Thursday, January 28, 2016

IN PRAISE OF JA'S

BREAKING: The Sun Sentinel has the story of a Broward Criminal Defense attorney being caught in flagrente delicto with her client, in the jail, "bent over a table" committing an act that is illegal in the State of Florida unless you are married. 
The lawyer has been banned from all five Broward Jails, which is a shame because we have it on good authority that hundreds of male inmates have called requesting a consultation. Business is good.
Interestingly, the JAA Broward blog is silent on this matter.  

Fred Haddad is representing the lawyer. The lawyer is a former Broward PD and was fired in January from RC4 for "misconduct". 
There is a Bar rule prohibiting lawyers and clients from having sex. 
We were wondering about this. An inmate cannot be deemed to give consent to have sex with a corrections officer, for obvious reasons. If the defendant was a female and the defense attorney male, would there be people wondering if this was a consensual act or if the attorney was coercing the client to engage in sex in exchange for representation? Because if that occurred, that is a crime. Is anyone considering whether this instance could also be a crime? 

Also, we have a post coming up from The Professor. Judge Miranda is having even more trouble with the 3rd DCA and her contempt orders. 

All too often (and always if you dial the 954 area code) Judicial Assistants are impediments to getting access to  courts. 
The phones aren't answered, and when they are you are reduced to begging to get a case on calendar. 
Client dying and you need an emergency motion for bond? Sure, it will be set in two months and the judge requires a motion and memorandum of law, filed in triplicate, translated into Sanskrit, faxed and emailed and hand delivered between the hours of 4:45 and 4:51 P.M., Fridays only. 

We've all experienced horror stories, none worse than the County Court JA who was rude to the Governor's staff who was calling to tell the Judge that he had been appointed to the circuit court. Based on the JA's attitude, the appointment was rescinded in light of the Governor's opinion that his staff needed more training and experience. 

But in no particular order, we bring to you the pleasurable experiences we have had in the last few months with JAs. Starting with Judges De La O,  Tinkler-Mendez and Ruiz, their JAs email you reminders of upcoming court appearances. Very professional and above and beyond the call of duty. 

Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson's staff was praised us in an email recently:
"Dear Rumpole: The other day I had a case in Judge Wolfson's courtroom. The start of court was delayed for some time and as I approached the door and read the sign and then started to walk away the bailiff came out to let me know that the prosecutors were in the courtroom and I could go inside and speak with them. It's a small thing, but as it unfolded it showed me that the Judge has picked a staff who cares."

SHOOT FIRST
The embattled Stand Your Ground law is facing changes in the current legislative session. The legislature is fixin to make  it tougher for prosecutors, shifting the burden of proof during the hearings to the prosecution to disprove that the defendant acted in self -defense.

Coming soon:  some legislators have been heard mumbling that maybe the entire burden of proof should be on prosecutors to prove a defendant guilty. They've even bandied about a law presuming the defendant innocent. 

Meanwhile in death cases, the legislature, in response to criticism that Florida's statute is also unconstitutional because it allows  for a non-unanimous recommendation of death, has dug their collective heels in, not allowing commie-liberal Supreme Court Judges in Washington like Alito, Thomas and Scalia to push them around. Although Florida prosecutors have recommended raising the recommendation for death to 9-3, the legislature has responded by considering lowering the recommendation for death to "anyone who tweets that the defendant deserves to be fried."

We'll keep you updated on the musings of these great legal minds. 

See You In Court. 



22 comments:

  1. Rump,

    You need to give props to APD Mara Apostal for winning two nights in a row on Jeapardy. That certainly trumps the usual blog gibberish

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  2. Judges with great JA's:
    Richard Hersch
    Andrea Wolfson
    Luis K Martin
    Maria Ortiz
    Ed Newman
    T. Pooler
    Nushin Sayfie
    Bill Altfield
    Dennis Murphy
    There are more but, I haven't had any dealings with them.

    I love it when they say, "file the motion and we will pick the date and tell you," You then politely explain what days you can't be there and of course, they pick one of those days. They then tell you to file a motion to move the date.
    Don't you just want to punch both the judge and the JA in the nose when they say that.

