Settle down people. To quote (paraphrase actually) my hero Al Haig, with Rumpole gone, until the Vice President of the Blog (whomever he or she is) returns, constitutionally I am in charge here. So lets get to it:
Item one: Jury starts deliberations today (Tuesday) in the Coral Gables High school case. We can only hope for justice.
Item two: Emily is a tropical storm headed for the Dominican Republic. Some computer tracking has Emily emerging on the other side of the island and gaining some strength and reaching a Cat 1 level as it reaches the South Florida area around 2pm Saturday.
Stay tuned to the blog for breaking weather updates.
Item three: The US will NOT default on its debt.
Item four: Jason Taylor returns to the Fins. That whole time in a green jets uniform is just a bad, distant memory.
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ReplyDeleteGOV. SCOTT IS AT IT AGAIN ......
Recently the Governor was provided with names of candidates as supplied by the BOG of the Florida Bar for appointment to certain JNC's.
In the 4th DCA JNC, the governor has REJECTED ALL NAMES and demanded new nominees be sent to his desk.
Those nominated included:
Amy Rubin, a partner with Fox Rothschild, a national firm, where she has been practicing for 26 years, She is Board Certified in both Business Litigation and Civil Trial. She also volunteers her time as a member of the Bus. Lit. Cert. Comm. for the Fla. Bar. Not good enough for the Governor.
Rebecca Vargas, a partner with Kreusler Walsh Compiani & Vargas, where she has been practicing for 13 years. She is Baord Certified in Appellate Practice. Not goof enough for the Governor.
Louis Vocelle, a partner with Vocelle & Berg, where he has been practicing for 29 years. He is Board Certified in both Business Litigation and Civil Trial. He also volunteers his time as a member of the Code & Rules of Evidence Comm. for the Fla. Bar. Not good enough for the Governor.
In the 17th Circuit JNC, the governor has REJECTED ALL NAMES and demanded new nominees be sent to his desk.
Phillippa Hutchins, she works as an Assistant AG in the Fort Lauderdale office and has been practicing for 11 years.
Frank Walker, practicing at his own firm for more than 40 years.
Neither was acceptable to the Governor.
Anyone else care to apply?
Cap Out .....
What he wants are conservative idealogues who will promote his business is good - government is bad philosophy. He is not new, Jeb Bush did the same thing to promote conservative judges and reshape the judiciary in his image. Scott wants to push that envelope farther and ensure pro-business tea-party types are on the bench. He's going to get it too.
ReplyDeleteI Cannot handle a hurricane or even a near miss without Rumpole at the controls of the blog. I want him back and NOW.
ReplyDeleteI mean it. I feel very vulnerable without him.
Right now the weather bimbo on channel seven is hinting that the high pressure system in the mid altantic region will remain far enough off shore so that the hurricane will NOT make landfall in south florida. Of course she could lose her job in an instant for telling people in Miami not to panic so she can't do that. But reading between the lines and her large bouncing yet perky breasts tells me we will be ok come the weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe last two comments make me ill beyond words.
ReplyDeleteAlso the morons at the gym who wear the "(inspi)red" T-shirts are people I can do without.
Just a mid day/mid week grouse.
BREAKING NEWS .....
ReplyDeleteGUILTY!
Of Second Degree Murder. Jury returns guilty verdict against Andy Rodriguez in the stabbing death of Coral Gables Hign classmate Juan Carlos Rivera.
Cap Out ....
Angry Gurl has a penis.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is smaller than most.
I like how the 7 Weather Bimbo says the "tampa shure" will be 90 at mid-day.
ReplyDeleteThe governor has no right constituionally to reject all names. The JNC is a constitutional body created to separate the executive from the nomination process. Article V of the Florida Constitution.
ReplyDeleteOne of the nominees, knowing he/she is never going to be appointed anyway should take him to the Supreme Court on a wirt of Mandamus. There is already precedent.
Captain you should know this. You worked for Crist for all those years.
Big mistake as usual for Alex Michaels if he pushed trial on this case. Now kid will most likely end up with a life sentence. This was a mitigation packet and plea case.
ReplyDeleteOfcourse I dont know the specifics, but I do know that JM and Marie are two very decent prosecutors who would have looked at whatever mitigation was given and come up with an offer. No gun used so BOG should be 20 years. Doubt Tunis will give BOG. Hope I'm wrong about the life sentence.
Angry gurl thinks that big-breasted, attractive, decolatage-showing women are genetically intended to be weather people as is evidenced by the fact that many seem not to know more about Victoria Secret wardrobe items than the weather.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting the timing of angury girl's comment--
ReplyDeleteIt was posted at 2:13pm. 60seconds after the comment posted above his-- err--I mean hers.
Big news out of Two Guys Cigar Emporium- their own line. Rumor is they will be releasing a "Dauntless Royale" a "El Jefe Grande" and a "Supremo" the last being marketed as "a hand rolled cigar made from an exclusive hand picked blend of cuban seed Dominican grown tobacco with the finest Panamanian wrapper on the market. Lightly oiled dark and sweet, this Pyramid shaped cigar, with a ring gage of 50 is for the executive who craves the best and most exclusive. A colorado maduro color compliments this cigar which will retail for $35.00 US when available. Supplies will be limited and demand will be high. Sold only through Two Guys Exclusive Cigar Emporium."
ReplyDeleteAs long as we are talking about the weather girl on &, can her clothes get any tighter? And how about the way she stands with her legs so far apart to make the skirt tighter? I don't think this stance was in the modeling course.
