NOT PROSECUTE TODAY AGREEMENT

 The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Jussie Smollett of filing a false police report. Prior to the successful prosecution that made headlines, the State and Defense had reached an agreement not to prosecute Mr. Smollett. In exchange Mr. Smollett had forfeited a $10,000.00 bond. 

Mr. Smollett had made an allegation that he had been attacked by two masked men who poured bleach on him and put a rope around his neck. The accusations had significant racist overtones. The police investigated and ended up believing that Smollett had manufactured the story- made it up. The Cook County (motto :"One vote per person, dead or alive") State Attorneys Office filed charges and then reached an agreement to drop them. 

Then a retired judge (it is always a judge causing a problem isn't it?) petitioned the court to assign a special prosecutor and Dan K Webb, who had previously been a special counsel in the Iran-Contra contretemps, took over the case, filed charges, and obtained a conviction after a trial. 

The Illinois Supreme Court held that a deal is a deal is a deal: Justice Rochford wrote that it "defies credulity" to believe that Smollett entered into a deal in which he forfeited $10,000.00 under the belief that he could later be charged.  The State argued at oral argument that- and we are not making this up- that Smollett's deal was only for him not to be prosecuted that day of the agreement - or as the lawyer said "a not prosecute today agreement".  Really. And they said it with a straight face. 

 The Illinois Supreme Court didn't buy it. 

Moral of the story- deals matter. A lawyer's word (other than from certain lawyers at the Dade State Attorneys Office) matters. 

Case reversed with directions to discharge the defendant. 

People v. Smollett, 2024 IL 130431 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

A BREAK

 Mondays should not always be hard. So even if you're a judge under fire, a prosecutor who can't stop texting, or a defense attorney picking six or twelve hung over after a great Dolphin win, here's something that can bring a little peace in your life: 

Macondo Coffee!

Located just across the street from two of the three federal courthouses in Miami (and who goes to the King building anyway now that the Akins Courthouse is newly refurbished?) Macondo coffee is the real deal!

We love their power bowls and flat bread pizzas for lunch. For breakfast they have this egg dish called Campesina Casserole which is served in a cast-iron pan, with melted cheese sizzling on top and maduros (literally "like bananas, but not really")  mixed into the eggs. With a strong Americano, it is the best way to start the day before fighting with the feds. 

Whoever thought putting a high-quality coffee shop that serves great food just across from the courthouse would be a recipe for success?

Rumpole's fav booth is on the right as you walk in - look for us!

The next time you are there, grab a few coffees and pastries, and go see your fav federal blogger- he's in the office on top of the garage. Some people park in garages. A few work in them (like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who started Apple in a garage) and some work on top of them. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US

 The Blog is 19 years old. We can vote and fight in a war. 

We've actually done both. 

SHOULD JUDGE MILLER RESIGN?

 The facts are pretty much known now. Indeed, Newsweek has picked up the Miami Herald story and run it nationwide. 

While sitting on the appellate court in Miami, Judge Bronwyn Miller had on an on-going text correspondence (and perhaps multiple phone calls) with the elected State Attorney about the Corey Smith case where Judge Miller is a witness. She did this while other prosecutors went into court and told circuit court judges that Judge Miller was not speaking with anyone without a subpoena- which was a bold-faced lie to the court. 

Judge Miller reviewed the appellate brief of the Attorney General in the Smith case and told the elected State Attorney the problems in the brief and changes to be made. This is a shocking breach of ethics if not morals. Although not assigned to the case, upon her elevation to the Third District Court of Appeals, Judge Miller had to have abandoned any pretense of advocacy for any side in any case. Even where her Court would have ruled against a case she prosecuted, Judge Miller was required- in our considered opinion- to want only that her Court reach the correct decision- even if that decision negatively opined about  her prior work as a prosecutor. Such is the exalted role of an Appellate Judge- in our opinion. Essentially sacrificing her personal opinions and feelings for the desire only that her Court get it right-even if she- in her prior position- "loses".  Judge Miller did not do this- she in fact did the opposite. 

And finally, Judge Miller opined against the ethics of defense attorneys in general, giving rise, in our opinion, to the well-founded belief that she cannot be fair in any criminal case moving forward. 

Any- and we do mean any- first year assistant public defender has more ethical decency in their pinky than Michael Von Zamft demonstrated as a prosecutor in the Dade County State Attorneys Office. How could she possibly denigrate the ethics of our profession in light of what we all know MVZ did? Such a statement was shocking in its ignorance and disrespect for our profession. A profession that hands out an award named after President John Adams in honor of his defense of British Soldiers accused of murder in Boston.  A profession that routinely goes into court and saves the lives of wrongly convicted men and women when their actions are ridiculed and viewed with skepticism- until they show that they are right, and the system got it wrong. 

