If things weren't ugly before now...they are ugly and getting uglier.
Judge Zilber's former Judicial Assistant, not satisfied with the discipline recommended by the JQC, has filed a motion in our own Florida Supreme Court to intervene. In the motion she is seeking additional and enhanced sanctions against Judge Zilber, her former employer. She wants him disbarred. She wants him impeached. She wants his name stricken from the rolls of attorneys and to never be spoken of again. She wants him rereferred to the International Court at the Hague for prosecution for war crimes. She wants him removed from the European Union. Well, she wants some of those things. Take a look and remember....
Hell hath no fury like a judicial assistant scorned. (especially one who had to move furniture).
The deeper one gets into politics, the darker things get. I don't like Zilber, the complainant or Bruce Jacobs. Zilber needs to go, the former JA needs to get a life and take care of that baby and Jacobs should do less muckraking and more taking care of his soft-bodied physique
ReplyDeleteOuch!
ReplyDeleteI think it's time for us to move on to another story. Jacobs is always up to no good. I don't know this JA but she seems to have gotten mixed up in his mess. Zilber made some mistakes. Let's hope he becomes a better judge from it.
ReplyDeleteThe line of the request: “ Judge Zilber is honored to sit on a bench, not a throne.” Oh my.
ReplyDeleteI am a female ASA that practiced in front of Judge Zilber. He was always courteous and professional in his courtroom and his rulings. Not sure what happened in civil but from what I read, there are some outside influences. Judge Zilber is a fair judge who will now be fairer because of the unfair way he has been treated.
ReplyDeleteThis seems beyond unlikely. I am an ASA and the opinion on Zilber was overwhelmingly negative when he was here. Nor has there appeared to be much surprise among us when the charges came out. So who are you really?
DeleteExcuse you female ASA. Do you know what goes on with staff in chambers? Outside of the courtroom and off record?
DeleteThis is 6:08 again—the female ASA is definitely not real, but as an aside, the attorney representing the new JA should talk to the old JA and bailiff for more ammunition. There’s plenty there if they’re willing to talk and Zilber hasn’t scared them into keeping their mouths shut.
DeleteSaying that Judge Zilber "made some mistakes" is a gross understatement. Based on the allegations in the JA's motion -- which are supported by the contemporaneously filed exhibits in the appendix) -- Zilber ordered a county employee to assist with aspects of his judicial campaign. That, standing alone, warrants removal.
ReplyDeleteKangaroo court.
ReplyDeleteHow is the JA's name pronounced?
ReplyDeleteDIK-ZEE-DELA?
DEE-HEE-DELA?
Wait....can I just say that I love the JA’s name! Dixiedela.
ReplyDeleteRump, please consider posting the appendix to the motion to intervene, available here: https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2021/526/2021-526_motion_123914_appendix2dmotion.pdf
ReplyDeleteThe texts/e-mails further emphasize how much a jerk Zilber is.
It's also worth noting that the most inappropriate e-mails in the appendix (forcing his JA to work on his re-election campaign and to make dinner reservations) are sent from Zilber's personal gmail to his JA's personal gmail rather than using their official e-mail addresses.
It's pretty clear to me that he was aware of the obvious impropriety and did it anyway, choosing to use personal e-mail accounts to cover his tracks.
Reomval? But he treated that ASA nice.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah this could save him
DeleteOh my. Let’s be careful. These inquiries and public attacks lead to dangerous mental health issues for those accused of legal and moral wrongdoing. We don’t want to push a human being into depression or ... worse. Public humiliation is enough of a punishment for these “crimes”!
ReplyDeleteWhat lack of respect Bruce Jacobs has for the process. The JQC underwent a thorough investigation and made their findings and recommendations accordingly. Clearly there was a reason none of this was included. Judge Zilber admitted responsibility. Time to move on. Respect the process.
ReplyDeleteI find it disheartening to watch (presumably) qualified lawyers focus so much on the charges, the media, and the emotionally charged account of a disgruntled JA and sore-loser lawyer, rather than the JQC’s findings of actual fact. This story, when it comes down to facts, is no big deal. Zilber made a mistake, lets move on. Do better, Miami attorneys.
ReplyDeleteNo independent attorney is writing this!! What normal person is like, hey no problem. “No big deal” because really, who isn’t this much of a colossal lying jackass. He’s sorry and will be better! The JQC’s findings, alone, are shocking. Any decent lawyer would be appalled. How many of these comments are by Zilber or his people?
DeleteWaiting on supreme court. Who matters!
DeletePeople need to let the process play out. The Judge stipulated to certain things. Let the FSC do their job. In my view, everyone deserves a second chance. Judge Zilber is certainly polarizing but he deserves a fair hearing/respectful process just like we would expect of him for our clients. Hopefully, when this process is over he will he a rehabilitated better Judge.
