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.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

CUETO DISQUALIFIES HIMSELF

Judge Cueto disqualified himself in the case before involving Miami commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones. But not before taking a few shots himself. 



24 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a well written order by an excellent judge. He disqualified himself. Therefore he was free to comment on the merit(or lack of merit) of the motion. And he's right. Alot of judges duck political issues for potential fallout. His original order was cogent and thoughtful. Spence Jones may have bought some time, but little else.

Anonymous said...

But the rules of ethics say the judge either grants or denies. This affirms he is biased .

Anonymous said...

Wow what a dumb ass. He performed an investigation?

Anonymous said...

Canon 2. A judge shall Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in all of the Judge's Activities

A. A judge shall respect and comply with the law and shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.


Deference to the judgement and rulings of the courts depends upon public confidence in the integrity and the independence of judges. The integrity and independence of judges depend in turn upon their acting without fear or favor.
Although judges should be independent, they must comply with the law, including the provisions of this code. Public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary is maintained by the adherence of each judge to this responsibility. Conversely, violation of this code diminishes public confidence in the judiciary and thereby does injury to the system of government under law.

Cannon 3 E. (1) A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned , including but not limited to instances where:

(a) The judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party's lawyer, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;

(b)the judge served as a (lawyer) or was the lower court in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom the judge previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the judge has been a material witness concerning it.

Cannon 3E(1). A judge (should) disclose on the record information that the judge believes the parties or their lawyers might consider relevant to the question of disqualification, even if the judge believes there is no real basis for disqualification.

Why did it have to result in the warranting of media coverage to come to the reluctant and haughty recusal order and judgment with the language "barred" in lieu of the more impartial "prohibited", to boot. A caveat concerning the matter would have sufficed. I presume that a man who is well studied in chemistry and law, comprehends that simply enough. One's ego is his own's (nemesis).

~UAM~

Anonymous said...

Good for you Judge Cueto - call a spade a spade.

Anonymous said...

Spence jones is a crook And the judge is a rook.

Anonymous said...

UAM: You are an idiot. Please don't waste valuable space with your commentary, as it only reveals your attempt to wax intellectual when in fact you are sub-human. Write to "Dear Abby" instead.

Anonymous said...

How about we call a big mouth a big mouth? Or a loose canon a loose canon?

Tough guy had any balls and his position was so righteous he would have issued a one word order "denied" and take his chances.

This is cowardly

Anonymous said...

I like Cueto. But this order, as written, is beneath the office he holds. In fact, it shows he is petty. He could have recused himself in a one sentence order or denied a recusal motion in a one sentence order. Either way, I would have had more respect for him than taking the time to write an opinion piece masquerading as a judicial order .

Anonymous said...

Man RumpnI just saw a young pd I think she is a pd/ with an amazing badunkadunk. Talk about junk in the trunk! Tight short skirt. High heels. Every guy in court watching her. Makes me want to get arrested and be her client. Definitely need to go home after lunch and take a cold shower or call my GF. AMAZING.

Anonymous said...

'Bout time. Way to go Judge. And you bunch of hating hypocrites, if he'd been blasting a prosecutor you'd be canonizing him instead of saying it was "beneath" him. Shut up.

Anonymous said...

I also like Judge Cueto, but agree this was probably not the best path to take. He had no choice but to grant the motion legally. Clearly the sliminess of the legal tactics involved set him off and he could not resist commenting the way he did. By doing so, he can now expect a recusal motion from Rogow and any of Spence-Jones attorneys on any future matters assigned to him. I am sure Judge Cueto is not fazed by this. But you also now have the situation (examples of which I have seen several times with other lawyers and judges) where a party before him is about to be slammed, and they quickly retain Rogow to immediately create grounds for recusal and transfer to a more sympathetic judge. He would have been better served saying nothing, but remembering it for another day and quietly exacting his revenge. But what goes around comes around. Any judge will tell you how much they talk to each other about lawyers around town, who to trust and who to be careful with.

Anonymous said...

Cueto rapidly approaching Milt Hirsch/blog status.

Anonymous said...

What courtroom for the badunkadunk?

the trialmaster said...

A total lack of judical demeanor. He looks like a hot headed judge. He well knew he was part of the investigation. He stayed on the case because it gave him publicity. In more important news,the mens room on the 3rd floor of the civil courthouse now has state of the art non water urinals. Finally, after at least 40 years the old non working urinals have been replace. Stop by and use them.

Anonymous said...

Cueto for President 2016!

Anonymous said...

BREAKING NEWS:

Miami-Dade judge orders $50,000 in sanctions against Lewis Tein partners

Anonymous said...

He "forgot" that he had investigated a sitting commissioner? Really?

Anonymous said...

Not only did he "forget" but when Joe Centorio refreshed his recollection he then remembered that he was "inadvertently" involved. Cueto is a hack and he confirmed his bias in his expatiated order, very very petty.

Anonymous said...

Centorino? A no talent do boy for Fernandez-Rundle with way too much power for an intellectually challenged nondescript lawyer. Ever work in the real world Joe?

Anonymous said...

We criticize Cueto, really? Did anybody look in the other direction towards a corrupt and unethical politician?

It is hard to believe that Spence-Jones' attorneys did not know, nor did their client remember, that Cueto was periperally involved in the prior investigation. She knew, and she also knew he was involved in the decision not to prosecute her. She thought she had a winner with Cueto in the case.

After she lost this time, she decided to "remember" or "someone reminded her" of his previous involvment and then was going to file a motion to disqualify, which she did not properly serve on the judge. (One of the necessary procedural steps in a Motion to Disqualify.)

Did anybody examine that the source of the information to the Herald, was Spence-Jones or one of her minions. All just to get another bite at the apple.

I think she waived any claim, and he should have said so. I think this is another case of a crooked politician and her less than ethical attorneys, manipulating the system.

I agree with the first comment that she only buys a delay. He/She is right. She was only suspended. She received all back pay and benefits when reinstated, and thus has not claim to run for a third term.

Good riddance to really bad rubbish. Don't go away mad, Michelle, just go away. Guess you will have to find another way to get your hands on all of that tax payer money.

No more votes to sell, no more shell businesses to get grants and no more payoffs from your "friends". Guess it is back to Toyotas for you.

Anonymous said...

That's the point dumbass. Cuero Is supposed to rise above and not engage with a litigant or advocate.

Once the judge gives you reason to "compare" the court to a party before it, he's lost the respect of the office he holds.

I understand but I demand more from our judges.

Anonymous said...

OK Dumbass. One of the important parts of being a lawyer is READING. She waived her claim and that is all he chould have said. He chose instead to take the high road and disqualify himself. But in doing so he made it clear that the facts set forth in their motion were insufficient, something he can not do in considering the motion.

He chose to send a message to every judge that followed him, what had happened. I like it. If you are getting off the case, make sure everyone knows why. That is something they can not teach us in Judge 101, but I wish they had.

Anonymous said...

3:30

I hate Spence Jones. She's a scumbag. She tried to shake down a guy I know for six million just after the ng verdict. But Cueto comes across lokking like a loose cannon. He is not fit for the bench.