Here's a Herald article about DUI Maven Michael Catalano going after longtime public service aide Pablo Espinoza who (allegedly) told Catalano that his client, an African American Miami Dade Police Sergeant who had been arrested for DUI "looked like a monkey."
There are two morals to this story. First, racial slurs have no place in society, public or private. Period. Full stop. That people, much less law enforcement officers (yeah we know he's not a cop, but he works on criminal DUI cases) still think this way is very very disturbing.
Second, when Michael Catalano texts you about something you did wrong, best you don't reply bro.
Update: Mr. Catalano, a blog reader, responded in a comment (edited only to correct a typo)
Mike C here
He did this out of the blue. I had no idea it was coming. He popped this on me. How dare he put me into this situation. Folks, most lawyers are afraid to do anything controversial. Not me. I stand up for clients. They pay us money. They expect us do defend them. I don't care now unpopular it is to defend them. I chose to defend them.
Rumpole says: well said. More importantly, Dr. King said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that."
Mike Catalano had the courage to confront a racist, call him out, shed light on his repugnant beliefs, speak truth to power. For that he is to be applauded and lauded.
GIULIANI FIRE(s) SALE
Rudy Guliani, lawyer, loudmouth, and now a target of an investigation by federal prosecutors in the SDNY, an office he used to lead, has ended his relationship with Jon Sale, a Miami Criminal Defense attorney and law school classmate of Giuliani.
Could it be Rudy is tapped out$$$? Sale doesn't offer sales, and Rudy recently had to borrow a hundred K to help in a divorce case.
Rumpole Rule #27: Being under investigation without counsel is not the best position to be in.
IT WAS A DISASTER
Item: The president winged it, went off script in a call with the President of Turkey, and the next thing you know the Syrian-Turkish border is in flames, America has abandoned the Kurds- one of its staunchest allies in the fight against ISIS, Russia now has troops patrolling towns US forces were in two weeks ago, and basically things are falling apart.
Query: Just who was it who said this?
It was Mr. Trump himself who, during a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016, blamed President Barack Obama for a similar error. “President Obama and Secretary Clinton created a vacuum the way they got out of Iraq,” he said, referring to the 2011 withdrawal.
“They shouldn’t have been in, but once they got in, the way they got out was a disaster. And ISIS was formed.”
Nature abhors a vacuum. Most of the rest of us just really hate our idiot president.
20 comments:
Yup, Catalano will defend clients even if it hurts his own pocketbook.
Mike C here
He did this out of the blue. I had no idea it was coming. He popped this on me. How dare he put me into this situation.
Folks, most layers are afraid to do anything controversial. Not me. I stand up for clients. They pay us money. They expect us do defend them. I don't care now unpopular it is to defend them. I chose to defend them.
"That people, much less law enforcement officers (yeah we know he's not a cop, but he works on criminal DUI cases) still think this way is very very disturbing."
Disturbing, but how can that be surprising to you? How many cops think their mission in life is to brave the "urban jungle" so they can beat down and intimidate the black and brown denizens and keep them out of the expensive white areas? And if they should kill some of them, they get away with it.
As for prosecutors, 95% of their careers consists of shoveling black and brown people into prison. You think they make sure to always regard their charges with humane and dignified language?
You libs take any position that is anti trump. Suddenly rump is in favor of keeping u.s. troops in syria forever? LOL. The forever-war caucus was going to cry bloody murder whenever we pulled out...2019..2029..wouldn't matter. Americans shouldn't be coming home in bodybags from syria. Full stop.
I support what Michael did. He took a stand. He saw something wrong- and he did something right. I know that he wrote that he did it to defend his client. But like Rumpole said, he also called out a racist and that takes courage. How many of us over the years have heard someone mutter some repugnant statement and turned a blind eye or deaf ear because it's just easier? Mike didn't do that and he deserves credit for that. It's not as easy as it seems in retrospect.
The bravest were the prosecutor and defense lawyers who brought to light the bullshit being spewed by the now former judge. They deserve major kudos for that.
