FALL

There's a certain crispness to the mornings here in NYC that just quietly whispers that Fall is here and Winter is coming. We are not running in the NYC marathon but for the last few mornings we have quietly arisen before dawn and plodded through Central Park and the West Side. Sometimes running, sometimes walking. always enjoying the sunrise and then a hot cup of coffee and pastry at a local patisserie.

We love South Florida, but we do miss the change of seasons.

DOM asks if Judges should be able to ignore joint sentencing recommendations? We note that in Federal Court the only thing a defendant has a right to is a jury trial. A judge has to accept and approve a plea of guilty and many times they don't. So to answer DOM, A judge does not have to accept a joint sentencing recommendation, although we think they should. Indeed a Judge should not accept a plea of guilty where there is a joint sentencing recommendation if there is even a shadow of a doubt in their mind as to whether they will accept the parties recommendation.

We have never seen a judge reject an agreed upon plea in state court. Please post your stories on this subject.

The Dolphins are on the road at KC facing a Chiefs team coming off a MNF upset of the Chargers. 0-8 looks likely.

Meanwhile, take your hats off to Michael Feiler and Clay Kaeiser continue their battle in the suicide pool to week nine. Mr. Feiler barely escaped alive after the Ravens mounted a furious comeback last week and saved their season and his skin.

Enjoy the weekends. The lamb chops for us tonight at Ai Fiori, and then some sushi at Nobu for us tomorrow night.