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.

Monday, November 04, 2013

2500

BREAKING: A COMPROMISE VERDICT IN SEAN TAYLOR TRIAL: The jury found Eric Rivera guilty of second degree murder WITHOUT A FIREARM and Guilty of Burglary with a Battery WITH A FIREARM. The practical affect of this on the sentencing of the defendant is nil. As a juvenile at the time of the crime he was not eligible for either the death penalty or life in prison. But having been convicted of a life felony (armed burglary with a battery) the judge can issue a very lengthy sentence which is what the prosecution was seeking. (+40 years?)
Congratulations to ASA Reid Ruben who handled this case from its inception, and was assisted at trial with Ray Arojo and Penny Brill. Well done. The family of Sean Taylor must be gratified to finally have some closure in the case, although they might naturally feel somewhat confused or disturbed by the fact that the evidence and theory of the case was that Rivera was the shooter, and as to the murder charge, the jury did not make that finding.

Very quietly last week we published our 2,500th blog post. 

It has been an extremely gratifying endeavor to be allowed to write for our friends and colleagues and be a voice for a courthouse and a profession that has taken up more than half our life. 
We have tried to be fair and we have tried to be conscious that in this age of Google and internet searches, seemingly innocuous comments on a small blog can have far ranging consequences. 
For those of you who click in every few days, thank you for reading. For those of you who take it a step further and write a comment or two every now and then, thank you for participating, because it is your voice that in every way makes this blog of the life and times of the lawyers and judges and bailiffs and JAs and court reporters and correctional officers  and cases and clients of Richard E Gerstein Justice Building a successful one. 

H.R. 

Deliberations continue today in State v. Eric Rivera. Rivera is accused of being the triggerman in the deadly home invasion The  burglary and murder of football star Sean Taylor.  The jury threw commentators into a tizzy on Friday by asking about the differences in terms that constitute manslaughter and second degree murder. Earlier in the day Friday the defense had turned down the opportunity to request a mistrial when a West Statute book was located in the jury room. 

The first Monday in November begins a three week dash until the Thanksgiving holiday which is then followed by the December holidays, which means if you have a case to be tried, now is the time until next year. 

On Friday we received this request from Judge Wolfson about the death of long time bailiff  Tony Escobar. 

Dear Rumpole - please post as soon as possible. 

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of my devoted bailiff and dear friend Francisco "Tony" Escobar on October 30, 2013 after a battle with cancer. Tony served as my bailiff for the last 3+ years, and prior to that with Judges Norman Gerstein and Judy Kreeger. In total, Tony served nearly 28 years in our court system. There will be a Celebration of Life in honor of Francisco “Tony” Escobar on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 at 6:30 P.M. at Miami Lakes Baptist Church located at 6250 Miami Lakes Drive East, Miami Lakes, FL 33014. Tony’s favorite color was red, so please feel free to wear red in his honor.

In addition, please feel free to forward this information, as Tony impacted the lives of generations of people in the legal community.
If you have any questions, please call Janet Samper at (786) 412-0974.

Thank you,
Andrea Wolfson


See you in court. 

27 comments:

MC Waste Services, Inc said...

no problem. i try!

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Keep 'em coming

South Florida Lawyers said...

Congrats Rumpy!

Anonymous said...

Former Judge smack down in comments prior post.

Anonymous said...

REAL FAKE JUDGE JONATHAN COLBY said...
I don't believe that I could be the only suicide pool loser this week with those Cowboys winning at the last minute .... and I am now stuck to watch Monday Night Football all by myself at 5pm California time -- hoping my "fishtunkina" (Yiddish term) Packers win .... or I am out of the NFL pool this year -- after thanking Rumpole every week!

Oy vey. "Tell my Judicial Assistant to get me my lawyer Sol Moscowitz on the phone me. I don't care if it is Sunday!"

PS: As Maxwell Smart (Agent 86 before "Homeland" existed) said in 1968 "Would you believe that I changed my winning team pick from the Packers, with Vince Lombardi, to the Patriots in a timely and reasonable fashion"? If I can't get Sol Moscowitz to do anything to this Blog, I want Kenny W. -- my East Coast Agent to get it done by meeting Mr. Rumpole at the old Sports Cafe on South Beach ....

Anonymous said...

maybe he could have possessed a gun during the burglary?

Anonymous said...

My, Oh My, how the tables have turned on the Miccosukees and their lawyer:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/04/3730897/miccosukee-chairman-may-face-contempt.html

Now THAT sounds like a perp walk in the making for contempt ...for the chief or his lawyer....

The article is confusung however, because if the documents relate to the chief's political rival, why wouldnt the chief produce them and why did he already produce some? sounds like maybe the documents the chief wont produce have nothign to do with his political rival.

Case Bookie said...

