WE RECEIVED THIS EMAIL:
Anonymous said...as a PD in county court, I am getting those discovery notices on all my cases...crimes and traffic...they basically list witnesses who may be called at trial and then say we can go view and copy the rest of discovery at the SAO, thursdays and fridays between certain hours...total bullshit...i never thought the SAO would stoop this low!
OK FACDL- TIME TO STEP UP AND DO YOUR STUFF. YOU GUYS GOING TO ALLOW THIS BS?
PHIL DAVIS IS BACK! SEE BELOW.
We haven't run into it- but several people have mentioned it to us, and we are now receiving emails on this.
IS FORMER JUDGE PHIL DAVIS ON TRIAL?
According to some sources, former and disgraced Circuit Judge Phil Davis is starting trial before Judge and noted judicial conciliator Beatrice Butchko for the white collar fraud case he got pinched on in 2005.
We have a prediction: before this thing ends Davis will be wondering "Alcee Hastings where are you?"
For those of you relatively new to the REGJB, Phil Davis was a defense attorney who ran for circuit judge and won the election. (bonus trivia question: What federal prosecutor did he beat in a run off?)
Once elected, Davis was, to put it mildly acting erratically while on and off the bench. It turns out he had a few problems- he was abusing controlled substances and was caught up in the infamous Courtbroom judicial fraud case.
Judges Davis, Sepe, and Shenberg, went to trial in federal court. Judge Roy T Gelber was the flip. (second trivia question- who represented Sepe and Shenberg ?)
Alcee Hastings, a former federal judge himself who was impeached, represented Davis. He did a hell of a job. Davis was acquitted despite a mountain of evidence against him. Hastings then ran for congress when new district lines were re-drawn and won and has been serving ever since. Life is indeed stranger than fiction.
Harvey Shenberg, a county court judge, was convicted of among other things, selling the name of a confidential informant he was led to believe would be killed. As the FBI cameras rolled, Shenberg stuffed $50,000 in cash down his pants at a park and lamented how hard it was to put a kid through college on a Judge's salary. We heard Shenberg was recently released after serving almost 18 years.
Al Sepe's was not decided at the first trial. We seem to remember there was a hung jury. Eventually Sepe pled out to some federal felony, did a year, and faded into Miami obscurity.
Any updates on the Davis trial will be appreciated.
It is on low LSA misd and DWLS cases so far.
ReplyDeleteJudges are pissed.
They basically tell you to go to the clerk and police to get the reports.
For the remainder of the week the role of Fake Alschuler will be played by the stand in. We regret any inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteDude dont mock lsa and dwls cases rumps wife handles those cases
ReplyDeleteand another thing, I hate dis van helsing...he is bulsheeeeeet!
ReplyDeleteWhen did I get married???
ReplyDeleteFritz Mann.
ReplyDeleteI read the st. pete times article about phil davis...it says Don S. Cohn represented him at the bond hearing? Is that correct?
ReplyDeleteSepe's lawyer was our own, lovable Ed O'Donnell, Sr.
ReplyDeleteWhat's next from the SAO - no a-forms in disco - go get them yourself from the police?
ReplyDeleteDamn Rump, you can't remember when you married Jackie? I see an ass whupping in your future when she reads that.........
ReplyDelete;-)
1. Fritz Mann
ReplyDelete2.???
Davis did indeed beat Fed prosecutor Fritz Mann. Take a bow.
ReplyDeleteNo one has ever asked about my marital status nor have I have mentioned it.
Rump:
ReplyDeleteWhile Alcee did Phil a favor (as Phil was broke; he admitted taking cash, claiming he did so because he was pissed that he had to take a bus to get to court as he couldn't afford a car), and did the opening and closing arguments, Phil represented himself at trial. He did a rather poor job (something about a fool and self representation) as Takiff and Gelber skewed him during his cross of them. The great Jay Hogan, who was representing former Judge (and convicted bag man) David Goodhart saved his ass by conducting an incredible cross of each.
31 count Information against Davis and a female defendant.Centerino filed Information in 05 reagrding 02/03 MiamiCollege,his P.T.I.program approved by Horn and State Attorney over objection by one judge.Specific unknown.Prosecutor is from Broward and case in trial before Butchko.State approved program run by Davis albeit his past.
