Breaking: Defendant pleads guilty to first degree murder one month after the arrest. PD Pat Nally says plea was in client's best interest as it would allow him to escape the death penalty. Defendant is 35 years old and will spend the rest of his life in prison. Herald article here.
Your thoughts on this controversial move?
One is called Tips For Young Lawyers by civil attorney Frank Ramos. It's thoughtful, well written, and contains nuggets like "when I'm on my death bed I will not be thinking 'I should have billed more hours' " and
"The key to the practice of law is preparation. I would rather go up against an experienced lawyer who is lazy than an inexperienced one who works his butt off." and
"The attorney who was disbarred for misappropriating client funds started years ago by fudging on the little things. Don’t start down that path."
And then there's this rag called "Menage A Law" with the motto "Where great minds come together".
After reading the sniveling tripe on that blog, we are of the opinion that the very best thing those great minds who come together on that blog could do for humanity would be to blow their collective brains out.
corrigendum: Miguel De La O, expert football suicide pool participant and great criminal defense attorney is also a candidate for the circuit court seat of the late Judge Skip Gross. Mr. De La O is one of four names before the governor for appointment to the open seat. We mistakenly left his name out in the last post. We apologize and wish all the candidates well.
Arnold called the shumie on his marriage years ago. I'm calling the shumie on this day that seems like it will never end. Cya- I have six cold ones waiting for me at the condo.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why you left out De la O.
ReplyDeleteI have seen him act like a total ass and would not be pleased with him getting that nod.
Who is the dbag that runs the Menage a Law website?
ReplyDeletePat Nally is not a fighter in the courtroom. Poor fella needs to go out to pasture. A classic example of why the dade pd's office is no longer respected. "Judge we have reached a resolution in this case. I've not taken any depositions or talked to any witness, including my client but based on these charges, and the fact that I'm a total pussy, my client will be pleading to life without parole. "
ReplyDeletePat still believes that Chavez (the man who was convicted of raping and slaughtering Jimmy Rice) is innocent. He is a true believer.
ReplyDeleteThat is just wrong. I can't believe a better deal could not have been worked out. That there was no mitigating factors for the defense. That the state could not have been talked into a non life plea at a minimum. SAO should not threaten plea now or death. That is supposed to never be an option.
ReplyDeleteLook,
ReplyDeleteAn experienced attorney can tell what is a good case and what is a dog. Up here in Florida, we have police who write up pretty detailed reports when they find a body laying around. Some people pre-meditate their murders and leave bundles of evidence behind, then confess, on video, after being warned of their right to remain silent. We rednecks have some smart polices who can follow the law and get criminals to sing like birds.
We have tough prosecutors who have come to lawyers, early in the case and said, “plead guilty early and we will give you life in prison, turn down this plea and we will work as hard as we can to see your client gets the maximum, which in this case, is to be hung by the neck until your client is dead, dead, dead.” Since the only state that kills more people than Florida is Texas; cutting an early deal for life can be darn good lawyering. If I was guilty, and they could prove I was guilty, I would be a lot better off pleading early and moving on to the DOC than rotting in our hellhole of a county jail for the two years it takes to move a murder.
republicans are immoral and can't escape their greedy minds, greedy fingers, greedy hearts.
ReplyDeleteHow about a HT to the Captain for the de la O information.
ReplyDeleteRumpy, care to make a prognostication on the Heat v. Bulls series???
Cap Out ....
No, Rumpy is going to wait till it's over to take his cheap shots should they lose....which they won't...which is why Rumpy has been silent on this matter for sometime.
ReplyDeleteI no fan of de la O,
ReplyDeleteI think the Heat are in trouble. They are not a team. They are two stars, a third almost star and a poor supporting cast. A good team well coached will wipe the floor with them.
ReplyDeleteBoy the way this is going we are going to have lots of election challenges in 2012!
ReplyDeleteRump - what's up with all the venom? That menage blog has been around a while, and southflorida lawyers is part of it. I think its witty.
ReplyDelete"blow their collective brains out "?????
weird.
you ok?