ReplyDeleteWhat is absolutely remarkable is that Bruce Jacobs, who admittedly drafted
ReplyDeleteThe complaint because he feels zilber targeted his clients filed the actual complaint with the things the JQC did NOT find. That breaks multiple rules of the Florida bar. The facts he's behind this smells. He's disgusting. And Jacobs has now decided to gratuitously take on judge michael Hanzman in a scathing letter Published in the herald about judge hanzman who also referred Jacobs to the bar. Many of you don't know but the bar is taking Jacobs to trial April 25/26 for his multiple ridiculous violations of the ethics rules and codes of conduct guess whos going to be the star witness, judge michael Hanzman. The judge/referee will be county court judge Betsy alvarez. I hope she brings the ax down on this clown and removes him as the stain he is on our profession. Again, Bruce Jacobs is a disgusting excuse for a lawyer.
Does any of this change what zilber did???
DeleteHey, I'm a tax payer. I don't want my money used to pay a JA to do political work for her elected boss. Only a complete idiot would allow that. Zilber is a complete idiot and needs to resign. I don't see why anyone would be critical of the ex JA complaining about this. She was mistreated by a government paid worker and she is the victim here. Zilber is no victim.
ReplyDeleteMr. or Ms. 8:34 pm, do rapists and murderers deserve a "second chance?" Where do we draw that line in the sand?
Jacobs is a complete fool to try to take on Judge Hanzman who is the most intelligent judge on our bench, and one of the best I have ever practiced before. In the same league as the great late Ed Cowart, and John Gleeson, the former USDJ in EDNY. Jacobs has a very dim future.
ReplyDeleteWhat a misogynist, blame the victim and whistle-blower post. Whatever your feelings on the lawyer representing the JA, her claims on an unethical and law-breaking judge are not being disputed by Zilber!
ReplyDeleteZilber's behaviour was wrong and he ought to be severely sanctioned for it. It won't be a surprise if SCofFL enhances the penalty all the way up to removal.
ReplyDeleteBut, at the same time, I'm not sure Bruce Jacobs is a terribly reliable source when it comes to conflicts with judges. The Bar action against him is public record and pretty telling.
https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2020/1602/2020-1602_petition_76798_complaint.pdf
Assailing Bruce Jacobs for exposing judicial arrogance and abuse speaks volumes of the inner circle of the profession. The protective web spun to shield the elite from public scrutiny. The fact that Jacobs did the investigative work of the JQC is indicia of how the system protects itself and those held in esteem.
ReplyDeleteJudges are public servants, and on the people’s payroll. Why should any judge be above the law? It is evident that Soto violated her obligations as Chief judge, as did the administrative judges and others. This warrants an independent investigation, not by the JQC, in its Star Chamber secretive manner, but perhaps by State Legislature in the Sunshine, so the taxpayers can monitor the proceeding. There is no excuse for the Chief Judge of the Circuit, any Administrative judge, or any other judge to fail to document or report extensive absence or abuse by any other member of the bench. The failure of the Chief and Administrative judges to document absences by judges they are suppose to monitor or supervise allows these judges to receive their full compensation (and benefits without any adjustment) while absent from their judicial duties, (allowing their backup judges to do their labor). This is tantamount to theft, no matter how you try to explain it. It is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse. The canons and rules impose an affirmative obligation not only on the Chief and Administrative judges, but all judges having any knowledge of some fellow judge’s misdeeds. I suspect there is more to come on this subject and Soto and others taken to task.
Dear Wednesday, April 21, 2021 8:22:00 AM;
ReplyDeleteYou ask, "do rapists and murderers deserve a 'second chance?'" Why wouldn't they. Are they not flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood? Humans do bad things. We all do. Some folks genuinely repent and try to do better. Are they not worthy of forgiveness?
K
The posts on the blog, both by Rumpole and the commentators, are so horrendously sexist and classist. You’re all blaming and insulting the JA like she is somehow the bad person in this story, even though she’s the victim of terrible workplace discrimination and harassment and is a whistleblower for reporting it. More like hell hath no fury than men watching another man held to account by a woman employee. You people need to take a step back a reevaluate your opinions on this story. Zilber’s admitted to criminal conduct. This isn’t going to end well for him, or those of you who have defended him and castigated his JA.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Floyd Verdict:
ReplyDeletePrelude facts: Police are investigating a non-violent crime and decide there is PC to arrest the suspect. The suspect resists, locking his joints and wiggling and kicking, refusing to be put in the back of the squad car. He is screaming "I cannot breathe" and begging not to be arrested.