  Judge Miller was elevated to the most rarified air of the bench- the appellate court. Her actions are indefensible, and she has, in our opinion, forfeited the right to serve in such an exalted and important role. 

That is our opinion. 

What say you? 

SHAME

Shame has fallen on Miami, the Miami State Attorneys Office, The REGJB, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, and Third DCA Judge Bronwyn Miller.

As the Miami Herald is reporting, and all of the REGJB knew on Friday, there are a series of text messages between the State Attorney and Judge Miller.  

The Herald Article and the text messages are here.

Why is this shameful? 

Judge Miller was a prosecutor on the Corey Smith case, and Fernandez-Rundle is the elected prosecutor. And it is not as if this is any case. It is a case that has brought the Miami SAO to the edge of ruin, with disgusting stories of prosecutors manufacturing testimony, and then lying to the Court about it. 

Judge Miller, before she was a judge was part of the prosecution team, along with now thoroughly disgraced prosecutor Michael Von Zamft, who ran out of state, and may find that he has not run far enough as his misdeeds continue to be reported. This means that Judge Miller is a witness in the current Corey Smith saga. 

And of all the people on earth that maybe our state attorney should not be texting with, perhaps Judge Miller should have been at the top of that list. 

But alas, the two could not stop texting each other like a couple of misguided magpies. They texted. They gossiped. They trashed colleagues- judges and lawyers (defense attorneys in particular)- and Judge Miller speculated about the whole sordid mess being shut down by the Governor, as well as whether Judge Wolfson- who ruled against the prosecution after MVZ was caught lying- could be removed- allowing a successor judge to review all of Wolfson's rulings. 

Among other gems in the texts is Judge Miller trashing defense attorneys as having a lower standard of ethics than prosecutors. Well on that point she has us. Unlike her colleague MVZ and the office she worked for, defense attorneys have not coached witnesses to lie in first degree murder cases and arranged for witnesses in custody to be brought to a police station so they could have sex with their significant (or insignificant) others. We don't do things like that- shame on us. 

One wonders how Judge Miller ever sits on another criminal appeal, her bias towards Ms. Fernandez-Rundel's office and against defense attorneys now well established beyond what is needed for any defendant to have a well-founded fear that she cannot be fair and should be recused.

And perhaps, just perhaps, in a case where the Dade SAO has already been CAUGHT tampering with witnesses in a first degree murder case and coordinating and manufacturing their testimony- Judge Miller and Ms. Fernandez-Rundle crossed a line. 

Time will tell. 

Query: How can you tell if  MVZ is lying?  A: He's speaking.  Here's a gem from the Herald article: 

Von Zamft told the court that Miller wouldn’t speak to either side without a subpoena. By then, the texts show she had communicated with him and Fernandez Rundle, and texted about calling two other prosecutors.

Somewhere Alex Michaels is saying "I told you so."  (In his Romanian accent of course). 

The texts will be analyzed and scrutinized like the Dead Sea Scrolls, or the Shroud of Tourin, or the election lawsuits of 2020. 

A special prosecutor needs to be appointed. 

A blue-ribbon commission of respected Dade Lawyers and retired judges needs to be empaneled with subpoena power to get to the bottom of this dirty mess that has broken the once proud Miami Dade State Attorneys Office. Their reputation is in tatters.  If they tell you the sun has arisen, you cannot believe them. They have no moral guidance, are running scared, and now...now...the problem may be at the very very top. And we all known what flows downhill. 

Shame. 

Shame. 

Shame. 

NFL WEEK 10 2024 THE RACE FOR NUMBER ONE

 The race for number one starts today at 930 in Germany where the 2-7 New York Giants face off against the 2-7 Carolina Panthers. Thank goodness you can buy liquor in Munich on Sundays. Plus the beer will be flowing freely. 

The race is for the number one draft pick in the 2025 draft. And while we are staying away from the number of Giants -6.5, we like the under 40, Chuba Hubbard to rush for over 73 yards, Bryce Young to scramble for more than ten yards, and a parlay of those two picks. That will pay for a few steins of beer and a sausage. 

Update: Well that was easy. Chuba Hubbard has 85 yards in the first QUARTER. Nice win pays for dinner tonight at The Corner Store in Soho tonight. Be jealous we can get a Resy whenever we want there.  We love that the TV announcer just said Giant's Kicker Gano puts the "No" in Gano as he missed a field goal and kept us on pace for the under.

