THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
JQC - JUDGE PANDO - NOTICE OF FORMAL CHARGES .......
County Court Judge Ana Maria Pando has been formally notified by the Florida Supreme Court today, through notice to her attorney Robert Josefsberg, that the Investigative Panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission has determined that probable cause exists for formal proceedings to be "instituted against you to inquire into charges based on allegations that you violated, Canons 1, 2A, 3B(1), 3B(5), 3E(1) and 5G of the Code of Judicial Conduct."
Notably, they are considering her prior conduct:
In paragraph seven of the Notice of Formal Charges, it states that: "The Florida Supreme Court previously reprimanded you. In re Pando, 903 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 2005). In that case, you stipulated that you knowingly or recklessly accepted improper campaign contributions. The fact and the timing of the campaign contributions by Mr. Cereceda through his corporate entities, coupled with your actions on behalf of Mr. Cereceda, give the appearance of impropriety."
The Notice concludes by stating:
"These acts, if they occurred as alleged, would impair the confidence of the citizens of this State in the integrity of the judicial system and in you as a judge; would constitute a violation of the Preamble and Canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct; would constitute conduct unbecoming a member of the judiciary; would demonstrate your unfitness to hold the office of judge; and would warrant discipline, including, but not limited to, your removal from office and/or any other appropriate discipline recommended by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission."
The Notice of Formal Charges can be found here:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/briefs/12/12-521/Filed_03-19-2012_Notice_Formal_Charges.pdf
Judge Pando is running for re-election in Group 10 of the County Court. Soon after this matter became public she drew opposition from attorney Diana Elizabeth Gonzalez who has been a practicing attorney in Florida for less than eight years.
Now let the process take its course. Judge Pando has 20 days to respond.
In other news, the JNC announced today that they are accepting applications for those wishing to replace Judge Maxine Cohen Lando. Deadline is April 18th.
Captain Out .....
You suck You don't know anything. You think you are so high and mighty rumpy...bet you will see when panda gets away with it again.
ReplyDeleteWhy the obsession with this particular Judge? I do not no much about her, but it seems there is an obsessive report campaign.Maybe its just neutral reporting, after all this is a Law Blog. ijs... Someone mind cordially briefing us as to why ?
ReplyDeleteCan you say welcome Judge Gonzalez.
ReplyDeleteYes the queen of corrupt in hialeah needs to go. She has even done the same thing in family court for friends. Let the gavel fall on the queen of hialeah
Deleteyaw. that describes 3/4 of the judges inbroward and 50 % in dade.
ReplyDeletemost glaring evidence of ehr poor judgmentis she hired bob josefsberg. i love him. but he should not be practicing law anymore.
10:34 - one assumes you can read.
ReplyDeleteIf so, then you must realize I did not write this post.
11:18...........you must not have practiced criminal law in county court when Pando was there. Talk to anyone who had the displeasure of appearing in front of her (especially those who were prosecutors) and you'll understand. She didn't know the law, ignored the little she knew, was routinely late (in fact, she was late so often that her bailiff had pre-printed signs!), favored certain attorneys, was vindictive, etc. She was the worst of the worst and cocky as hell to boot.
ReplyDeleteBTDT
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ReplyDeleteto 10:34 PM.
That's right, it was me. And I'm not really sure how to respond to your comment other than to invite you to read my 1,400 word post from February 11, 2012 entitled:
JUDGE PANDO, FLORIDA WELLNESS, AND PIP SUITS ....
Then you can decide whether I "know anything" or not. My job is to simply report the facts and then let the readers figure it out for themselves.
Maybe you can figure it out too.
Cap Out .....
To 10:34, "Panda" (sic) is most unlikely to get away with anything. More than likely, her goose is cooked, anotherwords, she's toast. The only legitimate question is whether she can keep her judgeship when the dust settles. Frankly, and having had a lot of experience in these matters, Judge Pando will be considering other employment opportunities in the immediate future.
