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, January 09, 2020

PEARSON v. RUNDLE

Now we are cooking with oil! 
In what was an open secret whispered  brazenly in the  hallways of the REGJB, Melba Pearson, a former ASA, has filed to run for State Attorney against Kathy Fernandez-Rundle. 

WLRN was one of the outlets that broke story here, choosing to run as an unflattering picture of KFR as they could find.  

Fernandez-Rundle, Janet Reno's handpicked successor (something we also hear drives her to distraction) has been State Attorney longer than some of her assistants have been out of diapers. 

Ms. Pearson- if you're listening- and we hope you are, here are some things you can challenge our State Attorney on. 

First and foremost- Why have your prosecutors abandoned their constitutional duties to seek justice when it comes to sentencing, and placed their recommendation solely and completely in the hands of victims???  
Judge: "This is a first offense car burglary. The twenty year old defendant is eligible for PTI"
Prosecutor: "Sorry judge, the victim wants the max five years in prison."  Rinse and repeat. Over and over Rundle and her minions abandon the trust placed in them by the people of Miami-Dade County to make the fair but unpopular decisions that prosecutors are supposed to make. They abandon their duties because Rundle quakes at the political and public relations problems with not kow-towing to a victim in a case. Shame on her. For that alone, she should be replaced. 

Second problem: Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Want to get a copy of discovery? "Sorry judge, I spoke to my chief, who spoke to her chief, who is waiting to speak to his  chief before we can provide the defense with the a-form." 

How many prosecutors does it take to change a light bulb at the SAO?  One- and thirty four supervisors. 

The office is an administrative and bureaucratic nightmare, so designed to prevent independent thinking by a prosecutor. A line prosecutor pretty much has to have their voir dire questions approved before they can ask them. "Sugar in that coffee?" "Hang on, I have to get approval." 

Janet Reno, the two words KFR hates to hear,  trusted her prosecutors to make the correct decisions in court. Ms. Rundle doesn't trust them to sharpen a pencil without supervision and approval. Well, that's not really true. She doesn't trust them to get a pencil to use without approval. Sharpening it is a whole other set of supervisors who have to sign off on it. 

We call on Ms. Pearson to promise to hire smart, independent thinking prosecutors who can be trusted in court to make the dozens of decisions on cases every day, without seeking approval from a line of supervisors that stretches from the REGJB to Joes on Miami Beach, and back. ("Want some stone crabs from Joes for lunch?" "Hang on, I have to get approval.")

We will have more to say on this subject. But for now, to Ms. Pearson: welcome to the party. You have a real chance to be an agent for change. 




23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rumpole just dropped a Shum-bomb on KFR. KABOOM! (smell the cigar smoke)

Anonymous said...

RUN MELBA RUN

WWW.REPLACEKFRNOW.COM

Anonymous said...

Why did it take her 5 years to get licensed after law school if she is not licensed in NY? What are her qualifications. Hundreds have been through the sao. Why are there no term limits for sao and pd, kfr has had the job since 1993, 26 years. I have seen no appreciable effort by kfr to curtail truancy and a teen dropout unemployed and armed accounts for much of the violent crime, either in their teens or twenties and no noticeable prosecution of legal guardians for allowing teenage boys, yes they are BOYS, for allowing kids to drop out of school and then wreak havoc on society.
If this candidate plans to do something about this she will have my vote. Chicago and Baltimore and Orlando have all taken their chance on black female candidates.

Rumpole said...

I sincerely hope Ms Pearson wants to be a candidate for change and justice and accountability. If so she has my vote. If she wants to be a black/female candidate she doesn't have my vote. I don't care one whit about her sex and race. I care about her ideas. If an old white man, a middle age Asian man, and a young woman of Chilean heritage were running, all I would care about would be their ideas and values. Not the origin of their parents and grandparents.
It doesn't matter to a 22 year old kid sentenced to 30 years on a non violent drug offense that the judge or prosecutor was black or female. He still has to do the time.

Anonymous said...

