Wednesday, March 13, 2019

JUSTICE FOR NAPHTALI

Naphtali Wacks was a criminal defense attorney who practiced in the REGJB. He was what we would call a Justice Building Irregular. He was there often. He was sui generis. He was a kind and gentle man who worked hard for his clients and he was killed in a tragic car crash in 2017 by a federal felon who was driving more than 100 miles per hour. 

The man who killed Naphtali pled guilty and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. 
Herald scribe David Ovalle's article is here. It does not mention the judge who sentenced Naphtali's killer. 

Naptali was a good guy. He never said a cross word about anyone. He was kind and gentle and marched to his own drummer. We used to see him having coffee with Sy Gaer in the mornings.  He is missed. 

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12 comments:

  1. CAPTAIN JUSTICEWednesday, March 13, 2019 1:20:00 PM


    State v. Elia Soto
    F17-10668
    Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson
    ASA: Griska Mena
    Defense attorney; Sara Shulevitz (although Babak Farohideh also filed a N/A; as did Greg Iamunno; as did Stephan Lopez; as did David Raben).
    Vehicular Homicide
    LSA/Death

    Sentence: 14.64 years FSP followed by 5 years probation.

    Naphtali was a good man. He was quiet but always polite and friendly when he did speak and he always had a smile on his face when you passed him in the hallways of the GJB.

    Captain Out .......
    captain4justice@gmail.com

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  2. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 4:30:00 PM

    Naphtali always did have a smile. He had a variety of interests. He would often spend afternoons in a library or book store reading about various historical periods that interested him. He was a gentle soul.

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  3. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 8:07:00 PM

    He was a good writer. And he always had a few tricks up his sleeve during motions. RIP

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  4. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 8:09:00 PM

    Geeze Capy everyone but Akhbar Hussein and Bennet Lapidus and Stu Mishkin filed notices on the case. Why?

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  5. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 8:12:00 PM

    WOW a Bennet Lapidus drug lawyer from the 1970's reference. Far out. What about the Cuban Rocket Gino Negretti?

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  6. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 8:15:00 PM

    Don't forget Max Engle and Mel Kessler (RIP both ). Those guys were legends

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  7. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 8:23:00 PM

    stuart Mishkin the original riverboat gambler at trial. He would have never taken the 14 years. "Pick six" he would have sneered.

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  8. AnonymousWednesday, March 13, 2019 8:26:00 PM

    They blew up Negretti in his car and he went flying out and that's why they call him the Cuban Rocket

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  9. AnonymousThursday, March 14, 2019 10:23:00 AM

    Not quite sure why the post needs to emphasize that the defendant was a "federal felon."

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  10. AnonymousThursday, March 14, 2019 12:16:00 PM

    Naphtali was one of the nicest people you could ever meet. So unfortunate. Glad the SAO got some justice for him.

    BTDT

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  11. AnonymousThursday, March 14, 2019 1:19:00 PM

    8:26 pm, Negretti's car was bombed by a former cop whose wife Negretti represented in the divorce with great success. The ex-husband got acquitted at trial and, believe it or not, remarried the ex-wife!

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  12. the trialmasterFriday, March 15, 2019 1:34:00 PM

    One of my favorites--Stormin Norman Haft. Tom Duff always had a flower in his lapel. Bobby Haggard, always fought hard for his clients. Avin " the warlock" Goodman, hard to forget.

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