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.

Monday, August 30, 2021

QUESTIONABLE COVID DECISIONS

 Federal Judges are canceling jury trials. See DOM's blog here.  McDonalds is closing      in- restaurant dinning. Our Starbucks has closed in-store ordering, eating and drinking for over a year. 

You know who is up and running and ignoring Covid like an Oklahoma preacher? Miami-Dade County Court, that's who! Last week they had TWO jury trials. One covered by Ace Herald Reporter David Ovalle involved a serious charge against a police officer. The case fell apart when the main evidence was altered or doctored once in the custody of the State Attorneys Office, the irony being the officer was charged with falsifying official documents. No word on whether that hot mess will be re-tried. The OTHER jury trial in County Court last week was ....wait for it...A RECKLESS DRIVING CHARGE!! Not a DUI where the jury came back with a reckless verdict. The actual charge was reckless driving. Jurors were called from the community down to a Justice Building Courthouse which has been glowing red-hot with covid all summer. Court personnel, a Judge, clerks, a court reporter were all brought into a courtroom -and they RISKED THEIR LIVES TO TRY A RECKLESS DRIVING CASE. 

TALK ABOUT BEING RECKLESS! 

Folks, this is madness, pure and simple. 

We have a Delta Variant 100X more virulent than the original disease. We have breakthrough infections of people vaccinated- including several well known REGJB lawyers- and we have people dying. What we should NOT be doing is trying reckless driving cases before juries. Period. End of discussion. 

Speaking of the Delta Variant, The REGJB Fantasy Football league kicked off another exciting season with a draft Sunday. Drafting in the 9th spot- Rumpole's team- The Delta Variant (because we cannot be stopped) nabbed Saquon Barkley, Cooper Kupp and Najee Harris with the first three picks. The second overall rated QB- Josh Allen- was nabbed by us in round four- talk about value- and top-rated TE Tyler Higbee fell right into our lap in round six. And yet...and yet...Yahoo rated our draft a C+. Well ladies and gentleman, they do not decide the title on pre-season rakings. You have to play the game. 

Johnny's Sack- managed by a very experienced FF player was Yahoo's top rated player in our draft. Kudos to getting the top TE Travis Kelce,  but here is a few things JS is going to learn- Dak Prescott is done; never pick a Cincinnati  WR or a Jax RB (he has several), and the problem with Steeler WRs is that they have too many good ones. There will be no breakout star despite JS drafting one of their best- Dionate Johnson. 

Everyone's fav Judge loaded up on WRs- he has eight of them, and some questionable Dolphin players, but then again his team is called De la Fins. 

Good luck to everyone. The race for second place is on. 

THE SURVIVOR POOL IS BEING FILLED. The water is being added; the chairs set-up. Watch this space for the "everybody in the pool" whistle. 

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

if there was no crash in the county court case that went to trial then the charge is amended to "Wreckless Driving"

Anonymous said...

Please share with us the name of the fool judge who brought a reckless driving case to a jury trial during this delta pandemic? This clown should be impeached and off the public trough.

Anonymous said...

Looking at you're team I have to say I'm not impressed.

Thomas Mote said...

There was absolutely nothing reckless about how Judge Alvarez-Zane conducted the trial. The vaccine is available to all persons and we all wore masks. Our kids are in school and our teachers are risking their lives everyday. Do you expect your children's teachers to stay home? Our attorneys need to be in trial. Pandemic or no pandemic "This is the business we have chosen."

Anonymous said...

Rumpole or anyone:

Who was the defense attorney trying the reckless driving jury trial in Miami Dade County Court?

Anonymous said...

The only goddam pandemic Im facing is the pandemic of State Attorneys "working" from home and never returning an email or a message left with their secretary.

In the past, there were a few bad apples who never responded, but you'd see them in division and theyd at least feign sheepishness and mumble about how "busy" they are.

Now, you're lucky to catch a glimpse of them on zoom. If you do see them in REG and mention how long you've been waiting for a response, they stare blankly and without comment.

I know the pay sucks, but if you dont actually want to do the work of being an ASA, please quit. Florida has 100,000 law school grads who cant find lawyering work, and maybe a hundred of them will deign to communicate with opposing counsel.

Anonymous said...

A former CIA counterintelligence expert who claimed to be the first person to call the coronavirus a hoax has died — after testing positive for COVID-19 and denying it is real until the very end, according to a report and his pal.

