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.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

AIRING DIRTY LAUNDRY

Unlike other popular bloggers and news outlets (we are NOT a news outlet, although we scoop El Herald from time to time) we do not hide controversy or our dirty laundry. We hang it out for all to see. 
We received this comment. We invite further comments based on our thoughts below:

Rumpole, just say that you support Tunis and that's the reason why you attack Aponte. If you are old and wise as you claim to be, you would know that "Hispanic" is not a race but a census origin. According yo he U.S. Census Bureau "Hispanic origin can be viewed as the heritage, nationality, lineage, or country of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before arriving in the United States. People who identify as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be any race." https://www.census.gov/topics/population/hispanic-origin.html. If you meet Aponte in person, you will see that she is of mixed race with a mix of physical characteristics of white European, red Native Caribbean (Taino/Arawak) and black African races and that her origin is Hispanic Puerto Rican. So, your attempt to smear Aponte over how she described her race at the forum and the improper use of "Hispanci" origin as a "race" in voter registration records is just stinky hot gas emanating from b.s.

Being so woke and politically-correct, perhaps, you could be better informed about Hispanic culture where "de color" (of color) is not considered an insult but the respectful and proper manner to describe black and mixed-race persons. And, by the way, she is absolutely correct about the vagaries and craziness of political correctness and the speech police.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020 1:58:00 AM
 Delete

First: We have been clear- we do not think on any metric Ms. Aponte approaches the bar to be a county court judge much less a circuit court judge. She has not demonstrated any expertise in any area of the law. She has not written one article we can find on any area of the law. Her pleadings that we have reviewed do not pass muster of a 1-L summer intern. She worked for a law firm that used runners to chase cases which is unethical and illegal. She appears to be the stereotypical candidate who seeks the bench for all the wrong reasons (steady paycheck and benefits). 

Second: The thought of her handling a death penalty case in circuit court when she appears to have NEVER tried a case or taken an adversarial deposition defies belief. It is downright frightening. It would diminish the judiciary and Miami-Dade County. 

Third: We do not think she has told the truth. We are working on her claim about cooking at Camillus house. It does not add up to what we are learning are  their procedures for people who volunteer. SO if that is not true, then her claims to be African-American and Indian appear to be the lowest form of pandering to the electorate. To be fair, she is not the first to do this, and will not be the last. It does not make it right. 

Fourth: We will admit possible error and to being insensitive to race and ethnic origin if Hispanic is NOT a race and is only an ethnic origin. The above commentator is correct- The US Census asks people to identify their race and says Hispanics can choose any race.  However other institutions characterize Hispanic as a race. Hospitals upon admission. Police reports when detailing an arrest.  But we could be wrong. We readily admit that many many Hispanics (including some of our best friends*) are also black. 
But on this point we concede error based on giving Ms. Aponte and her defender above the benefit of the doubt. 

We have aired our dirty laundry. WHO will address our concerns about Ms. Aponte? That she has neither the experience, nor demonstrated intellectual ability to be a circuit court judge given the power of life/death/freedom over the citizens of Florida. Who will call her our best and brightest and show us where we are wrong? You see we post our critics in the comments section and at times on the post section. We have invited Ms. Aponte or her defenders to reply. Show us one trial. One depo. One brief. One legal memorandum that shows legal ability. Just one. We will take it from their. Or please be prepared to defend a circuit court judicial candidate without any of the above. 

(THWACK) the sound of the ball in your court. 

* Note our sarcasm and humor in writing that many of our friends are Hispanic/black. This is classic defense by racist which we are not. The  truth of the matter is we have few friends and we have never even considered their race/origin. On review, some are Sith, one is a Hutt, one an Ewok.*
 Shame on us. We think of other things.


* Even more humor. These are alien species from Star Wars. 