Pat and CLU agonized over this case.I have talked to him about this, prior and after the plea... The bottom line was plea now on 2 degree and life or the State gets an indictment and goes for death. In this case it was a slam dunk for death w/NO mitigation. The State had an AIR TIGHT case and NO MITIGATION. they grabbed life cause the only alternative was DEATH.
ReplyDeleteDS
I am not sure what Pat Nally was thinking or am I even aware of the discussions he had with the prosecutors. But I can tell you this, with the exception of a few lazy fucks, the Dade PDs has some great lawyers in that office who will try a case on a drop of a dime.
ReplyDelete4:48 pm,
ReplyDeleteYou are a pussy because you are knocking a lawyer, with years of dedication, in an anonymous manner.
Patt Nally needs no defense since he has been an defense advocate for 3 decades.
We are attorneys... not the clients.!If that was the desire of the defendant, then so be it.
Perhaps the defendant had an epiphany of honor and remorse, didn't want to burden the deceased's family and wanted to move on and put it behind him.
Perhaps this had strong death penalty implications and the crux of the defense was saving his life.
Sometimes in criminal law, the "window of opportunity" is the most prudent application.
Since the defendant admitted guilt, and the crime is quite heinous, your sympathy and emotions are most definitely steered towards the wrong "fella"!
Put your name out there you loser!
Rump
ReplyDeleteYou really have a problem with the PD's office.
At a minimum get the guy a psyche eval before pleading him out to life with no work done. I don't necessarily fault Pat but the Judge should have sua sponte ordered that an eval be donw before accepting the plea.
ReplyDeleteI think the question about Pat Nally's decision is extremely unfair. No one of us can judge the advice- and remember it is just advice- that he gave his client after his client discussed the case with him.
ReplyDeleteAsking for thoughts on this is just an invitation to attack Pat and none of us were privy to what he knew.
But here's what we do know: Pat is a very tenacious and dedicated litigator. If the client required a trial, he was in the very best of hands.
The Captain is a dope seeking a HT.
ReplyDeleteScott - why do you hate women?
ReplyDeleteJust kidding, please don't call me the "P" word or beat me up.
Okay, really just kidding, I love that you put your name out there when the rest of pus...punks can't take the heat.
Kick ass SS
I agree with Scott Saul. I think that the only redeeming characteristic of this recidivist maggot who killed that poor unarmed woman in her own home was the desire to get this over with and not put a family through a years-long ordeal. Look at Casey Anthony - arrest to trial, capital case, in less than 3 years.
ReplyDeleteNow, what's the average wait time on a death penalty case in Florida? 8, 9 years?
This case was horrific. Piece of shit drifter looking to burglarize a home for money to gamble. Wife comes home and he kills her.
This could have been an occupied burglary. It could have been non-violent. In fact, from the outset, it had every indication of being non-violent. But this guy chose to take an innocent life rather than risk a couple years in prison for a burglary. Now he will spend the rest of his life worrying about getting fucked in the ass or shanked with a TV antenna.
I'm a defense attorney and I have a pretty strong stomach. But this case struck a nerve, maybe because I have a family and cannot imagine the pain that the next of kin is going through.
On a different note - we are all very confused as to what the practice of criminal defense is all about. Too many of us are more concerned about being "great trial attorneys" than doing what is in our clients' best interest.
Pat Nally, who I agree is an excellent attorney (and litigator), could have had his client evaluated, taken depos, filed motions, dragged this out until 2015. He would have gone to trial, lost, his client would have been sentenced to die.
Would that have made him a better advocate than he supposedly was by resolving this case to a non-death sentence?
Think about it, guys. Who are we working for here. Our clients or our egos?
Heard your wifey is gonna run for pooler's seat.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with scott saul on this one (that does not make me gay, does it? - not that there is anything wrong with that.)
ReplyDeleteagree that the anonymous comment is gutless.
agree that criticizing when not in case is foolish and ignorant
and agree mostly that nally is the best of the best at what he does
11:06 is dopier and has no sense of humor
ReplyDeleteYou are all idiots. A lawyer settling a case FOR LIFE one month after the crime? Even I know that you losers don't get a lead detective report for about six months. So how much information could this attorney really have?