Update 2: And a big thank you to the Gants for three turnovers, two in the red zone, and a fumble on the first play of OT, allowing this game to go under, and for us to pay the corkage fee for an Opus One tonight at The Corner Store. Life is good when you bet against the Giants in 2024, 

Your Miami Dolphins are getting 2 in Los Angeles Monday night. More on that after we see how the day plays out, but our initial thought is to lay the 2. 

Denver at KC looks fun. Over 42. 

49ers at Tampa. We will take a home dog getting 6.5 but the over 50 number is high. Maybe tease that down to 46. 

Steelers at DC. Some player props we like are Najee Harris over 1.5 receptions. Ditto Darnell Washington and Calvin Austin. Of the three picks, Harris seems like the lock.  Also QB Russell Wilson rushing under 13.5 yards. He doesn't run much anymore. 

Lions at Houston. Detroit may well be the best team in the league. We like the under 49.5 and Houston as a home dog getting 3.5 to keep it close. 

Remember the rule about gambling. Bet as much as you possibly can. We are lawyers. We can always earn more. 😜

TOMORROW: 

There are text messages between two people who know better. One is a witness in the Corey Smith case. The other...well, wait and see, but you will be very disappointed in her lack of professionalism. Or maybe you won't. But will all agree a leader should know better and act better. 

BREAKING

 There is definitely something breaking that is earth shaking in our little REGJB world. 

We know ...we are pretty sure we know the basics. 

We are pretty sure the Miami Herald will publish a story about it next week. 

We are pretty sure it involves an elected public official, and appointed public official, and the Corey Smith prosecution fiasco that unfolded like a moldy rug in the REGJB this past year and has taken down one prosecutor and permanently stained the reputation of a once-proud prosecutors' office. 

We have some more information, but we are seeking double and triple confirmation, because unlike prosecutors in certain cases, we do not make allegations we cannot prove.  

We are pretty sure of many things about this breaking news, and many of those are shocking, saddening, and distasteful. We think. Because less than a week ago we were also pretty sure that Kamala Harris was about to be elected president of the United States, and how did that turn out for us, the nation and the world? Not so well. 

So for now we are keeping our nose to the grindstone and working to conform what we are pretty sure we know. 

INVASIVE SPECIES

Correction- we updated the post to reflect that it was Judge Delancey and not Judge Brinkley who provided over this mess. 

BREAKING: THE STATE CONCEDED ON THE NEED FOR A NEW PENALTY PHASE- but the defense wants the entire verdict tossed.  Somewhere MVZ has just felt a great disturbance in the force as the Dade SAO has acted in the interests of justice. 

  

 

 In South Florida we have our share of invasive species wrecking havoc. From pythons in the Everglades, to DeSantis Drone Judges spouting MAGA crap, invasive species are a problem. 

Which brings us to the hearing unfolding his week before Judge Delancy. 

Fresh off a death recommendation in a notorious case, an email arrived in the Judge's in-box from a juror in the case, reporting another juror who described the defendant as "an invasive animal species that needs to be killed". 

There was also chatter about a juror who told other jurors that they spoke to their husband about the case during deliberations who sagely advised her that eleven other jurors could not be wrong (wanting death). 

So much for the rule, often repeated in appellate opinions, that jurors are presumed to follow jury instructions. 

Unless of course the instructions have changed and jurors are now told to ignore their own personal opinions and just go along with the crowd, and that defendants in death cases are labeled Invasive Animal Species. 

Yeah, the death penalty system, like our electoral system, is firing on all cylinders and working perfectly. 

Long weekend ahead unless you're Rumpole working Saturday (say high to us at MDC Brooklyn) and Monday (FDC Miami). 

SOME JUDICIAL NEWS

 THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION RESULTS .....

Congratulations are in order for our newest County Court Judge:

Christopher Benjamin, former Assistant Public Defender, collected almost 54% of the vote and defeated Alina Salcines Restrepo.

Congratulations are also in order North of the Border as former Miami-Dade ASA Woody Clermont (he lives in Broward poor guy) was elected to the County Court with 54% of the vote defeating Samuel Stark.

Finally, Juan Fernandez-Barquin, was re-elected as our Miami-Dade Clerk of Court.

CAP OUT ......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

Very happy for former Dade ASA Woody. He will bring some real life experience and fairness to the Bench. Much needed up there. 

Also congrats to Judge Benjamin. We don’t really know him but we hear some good things.  

WSC

 

Success is not final

Failure is not fatal

It is the courage to continue that counts

SWING STATE PREDICTIONS

UPDATE: 

Ground Game: A good ground game to get out the vote can move the needle .5 to 1%.  Harris volunteers knocked on THREE MILLION DOORS in Pennsylvania this past weekend and ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOORS in Philadelphia election morning. Impressive. 