Robert David Steele, a QAnon devotee who was touring the US “to awaken the nation in truth,” blogged about his doomed battle with the contagion Aug. 17.

“I will not take the vaccination, though I did test positive for whatever they’re calling ‘COVID’ today,” he wrote alongside an image that appeared to show him hooked up to a ventilator

“The bottom line is that my lungs are not functioning,” he wrote, admitting even then that it had been a “near-death experience.

“We will never be the same because now we know that we’ve all been lied to about everything,” added Steele, who calls himself a former spy and Marine.

His friend Mark Tassi revealed the death of the “great patriot” in an Instagram post Sunday — calling it “very suspicious” that Steele died from this “typical respiratory thing,” refusing to say the word COVID.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/30/ex-cia-spy-first-to-call-covid-a-hoax-dies-from-the-virus/

Anonymous said...

Rump, as always, big fan, but your comment “Delta Variant 100X more virulent than the original disease” misses badly. The viral load is 1000 times more, not 100 … No need to post this, but I’d correct, no?

Anonymous said...

Rump, as always, big fan, but your comment “Delta Variant 100X more virulent than the original disease” misses badly. The viral load is 1000 times more, not 100 … No need to post this, but I’d correct, no?

Anonymous said...

Broward holding mandatory in-person CMC's this week.

Anonymous said...

A certain attorney in demand among Capitol rioters has not been able to attend court lately. The reason? They won't say.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/30/politics/john-pierce-capitol-riot-lawyer-covid/index.html

Anonymous said...

How can one argue the killing of rayshard brooks is unjustified but that of ashli babbitt is justified?

Even more difficult: how can one argue the killing of jacob blake is unjustified but that of ashli babbitt is justified?


From most justified to least:

Michael Brown (by far most justified...anyone thinking otherwise is unreasonable)

Trayvon Martin (strongly justified, although who knows if racial profiling preceded the attack)

Jacob Blake (justified although a braver, more risk tolerant cop woulda pulled a baton or taser. Cop definitely has a strong "who knows what he mighta done" defense given the knife on the floorboard, the kids in the car, the reason 911 was called initially, and the highly unstable state of blake at the time)

Rayshard Brooks (close call because brooks used violence initially and fired a taser just before shot. But officer should have known he couldnt be killed if tased, as his partner was there for backup and in all likelihood brooks only was tasing the officer so he could get away. As in most cases, cop has at least an arguable "who knows what he mighta done" defense: he already was violent, if he tased me and i was incapacitated, he could come and get my gun and kill me before my partner could help)

Ashli Babbitt (unjustified IMO. Officer never saw a weapon, nor was there a weapon. No imminent threat...babbit woulda just continued to try to struggle to get thru the broken window. Because of the broken glass and how she was struggling to get thru, no argument you have a huge wave instantly and imminently coming thru. Most eggregiously, no attempt to first try nonlethal force like a baton or pepper spray or even a punch to the face. And equally bad, if you jump all the way to lethal force, at least say "stop or ill shoot" a few times with your gun drawn. As in most cases, cop has a "who knows what she mighta done" defense. What was in the backpack? Maybe she gets thru and i have to fight her and another person comes thru the broken window.

George Floyd (by far least justified...anyone thinking otherwise is unreasonable)

*****

And if you think all of these are unjustied except babbitt, you are nuts.

Anonymous said...

Ashli Babbitt was part of a violent mob trying to break into the House chambers. The mob literally broke into the building to get to where she was shot injuring many capital police officers in the process. They were not peaceful demonstrators by any stretch of the imagination. The threat was immediate and real. Although her death is tragic, it is completely justified. Shame on anyone for suggesting otherwise.

Anonymous said...

849

Other people in the crowd used violence against officers at other locations. Babbitt didnt. If you watch the video, there are at least 3 police ***in the crowd just outside the door/window where babbitt was shot.*** None of these officers are being attacked by anyone and are calmly leaving the area.

Take your standard and apply it to portland or anywhere else. Envison the protester is a black BLM supporter. So as long the protester is "part of a violent mob", you can skip trying non lethal force and jump to lethal force? Just because the mob "literally broke into the building."

THAT is the objective standard that justified force for babbitt and you will agree should be applied to BLM riots as well?

Your problem is you fail to realize lethal force is not used and assessed with respect to crowds as a whole. So when you focus on "the mob" and "they" you miss the point. We don't just say "mob is violent, deadly force on mob is okay." We have to assess **the threat of babbitt** when deciding if deadly force against babbitt was okay.

