JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

GOVERNOR DESANTIS TO NAME TWO NEW THIRD DCA JUDGES TODAY AT 2:00 PM


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR TWO NEWEST 3RD DCA JUDGES .....

ARE:

JUDGE MONICA GORDO
Judge Gordo has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1999. She spent 11 years at the State Attorney's Office before getting elected to the Circuit Court bench in 2010 besting Robert Kuntz.  She was reelected in 2016 without opposition.

FLEUR LOBREE
Three times a charm.  Appointed to the County bench in 2011 by Governor Scott, she lost in her election to Michelle Alvarez Barakat in 2012 (71% to 29%).  Appointed again by Scott to the Circuit Court bench in 2013, she lost in her bid to hold that seat, in 2014, to Mavel Ruiz (54% to 46%).  She has spent most of her career as an appellate attorney at the State Attorney's office in Miami.

Will be announced today at a press conference at 2:00 PM when Governor DeSantis will personally introduce the two newest appointments at the Alan Schwartz Atrium at the Third District Court of Appeal.

Our sources are buzzing. They first alerted us to the fact that, on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Tallahassee, Governor Scott’s Legal Counsel interviewed the nine finalists to replace Justices Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck who were both elevated to the Florida Supreme Court. Those interviewed included:

Hon. Monica Gordo
Christopher Johnson
Hon. Timothy Koenig
Fleur Lobree
Oren Rosenthal
Eduardo Sanchez
Ann St. Peter Griffith
Hon. Daryl Trawick
Hon. Lisa Walsh

Now our sources have confirmed the surprise Press Conference later today.

The two newest jurists will join freshly appointed 3rd DCA Judges Eric Hendon and Bronwyn Miller who were both appointed by Governor Scott on his way out the door in late December of 2018.

COUNTY COURT

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A COUNTY COURT JUDGE .......

On March 27, 2019, Governor DeSantis named Judges Michelle Alvarez Barakat and Tanya Brinkley to the Circuit Court (replacing Judges Hendon & Miller - see above). With those two appointments, that opened up two seats on the County Court.

The 11th Judicial Circuit JNC will interview 19 attorneys and then send up to 12 names to Governor DeSantis. A total of 27 attorneys applied to the JNC, but eight failed to make the cut. Those scheduled for an interview on Monday, April 29th include:

 
8:00 a.m. Karl S. Brown
8:10 a.m. Miguel J. Chamorro
8:20 a.m. Ritamaria Gonzalez Cuervo
8:30 a.m. Elsa Maria Fernandez
8:40 a.m. Blanca Torrents Greenwood
8:50 a.m. Peter S. Heller
9:00 a.m. Zachary N. James
9:10 a.m. Scott M. Janowitz
9:20 a.m. Jeffrey M. Kolokoff
9:40 a.m. Gale Lewis
10:30 a.m. Arya Attari Li
10:40 a.m. Steven Lieberman
10:50 a.m. Jonathan Meltz
11:00 a.m. Griska Mena
11:10 a.m. Julie Harris Nelson
11:20 a.m. Christopher Pracitto
11:40 a.m. Kayla Riera-Gomez
11:50 a.m. Melissa Roca Shaw
12:00 p.m. Stephanie Silver


NEWS FROM THE CAPITOL .......

The Florida Legislature has been in session since March 5th and they are scheduled to adjourn sini die on May 3rd. Several bills have passed both the House and the Senate and have been sent to Govenor DeSantis’ desk for his signature. This week, DeSantis received Senate Bill 96, which amends, among other things, F.S. 843.19: the injuring, disabling or killing of a police, fire, or SAR canine or police horse. Those crimes would go from a third degree felony to a second degree felony if DeSantis signs the bill into law.

 
CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a shallow pool

Anonymous said...

Trawick and Walsh should get the nod. The rest are mediocre candidates including some real duds like Gordo. Trawick and Walsh are both cerebral, measured and professional. Let's see if this new Governor continues his good picks or not.

the trialmaster said...

Trawick and Walsh are the best qualified. Gordo is the least able. Anyone but her.

Anonymous said...

Fleur Lobree and Monica Gordo got the nod.

Anonymous said...

Well the Defendant will never have a chance when Gordo is on the panel- the only good news is that she cannot come back to criminal to make our lives miserable again.

Anonymous said...

I've known Fleur for 20+ years, back when she was a clerk at the 3d. Even then, she was applying for board certification in appellate practice. Definitely one of the better picks made in recent years. Then again, I miss Judge Schwartz...