    Then, you get an email asking to send money to that wonderful judge's campaign account. Hmmmmm

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  3. Only in Broward. Can't make this shit up

    http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-lawyer-inmate-jail-sex-20160128-story.html

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    Replies
    1. Only in Broward? She had sex with the defendant in Miami-Dade jail and you guys did nothing. Defendant gets moved to Broward and it happens again and immediately it's reported. "Only in Broward" because Miami-Dade didn't do shit.

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  4. Judge Wolfson's staff has always been the pinnacle of professionalism, respect, and courtesy. The JA accepts and calendars motions to fit your schedule, Judge Wolfson actually reads and considers the case law, the Bailiff keeps everyone quiet respectfully and puts pro se individuals at ease, and the charming Clerk smiles at everyone and sends them on their way with the proper paperwork. That courtroom is always an absolute pleasure to be in, and runs the way a courtroom should. Certain other county court judges should take note.

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  5. I don't want to be sexist, but does anyone think if the inmate was a six foot tall, 130 pound 22 year old female model with long blonde hair to her waist, and the attorney was a balding 50 year old out of shape guy, that there wouldn't be a sexual assault investigation?

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  6. I'll confess- anonymously. Had a hot Brazilian model on DUi. Won the case on a motion-not even a breakdown, got a nolle prosse, invited her to Bahamas for weekend and she accepted. We celebrated, OK. Take it from there.

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  7. How you gonna tease us with a JA's rudeness to Governor's staff keeps County Court Judge from getting elevated to Circuit Bench story like that on a Friday and not give more info.....just just HAC!

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  8. Dude, no guy has ever been raped by having vaginal intercourse with a woman.

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  9. Read the actual Bar rule:
    Rule 4-8.4
    (i) engage in sexual conduct with a client or a representative of a client that exploits or adversely affects the interests of the client or the lawyer-client relationship.

    Remember that Bill Clinton said that a blow job is not sex.

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  10. Did you see her attorney's interview on channel 10?! WTF!?

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  11. What judge did not get an appointment because of a JA's nasty attitude? And how could you bang an inmate - they don't shower, smell like crap and have a high likely hood of having some nasty ass disease

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  12. In the collections of great JAs, don't forget Judge Brenan's J.A. and Judge Slom's J.A. And, as to Judge Hersch's J.A., hard to find a better professional in the courthouse.

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  13. What is her name. I would like to co-counsel with her...

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  14. Per channel 10, she and client also fooled around at DCJ

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  15. Brennan's JA worked for Fleur Lobree and got the job when Brennan dumped her JA. Nice to have at least one nice person in her office.

    Slom's JA gets things done and is a really good person.

    Hersch is lucky to have such a nice and hard working person for a JA.

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  16. Yolanda is awesome.

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  17. The local eatery (that I'm not allowed to name) run by the restaurateur and raconteur (whose name I'm not allowed to say) has a nationwide hit on their hands with the Bernie Burger and Hillary Hotdog.

    The Bernie Burger is a grass fed bison burger with small bits of porcini mushrooms and jalapeno peppers served with Vermont (of course) cheddar.

    The Hilary Hotdog is a kobe beef dog served Chicago Style on a seeded bun with a slice of pickle, tomato and hot pepper (Hillary loves hot peppers).

    Both campaigns -Bernie first- invited The venue to cater their caucuses. The final tally of the Miami servings will - it is rumored- be announced tomorrow on Morning Joe which is at Java Joes in Iowa for the caucuses. The big rumor is a guest appearance of the owner of the hot Miami restaurant serving these political media meals.

    In the meantime, no reason you can't trek down to Kendall and have a bite and show your support for your fav candidate.

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  18. The truth is that most JAs in Dade county are a delight. Judges Millan and Milian are especially courteous and helpful.

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  19. MONDAY WE BEGIN MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

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  20. Interesting story on the lack of DUI's in the Herald today. Miami Beach PD is down 93% from 5 years ago.

    No wonder I don't see the DUI mavens around much these days. Where have Reiff, Catalano, Blecher, Lefcourt all gone?
    (Doing felonies)

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  21. Add the drop in DUI arrests to the growing number puppylawyers doing DUI cases for $750 and ticket troll Alex Hanna, there's less business these days for those old timers.

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