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nobody is going to defend Aponte. Nobody is saying she is qualified. We are saying that we have appeared in front of Tunis for years and we feel she is unfair, biased, often mean, and as I'm sure you know there are also other issues. So given the choice between the devil we know and the devil we don't, we'll choose the devil we don't. Also why didn't we see a similar reaction when an equally unqualified candidate was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court despite having done nothing distinguishing (other than play the Federalist Society game) in a legal career that is too short to even qualify for being seated on the FLSC?

Rumpole said...

You are looking for your comment about someone with "issues" I cannot - for any person- post an anonymous comment hinting about "issues" and being counseled by others. It is too nefarious and has no support or proof.
Believe me when I tell you I have received dozens of emails about all candidates and judges not candidates about "issues" they have. There is an email I got about someone not granting access to their child to the other parent of the child. After discussing the implications of this with others I respect, I decided that anyone can file a motion or make a claim but that i could not post it until a court ruled. SO I routinely hold back a ton of scandalous information about lots of judges and candidates because there is not proof. Send me proof and I will reconsider.

Anonymous said...

I will go one better. Show me one PI or wrongful death medication or depo Aponte has ever attended. She is just plain vastly unqualified to sit in judgment of others. She has been the front of a disbarred NY advertising attorney and has aided and abetted in his unlicensed practice of law. The SAO should be prosecuting him, maybe they will. In spite of an order from the Florida Supreme Court he continues to reap in money with the assistance of Aponte who acts as a front. If somehow she gets elected by the ignorant masses, she will be off the bench in short order once the Bar and then the JQC gets done with her.

Anonymous said...

Still voted for Aponte and I've told everyone to as well. My non-attorney friends and family call me every election to see which judges to vote for.

It's a shame that Tunis is so nasty to the bar that she has people voting against her personality. I knew her when she was an APD and kissing my arse for pleas for her clients. She was pleasant to deal with then. But she is a true horror to deal with now. This is a REG building cleansing was. Just like Vicky Brennan was. The building didnt fall down when Brennan got tossed out.

If Aponte is truly an idiot, then she will soon be gone soon, either by burying her in dependency or delinquency, or voted out in six years.



Anonymous said...

I join 3:56 pm. Having watched that disastrous interview of Aponte, she is just a problem
waiting to happen. As for Judge Tunis, competence is vastly underrated.

Anonymous said...

Aponte too busy to even show up for the judicial forum last night.

Anonymous said...

I voted for the idiot. I am tired of having Tunis be rude to me.

Anonymous said...

I voted for Ms Aponte because I have worked with her on a case that she took that was a real loser. She prepared excellent pleadings, worked well with the client, and won the case which involved feuding with the state and federal system.
I have appeared for many years before Judge Tunis. When she was a county judge, you could not ask for a more careful, consistent, polite, and effective judge. After she became a circuit judge, she has become increasingly nasty. She appears to think she knows all of the issues before counsel argues his or her points and is frequently nasty. I do not know what caused this turn. Perhaps there are personal issues, but I will trust Ms. Aponte any day to weigh the responsibilities to a defendant and the community. I absolutely hate appearing before Judge Tunis. The time has come for her to retire because there were many years of excellent service. Joe Klock

Anonymous said...

(Source for this comment: FloridaBar.org and, for Judge Tunis, FloridaBar.org and https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000-08-27-0008260312-story.html).

The Circuit Court is a serious office, and I appreciate the desire here to focus on the competency of the candidates seeking that office, but Aponte shouldn't be taking all of the brunt. Let's apply that standard to all of our current candidates.

Of all of the Circuit Court candidates (including incumbents), only two - Joe Perkins and Judge Rebull - were admitted to the bar after the first bar exam after graduating from law school.

Multiple candidates (including one incumbent), were not admitted to the bar until THREE OR FOUR (!!!) bar exams after graduating from law school:

-Olanike "Nike" Adebayo, admitted three bar exams after law school graduation;
-Roderick "Rod" Vereen, admitted three bar exams after law school graduation;
-Judge Mavel Ruiz, admitted four bar exams after graduation;

The remaining candidates (Martinez-Scanziani, Hansen, Aponte, Judge Tunis) were admitted two bar exams after graduating from law school.

