DEATH WILL HAVE HIS DAY

Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.” 
― William Shakespeare, Richard II


Richard's funeral will take place at Temple Beth Shalom in Miami Beach today at 1:30. The address is 4144 Chase Avenue.
The funeral will be live streamed ( a first for us) at Temple Beth Shalom Website. 

 For Sharpie 

It seemed a bright and sunny day 

when our friend Richard passed away. 

A razor wit, a silver tongue, 

upon each word of his we hung. 

He walked with grace and spoke with pride, 

all loved to be there by his side 

to hear the tales of battles won, 

of wars he’d fought, of wrongs undone. 

If only we could learn his skill 

to bend a courtroom to his will! 

To turn the tide, to find the way 

to bring back light on rainy days. 

When storm clouds gathered, skies grew dark, 

Richard’s was the name we’d hark- 

for he could see the sun obscured 

and find a path to light restored. 

If only we had known the wrath 

of storms that darkened Richard’s path 

Could we have lent what we had learned 

to help our friend at our turn? 

What clouds were these that darkened skies 

the day that our friend Richard died? 

-Jason Grey 

“For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus
Comes at the last and with a little pin” 
― William Shakespeare, Richard II


A reader sent us this email. It speaks for itself:

I wanted to mention an example the way judges felt about Richard. After the post-argument renewal of a Rule 29 motion in USA v. Craig Toll, in a case that Richard and Ari tried 4 months ago, Judge Dimitrouleas spoke about the case and Richard:

THE COURT:  Well, I think -- at this point, I think I'm going to stick with my prior decision, that it's a question of fact for the jury, and deny your Rule 29 motion.  BUT I WILL SAY THAT I'VE HEARD A LOT OF CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN MY TIME, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT I'VE EVER HEARD A BETTER CLOSING ARGUMENT THAN MR. SHARPSTEIN GAVE YESTERDAY.