828 says my comment, as usual, is misconstrued. the point is that there are jurisdictions that have taken a chance on something other than white men from the ivy league. in miami we had a white woman from the ivy league, a woman nonetheless for over 30 years now and doing a good job of keeping the miami powderkeg from exploding.

Anonymous said...

Being black in America gives you a perspective that being white doesn't. I don't care who you are, but most white Americans do not understand white privilege. They've never gone into a store and instantly been identified as someone who is about to steal, they've never been stopped for being a particular race or ethnicity, never had an officer pull a gun on them because of the assumption they must be armed, and their family members have not been killed because of an assumption what they were reaching for was something other than a gun. KFR, to her credit, pays lip service to this, but for the past 20 years has done very little to address it. Change is good and it's time for a change.

Anonymous said...

I am a term limit person. KFR has been the SAO for way to long. She should have retired long ago. Hopefully someone can beat her.

The Trialmaster said...

It is too bad that although Judge Milan ran a great race, KFR squeaked by. But Al has become a fine and thoughtful Judge with a great judicial demeanor. Maybe Ms. Pearson can make it close but KFR will overwhelm her with $$$.

Kissimmee Kid said...

I am with the term limit guy. I would much rather the government pick our political leaders than the people. The people make bad choices, only the government has the experience and wisdom to decide who should be the State's Attorney. The idea that the people should choose who they want is an anachronism. Nobody knows who Wilkes was anyway.

Anonymous said...

KFR has the name, the presence and the money. And Miami Dade voters are dumb anyway. Feed them pastelitos, sit down with them to play dominoes while wearing a guayavera and show them pics of yourself shaking hands with a cop and you will win.

Anonymous said...

No, Al Milian is not a fine judge. He's rude and aggressive and frequently ignores clear law. He has grown up a bit but, is still a bully who loves having the power to push people around.

As for KFR, I like her. We could have Mike Satz move to Miami and run. How would you like that?

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with 6:44 on BOTH points! Bravo. KFR has my vote.

Anonymous said...

Melba is running against you Kathy? YOU ARE TOAST.....MELBA TOAST....(get it? ) Melba toast hahahahahaha

Anonymous said...

I started in Melba's class as an ASA and we both worked for KFR. Melba would make a great State Attorney. I cant see KFR serving for another 20 years, so if there was transition, Melba would be a good one. She's no softie on crime, but she is about 20 times better than Satz and that ilk.

Too many defense lawyers are spoiled by thinking there is much to complain about in Dade. For those that have ventured north of the lake, go see what your plea offers are up there.

Too many times I've said, "this nonsense wouldn't happen in Miami-Dade."

Good luck Melba

Anonymous said...

How many prosecutors does it take to make a maximum plea offer?
NONE
They just need a victim.

Anonymous said...

Judge Milian is an excellent judge

Anonymous said...

When Al Milian got arrested for DUI, he told the arresting deputy that he would find out just who he was messing with. When he punched a defense lawyer, he told the Bar they would find out who they were messing with. Me no fan of Al Milian. When I walk into his courtroom, I know who I’m messing with... a childish jerk.

Anonymous said...

and when Soros drops 500k in this race it will get a lot tighter

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

To 12:22 pm.

North of the “lake”. What lake. Get with the program. It’s North of the Border.

Cap Out ....

Anonymous said...

While Al was a little over aggressive as a Broward Prosecutor he has matured and runs a very nice and effect courtroom and treats all with respect.I would take him over the vast majority of those who sit at the Justice Building.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Mr.or Ms. 1/12/20 at 12: 15 ... are you nuts? "A little over aggressive." Is that punching opposing counsel, insulting people and calling a jury a bunch of lobotomized zombies and morons, after an unfavorable verdict your idea of "a little over aggressive?"

Have you read his Bar history?

Anonymous said...

I think all of the pre-bench history of Judge Milian is interesting. I never knew him then. I have only dealt with him as a judge, and I think he is an excellent judge, with good judicial demeanor, and a sense of fairness about him. Let's be fair. Even if that old stuff is accurate, let's judge him on his judging today.

Anonymous said...

KFR . Done. Don't let the door hit you.
Nexxt...