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.

Friday, April 02, 2010

5TH DCA ROUNDUP-FIRST EDTION- VEXING THE JUDGE

DID YOU KNOW- That the man who invented the personal computer was born and raised in Miami? Dr. H. Edward Roberts died yesterday. Dr. Roberts was for the last 30 years of his life a simple general practice country doctor in Georgia. But it was in the mid-1970's that Dr. Roberts- before he was an MD- was an electronics hobbyist. He built a machine called the MITS Altair. It was the first personal computer. In 1975 Roberts and his machine appeared on the cover of Popular Electronics. The machine was so intriguing that it lured two young men from Boston down to Albuquerque, Georgia, to start writing code for the machine. Those two young men were Bill Gates- who dropped out of Harvard- and Paul Allen- who left his job at Honeywell. Gates and Allen wrote their BASIC code for the machine, which soon became Microsoft Basic, and the rest is history.

A man with a hobbyist's passion for "micro-computing" (as it was called then) and two young men intrigued by the machine intersected in a small town in Georgia to change the course of history. Only in the United States of America.




COURTS ARE CLOSED FOR GOOD FRIDAY. ENJOY THE LONG WEEKEND.

For some reason, criminal contempt cases catch our attention.
Thus we report to you this 5th DCA case reversing a juvenile court judge who held a woman in contempt when her cell phone rang in court. The punishment by the way, was the destruction of the woman's phone whereupon it was unceremoniously dumped in the trash.


Contempt is an act tending to embarrass, hinder, or obstruct the court in the administration of justice, or to lessen the court’s authority or dignity. Richey v. McLeod, 188 So. 228, 229 (Fla. 1939). Contempt does not exist just because a judge feels aggrieved or vexed. Via v. State, 633 So. 2d 1198, 1198 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994). Direct criminal contempt is summary punishment for conduct that occurs in the presence of the court. Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.830. Direct criminal contempt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Braisted v. State, 614 So. 2d 639, 640 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993); see Hicks ex rel. Feiock v. Feiock, 485 U.S. 624, 632 (1988).


Rumpole: This is good news indeed as we have vexed and aggrieved many a judge.


Rule 3.830 requires that the judgment of guilt of contempt include a recital of those facts underlying the charged contempt upon which the adjudication of guilt is based. This requirement cannot be dismissed as merely a technical requirement. Gidden v. State, 613 So. 2d 457, 460 (Fla. 1993). Purely conclusory statements will not meet the requirement of a recitation of facts. For example, citing the contemnor’s “unjudicious, unethical and intemperate conduct before the court” is insufficient.


Rumpole: More good news! Being intemperate is what we're all about.


Even if the order was facially sufficient, we would reverse the conviction of direct criminal contempt as there is no evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. McRoy’s actions, annoying as they undoubtedly were, embarrassed, hindered or obstructed the court in the administration of justice, or lessened the court’s authority or dignity. The power of contempt must be used only rarely and with circumspection. See State v. Clemmons, 150 So. 2d 231, 234 (Fla. 1963). “The provocation must never be slight, doubtful or of shifting interpretations. The occasion should be real and necessary, not murky, and not ameliorated in some less formal manner.”


Rumpole: For those of you needing assistance in walking the thin line of provocation- and particular instruction on how to slightly provoke- with doubtful and shifting interpretations in a murky sort of way- keep reading this blog.


See You in Court, doing what we do.




22 comments:

fake country dave said...

Dudes! Where is everyone? I could have sworn I had an arraignment.

Anonymous said...

Shumie time was at 8:00 a.m. today.

Anonymous said...

SING IT- my brother of the the Shum.

The Vatican has lost it's mind. said...

Shumie worked late today so you wouldn't have to.

On this Good Friday, remember the sacrifices your friends made for you.

PS- The Vatican has lost their mind.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole
Let us Remember that 1977 years ago today, an innocent man was executed by the Empire.
DS

RFB said...

Rumpole- Newman's much maligned "Plea decision matrix" which he often defined price is right style by telling defendants "you can have what's behind door number one or what's behind door number two..." has been used with great success in far flung places like Bosnia and Auckland, New Zealand. WHile the plea matrix was never a big hit in Miami, it doesn't mean that is doesn't works. It does work. And it continues to work all over the world.

Anonymous said...

Newman will have his own doors to chose after the election. door 1 become an asa, door 2 become an apd. door 3 try mediation. He never could make it in private practice. Maybe he could guide John Sutton around. I wish him good luck,

Anonymous said...

Your obsession with Shumie is beyond pathetic.

The Beer Party said...

First the Tea Party, then came the Coffee Party, I now bring you The Beer Party,

Anonymous said...

ANNOUNCEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Seeing the dearth of talent to many seeking judicial posts and recognizing how under-represented and disenfranchised many in our diverse community feel, I declare my candidacy for judge of the County Court.

My friends know me as Franklyn Joseph Henderson, but will appear on the ballot as “Paco El Macho Francis Smith Shapiro Gonzalez.” (Yes there is room on the line).

I was advised by the “Godfather”of judicial politics, that this was a good move.
(For those who do not know “Godfather of judicial politics” he is the one whose name shall not be mentioned on this blog).

I ask for your support in our upcoming campaign function.

Attire at my functions is important, as the ever vigilant press will be watching my campaign, so I ask all you ladies to wear revealing slutty attire, and all the fine hunks to do likewise. I am a touchy, feelly person, who does not discriminate, so feel free to hug be and pat my anatomy, even kiss up to my anatomy. AAAA a kiss after a good spanking is heavenly.

Liquor will flow freely at my events, as I appreciate that all of you who will support me will be willing to kiss up to me blaming it of the alcohol, and who cares. We shall explore the wonders of all those archaic laws that still prohibit adultery and sodomy in Florida.

Oh yes, the most important part, no checks. The “Godfather” says we need cash and mucho cash to pay for endorsements, pay the ballot brokers to get absentee ballots for me, and pay all those political mignons who will get me elected.

Please support me, please please. I need the job and delusions of power. Besides, I look forward to wearing the rob a la natural, cool cool cool.

Anonymous said...

The Shumie obsession is as lame as the Q one.

Anonymous said...

11:19 pm, Newman was in private practice before running for judge.

Anonymous said...

I was at the PDs awards banquet (yes, there used to be money in the budget for that) when the Big Swede Jim Gustafson was presented with the Felony SLam award by Bennett. It had a large Not Guilty with the 4 cases and dates of the not guilty verdict inscribed on the award.

eyeonshumietime said...

10:21 - Just so you know- Shumie Time is a term that comes from west coast surfers to say when the surf was up. The term had several initial incantations until it spread west- first to Chicago- where it was first used by lawyers as a code word to get out of work early- and then to Daytona Beach and Hollywood, where it was again used by surfers, and finally to Miami, where some young attorneys who hung out with surfers again used it to denote the time to cut out of work and catch some waves.

It has NO- repeat- NO NONE NADA- connection to a certain lawyer in Miami who happens to have the same nickname. You can google the etymology of shumie time and it will tell you everything.

Shumie time is a state of mind.

FAKE MARIO PUZO said...

SAM SLOM : MANNY ALVAREZ came to my home, and he asked my permission to get rid of Judge Newman When I refused he filed against you anyway. He was stupid; I was lucky. I'll visit him soon. The important thing is that nothing interfere with our plans for the future, yours and mine.
ED NEWMAN: Nothing is more important. You're a wise and considerate young man.
SAM SLOM: And you're a great man, Mr. Newman There's much I can learn from you.
SLOM: Whatever I can do to help, ED...You're young, I'm old and sick. What we will do together in the next few months will make history ED, history. It's never been done before. Not even your Coach Shula would dream that such a thing could be possible.
ED NEWMAN: MANNY ALVAREZ is a gonner-. You don't object?
SLOM: He's small potatoes.

Anonymous said...

As any elementary school student knows, Albuquerque was -- and still is -- in New Mexico. Roberts, Gates and Allen collaborated in New Mexico, not in a small town in Georgia. If you had read the full AP story you were summarizing, without attribution (as if you were reporting this stuff of your own knowledge), you would have known this.

Anonymous said...

Fake Michael Corleone Said: This Judicial Elction we settle all Family Business.....

Anonymous said...

Fake John Donne said: Ask not for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee ..."Special Ed"

Anonymous said...

Manny might make a fine judge, but I have had it with Hector Lambana and the other egomaniacal, "king-making" extortionists that control who I get to vote for and who should be elected in this county. Sorry Manny, if I can bring myself to vote at all, a vote for Ed is a vote against the sleazy, corrupt, fear-based, ethnocentric, and racist system of judicial coronation--excuse me--election we have.

Hector and his ilk are zits on the face of humanity. Eliminate them, and those cut from the same cloth that work to destroy democracy by bringing fear and extortion to the legislative branch (see, e.g. Ron Book) and we might get our country back.

Anonymous said...

3:53 a.m., it's not "bell tolls". It's "Sunpass tolls." What does judge Newman have to do with tolls? He doesn't do infraction calendars and doesn't deal with MDX and DOT.

Anonymous said...

Lombana spell it right L-O-M-B-A-N-A..........

Anonymous said...

Give me a L: L
Give me an O: O
Give me a M: M
Give me a B: B
Give me an A: A
Give me a N: N
Give me an A: A

What does that spell? Lombana. He da man.