Thus was the scene this week when a familiar face was led into a courtroom on the second floor to have his 3.850 motion heard by Judge Milton Hirsch.
It must have been difficult for Judge Hirsch to sit and listen as one of his former colleagues from the defense bar and one of his former colleagues from the bench, one Phil Davis, sat in a red jumpsuit, looking haggard and gray and all but beaten by a system that once he tried to game.
His history is all too familiar to the regular denizens of the REGJB. Electoral victor over _______(name the opponent Davis beat for super duper REGJB BLOG extra credit), Davis took a seat on the circuit court bench in the REGJB and immediately began to exhibit bizarre courtroom behavior - berating prosecutors for filing informations, and hitting up lawyers in his chambers for loans. Eventually Davis became ensnared in the infamous Courtbroom scandal. His chambers was wired and he appeared headed for a downfall until (we can't make this stuff up) Davis was defended by one Alcee Hastings- himself an impeached federal judge before being elected to congress (only in Miami does this crap happen, right?).
While his brethren from the bench all went down and went to prison- Judges Goodhart, Gelber, Sepe and Shenberg- Davis beat the rap. An astounding acquittal based in no large part by a spellbinding closing argument from Hastings who hadn't even sat through the entire trial.
Turned loose into the world, and unfortunately himself- Davis, who beat the feds couldn't beat his own demons and found himself in State court facing a serious charge of using a charity to defraud the government. Defended by, inter alia, Don Cohn, who himself was about to be elected to the county court bench, Davis turned down a plea offer of minimal jail time only to have Judge Butchko- she of late of the Dade Business Court- sentence him to twenty plus years or so.
We've written about Davis before, notably here.
And now it's down to this. A hail mary rule 3.850. Win big and go home or lose, and do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars, and be returned to a hellish fate in prison.
There's nothing pretty about the fall when it's this big.
See you in court.
22 comments:
Karma, "judge."
In the 1988 Primary, Frederick "Fritz" Mann came in first with 41% of the vote with Davis coming in second with 37% and Ed Swanko with 22%. In November, clearly riding on the coattails of President GHWB's election as the 41st POTUS, Davis beat Mann 55% to 45%.
Cap Out .....
Twenty plus years? Milt do the right thing.
Very sad.
How much longer can Judge Davis expect to spend in prison?
What happens to a man like Judge Davis in prison? Does he get abused because he was a judge? Does he become a jailhouse lawyer?
How does he deal with the humiliation of a man who was liked and accepted and could have done great things?
It is tragic, no?
Who s for the defense?
ELEVEN YEARS ..... AND STILL GOING STRONG .....
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
WELCOME POST
Welcome to the Justice Building Blog.
My Name is Horace Rumpole.
We seek comments, rumors, and stories on any and all Miami Justice Building habituates, Judges, Prosecutors, Attorneys, and defendants. While we (the royal we) will not be libelous, and we will not pick on those not able to defend themselves [ insert your favorite judge here] , we love a good story about a Judge or lawyer putting his or her foot in their mouth. A juicy rumor that is not too harmful will also be posted.
As you can see in my profile, I have assumed the identity of that famed English Barrister Rumpole of the Bailey. The names have indeed been changed to protect - not the innocent- but those of us who still need to go to court from time to time to get our clients a bond.
As November draws near to Turkey Day, and thoughts turn to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and the New Year, we should be thinking of various ways to celebrate and remember the past year. Hurricanes and other hot winds blew through our small community, and we think that a few good year end awards are an excellent way to remember the year.
Here is an example of what we mean::
1: Worst New TV Show By a Local Lawyer: Roy Black. Winner hands down.
OK. Granted that was an easy one. But why shouldn't the famous and well compensated Mr. Black be our first target anyway? Just because he is a member of the brotherhood of the shark (defense attorney) does not mean he escapes our rapier like wit.
Black can not win a case unless his clients bribe the jurors. Sal and Willie.
How many more hours in traffic school should a person endure? What happens to them when they get sentenced to enhanced high risk traffic school? Are they mocked? Do they become hustlers for the traffic ticket lawyers? Are they humiliated with friends and family seeing them in high risk traffic school?
I'm real fake former judge and I ask just as stupid questions as my other "colleagues" (losers) who read this blog.
Duhhhh is prison baaaad? I mean like if you want splenda in your espresso and they only have nutrasweet are you forced to use that until the next shipment arrives? What about late night snacks? is it always the same old cookies or do you get an ice cream night in the joint? And who controls the remote for the TV? I want to know. It's a shanda, nuh?
Gawwwwd that first blog post makes me cringe. I'd take it down if it didn't have historical value. I like the one a few posts later about the pds being sued. I think that's where I began to find a voice and hit my stride.
What ever happened to Judge Ralph Person?
His defense attorney on the Rule 3 is Daniel Tibbitt. How does he have money to pay a private lawyers after being locked up for 7 years?
He's a piece of shit
Hey REAL FAKE FORMER JUDGE -- are you mocking me? What about a little respect? You are starting to bug me. How do you keep your press credentials from RUMPOLE?
Go order enhanced traffic school with 80 community service hours will ya? I'd say go study for the survivor pool this weekend but..........YOU LOST YOU STINK YOU'RE A LOOOOOOOOSER.
But much love
peace out
JUSTICE ALITO: Speaking at the Federalist Society today:
"When Scalia joined the Court, oral argument was forever changed. It became a contact sport." Justice Alito #FedSoc2016 pic.twitter.com/oh3zGF17mK
Cap Out ....
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
Next Tuesday we mourn for the 53rd year the passing of our 35th President. This week, on the eve of the anniversary of the assassination of JFK, the granddaughter of Abe Zapruder releases her book:
TWENTY-SIX SECONDS by Alexandra Zapruder .....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/twenty-six-seconds-of-the-jfk-assassination--and-a-lifetime-of-family-anguish/2016/11/16/2b9f1c86-9547-11e6-bc79-af1cd3d2984b_story.html?utm_term=.672ed179fdff&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1
Cap Out .....
I believe that Davis's daughter is funding his present litigation. She lives out of state, and retains a naive belief that he was railroaded (she was a child during his time on the bench and on trial). He had plenty of due process. J Hirsch, always seeking a headline, may well let him out, but it won't be because Davis deserved any such release.
can anybody tell how much money was stolen to justify 20 years...our president pays no taxes and takes the prize...did he lose a billion or steal a billion?? sense of justice is this community is little warped....clearly not black or white issue...would a white cuban jewish defendant get the same time??.....not very often u post pictures.....but for the grace of god go I..phil didnt deserve such a vindictive sentence..!! FREE PHIL
Milt gave a WHITE lawyer probation for stealing $700,000 from a client, over the objection of the VICTIMS!!! http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D14-1917.pdf
How can Milt not reduce Phil's sentence???!!?!?!?!? Don't be a hypocrite Milt. No one should let Butchko off the hook either. Her sentence was obscene!!! Phil was accused of stealing $82,000. Butchko offered him 4 years before trial, then increased her sentence by 5x after the jury convicted him. Judge Schwartz called her sentence vindictive. http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/Opinions/3D10-0206.pdf
Dear Judge Hirsch: Let's see some Rachmones here, please !! Thank you, DMD
I don't regularly practice in dade... do you guys really call a 3.850 a "rule 3"? The entire rule book for criminal procedure is rule three-point-something?
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