ReplyDeleteRumpole
ReplyDeleteWe all know you are married to She Who Must Be Obeyed, whose father was once head of chambers.
D. Sisselman [ aka DS ]
ps :In 4-6, State vs Davis is a pure paper case. Very boring so far. Barrar may actually pull this out of the majic hat if the State is not very careful and lays this out in a simpler, understanderable manner.
it was o'donnell along with cahart who represented sepe.
ReplyDeleteShenberg did ten years, not eighteen. Steve Bronis represented Shenberg. Ed Carhart represented Sepe. O'Donnell was brought in to cross examine Gelber and Al Tiseo.
ReplyDeleteI saw Davis in the hall on 4 today said hello and thought holy shit he was back practicing in the regb. Funniest shit ever is the bond hearing tape featuring Davis, put together by the pd bond hearing unit back in 89 or 90 ( Kubillion would know),. if it is still around it is a must see
ReplyDeleteJason Grey
I never could figure out how to view the Davis trial. Should Hastings be given gold laurels, or should the unnamed prosecutor go into some field more promising, like plumbing?
ReplyDeleteAfter all, the defense in the case was that when a sitting judge [Davis] was seen taking the $20,000 bribe to fix a case, he was actually so high on cocaine that he truly believed that it was merely a gift or contribution.
Even more astounding was that the Florida Bar took about three years to pull his license, when his defense to taking a bribe on the bench was that he was too coked up to know that it was really a bribe.
Gotta love this town!
as a PD in county court, I am getting those discovery notices on all my cases...crimes and traffic...they basically list witnesses who may be called at trial and then say we can go view and copy the rest of discovery at the SAO, thursdays and fridays between certain hours...total bullshit...i never thought the SAO would stoop this low!
ReplyDeleteAlthough Alcee was impeached in the House and convicted in the Senate (by slightly more than 2/3 that was needed) he was found not guilty at trial.
ReplyDeleteI met Alcee. He speaks with passion. Sometimes - like the Palin remark - he sticks his foot in his mouth. However, he is a very impressive speaker - and I'm sure one hell of a trial lawyer. The Senate had the option to keep Alcee from ever seeking federal office again, but didn't do so.
Fritz Mann was the federal prosecutor he beat in the race
ReplyDeletewhat could alcee have said bad about the fuckin useless mooselady from alaska?
ReplyDeletePD at 744----
ReplyDeleteIn the old days, the State didn't provide ANY breath docs unless you visited the office on Fridays to get copies. Gilfarb and Talpins changed the rule and opened up the process in the mid '90s. When Talpins went back down in the early part of this decade, he put the docs on the web to make it even easier. Made perfect sense. It was easier on the prosecutors and eliminated the claims that the State was hiding anything. Don't know why anyone would change that.
i hope davis goes down but i fear that those wicked retarded broward asa's will shit the bed and lose the case like they do so often
ReplyDeleteI am also a PD in county court and the SAO new policy is nothing more than a sham designed to get defense attorneys to blow their natural speedy rights. F**K that. I say we file 20 speedy demands a week and see how quickly they change their policy.
ReplyDeleteinspection or copy....inspection or copy...read the rule!
ReplyDeleteas a former prosecutor, I've spent hours on end photocopying police reports for discovery purposes. Defendants are entitled to the reports but the rule is clear...inspection or copy....SAO owes no duty to photocopy (for free) all reports..Particularly when budgets are so tight that salaries are being cut. Yeah...it was an easier model to just turn the disco over at ARR but I certainly understand in these lean times why the SAO might change the former policy.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting those notices on traffic cases telling me to get the A-form and purchase the Tallahassee printout from the Clerk's Office. If the State wants to use the Tallahassee printout to prove convictions, suspensions or expirations of driver licenses, they should provide it and not make me buy it.
ReplyDeleteI hear that this is a tactic imported from the Broward SAO to make defense lawyers waive speedies.
Hey 9?45 snot-faced PD who thinks his sh** don't stink: fine, play your little speedy trial games. I'm not with the State now but was in the past. When you little runts think you're going to overthrow the State with crap talk like that, trust me, they will come down hard and it will be your client who pays. Just do your f-ing job and get copies of the reports. No one said you deserve discovery delivered to your door step. Due diligence, d*** head.