I get it - sometimes people have a bad day, but do we really want someone who couldn't pass the bar until the third or fourth try making the highest level of legal determinations in our trial court? I'm sick of the Federalist Society appointments too, but at least the (State) appointment process tends to weed out people who have absolutely no place on the circuit bench.

Anonymous said...

When I think of the worst, most micro-managed court to appear in, I think of Judge Tunis. A 5 minute hearing usually lasts an hour as she reads from her notes and talks and talks to prove she remembers what happened at the last hearing. I do not like appearing before her. However, Rosy Aponte is incompetent. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but I will vote for Judge Tunis. Maybe she will be a little introspective and realize what an unpleasant Judge she is and try to improve.
I also want to put my 2 sense in about Judge Rebull. Yesterday, in a Judicial Forum when asked how he would deal with racial sensitivity he said that he has 2 African American prosecutors in his court to take care of that. So if there is a Haitian that appears before him there has to be a Haitian prosecutor to see that the Defendant is treated fairly...a jewish defendant...a jewish prosecutor? Does he as the Judge have no responsibility? What if he has a biased prosecutor. Just because he is black he knows what is fair? I cast my vote for his opponent!

Carmen Vizcaino said...

I do not know Ms. Aponte, but I have reviewed her qualifications. She is not running for a County seat but a Circuit Seat. If elected she will preside over the most serious cases in this jurisdiction. There is no questions the qualifications to run for judge need to change. And to be clear, I absolutely do not believe any incumbent has any "right" to their seat. To decide to vote for a lawyer who has NEVER tried ANY jury trial at all or even done a deposition against someone who has been a trial lawyer for 14 years trying the most serious cases, then a judge for another 20 presiding over death penalty cases because "Judge Tunis is mean" is absurd.

Again I don't know Ms. Aponte, she may be very nice. I have appeared before Judge Tunis and if you think that is "mean" you have lead a life of privilege in this legal community. In the 21 years I have been practicing I have been called a bitch on the record by a judge, watched a newly minted judge deny a continuance to a seasoned trial lawyer days after she buried her husband. Deny a lawyer a continuance and put her in the box when she showed up on trial day direct from the childrens hospital were she had been all night with her child who was about to have a spinal tap due to meningitis. Heard of another judge who did not excuse a lawyer from a hearing he was late for because his wife had just passed and he needed to tell his children their mother was gone. These are only a few of many horror stories. I don't always agree with Judge Tunis' rulings. There is literally no judge that I have ever agreed with all of their rulings. Frankly, there are very few I agree with even 50% of the time. I have never seen Judge Tunis be disrespectful to a lawyer or a defendant.

But even assuming Judge Tunis is "mean", Circuit Court is no place figure out the learning curve from zero to Death Penalty cases. Whether its Ms. Aponte or anyone else.

Carmen M. Vizcaino, Esq.

Anonymous said...

Watching Tunis on the various forums it is shocking how she misrepresents her philosophy and approach towards defendants saying she treats first time offenders with deference, what a lie! She has no conscious r sympathy. I am seriously thinking of a JQC complaint with the documentation of her misrepresentation only to make herself appear as a just jurist. Tunis has no conscious, why should anyone have any towards her. She deserves to be exposed and voted off the bench, even if she should happen to win, I have leaned that hound dogs are sniffing into information that may be very revealing and embarrassing to many.

Anonymous said...

Tunis all but gone. Deal with it. I'll vote for her (and kfr) but she not winning this race. Kfr gonna win with Republican votes and it won't be that close. Melba who?? Please get real. This ain't Broward.

Anonymous said...

Feels like Disbarred Lawyer pepe Herrera is all over this blog. And Behind rosy’s run.

Whole lot of rosy ain’t gonna win. The days of running a name are over.