Ladies and Gentlemen the next president of the United States....Michael Catalano!!!
Www.cat4potus.com
9:25 pm. Rump is always in favor of the US keeping commitments to its allies who fought for us. Like the Kurds.
We don’t cut and run and leave friends to die on a battlefield alone. Or at least we didn’t until we elected a coward who knows nothing about honor and dodged the draft. That’s not a liberal stance. Do you think Eisenhower would have done that. ? Or Nixon. Or Reagan or BusH. ? All Of the sudden in your small mind keeping military commitments and keeping the Russians in check is a liberal position ? You know nothing coward. Go crawl back under the rock from whence you came.
Congrats Mc. C. You sound like a great lawyer who fights for justice and for his clients. Wishing you continued success. Good luck.
Rump, I agree with you. BUT... Papa Bush did abandon the Kurds.
You talk a big game like a neocon, but i doubt you were in favor of us "keeping our commitments" to the south vietnamese. I guess we were cowards to stop sending our boys to die in the jungle then, right? Since you're such a tough guy where did you serve? LOL oh yea you're an anonymous hack!
Well let’s see. You write anonymously on my blog.
Who’s the hack? You’ve created what ?
You have served where ?
I’ve served my country. Of that I have no qualms about stating.
Once again go crawl back under your rock.
You answered none of my questions. Is it the policy of liberals to keep troops supporting our allies and to counter the Russians?
You are so turned around with your blind loyalty to a fascist racist idiot who appeals to your limited intellect and tells you that it’s ok you cannot compete with others that you cannot figure out which way is up.
MR. RUMPLE,
Funny you think we are obliged to answer each others questions...i thought in a blog post perhaps i could make my own point without regard to your questions. But since you make it a BFD, ill happily give answers.
But before i do, i asked quite clearly where you served since you are mr tough guy in favor of spilling the blood of more American sons, brothers, husbands and fathers in Syria, *in addition to* Afghanistan (been there almost two decades) and Iraq (not far behind).
Your response was:
"I’ve served my country. Of that I have no qualms about stating."
Wow. Great answer. Funny you hate trump but you sound just like him. Dont answer and then just state something like its fact, based on nothing.
Despite your total hippocracy, i will **actually answer** your questions.
"Do you think Eisenhower would have done that. ? Or Nixon. Or Reagan or BusH?"
Would they pull out of syria? I dont know. I doubt Eisenhower would have us in syria or iraq in the first place. But i'm nowhere near the historian you are.
To answer your question another way, i could care less what any of them would think about syria. I have formed my own opinion that we should leave. I personally would never agree to go to syria myself today. I would never let my son go to syria today if i had a say. Because i wouldnt put my own blood or that of my own family on the line, i wouldnt ask the same of (often the poorest) Americans who volunteer to join the armed forces. Yes we went in. We don't have to stay forever. Call it "cut and run" all u want, i don't care.
"All Of the sudden in your small mind keeping military commitments and keeping the Russians in check is a liberal position ?"
I agree with "keeping military commitments" like paying our fair share for NATO and honoring mutual defense treaties. But i dispute your premise that staying in syria qualifies as "keeping military commitments." We never committed or promised in any way to stay in syria forever. We have shed blood doing what we thought helped us, which happened to also help the kurds. They have every reason to be disappointed we are leaving, but we didnt promise to fight war for them in perpetuity.
As to "keeping the russians in check", what can i say. This is what will keep Russians in check? I don't think so. Assad controlled all syria before, and last time i checked he has been a russian ally quite a while. If it ends with assad reasserting full control, i dont think dominoes start falling and then russia is at our doorstep.
* * *
You make syria all about trump:
"We don’t cut and run and leave friends to die on a battlefield alone. Or at least we didn’t until we elected a coward who knows nothing about honor and dodged the draft"
It doesnt matter if trump dodged the draft. It doesnt matter if he is a coward. What matters is if more Americans should die in Syria today, or if we should leave.