I can't figure this verdict out. I had Rivera -8 1/2, did the state cover?

Anonymous said...

As a former prosecutor, when the jury rejected my theory but convicts anyway, I don't consider that a win.

Anonymous said...

The verdict will result in a just sentence. However, when you indict for 1st degree murder, anything less is a disappointment. I remember those days too well. You got a verdict on a lesser charge. All your fellow (and backstabbing) ASA friends are congratulating you in the hallway but you know and they know that you are not a happy camper. An analogy? You are staring at a 250 yard three wood to get on a par 5 in two. You crush it to within 10 fee of the pin. And then three putt. Your partners say "nice par." All you want to do is take that putter and jam it down their throats.

Anonymous said...

I disagree w/ 3:39. It was a win for the prosecution. The triggerman is going away for a really long time. It's a loss for the detectives, though, b/c the jury clearly didn't like the taste of the archaic police tactics that led to the confession. A few bad apples in the departments over the years have led to a not-so-misguided distrust of our law enforcement officers. "Not-so-misguided" b/c even one false confession is one too many. It's ridiculous that detectives still do an un-recorded confession before hitting the record button. Law enforcement in general should listen to this jury's message very carefully.

Anonymous said...

I hope the judge gives him 150 years to serve. Fuck, I would even be okay with 110.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...



Closure, not so much. There are still three or four more trials for the family to have to sit through I believe. Only one defendant pled guilty so far.

Congrats to Reid and his team.

Cap Out ...

Anonymous said...

339, you sound ridiculous. You think the defendant is sitting in his cell celebrating his big victory?

505, you don't change policy based on one jury's opinion (even assuming you're right).

BTDT

Anonymous said...

How is this not an inconsistent verdict? If the only evidence is that the death was caused by a gunshot wound , then how can he be found guilty of murder without a firearm? And then burglary with a firearm? Jason grey

Anonymous said...

Congrats on 2500!!!

Rumpole said...

It is an inconsistent verdict, but the law has allowed those ever since an Oliver Wendell Holmes opinion in a prohibition conspiracy case. I will find the cite, but the state has nothing to worry about in terms of the facts being inconsistent. The law is that juries are allowed to compromise even when the final resolution is logically or factually inconsistent.

Anonymous said...

Aaron Rogers knocked out of game!

Ask not for whom the Bell Tolls Fake Colby,
It tolls for thee!

A whole bunch of us have gotten together in a local watering hole to root for the Bears and knock the retired judge out of contention.

Anonymous said...

AND TD BEARS......

tick tock Colby.....

Fake Colby said...

May I take this moment to simply state Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy is truly one of the finest human beings ever to walk the face of the earth?

Fake Colby said...

I hate Chicago. I hate everything about Chicago. I hope the lake floods and washes away the whole stinkin town.

Anonymous said...

Match the goodbye line with the movie/show

A) Fake Colby, please bring me your torch.
The tribe has spoken.


B) "You're out Fake Colby. It's strictly business."

C) "It's over Jonny."

D) Yipee Kayaee Mutha fucker.

E) Turn out the lights, the party's over...



1) Rambo
2)Godfather
3) Survivor
4) Dandy Don Meredith- Monday Night Football circa 1978
5) Die Hard



Anonymous said...

5....4....3....2....1

And then there were 8!!!

Anonymous said...

CHICAGO CHICAGO....THAT TOTLIN TOWN....

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your 2500 post. I started reading your Blog about 3 years ago, and it has become something I do almost every day. Not being a lawyer I have learned a lot from it, and has given me a little understanding of oue Legal System that is so complex. I follow the Rivera case and is so sad to see such a young man on trial for murder. No one wins here we lost a valuable life of a young man that was kill in his own home, and today we lost a future of another very young man. My deep sorrow for both families.
Now we should only concentrate on what can we do to prevent such a waste of our young generation, What can we do, how can we educate and protect our young people how can we keep them away from guns that kills so many of them every year.
Well keep up the good work on your Blog. We need you.

Anonymous said...

I have a legal question. If on the Warrant affidavit there are a few issues that are not true and can be easyly demostrate that the lead investigator lie to get the Warrant signed on a second degree murder case. would that be sufficient for a Motion to Dismiss on a case with only Circunstancial evidence?
I would like to have the opinion of lawyers on this venue.

REAL JUDGE JONATHAN COLBY said...

THe REAL JUDGE JONATHAN COLBY says re: Packers loss to the Bears ....

"It ain't over till I say it's over"

I promise that I will arise again in 2014 and will go all the way ...

I want to thank my family, my agent Sol Moscowitz and also I want to thank Rumpole for handling the pressures of the NFL suicide pool and making this a most difficult year for myself ... I will name my first child Rumpole ....

Now I have time to work on the Governor Chris Christie presidential campaign!