Speaking of PA-  There was a problem this morning with the voter machines in Escambia County, PA. The supervisor of elections stepped in (after conferencing with Kim Jung Un). The votes are being preserved and the type of voting changed and the polls in that county, which trends Republican, will be kept open until TEN PM, which means Pennsylvania cannot be called until after 10 PM tonight (assuming Venezuela finishes with their access of the voting data in the machines by then). 

There was also a problem in a Wisconsin county which will delay reporting until around Midnight Eastern Standard Time. 

What all this means is a long night. 

Rumors- turnout is high. Turnout for women is off the charts high. Trump called them all B#tches who belong in the kitchen. We are feeling marginally better about PA after exit polls are showing the number one concern of voters was not immigration or the economy but "preservation of democracy" which is quite revealing. 

First polls close at 7pm and then 730 and then we are off to the races. Check back often for breaking news.  

Here's what we see.

First, the shock is that over the weekend a very well respected Iowa pollster published a poll  showing Harris in the lead in Iowa of all places. If those six electoral votes are in play, then things become better for Harris, but not a lot. 

Here are our toss up states:  Nevada (6); Iowa (6); Wisconsin (10); Michigan (15); Pennsylvania(19); Georgia(16); North Carolina(16) and New Mexico (5). 

With those as toss ups,  and counting the safe states for each candidate (like California for Harris and Texas for Trump) Trump leads 246-205. 

If we lean Wisconsin and Michigan to Harris and Iowa and Pennsylvania to Trump, its 265-230 Trump, and he is five votes away from regaining the presidency. 

If we then add Nevada for Harris, New Mexico for Trump, and Georgia and North Carolina for Harris Trump wins 270-268. 

So it all comes down to Pennsylvania unless Harris wins New Mexico.  Based on polling showing that people making up their minds in the last week have broken 60-40 Harris, and that people voting on the economy are 52-48 Trump - which is a drastic change from when Biden was running and it was 60-40- Harris has closed the gap. \

Which means it comes down to New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina. We are fairly confident Harris wins Georgia and North Carolina.   

Which means if she take New Mexico, she wins 273-265. If she pulls out Pennsylvania and wins North Carolina and/or Georgia, its game over. 

But we really don't have confidence she will win New Mexico or Pennsylvania.  It’s verrrrrrrry close. 

And consider this- Maine splits it two electoral votes- we have both going to Harris, but Trump can split the state. Nebraska also splits its three votes and we have Trump winning two of three. If he could take the third vote and one from Maine, that's four of the five he needs based on the scenario where he is at 265. 

Trump has the clearer path to the presidency assuming he takes Pennsylvania. He can lose Georgia and North Carolina and still win because he is taking back Arizona which he lost in 2020. 

Harris has momentum. And she needs to hope that the female vote in Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Mexico were undercounted in polling data. If that is the case, this will not be close and we can move on to the riots,  meritless lawsuits, and claims that dead dictators rigged voting machines. 

Here is what Iowa means to us. Pollsters are picking up momentum for her. If that translates beyond Iowa, whoopee! If not, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. 

If the recent (non-Iowa)  polls got it right, then this thing- and perhaps American Democracy- is right on the edge of a precipice staring into a bleak dark hole of fascism and anti-intellectualism.

The world is watching. 

We will have a post later today about American Exceptionalism.   

NFL Week 8 2024

 Before we make you some money, don’t forget to read our election special on Monday. Rumpole will tell you who is going to win every swing state with a few surprises.  And if you know who is going to win the swing states you will know who will be POTUS 47. And if you want a hint, Jackie Roosevelt Robinson who had some notable firsts broke the MLB color line in ….1947 when he won the rookie of the year. He played …wait for it… 47 games with the Montreal Monarchs before playing for the Dodgers that year. 

Very quickly 

Commanders +4 in New Jersey as maybe we see Daniel Jones final game as a Giant. 

Tampa with 9 points at KC.  And maybe even the money line +375. We smell an upset like xxxxxxx in Georgia. 

Bo Nix over 219 passing against the Ravens. 

Kinda like the under 52 Cowpokes at Atlanta sort of the way we like the under 250 electoral votes for XXXXX. Speaking of unders, thank you Ohio State / Penn State going under yesterday and winning back all the money we lost on the Yankees  

Josh Allen over 243 yards passing and Tua under 242. In fact we are going to parlay that sucker.  

Maybe more later after we get out of MDC Brooklyn   Yuck  🤢 

INFINITE JUDGE THEOREM

 Two Australians have disproven the well-known theorem that given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pressing keys on a keyboard would eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare. 

A peer reviewed study now has proven that the time it would take for the monkey to replicate the works of Shakespeare would exceed the lifespan of our universe. 