Hypothetical A: Officer Chauvin, having a terrible day, under stress because his wife is talking about leaving him, and fed up with his job, takes out his service weapon and fires a shot directly into the suspect's forehead, killing him immediately. Chauvin stands over the body and laughs.
Hypothetical B: Officer Chauvin pins the suspect to the ground and exerts weight between his shoulder blades near his neck, calls for EMTs, and maintains the pressure until EMT arrives, minutes after the suspect stopped moving.
Murder in the 2nd degree, under MN statute, covers Hypothetical A.
If you think Hypothetical B is the same crime as A.... I don't know what to tell you. And yet that is what Chauvin will be sentenced for.
He did not have a fair trial. He was not presumed innocent. The social context necessary for due process was not made available to him, with politicians up to and including the President of the USA calling for conviction before a verdict was reached.
Even if we imagine that jurors somehow avoided ALL news for weeks (and this no longer means paging through a newspaper or watching TV at 630; this means no facebook, no instagram, turning alerts off on your apple devices, avoiding all streaming services), they nonetheless remained living in a city where entire blocks and one police station lay in burned rubble, they passed protestors outside the courthouse every day, and lived among a NEW police shooting that sparked NEW riots in their own city.
That is how Chauvin ended up with the same verdict as the cop in Hypothetical A who impulsively decided to shoot a suspect through the head.
If you care at all about criminal defense, I hope this horrifies you.
Mr. or Ms. 8:22 AM, did you really just compare a person who worked from home and had his assistant do a couple of harmless extracurricular tasks to a rapist and murder? Consider re-evaluating the law (and your values and logic).
ReplyDeleteDidn't Jacobs get popped by the 3rd DCA after filing a series of repeated tinfoil crazy filings?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.3dca.flcourts.org/content/download/525810/opinion/3D18-1840.pdf
https://www.3dca.flcourts.org/content/download/467798/opinion/3D17-0352.ord.pdf
https://www.3dca.flcourts.org/content/download/467802/opinion/3D17-0352.rh.pdf
I am looking for and can't find the real gem. He filed one with the 3rd DCA that read the rantings of a "sovereign citizen" pro say. It was classic crazy-people stuff. Although Zibler probably has to go, anything with Bruce Jacobs's name on it is suspect.
This controvesy is clown v. clown.
Comments by 11:17 am are right on point. I did not follow the Chauvin trial closely, but I don't know how the jury (if they had any knowledge at all of other high-profile racially-involved cases) can have avoided feeing under severe pressure to convict. Possibly some lived in areas that would have been burned/looted (sadly, all black neighborhoods, if history is any indicator) in the event of a not guilty verdict. I thought that the jury was likely to come back with a lesser, at most.
ReplyDeleteRe: the JA's motion to intervene in the Zilber matter, the complaining witness is specifically prohibited by the Rules Reg TFB from participating further, and notified to that effect. Bruce Jacobs should have known this, and he should also have paid attention to the unavoidable fact that his own pending case is not likely to assist this intervention effort.
@11:17
ReplyDeleteHypothetical B is not what happened. If you haven't watched the video, watch it. If you have, watch it again. Chauvin didn't "exert[] weight between his shoulder blades near his neck," he had his knee directly ON his neck. He chocked him. He chocked him to death. I just watched the video again in case I had forgotten. And I did forget - I forgot just how painfully clear it is. Chauvin's knee was all the way up to Floyd's jaw and ears.
Chauvin orders Floyd to get in the car. Floyd agrees to comply. But Chauvin doesn't take his knee of his neck. Chauvin orders Floyd to get in the car again. Floyd agrees to comply, but Chauvin still doesn't take his knee of off Floyd's neck. Floyd is, predictably, asphyxiated and dies.
Watch the video, if you can stomach it. https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007159353/george-floyd-arrest-death-video.html
You might want to watch it on mute if you don't want to hear the report's commentary. But the audio in the background (which is to say Floyd's own voice and the voices of passersby, really adds to the horror of the murder you are witnessing.
I'm betting some of the attack messages posted anonymously here are from Jacobs. Specifically 8:22 am and a couple more.
ReplyDeleteDear Wednesday, April 21, 2021 11:17:00 AM;
ReplyDeleteI read your comment, posted on a blog read by criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors in where you took President Biden to task for commenting on a pending criminal case. You castigated “the President of the USA calling for conviction before a verdict was reached.”
You sir, are a lying, bad faith arguing, worthless waste of flesh. President Biden held his tongue UNTIL THE JURY WAS SEQUESTERED!!! What a bottom-dwelling Fox-watcher you are. If you were a lawyer, you’d know that once the jury was sequestered, nothing anybody says will reach them! They are locked up in the jury room. There was nothing wrong with his saying what he said AFTER THE JURY WAS SEQUESTERED!