ReplyDeleteTHE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
ReplyDeleteSO, YOU WANT TO BE A LAWYER .....
The NY Times Reports today:
For 2nd Year, a Sharp Drop in Law School Entrance Tests
The organization behind the Law School Admission Test reported that the number of tests it administered this year dropped by more than 16 percent, the largest decline in more than a decade.
The Law School Admission Council reported that the LSAT was given 129,925 times in the 2011-12 academic year. That was well off the 155,050 of the year before and far from the peak of 171,514 in the year before that. In all, the number of test takers has fallen by nearly 25 percent in the last two years.
Read it all here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012
/03/20/business/for-lsat
-sharp-drop-in-popularity
-for-second-year.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc
=edit_th_20120320
Cap Out .....
And for you federal court practitioners .....
ReplyDeletehey DOM, why aren't you on this)?
Injustice in a Sentencing Law (NYTimes)
The Armed Career Criminal Act has long been a source of confusion for federal judges who are required to apply it in criminal cases. The act ratchets up sentences to a mandatory minimum of 15 years for felons who illegally possess guns and have three prior violent felony convictions. Some judges have misinterpreted this statute, with grievous results, as happened in the case of John Joel Foster. He could end up serving 15 years in prison rather than 27 months for possession of a firearm because the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit wrongly categorized 20-year-old crimes as violent felonies.
Justice Antonin Scalia has called this federal statute unconstitutional because some of its language is so vague that it “permits, indeed invites, arbitrary enforcement.” In dissenting in a case last year, he wrote, “Many years of prison hinge on whether a crime falls within” the act.
Read it here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012
/03/20/opinion/injustice
-in-a-sentencing-law.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc
=edit_th_20120320
Cap Out ...
The Mommy Bench strikes again.
ReplyDeletePando's blend of arrogance, hauteur, ignorance, sloth, and narcissistic disregard for the very laws she unmercifully applies to others is classically typical for this group.
If you go to court in this county with any regularity you can probably name six or eight judges of exactly the same character even as you read this. We elect them every other summer. We did two years ago (ain't it swell being in front of the circuit and county Mommy Bench judges we put on last time?) and we will again this August.
Can someone competent enter the Pando race. A judge should be elected merely by default as would be the case in this instance. This race has grown from bad to worse, if it is the same Gonzalez that worked at the public defender's office, someone needs to enter the race FAST!!!
ReplyDeletemommy bench? hmmm...nushin? big-duh? dennis? on and on. part timers. embarassing, as a female attorney. not the same lineup as the original quality.....max (RIP), jeri-beth, etc.
ReplyDeleteI was a prosecutor in front of Pando and liked being in front of her. She was willing to try cases and worked hard, often into the late hours while in trial.
ReplyDeleteShe tried to come to a fair and just result. Can anybody point to an injustice that has happened in her courtroom, at her hands?
We have a number of characters on the bench, and just because Judge Pando had a few traits that made her stand out from others does not make the misogynistic, anti-Hispanic criticism of her fair.
Whatever the facts of the case against her are, will play out, but I do not think it is right to criticize her as a "Mommy Bench" judge, whatever that means.
Are you seriously suggesting that women who have children should not be judge? Really?
Lazy and stupid. The County Cardonne except mean too.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand the last post. Am I to assume that women lawyers who are mothers make worse judges than male lawyers who are fathers? Is there a "daddy bench" reputation for male judges who are less than a joy to practice in front of? Please explain what a "mommy bench" is. - CMV
ReplyDeletethat is a horrible, horrible picture
ReplyDeleteMommy judges??? Sexist much?
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of the legions of PIP fraudsters in Hialeah, we support Pando all the way.
ReplyDeleteWe demand that this witch hunt cease immediately.
Is the picture of Pando a glamour shot? Classyyyyyyyyyyy
ReplyDeleteTo 2:23. Where the hell do you come off stating that Pando has been criticized because of her ethnicity?
