battler who went astray, but always a decent guy.
Can you confirm Rump?

Anonymous said...

By the way, for those of you who did'nt know, Bernie Bober is the brother of former Dade pd and top lawyer, Carlton Bober, and if memory serves me they are Cuban born americans.
Jason Grey

Anonymous said...

freedman is a nice guy, i guess, but the self promotion and his endless emails make him an easy target to poke at.

Anonymous said...

Mardi Levy Cohen changed hername because she didnt want anyone to recognize her. She was a terrible ASA and an even worst defense attny. NO ONE on either side respects her. The defense bar hates her becuase she was an idiot ASA and the ASA's hate her beceause she is an idiot defense attny. Well the point is she didnt want anyone to know that it was Mardi Cohen. All I have to say is- If you thought Aleman was bad- wait until you get a hold of Mardi!!!!! Broward almost really deserves her!!! LOLOLOLOL

Anonymous said...

Rick also has pictures posing with Lynyrd Skynyrd.

They picture is titled from Freeman to Freebird.

Batman said...

6:06 Thank you. It is nice to have been missed by someone.

As the expression goes: "Someimes life gets in the way." Crime fighting is a serious business and does not always leave time for what we want to do.

Oh yes, thanks to the clock counter on Adrien. For those who are not keeping track, he has only 847 more days until he can apply for unemployment benefits.

Anonymous said...

I sit on the FACDL board under Rick and am proud to do so. Say what you will, but he has a tireless drive to work for the organization and its members. Rick works very hard to make our jobs easier and for that he deserves our thanks -- he certainly has earned mine.

Anonymous said...

Hey 7:39, I mean Rick: stop using FACDL as your personal vehicle for shameless self promotion. You are, in fact, diminishing the recent achievements of the organization and diminishing the enthusiasm of the members.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of traffic, how about some new rules?
1. The left lane is for the fast cars, not the 4 foot tall abuela or the 19 yr old texting on her sidekick. Please get out of the way and let me get to work/airport/gym/REG.
2. Use your blinker - seriously, I realize its not required by statute, but it really IS courteous (and safe) to let other drivers know where the f you are going
3. When there is a lane ending or a merge in sight, get over at the earliest possibility. Dont rush to the end as people like to do here and cause a logjam. Nothing says road-rage quite like a merging lane with two unyielding a-holes.

Wouldnt our daily commutes be more pleasant if there were fewer people driving around like morons, completely obvlivious to traffic rules and common courtesy? But hey, its Miami, right? Any other suggestions?

Anonymous said...

Some think Buffalo was a dynasty with Mardi Levy at the helm. Hell of a coach.