UPDATE!!!! JUDGE FEDER Of MIAMI ORDERS CANDIDATE LEVY STRICKEN FROM BROWARD BALLOT IN ELECTION RUN-OFF. JUDGE DIJOLS BACK ON BALLOT. BREAKING NEWS. CHECK THE BROWARD BLOG FOR THE LATEST.
We note the irony of a Broward judge having to come to Dade for Justice.
"I said for Justice, we need to see Don Corleone!!!!"
Three very important trials are underway involving our humble little courthouse.
Abe Laeser and Laura Adams continue their relentless pursuit of justice in the horrific case of the abduction on Miami Beach a few years ago of a young couple in which the woman was executed by the side of the road on I-95. The multi-defendant case was severed and up now is David Markus (not the federal blogger) representing the youngest defendant in the case. Will Thomas is the Judge.
Meanwhile in the most interesting case of the trio, former Bahstan FBI agent John Connolly is on trial for his complicity in the slaying of Jai Alia executive John Callahan who was found in the trunk of a car at the Miami International Airport with a dime on his chest. The airport is furious no one has paid the parking tab for the car.
Connolly is alleged to have been mixed up with the Boston Mob and the Whitey Bulger crew. Bulger is on the lam from a federal indictment. Manny Casabielle for the defense, while the recently oft mentioned Michael Von Zamft and some Fed for the State. Wonder how that Fed prosecutor is going to feel without his case agent sitting next to him holding his hand and whispering little nothings in his ear during the trial? Welcome to the real world pal.
And finally, Judge John Schlessinger has taken his act on the road to Orlando where ace Herald Reporter Oh Susannah Nesmith is covering the Michael Hernandez murder trial. Hernandez brutally killed his 14 year old classmate. The defense is insanity.
This is the thing about our little courthouse. We get some of the most interesting, and tragically heart rendering cases in the country.
THE LATE JUDGE FRED NESBITT:
He sat on the 5th floor, back in a time when crimes and traffic/DUI cases were separate in County Court. He glared at you in his bright blue robe, red face, and white hair, and made the new lawyers feel as if there wasn't any other place they would rather be. "This is not what I signed up for" many of them thought. And yet, as David Markus remembers, there was a method to his madness. He trained many lawyers. David wrote this in the comments section based on our post yesterday about Judge Nesbitt's blue robe. It bears repeating here.
david s markus said...Your reference to the late Judge Nesbitt brought a smile to my face. He was my first judge and I learned a lot about being a lawyer from him. He had no time for egos and quickly dispatched mine.
My first case was a shoplifting case defended by Bob Josefsburg. The A-form had a NE address instead of a NW address. Bob sat back and asked very few questions. I knew I was on my way to victory in my first case against a respected lawyer. After laughing about those "new kids" who had just started in the SAO and thought they knew it all (surely an apt reference to me), the judge granted a JOA because I had proven that the crime occurred in the middle of Biscayne Bay.
After he dismissed a few more of my cases,I learned how to prepare a case and how to prove each element. He made you actually prove your cases and didn't act like a rubber stamp just trying to move things along. In his courtroom, legal research and county court were not mutually exclusive terms. He enjoyed a good argument and really challenged me to do my best. I rarely won those arguments; not surprising- he was a brilliant man and, I believe, the valedictorian of his law school class.
Most importantly, he taught me to respect the power of my office and the impact I had on the lives of others, lessons I never forgot. Many disliked him because he was intolerant of lawyers who were not prepared and afraid to go to trial, and let them know it. Many thought he was a crusty, cantankerous curmudgeon; I though he was a wise old man who exemplified how a judge should behave.
Rumpole says: Bob Josefsberg representing misdemeanors. Now that was truly the good old days! See you in court.
Dudes! What are you talking about? I saw Nesbitt on Monday. He yelled at me for being late and then told me to get a hair cut. Dudes!!
ReplyDeleteWord of the day:
ReplyDeleteESCHEW
def to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds
Use: The Judge liked to go to lunch at Joes, but she eschewed picking up the check.
Word of the day sponsored by that small cafeteria on the 7th floor. Stop by for a Colada and tell us how your day is going.
