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, April 04, 2024

SAO DIVISION ASSIGNMENTS

 The start of baseball season reminds us that you can't tell the players without a programme. 

Springtime turns a young ASAs thoughts to promotion or that job at the insurance company defense firm paying 125K to start. 

Herewith we (no altruists us) provide you our readers the latest update of the SAO division assignments. 

For some reason we cannot find Michael Von Zamft's new assignment. Hmm...may have to check further on that. 

MISDEMEANOR DIVISION (Motto: "Wrecking the future of poor people one misdemeanor conviction at a time."  


Misd Division Assignments 2-19-24 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

 

 FELONY DIVISION (Motto "Nothing better than offering five years prison for resisting with violence")
 

Felony Division Lawyers March 24 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hence, specialized units are mostly vacant….specialized crime spree. 😂

Anonymous said...

Holy cow. The new hires are 91% Hispanic.

W Clermont said...

I remember working my way up the ranks the hard way, years ago. CTA. AC. Juvenile DC. C, B, A.

All the specialized units turned me down!

Wow! Good luck to them!

Anonymous said...

11:45 How politically incorrect, but probably pretty well reflects our county and the graduating classes of local school. Also, remember that the name may not be the best indicator of ethnic identity. At least they still speak English in court

Phil R said...

I know one of the proudest days of my career was being promoted to the narcotics unit. I got to work with legendary prosecutors. David Troyer was the DC. Roger Powell. Reid Ruben. We all had each others backs and truly felt like we were working to make a difference.
I try and spend time speaking with young ASAs I don’t know to see how they like their job. I sense a level of fear and there is no other word for it - and that saddens me. I also frequently feel they have a high level of suspicion talking with me. I don’t feel it’s personal- maybe it is - I sense it is as if they have been told to be suspicious of every defense attorney. And that also saddens me and the defense bar bears some fault in that if I am correct. I once had a legal issue I could not figure out and legendary defense attorney Sy Gaer saw me - greeted me with his usual “Phil darling how are you ?” And I explained my issue and he had a good answer. Sy read case law. He would never admit it. Back then I feel we all helped each other as fellow lawyers. I don’t see that much anymore between defense and prosecutors.

Not to be an old lawyer telling boring stories. But I was trying a case as a prosecutor and I crossed the defendant and it went very well. In the hallway two men approached me. Clearly defense lawyers. They said they were watching and thought that I did great and I should keep in touch with them. They handed me their cards. Manny Crespo and Richard Gerstein.

Those were the days.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have a sex scandal story at the SAO?

Jonathan T. Colby said...

And Phil R … you represented the SAO honorably and with class. You showed respect to all defense lawyers. How about the Ronel Baptiste criminal trial when a habitual violent offender was being prosecuted by you as a career criminal … and you and defense lawyer Andrew Boros acted in the most professional and friendly manner to make sure there was a fair trial with due process and justice. I have seen your work from the bench. You have always been a gentleman and a scholar. Bravo. Please keep teaching these young SAO new hires the meaning of integrity, that a handshake agreement is everything and to never compromise their ethics.

Rumpole said...

9:11 am not- but a whole bunch of emails about ASAs acting badly just got dropped into our lap with an epic beatdown by our chief judge on one of them whining about misdemeanor bonds being lowered. What to do, what to do?

Anonymous said...

“The best team in America”

Anonymous said...

Rump, post what you have. Transparency is the best antidote.

Anonymous said...

I’ve sensed the same skepticism from younger ASAs toward criminal defense lawyers. While there are bad apples on both sides who shouldn’t be trusted, this feels different. Almost as if the culture at the SAO has shifted toward institutional intolerance and distrust of the defense bar. Where do you think this comes from? Is it KFR or her chiefs?

Anonymous said...

The SAO is miserable. Attorneys are miserable and overworked. KFR surrounds herself with yes men/women. She prefers to keep her head in the sand and just wants results. People inside and outside the office have been warning her for quite some time that things are imploding and it falls on deaf ears. This once prestigious office sadly no longer exists. Facing South Florida with Defede revealed a lot, including that there were actually Chief Assistants watching the Cory Smith hearings and even they didn’t intervene. Our guess is this is part one of many more allegations of misconduct

Anonymous said...

Please share.

Anonymous said...

@11:45 - 70%ish percent of Miami-Dade county is hispanic. What's your point?

Anonymous said...

Rump @1:33:00 - the world needs to see!

Anonymous said...

"Wrecking the future of poor people one misdemeanor conviction at a time."

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time

Anonymous said...

Misdemeanors means Talpins is involved and probably speaking out of both sides of his mouth once again. Everyone knows he is her lackey and often acts before he thinks, is double minded and speaks out of both sides of his mouth until he gets caught. Sad state of affairs over there. Let’s see how long the good ones will stay under this regime.

Anonymous said...

How about that ASAs who are still working there have contacted Corey Smith’s lawyers? That’s insane. Treasonous.

Anonymous said...

DeFede revealed many scary things about the SAO. The more they dig the more they find. Will it all ever come to light? What a sad ending to a long career for so many at the top, but especially KFR. For the most part, I believe she’s always been receptive to positive change, which is why I think that her more recent entrenchment and recalcitrance is a combination of being surrounded by the worst and most inept advisors of her career, at least at the operations and policy levels, and her being no longer giving a shit because she’s either confident of having no opposition and or this being her last rodeo. Regardless, a sad and unceremonious fall from grace.