Even enlarging the theorem to include the total current chimp population of 200,000 and assuming they type one key per second, there would still not be enough time for any of them to type out the works of the Bard. 

The work that has disproved the theorem is based on the current assumption that the universe continues to expand until it becomes a vast cold dark wasteland where nothing exists with the exception of a few Maga supporters in Oklahoma who don't believe in the universe because they cannot see all of it. 

The work disproving the Monkey Theorem brings us to ponder this as we head into the weekend: 

What are the chances a finite number of Miami Judges, pounding on a keyboard, grant a motion to suppress based on the fourth amendment before the universe cools and dies? 

The answer, like the Monkey Theorem, appears unsurprisingly grim. 

Have a good weekend. 

Here is the article on the Monkey Theorem. 

DEFENSE MATTERS

 The Los Angeles Dodgers are the 2024 World Champions of Baseball.

Did you know that the Dodgers name goes back to when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers and patrons had to "dodge" trolley cars on the way into the ballpark in Brooklyn? 

Defense wins - championships and trials. 

In the fifth inning Wednesday night the Yankees were up 5-0 when the Dodgers came to bat. The end was near. The better baseball team was about to show why they are better and the worse team was about to unequivocally show why they were the inferior team.  

The Yankees made a string of errors that a little league baseball should not make. 

Pitcher Gerritt Cole, pitching the game of his life, failed to cover first base on a grounder to first, allowing the Dodgers to score and keep the inning alive. Yankee superstar Aaron Judge, who  in the first inning broke out of his slump and hit a massive home run, and later made a spectacular catch in center field, allowed a routine fly ball to go over his head in the fifth inning. No Willie Mays he.  Somewhere Vic Wertz is smiling. 

Here is the whole firth inning in its inglorious Yankee ineptitude. 

Defense wins championships. 

The Yankees have superstar hitters and pitchers. But they do not have a team of fundamentally sound baseball players. And it showed in this series. 

The better team won. 

How many days until pitchers and catchers report? 

ON AN REGJB NOTE: 

What's the deal with election day next week? 

Trials occurring? 

Riot gear required? 

TIME TO REMEMBER

 There are certain people who spent their life in our little corner of the legal world, and we do well to remember them when they are gone. 

Thus, we remember on 10/28/2024 the passing of REGJB legendary Judge Gerald Klein, who passed away on this date in 2012. 

For you young judges, prosecutors, PDs, and REGJB staff members, you would do well to ask a colleague about "Fast Gerry."

Here's our original post. 

Here's a report on his passing. 

THE POLLS ARE OPEN - ELECTION CENTRAL - COUNTY COURT - RUNOFF

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL - COUNTY COURT - RUNOFF

The polls open today for EARLY VOTING. Over the next 14 days, you can cast your ballot at any of the 33 locations open daily from 7am until 7pm. To find a polling location, you can go to this link.  If you pass on this opportunity, you must have ordered your Absentee ballot from the Department of Elections, or, you will need to show up to your own precinct on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

The only judicial race facing voters in Miami-Dade County is a runoff in County Court.

Group 29 (Judge Myriam Lehr retiring)

Christopher Benjamin v. Alina Salcines Restrepo

In the August primary, this was a three-person race. Christopher Benjamin received the most votes garnering 98,108 (39%) of the 253,299 votes cast. Alina Salcines Restrepo received 91,044 (36%). Former Judge Scott Janowitz was eliminated from the three-person race after collecting 64,147 (25%).

Christopher Benjamin has been a member of The Florida Bar for 22 years. He is Of Counsel with International Law Partners, LLP., and a panelist with the ADR firm of Salmon & Dulberg. He works in the areas of general litigation and serves as an arbitrator, mediator, and special magistrate. He has been a certified mediator and arbitrator for 15 years and in 2010 he was appointed as a Hearing Officer in the 11th Judicial Circuit’s Traffic Division where he served until 2020. In 2020 (and again in 2022), he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives to represent the people of  District 107.

Benjamin has raised $111,096. Benjamin did not loan his campaign any money. Of note, in his Financial Disclosure, Benjamin lists his Net Worth at NEGATIVE -$292,937.

Alina Salcines Restrepo has been a member of The Florida Bar for 24 years. She has worked in a law firm with her brother who is also a lawyer and she has been a solo practitioner as well. She concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate, probate, criminal, civil, traffic, estate planning, and bankruptcy law.

Salcines Restrepo has raised only $35,014, but she has added $40,000 to her campaign in the form of a loan. She lists her Net Worth at $1,170,733.

The winner earns a six-year term and an annual salary of $186,034.

IN OTHER ELECTION NEWS .....