ReplyDelete" anti-Hispanic criticism of her"
There is not one comment that demeans her work as a judge and relates it to her being Hispanic.
this has been a very bad day for posters. Do any of you haters have anything constructive to really say.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that most of you haters have had problems in front of most of the judges you criticize so much. Who are any of you to do that, really. How come none of you have the guts to file a complaint with the chief judge if you really think a Judge has violated a canon.
Most of the judges could make more money in private practice but they choose public service instead. It isnt rocket science people. We all passed the same bar.
I understand you feel the freedom to say what you want without restraint because you are anonymous but some of you really cross the line. If you have no respect for the bench then you probably shouldnt be criticizing anyone. If you think they are doing a bad job, then you do it, big shot.
2:23..........I'm calling bullshit on you and doubt you were a prosecutor. During Pando's last two years, the SAO instructed its prosecutors to keep track of her hours in court and the chiefs spent half of their time fighting with her. Prosecutors were assigned to that court for one of two reasons: (1) they were slacking and needed to be punished; or (2) they were awesome and the SAO wanted them to pound on the judge.
ReplyDeleteThe criticism isn't anti-Hispanic, it's anti-incompetence. Many of Pando's haters liked her before she took the bench and many are Hispanic. Throwing the R word into the mix is the kind of bullshit argument I'd expect one of her supporters to make.
I hope her opponent does a public records request. I bet there are plenty of e mails and memos floating around the SAO.
BTDT
Watching Politics Nation update on the shooting death of unarmed 17r old Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.Former ausa discussed the elements of the "Stand Your Ground Law" one of which is a reasonable fear of harm and danger. Question I have is the intent when George Zimmerman exited the truck, did he have the gun out or in the holster. Ironically a case, in which our Circuit Judge Hirsch denied a "Stand Your Ground" claim was discussed. Forty six prior calls were made by Zimmerman to 911 on separate occasions in which he described each alleged suspicious person as being only a Black Male. Sanford Police Chief says no probable cause. D.O.J. has finally decided to launch an investigation. Anyone who thinks there isn't bias anymore in America, I bid you this: "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~Dr.MLK Jr.~
ReplyDelete10 years ago, being in Pando's division if you were a ASA, was neither a punishment nor an indication of competence of the ASA. It probably meant you were Hispanic, though.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, the SAO was gunning for her even back then. Chiefs camped out in there. ASAs were told to report back daily, complaints to chief judges, transcripts pulled, and nothing. The SAO hated her because she would grant motions, dismiss cases, and do all sorts of other things they despised. However, they never could document anything she did to get her removed.
I would be curious to know how many times she has been reversed on appeal for all of her supposed lack of legal accumen. She withstood the barrage, and as soon as the Hialeah court reopened, she happily went back to her fiefdom.
She just may weather this storm as well.
Diana Gonzalez? Seriously? Somebody qualified please throw your hat in the ring! What a joke.
ReplyDelete11:18 Sounds like Gordo and Glick to me. Irrespective of gender, I think it is ridiculous for someone who has been a lawyer for eight years to believe that that is enough experience to be a judge. I would hope that we require more of our hearing officers. By the way, anybody who takes a shot at Sayfie obviously has not been before her. She is an excellent judge.
ReplyDeleteMommy bench! Mommy f*cking bench! I have heard a lot of bullsh*t on this blog but this is some of the worst. I guess mothers shouldn't be judges. Or lawyers. Or work. Maybe women just shouldn't leave the house at all.
ReplyDelete6:38. Have nothing to say pro or con about Pando. But I do take umbrage about your quote "Most of the judges could make more money in private practice but they choose public service instead." In my 25 years as a civil servant (all of them in court) it has been my experience that most lawyers that end up judges do it because they can't make a living in private practice. It's incredibly insane that the majority of Judges have NO business being on the bench! It's nice to make over a $120,000 a year essentially working part time. On RARE occasions have I encountered an altruistic lawyer that has ACTUALLY lost money coming to the bench! Most newly appointed/elected judges see it as a retirement fund on the public dime.
