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, September 01, 2020

PROBATION AND ZOOM

Probation means always having to say you're sorry. 

Some of the greatest injustices have occurred through probation violation hearings, especially when the defendant is later acquitted of the underlying charge. 

Defense attorneys are now rightfully concerned with having Judges adjudicated probation violation hearings via Zoom. With that in mind and with permission of the  FACDL Prime Minister of Defense we publish this:


As we navigate through the COVID-19 unknown, we have come across issues of first impression that we must now litigate.  One of those very issues comes in the form of Probation Violation Hearings.  One position is the Court may force these hearings to move forward via remote videoconferencing because it is not specifically excluded in the Supreme Court AOs much like jury and non-jury trials are.  FACDL-Miami member Rich Cooper’s client is being pushed by Judge Miranda, who is contemplating holding the PVH via Zoom, over the defense’s objection. 

 

That being said, we all know that an AO doesn’t obviate the Constitution.   It is the position of FACDL-Miami that, unless the defense consents (which might make sense in some cases) this is a violation of the constitutional right to counsel, right of the defendant to be physically present, and confrontation clause.  It also violates Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.180.  We have filed a pleading on one case already, and FACDL statewide has also weighed in in opposition, but this is the sort of issue where one case could open the floodgates.  If you have an issue of a judge trying to set a Zoom PVH in one of your cases, and you oppose it, please reach out to Dan Tibbitt directly, at Dan@Tibbittlaw.com.

 

I want to thank several people for their quick and diligent work on this matter.  First, to Rich Cooper for having the foresight to recognize that his client’s situation has the potential to set bad precedent for the rest of us, and working with FACDL to file the objection.  Diana Johnson (Johnson and Lufrano, PA) and Jackie Perczek (Roy Black, PA) were incredibly instrumental in researching, drafting, and articulating our position and supporting arguments.  Past Presidents H. Scott Fingerhut and Jude Faccidomo have been fantastic in leading this charge.  And we couldn’t have done it without Dan Tibbitt, who when called, immediately accepted his “voluntold” position and took off running.  I should note, this was just 1 or 2 days after he volunteered to work on another Amicus brief.  This group drafted the finest (and longest) Motion for Continuance I have seen.  Thank you to Rich, Diana, Jackie, Scott, Jude, and Dan for all your hard work.

Best,


Matt

 

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great to see defense bar sticking together!

Anonymous said...

Rosy Aponte
Sitting in a tree
Chasing accident cases
123
Likes to file Liens
Likes to hustle fees
But wanted to be a judge
Without her history.

Anonymous said...

I think Probation is misspelled in the great one's headline

Talkin Rosy said...

Sung to the tune of "Talkin Baseball"

We're talkin Rosy
hittin the streets and signin up cases
Talkin Rosy
using runners so she doesn't see their faces
Solicit signem and file the case
when they leave file a lien so she doesn't chase
working for lawyers
without Bar Cards
say hey say hey say hey
she's working with lawyers
that don't have their bar cards
disbarred disbarred disbarred

Rumpole said...

Where?
Also,
Jackie Gleeson was "the great one".
Ali was the greatest.
I am merely great.

Anonymous said...

Not great at predicting the direction stock market.

David Troyer said...

Rumpole, no disrespect to Jackie Gleason, but Wayne Gretzky was, is, and will always be "The Great One."

Rumpole said...

How's Philly?
And before Mr. Gretzky was born, Mr. Gleeson was the great one.

Rumpole said...

11:18- you have a two day, two month view. I have a twenty year view. That's why I drink better wine than you.

Anonymous said...

BANDIT!!!

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

RUMPOLE. That’s two mistakes in one year. Very unlike you. Gleeson is spelled Gleason and he was given the moniker The Great One by Orson Welles. He killed it as Minnesota Fats in The Hustler.

Anonymous said...

The entire 2020 from Covid to riots to Aponte to Kinosha, From Trump to Biden, has been one gigantic Shumie time.