ReplyDeleteThe nuns who taught us in school would not have approve of these outfits at all, but I would guess they are not dressing to please women. They are dressing to please men, right?
Say what you will about Alex Michaels, but he is a trial lawyer. He has rejected PTI and tried grand theft cases and won. Not saying it's wise to subject your client to 5 years when PTI is on the table, but he is a fighter. Nobody doubts that he fights tooth and nail for his clients, probably more than any other lawyer. He is difficult to get along with and hated by a lot of judges and ASAs, but he serves his clients.
ReplyDeleteHe may have lost this one, but his last two trials were a JOA and a NG. Both cases were serious felonies.
You try enough cases, you're bound to lose. Good fight, though.
Memo to Alex Michaels - when your client stabs an unarmed guy with a knife and then flees, that is not self-defense. Self-defense would have been (maybe) if he just beat the crap out of him and then stayed until police arrived.
ReplyDeleteDeath is different and murder cases are different. What works for a non-homicide doesn't usually work on a homicide.
Angry Gurl - i'm sorry the inspir(red) campaign, which is a charity formed to elimate AIDS, offends you.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the blog sponsor, Two Guys Cigars and Circumcision Emporium.
ReplyDelete"The place that's hip, where they'll snip your tip!"
And now back to our program.
to 5:43 PM; you're right, I should know this and ....
ReplyDeleteThe Captain Responds:
as they used to say on SNL - "Jane, you ignorant slut".
You 5:43 PM are confusing the appointment of judges with the appointment of JNC members.
Article V does indeed speak to the power of the JNC and their responsibilities to send names to the Governor when a vacancy exists. It allows the Governor to choose from among the 3-6 names sent to him. The Governor cannot send the names back and ask for new names.
In my earlier post written at 11:20am, I was discussing JNC appointments, not judicial appointments.
That is governed by Florida Statute, Chapter 43. FS 43.291 was passed during our predecessor's administration (JEB) and allows for the Governor to reject the names recommended by the BOG of the FB and ask for new names.
43.291 Judicial nominating commissions.—
(1) Each judicial nominating commission shall be composed of the following members:
(a) Four members of The Florida Bar, appointed by the Governor, who are engaged in the practice of law, each of whom is a resident of the territorial jurisdiction served by the commission to which the member is appointed. The Board of Governors of The Florida Bar shall submit to the Governor three recommended nominees for each position. The Governor shall select the appointee from the list of nominees recommended for that position, but the Governor may reject all of the nominees recommended for a position and request that the Board of Governors submit a new list of three different recommended nominees for that position who have not been previously recommended by the Board of Governors.
So, Gov. Scott was within his legal right when he rejected the nominees.
Cap Out .....
if Alex would have plead out his client, he would have been attacked for "selling out" his client or being too lazy/scared/incompetent to try it.
ReplyDeleteHe tried it and lost. Get over it. Any attorney who has the guts to try tough cases in their careers will lose cases. DOM just lost a big case. Does anyone doubt his ability or wouldn't refinance their home to hire him if a loved one were in trouble?
For those REGJB bondsman referral hacks and $250 DWLS plea machines - this is real lawyering. There's more to trial work than just seeing if the cop shows up.
Alex did the best he could with difficult facts. Maybe the defendant didnt want a "mitigation packet". Let me guess, you are a social services ciminal lawyer. Your types do a lot more harm then good. Even though you are well intended....
ReplyDeleteKeep your head up Alex. And don't take it all so personally. It's only business.
Friendly tip to patrons of Two Guys Cigar Emporium: NEVER GIVE UP A CABINET!
ReplyDeleteCaptain:
ReplyDeleteAs Luticia would say on SNL:
"Never mind"
I misunderstood. My apologies.
love to see alex michaels lose. the only person more arrogant than him is eiglarsh.
ReplyDeletehe is also a much better trial lawyer than eiglarsh
There was no plea deal. Alex had to try the case.
ReplyDeleteHis hope was for manslaughter.
So, he may be nuts but, he tried.
Move on, armchair quarterbacks.
9:43..........if you think Alex Michaels is arrogant then you obviously don't get his schtick. Not only is he a very good trial lawyer, but he's a hell of a guy.
ReplyDeleteBTDT
Rumpole has been spotted stuffing his face full of Al-Abbas Original Palestinian Chicken while in London. He's known to order the Scud Platter with a side of Felafel Fries.
ReplyDeleteThe waitress, Shara, fancies his dry Jewish wit. She's been doing to him what the Israelis have been doing to her people for decades.
There are cases you try and cases you try to work out. Alex may have very well tried to work it out and couldn't, so he did the best he could with the facts he had. But saying that someone who approached the case of a 17 year old kid who is facing life from a mitigation standpoint is a hack lawyer is B.S. At the end of the day the State had the video statement where the kid looks like he is coping an attitude shortly after the murder, and they had what appears to be the homicide on video. The plea offer, or lack thereof, should have dictated the decision to go to trial in this case.
ReplyDeleteSince so many people have such great hindsight about what Alex Michaels SHOULD have done, I need to know,
ReplyDeleteShould we go to Dallas in November?
Douchebags.
The only thing that the lawyers should be doing is applauding the efforts that Alex gave. He went down fighting, swinging, scratching. A teenager was facing a murder charge and he definetly had his day in court.
ReplyDeleteDon't second guess him. His style is his style, it has fostered a certain amount of achievement for Alex and, obviously, that is what the client and family wanted.
You win some and lose some. Don't ever second guess the lawyer unless you are in his/her shoes.