ReplyDeleteAl Sepe celebrated his 55th wedding Anniversary yesterday.
ReplyDeleteCap Out ...
Swine flu continues to hit blog cast hard. The roles of Fake Alschuler, Fake Risivy will be played by their stand ins until further notice.
ReplyDeleteThe roles of Fake Adelstein and Fake Matters have been discontinued until further notice.
We apologize for any inconvenience.
I hate dis Van Helsing! he is dis bulsheet!
ReplyDeleteI don like dis captain eder. He reminds me of Van Helsing. I hate dem both . Bulsheeet I say.
Captain- If you listened to the courtbroom tapes you know that Sepe was my rabbi. And if you talk like NY wiseguys then you know what rabbi means. He will outlive all of us courtbroom guysz.
ReplyDeleteIs Alex Michaels a vampire?
ReplyDelete10:52 well if u want everyone to go to the sao to "copy and inspect" then the pds office will stop providing your office courtesy copies of depo transcripts and reciprocal discovery...u can walk your ass over to our office and copy that yourselves...you are not the only office with severe budget cuts and have employees with outrageous caseloads!
ReplyDeletewhadda ya mean no police reports wit deescovery?
ReplyDeletedis is BULLSHEEEEET! I will roar in court.
I hate Van Helsing. I dislike de captain. Shumie ok.
Former ASA here
ReplyDeleteThink about what the SAO spends in labor, paper, copier supplies and postage on all these cases to mail out discovery. If they gave each ASA and secretary a scanner/printer (which probably costs 200 bucks), and let them e-mail or burn discovery to a CD, they would make the money back in about three seconds.
They're the largest law firm in the county, yet lag behind about 95% of the firms in Miami in terms of technology. Then they wonder why they have no money to pay the ASAs a decent salary.
Sad, sad, news a Judge is very ill with the H1N1 and may not make it.
ReplyDeleteThe Herald is running a story about the Miami Judge.
In other news JT is alive and well.
"When you little runts think you're going to overthrow the State with crap talk like that, trust me, they will come down hard and it will be your client who pays.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Because the SAO is more concerned with retaliating against the PD and defense attorneys than with justice for society, victims or the accused.
Can't we all just get along? How about all of us join the 21st century and scan and email or digitize discovery in general. The person desiring the discovery bears the cost of printing it out if he/she so desires, or he/she can keep it in digital format if it is not essential for the disco to be in paper.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I see the part about inspect,copy, etc.. in the rule. But it also says they shall "disclose." The notice from SAO says if no arrest affidavit was enclosed I could obtain a copy of it. I spent the better part of forever in line, trying to get a copy of an A-form, only to be told there wasn't one.
ReplyDeleteDon Cohn was on the Davis case and had to pass it off when he became a judge.
ReplyDeleteDon was looking all over for someone to take the Phil Davis case for little of no money.
PDs...Stop your crying about the citations. Your freaking clients get a copy of the citation when they are stopped.
ReplyDeleteYou sir, are not correct.
ReplyDeleteNumerous clients don't get the damn citations and even when they do, you can not read them.
Rump- OMG- I'm in private practice for the first year- formerly from the PD/SAO- you'll see why I need my privacy here. I've done OK- settled about 825 K in personal injury claims and have a pretty good criminal business from mailers. Not great- but the PI stuff has put me over the top.
ReplyDeleteOK- im in my office by myself- my bookeeper is this 52 yr old Cuban mega milf- always wearing tight sexy clothing- ling silky black hair- great body- very flirty. I'm on the couch in my office- she comes in- sits down- brings me this quarter's 941 payroll taxes. I squint. I have a headache. She offers to rub my neck- 5 minutes later we're making out right crazy- 10 minutes after that the clothes are off and we're going at it like no tomorrow.
She's gone now. It was great. I want more, but I don't want to be on the front page of the local herald section ala David Letterman, not to mention my girlfriend who will filet me if she finds out. Yet this woman- call her Lolita- is so much better than my GF- I'd be willing to have her move in. The sex was that good.