Looking at the NFL week three to spot a line out of wack, and I see nothing I like- for either a suicide pick or a money pick. Tough week coming up. Need to scale back on legal research and spend more time contemplating lines. The rough road of being a professional.
ReplyDeleteRumpole, I believe this is blog worthy-
ReplyDeleteThere is a young PD, average guy, but excessively blessed by mother nature in an area where, well, you need to be an intimate friend to find out. Think boogie nights.
Anyway, there are two young ASAs who have experienced the blessings that mother nature can bestow on the lucky ones, and now they are slugging it out with each other because they don't want to share. The Dude wants them to share and actually play together. It's causing a major distraction in county court where we can't get through our disorderly conduct cases because of this.
Can you mediate this dispute?
Hate to mention it, but this 'news' is old. Laeser and Adams got a Guilty verdict last Friday night. Heard the summation was amazing.
ReplyDeleteAll the little mice already knew..
Nesbatico!!!
ReplyDeleteAlfred Not Guilty Nesbitt.
The Nes.
ASAs whine today when the judge undercuts their community service offer by 10 hours. They have no idea what a real Judge was like.
Update on Connolly case: Brief yelling match between Casabielle and Von Zamft over State's inappropriate comments in front of jury (Motion for Mistrial Denied by Blake). Also, the testimony of the actual shooter in the case, John Martorano, began today. The cross-examination should start this afternoon and go into tomorrow. Should be worth seeing...
ReplyDeleteThose were the hey-days of County Court crimes: Fred Nesbitt was the administrative Judge. Morton Perry, Arthur Winton and fast Gerald Klein along with Arthur Maginnis manned the rest of the courtrooms. DUI Court had Henry Oppenborn, Arthur Rothenberg, Fred Moreno, Al Sepe, and Celeste Muir.
ReplyDeleteI had a ball. I miss those days. I miss my friends from those days. It was an easier and simpler time. You even got depos in the misdemeanor cases if you wanted them!!! And speedy trial was nothing more than counting to 90 and then winning. And just about every court reporter was a babe. Wow. I really really miss those days.
Dude. DUI and crimes cases have always been separate. I mean that's county court 101.
ReplyDeleteDavid Markus hit the bulls eye with his comment.
ReplyDeleteI have decided to add a pole in every room of the house beginning with the kitchen. A man needs a little entertainment with his breakfast. Construction begins next week
Yes,3:18 is correct.They were simpler times.More inportantly,the practice of law was not a "business and to hell with the defendants"Defendants actually knew who was represnting them in court.Not today,at least not in county court.Attoneys secratarys take information,tell defendant no to worry,it "in the bag" and give the case to a second or third attorney to handle.The client shows up incourt not knowing the attorney,the attorney not knowing the defendant.The attorney not having a file and no knowing anything of the case and a plea is taken.Welcome to the todays real world.
ReplyDeleteAs any person the old time judges had their quirks.We` all do.But when attorneys such as Abe Laeser as a county court rposecutor handled a misdemeanor case or preliminary hearing docket he was fair and prepared,so were many of the P.D.The judges did not put up with some of theB.S.the judiciary puts up with for fear of disapproval fro specific segments of our population.Yes,the rules for the most part were followed without concern of retribution at election time.Without fear of not being able to secure substantial contributions from certain bar assiciation and their memberships.
Oh,for the old days!!!!
By the way,Judge Nesbit,that being Honorable Alfred Nesbit died a number of years ago and was survived by his wife Marion,Gary(and attorney and a daughter.And yes, a judge had that "bright"blue robe that the judge wore;so it is still in use.
10:08 & 3:18 hit it out of the park. If you publicly admit you practiced in front of Judges Nesbitt, Perry, McGinnis, et. al. you date yourself.
ReplyDeleteAs a young APD, I got numerous dismissals and JOAs, but what I have never forgotten was the bench trial where the first defendant I represented went to jail. Judge Nesbitt was the judge, gave my client a fair trial and then found him guilty and gave him a couple days in jail. I was treated respectfully and so was my client. But somehow, as is said, you don't forget your first. The judge was fair & it was a good awakening for a young lawyer used to winning. Years later, negotiating pleas for the min man or life, I still remember that first man going to jail because I lost at trial. I still thought Judge Nesbitt was fair.