ReplyDeleteI don't like lawyers who settle. Never have.
Didn't we become trial lawyers to TRY cases? I did.
While I'm on the subject I think the PDs office has entirely too many cases. And by that I mean that the Judges do not do a good job screening clients who can and cannot afford an attorney. I know for a fact that one enourmous case right now has a client who owns a home and yet they have a "pdish" lawyer on the case. Thieves.
I'm angry about all of this crapola.
12:02 here -
ReplyDelete"I don't like lawyers who settle. Never have.
Didn't we become trial lawyers to TRY cases? I did."
Really????
We all settle cases. Every one us. From the so-called "bottom feeder" to the guy who charges $35,000 for a DWLS. We settle cases because by doing so we mitigate risks that our clients would otherwise take.
I love trials. They are fun. But you and I go home each night. If we lose trial, our pride is hurt. Our clients are the ones with the criminal records and the convictions and the jail or prison time.
This "I'm a trial attorney never gonna take a plea" bullshit gets a lot of attorneys in trouble.
Taking a plea without doing your due dilligence (hell taking PTI without doing your due dilligence) is wrong. But many times, truly great lawyering is the work you do on a case pretrial that leads to that great offer. The evidence you uncover through your investigation. The strong and informative depositions you take. The way you exploit the weaknesses in the state's case.
When you get a serious felony reduced to a misdemeanor or probation for a multiple felon charged with a punishable by life offense, you have done an outstanding job.
You could win a trial just because the ASA didn't know how to get a gun into evidence or because the jury didn't believe the cop.
Really great lawyering can and does exist in the time spent out of the courtroom.
I agree with Angry Gurl-
ReplyDeleteI became an attorney to try cases. I don't care what my client wants. What's best for him/her is immaterial, as long as I get my trial stats, and can say I am certified in Criminal Defense on my business cards and at happy hour on Brickell. (by the way, I can usually put my fake tits with scabby nipples on the bar and get a free drink!)
The risk to my client and his family does not matter. It is about the process, never the result. Better a hundred men get sentenced to prison, than one man take a reasoned intelligent plea to save his job and family.
If you don't take all your clients to trial, it is only because you are a pussy, and can't stomach the thought of your clients being sent away for 10 or 20 years. Boo hoo. If you took more cases to trial, you would not have such weak nerves.
You state court lawyers stink. PDs carrying a caseload of 200 cases. You aren't fit to hold my jock. (just an expression, I had my vag surgically tightened, and It looks fab!)
Try to come to Federal Court sometime. I've been there on days where there are eleven cases on the docket. And one was mine! It's going to be a great trial. My client will die in prison, but as I said, it is about the process. He almost took a plea. I "advised" him of his options, but told him that if he is innocent, he should go to trial, because this is America.
God I love being a lawyer. (everyone on Brickell is so amazed that anyone with such a tight butt can be an educated successful attorney!) thanks Daddy!
PAB
Jackie Woodward running for Judge Pooler's seat? Both of them are hot messes. Katie can pass down her robes, I suppose.
ReplyDeletePat Nally is an excellent attorney. He would never back away from a trial if that was in the best interest of the client. Very unfair comments from anonymous people who likely know little or nothing about the case. I agree with Scott and Phil.
ReplyDeleteRF.
Rump,
ReplyDeletefor the love of God, Allah, Yahweh, Buddah, Kurt Cobain and Bob Marley, censor this Angry Gurl moron. She/It has no first amendment right on the blog. Her comments are akin to a Glenn Beck bipolar rant. I can't take it anymore. I rather read Nancy Wear FACDL emails.
Yeah, this angry gurl is a real bitch.
ReplyDeleteAbout Angry Gurl:
ReplyDeleteYeah, apparently the blog is her only friend to whom she can tell secrets about her body parts. The rest of us are running for the toilet.
Serious inferiority complex, anorexia, anger -- where is it coming from? Please get analyzed and don't expect us to do your work.