Dava is the real deal. Smart and fair. Prepared. You should have been in this game 30 years ago, you want mean.

You don’t like a strong woman, that’s on you.

Dava is a real judge.

Vote for Dava.

Anonymous said...

10:09. Your comments are not so scientific. You need to go back and see which candidates graduated early from law school (2 1/2 years) and then when they took the bar exam. If you don't take this into consideration you are making a false accusation that candidate(s) failed the bar exam when really they passed it on the first time. Let's get the facts straight.

Anonymous said...

Tunis is qualified to be a judge but, honestly, I am sick and tired of her BS. She bounces off the walls and acts like she could care less what the lawyers say. I will vote for Aponte just to get rid of Tunis. Go away Dava! Join Brennan at SAO or PD office.

the trialmaster said...

Kathy's opponent for SAO took at least 3 tries to pass the bar. That disqualifies her for me. I will hold my nose and vote for Kathy.

Anonymous said...

10:09 is correct, and, after additional research, an amendment to my earlier post is appropriate. (Source for this comment: FloridaBar.org; (for Judge Tunis) https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000-08-27-0008260312-story.html; and (for Marcia Giordano Hansen) https://www.marciaforjudge.com.)

The Circuit Court is a serious office, and I appreciate the desire here to focus on the competency of the candidates seeking that office, but Aponte shouldn't be taking all of the brunt. Let's apply that standard to all of our current candidates.

Of all of the Circuit Court candidates (including incumbents), only three - Joe Perkins, Judge Rebull, and Marcia Giordano Hansen - were admitted to the bar after the first bar exam after graduating from law school.

Multiple candidates (including one incumbent), were not admitted to the bar until THREE OR FOUR (!!!) bar exams after graduating from law school:

-Olanike "Nike" Adebayo, admitted three bar exams after law school graduation;
-Roderick "Rod" Vereen, admitted three bar exams after law school graduation;
-Judge Mavel Ruiz, admitted four bar exams after graduation;

The remaining candidates (Martinez-Scanziani, Aponte, Judge Tunis) were admitted two bar exams after graduating from law school.

I get it - sometimes people have a bad day, but do we really want someone who couldn't pass the bar until the third or fourth try making the highest level of legal determinations in our trial court? I'm sick of the Federalist Society appointments too, but at least the (State) appointment process tends to weed out people who have absolutely no place on the circuit bench.

Anonymous said...

That is so crazy and scary if true 10:09!

Anonymous said...

So the number of times a candidate took the bar exam is supposed to be representative of who whould make a better judge?
Seriously, that's the criteria you want to use?

SSA said...

Ah, Dava TUNIS is tough, boo boo. She isn't Lady Law Morphonis, she isn't Art Snyder, or Ric Margolis . Toughen up

Anonymous said...

There is no such thing as "hispanic." Where is Hispania? Hispanolia is the name of the island on which the Dominican Republic and Haiti exist. Are Haitians "hispanic?"

It's stupid.

Saying that people from the Dominican Republic, Argentina, and Mexico all of the same ethic or racial orgin because at one point those places were all Spanish colonies, is as stupid as saying that Bahamians, Australians, and Pakistanis are all of the same ethic or racial origin because at one point those places were all English colonies. Pure stupidity!

People, stop accepting stupid shit just because the guy next to accepts its.

The world is not flat, the tooth fairy doesn't exist, and there is no such thing as "Hispanic" or "Latino."

Anonymous said...

Bokor to the Third?

Anonymous said...

Please Governor:

APPOINT JUDGE LISA WALSH to the 3d DCA.

Brilliant, experienced, great temperament, NOT an activist jurist, incredible ethics and integrity, a leader of lawyers and judges ... and is so well respected and admired.

Don’t appoint some judge who joined a right wing group just to get an appointment. Do the Bar proud and make an appointment with true merit.

Anonymous said...

I passed the bar exam on my first try, and I don't think it has a thing with my abilities as a lawyer or lack thereof. Stupid metric.