It looks like a dead heat heading into the final two weeks of the presidential campaign. Seven states will decide the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are the only states polling too close to call. In Florida, Rick Scott continues to hold a healthy lead in the polls over his opponent, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. 

What are your predictions on the outcome of the Presidential race? Regardless of who is declared the winner, will there be endless court battles in some of these key states? Will any of those cases end up before SCOTUS?

CAPTAIN OUT .......

Captain4Justice@gmail.com

NFL WEEK SEVEN LIGHTS OUT EDITION

 It's week seven in the NFL season, and you know who are not watching the games? The residents of Cuba, as the entire island's power grid failed this week due to the unavailability of oil to power the system. Venezuela and Russia have reduced by 50% their shipments of subsidized oil, and Cuba has not been successful seeking fuel from the spot market. 

From each according to their abilities, to each according to their ability to live in the dark. 

And while it is dark in Cuba, it was not lights out for our NY Mets on Friday who came roaring back after dropping two in Queens (and severely diminishing Rumpole's bankroll). It is game six tonight in LA and we are taking the Miracle Mets +1.5 to keep hope alive and take the pennant series to a game seven. 

Cheaters at Jags. Really? What's the line when no one is watching and no one cares? You have to be really desperate to plunk down something on this snoozer. 

There are two really interesting games today. Lions at Vikes, and KC at SF. 

We will take the Lions getting 1.5 in Minny, and give 1.5 with SF handing KC their first loss. Brock Purdy is really really solid in executing the SF offense and it is time for KC to take a tumble. 

The Bengals -6.5 will brat the Browns who stink, and the Eagles /Giants will go under 42.5. 

Lets Go Mets! 

THIS OR THAT

 It's time for another edition of everyone's favorite....THIS OR THAT? 

It started this week sitting in a bar when the patrons began a spirited discussion of chicken wings- 

Wing or Drumette? 

Buffalo or Ranch? 

Voir "deer" or Voir "dire"?

REGJB old courtrooms on 2 & 4 or new ones on 7?

3rd DCA or 4th DCA? 

PDs or RC3? 

Reno or Rundle? 

Mets or Yanks? 

Cubs or White Sox? 

Cazolis or Pickle Barrel or El Gordo? 

Briefs or Boxes (any person using any pronoun can answer) 

Marino or Elway? 

NY Pizza or Chicago Style?

Obama or Clinton? 

Reagan or Eisenhower? 

Grapes of Wrath or To Kill a Mockingbird? 

Disco or Rock or Rap? 

and finally.... 

Markus or Rumpole? 

NFL WEEK 6 2024 IMAGINE EDITION

 Imagine. Saturday John Lennon's 84th Birthday was celebrated in Central Park. More on this below. 

Our NY Mets start their march to the World Series tonight in LA. Hard to win a road playoff game, but they are rested and have their pitching lineup set, while LA's bullpen is in tatters. Our Mets bets have been beyond $pectacular and we are playing with house money and riding them all the way through the World Series. #LetsGoMets!  Game 1 tonight 8pm ish. 

Your Cleveland Browns are a disaster. Their QB is a sexual predator, never a good thing, and the have no team cohesiveness. They are in Philly today and it is just what the doctor ordered for the up and down Eagles. 8.5 is a lot to give but we are doing it and under 42.5 because there's no O in Cleveland. The only good news is they are on the glidepath to a top pick in the draft and there are plenty of good QBs coming out of college. 

Houston at the Cheaters. The Texans were our "it" team this season and we blew it. We should have tagged the Vikes, at which point we'd be eyeing that flat we have our eye on in London. But whatever. Cheaters starting their rookie QB Drake Maye. Maye-be he does ok. Something just tells us to put a few dollars to work on NE at home +6.5. 

The game of the day is the Commanders against the Ravens in Baltimore. Maybe a new rivalry is brewing now that DC has a team.  They are fun to root for, so we will take the 6.5 for DC to keep it close. 

We are still on a football losing streak so don't go crazy, other than Mets +145 to win the series against LA.  Also, a very profitable bet for us this season has been pitcher o/u strikeouts in any particular game (thank you Pirate rookie phenom pitcher Paul Skeenes!). Tonight, we like Mets starter Kodai Senga over 2.5 strikeouts at -110. Parlay that with the Mets +1.5 and a Hundee bet pays 275 which will cover our wine needs for the coming week). 

IMAGINE

This was the scene in Central Park Saturday celebrating John Lennon's 84th Birthday (which was October 9). Imagine if he had not been senselessly murdered? Do yourself a favor and mark your calendar and spend an October 9 in Strawberry fields one morning-afternoon. It's kinda sad...kinda bittersweet...and kinda nice being with likeminded people who like to imagine a world with no war, fear, and pain. 