My advice: watch the video.

Anonymous said...

@12:04am

"Trayvon Martin (strongly justified . . ."

You lost all credibility when you said that. George Zimmerman should be rotting in a prison cell. He attacked an unarmed Trayvon Martin for nothing but existing. When Trayvon Martin was successfully defending himself (i.e. kicking George Zimmerman's ass), Zimmerman took out a gun and murdered Martin.

Even if, in theory, Martin threw the first punch (which we don't know...but maybe), this murder is also not like the rest where the killer was acting as a uniformed officer for whom we as a society have some interest in giving the benefit of the doubt during violent, on duty, confrontations. Zimmerman was not a cop. After Zimmerman called the cops to report the "suspicious" Martin, the only justified thing for Zimmerman to do was to hang back and either quietly watch from a distance, or go home. Whoever threw the first punch, this violent encounter was unjustifiably initiated by Zimmerman. Zimmerman should not have been permitted to claim self defense. Zimmerman's acquittal was a tragic miscarriage of justice.

As horrific as the murder of George Flyod was, and it was brutal, the murder of Trayvon Martin may actually be even less justified.

Anonymous said...

"How can one argue the killing of rayshard brooks is unjustified but that of ashli babbitt is justified?"

Rayshard Brooks was running away.

Ashli Babbitt was coming towards, while trying to smash and break down a door.

Anonymous said...

Whatever is keeping John Pierce out of the courtroom, he's going to have a lot of problems waiting for him.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/unresponsive-lawyer-jan-defendants-leaves-cases-standstill-prosecutors/story?id=79736173

Charles Darwin's Ghost said...

Sorry Ashli. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.

Anonymous said...

If I would have been there as a capital police officer I would have used an AK-47 to take out as many as I could. Those I didnt get would run like the cowards they are.

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


The Captain Reports:

COVID-19 ADVISORY #110

SELF-MONITORING NOTICE

Two individuals who worked at the locations and on the dates listed below have tested positive for COVID-19.

Persons identified as having been in close proximity to the confirmed individuals are being notified and will be asked to take all necessary precautions.

Individual #1
Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 NW 12 St.:
Room 630 on 8/18-20/2021 and 8/23/2021

Last date onsite: 8/23/2021


Individual #2
Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center, 175 NW 1st Ave.:
Room 2441 on 8/17-20/2021

Last date onsite: 8/20/2021

Anonymous said...

"like an Oklahoma preacher", Rump writes.

Get it guys? Oklahoma. Preacher. You get it, right? Oklahoma = stupid, dumb. Preacher = Christian, which means not Jewish, which also kinda means stupid, dumb.

People who live outside of NY and LA (Rump sure hopes Miami is included in the cool kid club, though any real New Yorker would laugh) and who are identifiable as religious Christians are so dumb that they can be used as a shorthand by writers like Rumpole.

Israel now leads the world in case numbers per pop. Do you think Rumpole would write, "like an Israeli Jew", when he means to communicate "someone who hasnt avoided COVID?"

African Americans are massively under-vaccinated. You think Rumpole would write "like a Chicago black"?

Never in a million years.

Pay close attention to who liberals thinks theyre allowed to demonize. Who serves as shorthand for dumb and evil. Pay close attention.

Anonymous said...

This is perhaps better for a separate blog post but... My SO is a PD and has been telling me this ASA (at least in B-level) are some of the worst they've ever seen. Like cannot even speak in front of people bad. Making prosecutorial mistakes not from malice but from sheer stupidity.

Anonymous said...

LAST WEEK, AT REG, JURORS WERE CALLED IN TO "SERVE", AMIDST SERIOUS CONCERNS RE DISEASE. ONE JUDGE REFUSED TO EXCUSE FIRST RESPONDERS, PHYSICIANS, ETC. JURORS WERE, AS USUAL, JAMMED TOGETHER. ONE JUROR TOLD A FELLOW JUROR THAT 3 DAYS PRIOR SHE WAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVIT, BUT WAS FEELING FINE. GO DIGURE.

Anonymous said...

11:11 that's been obvious for a while with this blogger. He's a bigot not a liberal. And a authoritarian punk.

Rumpole said...

Hey! Who you calling authoritarian? One wonders why you haven’t stopped reading a long time ago?