Help/
Those of us who have a decent sized county court practice need to band together and stop the sao and stop them in their tracks NOW>
ReplyDelete3.220(b) Prosecutor’s Discovery Obligation.
ReplyDelete(1) Within 15 days after service of the Notice of Discovery, the prosecutor shall serve a
written Discovery Exhibit which shall disclose to the defendant AND PERMIT THE DEFENDANT TO INSPECT, COPY, TEST AND photograph the following information and material within the state’s possession or control:
SO SHUT UP AND GO COPY
The copying is done by interns at the SAO, so there is no labor cost. As to the paper and toner costs, scan the docs and uppload them to a website or burn them on a CD just like felony prosecutors do in organized fraud cases.
ReplyDeleteFYI - Phil Davis is being represented by Robert Barrar and Sara Shulevitz.
ReplyDeleteThe cops don't always give citations. I had a noncriminal civil ticket once and the cop left with it. I was so annoyed, I had to write a Major and Captain to finally obtain it because they want to suspend your license if you don't do anything about it in 30 days. It was vexing, I didn't even have a ticket number for days.
ReplyDeleteLovin' the PD/SAO war. sounds like: legally speaking.. SAO wins. I dont hear the SAO bitch when the law and the rules go against them, because: ITS THE F%^&ing LAW AND THE RULES.
ReplyDeleteOH, and 9:45 (tard), just a bit of advice from someone who actually KNOWS whats going on: you PDs better be ready for trial if they plan to file 20 speedy demands a week. This means actually contacting your crackhead clients (or maybe the SAO office should hand deliver them to you as well) ASA's are a sneeky bunch of SOB's. dont let your crackies bear the rath of your flawed argument. Trick or Treat bitches!
The price of a Tallahassee DL printout is now $17 (assuming it's only one page) for those of us in private practice! For a printout of a computer record?? That before October 1 was only $10 ? I know prices have gone up but $17 ??? for the clerk to enter a DL number and hit Print? How expensive is the ink they're using?
ReplyDeleteAlcee Hastings is a complete POS - what a disgrace that guy getting impeached and convicted!
ReplyDeleteWhy is it the people who say we need to "band together" and go after the evil empire, are usually tickets lawyers who won't lift a fucking finger to do anything.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was at SAO County copying and mailing of disco was a secretary and attorney job. There are not roving bands of interns in line for the copy machine to make defense copies. Everyone is getting pinched by budget cuts (except higher level and consulting PDs), tell the legislature to get their shit together or the free disco buck will continue to get pushed on to the defense. Adapt ad overcome, cause I know the SAO doesn't have money to throw away, or pay their employees. Still that lingering threat of furloughs.
ReplyDelete7:39----No, interns don't sit around and do the disco/copying. And, if the SAO started having them do it all, you really think anyone else would intern for them in the future?
ReplyDeleteTerrible idea.
BTDT
10:22 when the laws and rules go against the SAO, someone is NOT going to jail...when are you going to realize that YOUR JOB IS NOT ABOUT WINNING BUT IT IS ABOUT SEEKING JUSTICE!!!!!! you file the charges, you are pointing the finger and YOU SHOULD ALSO HAVE TO PROVIDE ALL THE EVIDENCE YOU ARE USING TO PROVE IT...if you are worried about your budget, stop filing so many BULLSHIT charges!
ReplyDelete9:28 pm, why go after the major and the captain for the ticket when the cop gave a perfect motion to dismiss for lack of service? Next time, file a special limited appearance, get a copy of Dellow v. State and beat the ticket.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a cite for Dellow?
ReplyDeleteOkay, then we file 30 speedy demands a week. Seriously ignorant commentators, how long does it take to get ready for a DWLS/LSA. I am ready with the A-Form.
ReplyDelete10:46.........remember that you have an ethical obligation to each client as an individual. You can't sacrifice one to help others.
ReplyDelete10.46, what you are not getting is that this is not a real strategy nor an ethical problem. The point is, the SAO is basically forcing us not to work with them and each client who a person files a demand on, they must be in contact with. But even if you only had contact with 7 clients and filed a demand on those 7 each week, that would bring the system to a halt. why not just share the disco you have, if you want paper, then we'll provide it, but at least close out the BS cases and spend our resources on the more important cases.
ReplyDelete