Survivor coming soon. We are out 😡

COURTS OPEN FRIDAY IN SOUTH FLORIDA

 Court's will resume "normal" operations (including Hialeah, which is why we put "normal" in quotation marks) Friday. If you work for the court system, you need to report for work. If you're an attorney, you need to send an associate because nothing significant will be accomplished. 

Some unique facts about Milton. 

Because Milton made landfall south of Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay experienced a "reverse storm surge" in which the effects of Milton pulled (or to use a meteorological term "sucked") all the water out of Tampa Bay instead of flooding Tampa. 

The State housed post-storm workers in the Tampa Bay Rays Tropicana stadium. Prepositioning and all that. 

 

As you can see,  Milton blew the roof off the stadium. 

Where was Rumpole during all of this? 

NOT Florida. We learned our lesson after Andrew. We do not stay. 

Instead, like Tropicana stadium, we were in another place where a giant shot raised the roof- but this was a good kind. 

If you follow baseball at all, what the NY Mets are doing is absolutely unbelievable. In the playoffs- they are 4-0 when down. They have won three games with home runs, and hit two ninth inning home runs to get the lead, including a miraculous shot by Pete Alonso, in Milwaukee, when down to their final two outs of the season. Alonso's HR put the Mets into the Division round of the playoffs about a week ago. Lindor's home run, which we saw live, put the Mets into the Championship round of the playoffs. 

Very simply, life is baseball and baseball, when it plays like this, is life. 

So here was the scenario on Wednesday. Mets were down 1-0. They had squandered away a prior bases-loaded situation a few innings earlier. They loaded the bases in the 6th, and then  Franciso Lindor walked to the plate (and oh yeah, we had him +400 for a Benji to hit a dinger. The odds for a grand salami were +8000 and we kid you not our finger hovered over the bet button before we moved on. Oh well, we will take the 400 which paid for our celebratory dinner in the city afterwards - well not all the tab, bit most of it- the Caymus Cab 2018 was a bit pricy with the restaurant markup). 

Enjoy. 

COURTS CLOSED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY

Rumpole Request/Rant: Covid redux. Remember the early weeks of the Covid shutdown when a few, very annoying individuals would spam your emails (and the blog) "I have been in constant communication with the chief judges and there is something called Covid which is a very serious virus and everyone needs to wear a mask and courts are closed..."  and they would send this over and over for weeks after courts were closed as if anyone on earth had by that time not heard about Covid. 

Well, the same people are at it again with the Hurricane, forwarding over and over emails from various officials telling us that there is a hurricane coming, as if anyone in Florida does not know. "Hey honey, did you see the 14 emails from Billy Busybody and his partner Sally Saysitall forwarding the emails about...wow I guess there is a hurricane and courts are closed?"

"Yes dear, I just saw them, and thank goodness they sent them, because despite the two dozen emails from judges, mayors, and various officials, I was not sure what was happening until Busybody resent me all the emails and I am so glad he did because I was wondering how I was going to drive to court in 190 mph winds."

So do us a favor- STOP FORWARDING THE SAME EMAILS WE ALL GET OVER AND OVER. No one needs you to forward the email from the Chief Judge that courts are closed.  If anyone has not gotten the email and is stupid enough to actually go to court during the storm, then they deserve what happens to them. If you have this much time on your hands, go take a spoon and head to the beach and volunteer for the Sisyphean task of filling up sandbags. 

UPDATE - Courts are closed Wednesday and NOW THURSDAY for a weather related event that the same people who do not believe in a Covid vaccine, do not believe is caused by global warming. This is what happens when you ignore science- science does not ignore you. 

Update - the 11th judicial circuit has issued a media advisory  

Couple of thoughts: First, why is  the 11th circuit advising the media on the hurricane ? Do they feel the media is stretched too thin by the absence of former ace Herald reporter David Ovalle  and they are helping the media ? 

Second - not too sure,  but we think the last 11th circuit media advisory we saw was congratulating President Clinton on his reelection. So let’s just say you’re better off getting updates from TMZ than our own 11th circuit media division.  But we applaud the effort.  

Federal and State courts are closed Wednesday. 

Has anyone seen the Governor’s comments? How does he describe the phenomena without reference to words that he has banned (rhymes with mobile horning)?

Take over 43 KC/ Saints tonight if you need to get even. 

More important question if anyone knows- does Starbucks stay open if the courts are closed? We need our Pumpkin Spiced Latte (PSL for the insiders) every day it is available. 