Anonymous said...

The support staff are miserable and treated very badly.

Anonymous said...

That’s just the tip of the iceberg baby.

Anonymous said...

It’s not treason, it’s GOD’s work.

Anonymous said...

Don’t interrupt Talpins he’s busy writing a scholarly article about crime statistics in Miami-Dade county versus other major metropolitan areas of the country.

Anonymous said...

As Rumpole alluded to, J. Sayfie recently expressed in writing to KFR that she believes Talpins is unprofessional and inappropriate in the handling of certain county court matters among other things. He should spend less time doing radio interviews, writing articles meet and greets and repeatedly patting himself on his own back and more time understanding the units he supervises and understanding and reading the law and policies. Howard and Daisy are the new trial prosecutors in Smith only because they ignored Wolfson’s repeated warnings to them in open court and my guess is the SAO is having trouble forcing the remaining ethical and skilled lawyers to take over this morass. It is all unfortunate but we need to move passed this somehow.

Anonymous said...

KFR should disqualify herself from the case before Wolfson does it for her. She made a decision to permit Michael to operate unchecked knowing the complaints about him, even on this very case from prior defense who advised her to remove him from the case because he was taking it too personal and his judgment was way off. Did she ever respond or acknowledge their concerns or did she ignore it? The good of the case and protection of the community require her to think about whether another SAO can handle this case more competently and effectively. Undoubtedly she wants to manage the damage and know the extent of the misconduct before others but she needs to ask herself if this is worth her reputation and the reputation of the SAO at this point. Me thinks not.

Anonymous said...

What are the statistics of sexual misconduct at the SAO?

Anonymous said...

Don’t we love stats.

Anonymous said...

“why I think that her more recent entrenchment and recalcitrance is a combination of being surrounded by the worst and most inept advisors of her career, at least at the operations and policy levels, and her being no longer giving a shit” I couldn’t agree more.

Anonymous said...

It’s concerning that a professional office that is the SAO allows inappropriate behavior.

Anonymous said...

This is a very sad watching all this go down. The SAO was once a highly prestigious office. However, recent events show that is no longer the case. Moral is low, employees from the ASA level down to the support staff are extremely miserable. The office culture needs to change. There are no moral standards.

Anonymous said...

Wrecking everything

Anonymous said...

I would like to point out the Graham elevators never work. There is a pest problem and mold is flaring up my allergies.

Anonymous said...

“There are no moral standards.” The SAO mantra has always been they won’t force them to prosecute or defend a case where to do so would compromise an individual prosecutors ethical convictions. We are being told that is no longer the culture. The days of “when in doubt give it out” seem to also be gone. You will be a soldier. Hubner walked in blindly, relied on false and inaccurate reps and look where that got him. Bring someone in from the outside to audit the situation as is done in private business.

Anonymous said...

Michael was a pimp. He orchestrated conjugal visits for his inmate witnesses. None the less at the police station. Wow Mad Dog really did it this time.

Anonymous said...

The SAO must despise Sayfie and Wolfson but that office culture needs to change.

Anonymous said...

I’d bet you a cortadito that they (the higher ups) rather endure warter boarding than bring someone from the outside. Outsiders represent fresh perspective, objectivity and independence. No bueno for the jefes and jefas. And if they do bring someone, it would be a former jefe, like Arrojo, Horn, etc. A la MVZ recycling.

Anonymous said...

The higher ups despise everyone.

Anonymous said...

A megalomaniac is a pathological egotist, that is, someone with a psychological disorder with symptoms like delusions of grandeur and an obsession with power. We also use the word megalomaniac more informally for people who behave as if they're convinced of their absolute power and greatness. This pretty much sums up a Specialized Unit Division chief and the “higher ups”

Anonymous said...

Everyone in a position of power at the SAO hates everyone.

Anonymous said...

Don’t the Police love hanging out at the SAO.

Anonymous said...

Here is a word ASA’s love to throw around “in good faith”. This couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Anonymous said...

I could name a few more that are unprofessional and inappropriate.

Anonymous said...

It is an abomination that I’ve talked with several young former ASA’s they have all said leaving the SAO was a breath of fresh air.

Anonymous said...

As Kathy even once said working at the SAO is like “taking a vow of poverty”. However in addition to that the environment is deteriorating everyone’s mental health.

Anonymous said...

SAO does not need an oversight committee. They need new “higher ups”.

Anonymous said...

In a couple of years they will be at State Farm or All State.

Anonymous said...

I have never spoke to a reasonable and level headed "higher up" at the SAO. They are all lip service. Don't care about ethics, just act like it to keep pushing their BS and sweeping their colleagues BS under the rug.

Anonymous said...

Kathleen and Howard are reasonable and level headed, both as chiefs and prosecutors.

Talpins walks the line and could go either way.

Nilo Cuervo…who? What the hell does that guy do other than be paraded around social media? Highly paid spokesperson. I’m sure what they pay that guy can pay for one or two real prosecutors.

Daisy is pedantic and intransigent, totally full of herself. Power trip.

Anonymous said...

All the ASA’s have left to work at the insurance company.

Anonymous said...

Ask the police officers that spend their day there.

Anonymous said...

I believe it’s the chiefs. I won’t be specific but there is a rogue chief in a specialized unit. He has a filthy mouth.

Anonymous said...

Kathy is now recruiting former ASA’s that’s are at the retirement age.