ReplyDeleteFox news just made two important political calls: Romney wins the Illinois Primary tonight and Jeb Bush wins the 2016 Presidential election.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-Hispanic referred to prior posts and Hialeah quips.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was about 10 years ago, but I was neither star nor slacker, just a guy (non-Hispanic) who enjoyed being in her courtroom.
Did she get that picture taken at Glamour Shots in the mall?
ReplyDelete8:24 pm: you have got to be kidding. Nushin a great judge? Not saying Glick or Gordo are rocket scientists, but Sayfie is no better.
ReplyDeletePando is quirky but she's a pretty good judge. I've been in front of her in criminal and domestic violence calendars and she's been fair and followed the law. That letter for Dr. Cereceda was totally asinine, though. She's better in criminal court than PIP court because she was the City of Miami police legal advisor for many years and knows perfectly well when her former clients (the cops) are bullshitting in court. That's why the SAO hated her, because they couldn't intimidate her.
ReplyDeleteThe smartest judge on the bench is the one that realizes how much they don't know. The one who is willing to do the work, get educated about the cases that come before them, and that allow the lawyers who practice before them to educate them a little as well. I think that Judges should have more experience than in just one area of law before they are permitted to take the bench. If you can accomplish that in 8 years, great. But having now entered my almost 20th year in practice and having had a taste of civil, family and criminal, I realize how little I knew at year 8 as a lawyer, especially only having practiced criminal law at that point, and how much more I need to learn now. Let us hope that whomever takes the bench, whenever they take the bench, is humble enough to know what they don't know, and takes the time to listen and learn.
ReplyDelete1) Notwithstanding the ethics issues, that's one unbecoming photo;
ReplyDelete2). Sayfie is a great judge and a future superstar on the bench
As I stated in my original post - Pando will be removed. The complaint cites the one aggravating factor that leaves other discipline out of the question - her prior reprimand.
ReplyDeleteBob Josephsberg is a fine attorney, but in today's atmosphere she will not be as lucky as, nor will she wear out the JQC like Rosa Rodriguez did.
Sorry Ana, but you are toast. If I were you, I would just not run for re-election and try to negotiate some way of holding on to your pension and your lisense. Remember, just being removed may be sufficient for the Bar to take action against you.
March 21 at 8:43 -
ReplyDeleteThe phrase is: the judge does not need to be the smartest person in the room, he or she only needs to be smart enough to figure out who is. And if the judge is the smartest person in the room, he/she doesn't need to prove it because everyone else already knows.
Is about time the wicked witch is deposed from her throne. She has used her powers to utmost intimidation; she is biased, callous, and vindictive. She has smeared the true value of real justice, so now lets Justice prevail over those unfit to judge others.
ReplyDelete"Mommy Judge" has a son that is attending a very prestigious law school and will most likely make more money than all the losers that write negative and sexist things on this blog, so she did a pretty good job as a "mommy" you sexist idiot.
ReplyDeleteAnd as a judge, Pando will crush Gonzalez and the haters are just going to have to start a new blog stream about how the "elections were rigged" haha but in the meantime she'll have her job and be laughing at all of the racist, sexist people FROM THE BENCH!! or what i would do, is resign after winning the election and take a job that pays double and still laugh at you haters.
So has the wanna be tv judge from el pueblecito de hialeah been formally punished??
ReplyDeleteRE; 3/20/12 comment:
ReplyDelete"How come none of you have the guts to file a complaint with the chief judge if you really think a Judge has violated a canon."
LOL, seriously? The chief judge?
What world do you live in?
How corrupt can this judge ana m pando be??? in the news again, this time for endorsement issues... mistakes her attorneys said, well it seems she makes many mistakes on and off the bench. her judgement is not the best as illustrated by this last hoopla so i can only imagine how it is in her court room
ReplyDeleteand speaking of her glamour shot, wo-ho??? go to her page. she does not look so glamorous these days
ReplyDelete