Your position is the ***certain death*** of more Americans in Syria is ***worth it***.
I respectfully disagree.
Go ahead and have the last word if you care to but start with "the continued death of American boys in syria is just the price we must pay because (fill in the blank)"
And leave trump out of your response if you don't mind...
what's all this crap on that ex PD's blog about Scola being such a wonderful Judge? He is a Judge Gleeson wannabe, simple as that. Not even close, Bob.
Why is it racist to say that you think someone looks like a monkey if you believe that they resemble a monkey? Humans are descended from apes. It is not at all a stretch to suggest that humans, broadly speaking, look like monkeys. And it is similarly not at all a stretch to say that some humans look more like our ape/monkey cousins than others. I know there is history and context at play here. But, have you never seen someone and thought, "that girl looks mousy" or "that guy has a rat face" or perhaps described someone as looking like a bird? Or for the cubans among us described a woman as "una yegua" (a female horse)? Perhaps a man as a "horse face"? None of those is racist. And each of those is a far greater leap of the imagination than saying that someone looks like a monkey - which they may very well actually resemble.
I know the outrage machine will now call me a racist. That's how this game is played. If you even question the politically correct status quo, you're an ignorant monster. But for those of you willing to entertain critical thinking (which requires questioning the established wisdom), I'd be curious to read your thoughts.
I spoke to Mike about the text. He did it cuz he told the DHSMV hearing officer about the "monkey" comment at the end of the hearing when no witnesses were present and the hearing officer looked like she didn't believe him. He had his client there so, they talked and when Mike left, he sent the text to bait Espinosa to admit he said it. Boy did he admit it. He later admitted it in a depo only cause he thought the security cameras caught it. Silly rabbit... everyone knows security cameras don't record sound.
Yes, the hearing officer could have cared less and sustained the suspension.
For making the monkey comment public, the SAO did the right thing. They immediately upped the charge to felony child abuse simply because two kids were in the car. Both were properly strapped in with seat belts. If that isn't vindictive, what is? Turns out two cops testified under oath that they were there and the police sergeant was not even slightly impaired. They even said there was no PC for the arrest. The video shows a very sober arrestee. For that, Kathy Rundle upped the charges even though the DUI statute is rather specific that kids in the car is a first degree misdemeanor and the generic child abuse statute is a felony. Nice work SAO!
1:10 pm. You are correct. With respect to the "yegua" comment, in Cuban slang, that means a woman with a great body. If the woman is totally fine, exceptionally awesome body, very pretty, she is a "monstruo" (a monster).
Why is the SAO filing a child neglect/no great harm felony charge against Sgt. Moore after the racial slur incident came up in the news, specially when the DUI statute in s. 316.193(4) has a sentencing enhancement for DUI with minors in the vehicle:
"Any person who is convicted of a violation of subsection (1) and who has a blood-alcohol level or breath-alcohol level of 0.15 or higher, or any person who is convicted of a violation of subsection (1) and who at the time of the offense was accompanied in the vehicle by a person under the age of 18 years, shall be punished:
(a) By a fine of:
1. Not less than $1,000 or more than $2,000 for a first conviction.
2. Not less than $2,000 or more than $4,000 for a second conviction.
3. Not less than $4,000 for a third or subsequent conviction.
(b) By imprisonment for:
1. Not more than 9 months for a first conviction.
2. Not more than 12 months for a second conviction."
By filing an unnecessary felony charge for conduct directly addressed by the DUI statute, the SAO is making itself and KFR look petty, vindictive and defensive of their racist witness. Any of the many SAO chiefs care to comment?
I can't believe nobody else thinks Catalano's first text to the service aide was a f--king extortion attempt? "If you don't _____, I will hurt you by _____." is extortion/blackmail. And then, after the service aide immediately apologizes, Catalano STILL complains that he wants him fired.
People are so on alert for racism, we often ignore or excuse the bad behavior it provokes.
(BTW I would bet a mortgage payment that "anonymous" @12:54 is Catalano.)
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