That fat, lying shyster hiding in his tacky renovation of Marjorie Post’s shitty mansion ran his big mouth on every case he cared to without a peep from you dirtbags. Joe Biden says what any normal person thinks AFTER THE JURY WAS SEQUESTERED and you parrot the bullshit attacks from the Australian propaganda outlets. You are deplorable.
k
Take Jacobs and even Zilber’s tasteless and inappropriate conduct toward the JA out of the equation, and you still have the same guy: a fundamentally dishonest and conning man wearing a robe. What’s wrong with some of you people? A mistake? He’ll be better after this? He’ll learn his lesson? He deserves a second chance? Maybe if he was still just a lawyer. But a judge? Once we go down the slippery slope of allowing judges to do dishonest things the whole system will implode. If Zilber is not removed his case will set a favorable defensive precedent for the next judge whose dishonesty may be slightly less dishonest. The genie won’t be able to go back in the bottle. So, for all of you who want Zilber to stay on the bench, be very careful what you wish for.
ReplyDeleteKissimmee Kid,
ReplyDeleteWhen you talk about second chances, I assume you're talking about letting a client who may have committed a crime avoid a lengthy prison. sentence because, for all sorts of reasons, he probably won't do it again.
When you talk about giving a circuit court judge a second chance, you're talking about someone who concededly abused his authority and also abused his JA while, and because, she was pregnant. His second chance is to remain a circuit court judge with all the benefits and stature that confers, and with all the power that entails, including the power to abuse his staff. I don't think your "second chance" point applies in this context.
Dear Thursday, April 22, 2021 9:40:00 AM;
ReplyDeleteI think it is in the nature of human beings to do awful things. I don't know what the Z-man did or did not do, but, one can be a shitty human being and still be a good judge. You can be a good human being and a crappy judge. I'd rather have a crap person do a good job than vice versa.
I did read the e-mails that another poster linked too. I didn't see a shirker. I've gone to lots of hearings where it was clear the judge didn't read the motion, so the communications where the Z-ster was asking to see the filings impressed me. If he was working his cases, why not work them from La Jolla? The "smoking gun" e-mails that the lawyer was so hepped up did not seem to portray the fellow in a bad light. I was promised horror. I got mundane.
I am all for giving second, third and even forth chances. I'm not comfortable living in a society run by the Protestant religions, with it's unyielding, overly punitive moral code. Zero Tolerance my ass. Tolerance is a virtue and forgiveness is divine.
Peace and love; peace and love.
k
Maybe the intervention had some effect.
ReplyDeleteUpon consideration of the Judicial Qualifications Commission’s Findings and Recommendation of Discipline and the parties’ Stipulation, the Court rejects the Stipulation and disapproves the proposed sanctions.
We remand for further proceedings to include a full hearing before the Judicial Qualifications Commission in order to fully develop the facts regarding any misconduct that occurred, so that the Court, in determining the appropriate discipline, will be apprised of all the facts and circumstances bearing on the alleged violations.
https://efactssc-public.flcourts.org/casedocuments/2021/526/2021-526_order_248153_o03ed.pdf
Free the Z!
ReplyDeleteThe handwriting is on the wall, in all caps. Zilber should resign now before they hold “further proceedings to include a full hearing before the Judicial Qualifications Commission in order to fully develop the facts regarding any misconduct that occurred,”.
ReplyDeleteZilber should swallow his pride and resign. Removal is a foregone conclusion, and he shouldn’t put himself or his family through the embarrassment of a full-blown proceeding.
ReplyDeleteKissimmee Kid,
ReplyDeleteAn employee who submitted false time sheets would be fired. It's theft. A state employee who ordered his subordinates to work on his re-election campaign also broke the law, a firing offense in most occupations.
An employee who abused a pregnant subordinate would be -- promoted, in all probability, but that clearly shouldn't be the case. I don't know Zilber, so I'm not biased about him. I just don't see the reason why, assuming he broke the law, a circuit court judge whose duty is to uphold the law should be given another chance to do so.
I'm not consistent about this though -- I'd probably feel differently about a judge with a DUI, or other substance-related offense, because that's an illness that can be treated. Assuming Zilber did what he's accused of, and that's what the FSC wants to find out, it's hard to see how a second chance would help. He'd have to be real transgressive, a habitual law- and rule-breaker. Not because he grew up in poverty surrounded by people who were transgressive in order to survive, but because he's narcissistic, a trait that grows worse with access to power. See, e.g., DJT.
A source close says there are talks of questioning judicial assistants.
ReplyDeleteZilber is yet just another bottom feeder who could not make a living in private practice. Hence being a judge is a lot easier. He has abused his position and mistreated his staff. We have others who have done similar things. Let this be a warning to the rest of our bottom feeding "judges".
ReplyDelete