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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

LANCE STELZER HAS PASSED AWAY

Lance Stelzer, a well known Miami Criminal Defense Attorney who handled many cases in the REGJB as both a well respected prosecutor and criminal defense attorney has passed away. 

UPDATE: FUNERAL SERVICES
Many of you have asked about the service for Lance. The best information that I have is as follows:
The service will be at Riverside Gordon-Mt. Nebo Cemetery, 5900 SW 77 Ave., on Friday, March 25, at 11:30 a.m. The reception will follow at a location to be announced at the service. The Cemetery is located just south of Miller Drive on the west side of the Palmetto. Those that want to contribute to the reception food, can contact Roasters and Toasters, 9465 S. Dixie Hwy., 305.251.4848.

If you have any question, you can contact Lance's secretary, Pilar, at 305.457.1351 or by email at pjimenezlaw@yahoo.com. She is very loaded down and may take some time to respond.
James Woodard



Sometimes your path just doesn't cross with someone, even though they are well known and work in the same field as you. That occurred with us and Mr. Stelzer. We just never had the opportunity to work on a case with him or get to know him. 
But we have read some of the emails about him, and what stands out is that his colleagues and friends are uniformly writing that he was a hardworking, dedicated attorney who was known for meticulous preparation. We have also read that he was the loving, and dedicated father to a thirteen year old son, which makes his untimely death that much more tragic. 

We will endeavor to post some of the comments in this post. 


Below are some comments from readers who knew Lance:

Lance's passing is very sad news.  I tried one on my first homicide cases with Lance.  He was a talented prosecutor and lawyer.  One trait for which he was well known was his endless pretrial preparation.  He believed that one could never be too prepared.

He was generous with his time and always willing to assist young lawyers.  He never took himself too seriously and he had an infectious personality.

Lance was a good man and he died way too young.


Samuel J. Rabin Jr., P. A

Robert Godwin:
Robert Godwin was a long time prosecutor and then PD in Dade, and then in Broward, before retiring. We have heard he may have passed away. We are trying to get confirmation of this. Any info would be appreciated.
CONFIRMED- We do a separate post for him later this week. 


See You In Court. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It occurs to me that I am pretty well known and when I go this blog- if still around- will memorialize me. I'm private and not sure I want that. Can I opt out?

REAL FORMER JUDGE said...

Rest in peace Lance. You were always a gentleman and always with a smile. God bless you my friend.

Anonymous said...

Robert Godwin passed away December 4, 2015 in Menphis, TN. He was 72

Anonymous said...

Many of you have asked about the service for Lance. The best information that I have is as follows:
The service will be at Riverside Gordon-Mt. Nebo Cemetery, 5900 SW 77 Ave., on Friday, March 25, at 11:30 a.m. The reception will follow at a location to be announced at the service. The Cemetery is located just south of Miller Drive on the west side of the Palmetto. Those that want to contribute to the reception food, can contact Roasters and Toasters, 9465 S. Dixie Hwy., 305.251.4848.

If you have any question, you can contact Lance's secretary, Pilar, at 305.457.1351 or by email at pjimenezlaw@yahoo.com. She is very loaded down and may take some time to respond.
James Woodard

Rumpole said...

You have to stop trying to post who Bob Godwin was married to. He was NOT married to that woman based on all of our research and we won't post it, and we cannot edit comments.

Tony Scornavacca Jr. said...

Last month, I watched the Super Bowl at Lance's house. We had a great time with just our sons. The boys were pals from their days at Pinecrest Elementary. Jordan is a very confidant and outgoing young man. Lance was a wonderful dad and an all around good guy. He sure did fight hard through his health issues. I'm very saddened to hear the news. God bless him and God bless Jordan.

Anonymous said...

I knew Lance's father, Bob Stelzer, in Chicago. His father mentioned Lance to me several times; proud father. Lance's name came up in conversion a few minutes ago, so I searched for him and am shocked to learn he died. Life dealt him many challenges.
I'm so sorry. Hope he's with his dad who loved him as a father should love a son.
Bless you Lance.
S.R.