MEDIA ADVISORY

11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
For Immediate Release
October 8, 2024
Contact:  Eunice Sigler, Director
Office of Government Liaison & Public Relations
Phone (305)349-7189 - Fax (305)349-7190 - Cell (786) 348-7381

 

 

 

 

  HURRICANE MILTON ADVISORY #1

 

Miami-Dade Courts Closed

Wednesday, October 9^th, Due to Hurricane Milton

 

 

The Miami-Dade Courts and all Court Facilities will be closed on Wednesday, October 9^th, due to expected weather conditions caused by Hurricane Milton.

  

First Appearance hearings will take place on a weekend/holiday schedule.

 

Questions regarding an upcoming hearing should be directed to the presiding judge’s office – a judicial directory is found here.

 

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit will continue to closely monitor the path of Hurricane Milton in the coming days, and any further closures or changes to court schedules will be announced as soon as possible.

 

Court closure information may be found at the Eleventh Judicial Circuit’s:

 

- Emergency Hotline at 305-349-7777

- Website at www.jud11.flcourts.org
- Social Media @miamidadecourts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

 

 

Please continue to monitor news and weather reports, and the Eleventh Circuit’s website, hotline, and social media for future announcements.

 

 

 

HURRICANE MILTON

 Who wants to start with the jokes? 

Meanwhile check out DOM’s excellent letter to President Biden on using his pardon power as his term winds down. 

And the Giants knocked us out of the survivor pool. 😡

NFL WEEK 5 AWAY GAME EDITION

 We are playing yet another away game this upcoming week, picking a jury Monday as the away team in a strange forum. Where is Rumpole? Let’s just say canned tomato sauce on noodles is their fancy pasta dish, and placed on dry toasted bread is their version of Pizza and when we ordered breakfast they looked confused when we asked for avocado toast ( “Which meats do you want with that?’ “Umm, can I have fruit? I’m trying to avoid angioplasty for another twenty years.” “Well, we have canned peaches….” “Thanks. I’ll pass. Just the toast and coffee please.” ).

Anyway, we are dealing with some significant tech issues which may delay the posting of the survivor pool. To keep things on the up and up, we will post our pick: Seahawks. 

This is another challenging week. We have avoided posting the player picks we are making on Draft Kings that is keeping us in Opus One. Yesterday  for example, Mets Pitcher Senga over 2.5 strikeouts seemed like a lock. He did cover with three before being pulled in the third. And overall, we have been riding the Mets winning streak and will continue to do so. They keep getting +1.5 on the road and they keep winning and we keep cashing.  That game 3 9th inning comeback over the Brewers and Pete Alonso go ahead home run was one of the best baseball moments we have seen in the last 25 years. #LetsgoMets. 

As to football, Jets/Vikings under 42.5 in our favorite city- London. Game starts at 930 Miami time so get those bets in now. 

Browns/ Commanders under 43.5. Wake us in 2025 when the Browns get a new offense and QB. 28-10 Commanders seems like a reasonable final here. 

Bills at Texans. Texans are our team in 2024, but look for Buffalo to make a comeback and take the point, 

Cheaters getting 1.5 at home against the suddenly hapless Dolphins looks intriguing- nauseating but intriguing. 

And our best bet is the Monday night get even game- Saints at Chiefs over 43.5. Yes we realize KC has no WRs other than our rookie pick X for our faltering FF team. But the Saints have game and the Chiefs will find a way to keep up and hit the over. 

SO WHAT

 So What?                                                                                                                                                       I'm still a rock star                                                                                                                                       I got my rock moves                                                                                                                                 And I don't need you                                                                                                                               And guess what?                                                                                                                                       I'm having more fun                                                                                                                                   Now that we're done                                                                                                                                  I'm gonna show you tonight                                                                                                                     I'm alright                                                                                                                                                   I'm just fine                                                                                                                                             And you're a tool                                                                                                                                       So, so what?                                                                                                                                              I'm still a rock star                                                                                                                                         I got my rock moves                                                                                                                                And I don't want you tonight...

So What, Pink

Pink had the best "So What?", and the most famous, until Wednesday, when the court in DC ordered a partial disclosure of the evidence against the former president #45 and here's one of the things it showed: 

After the former president posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "Mike Pence (formerly the vice president) had let them all down", it enraged his supporters (formerly Americans) and the mob focused their attention on finding and harming (killing) Mike Pence which then caused the Secret Service to take extreme actions to save the Vice President.  

According to the Smith/Special Counsel pleading that was unveiled, that caused an aide to rush into the room the President was in watching television. The aide told the President what was occurring and the mob's desire to find and kill Vice President Pence, which caused the President to say.... wait for it....

"SO WHAT?'

From the special counsel's pleading: "The content of the 2:24 p.m. tweet was not a message sent to address a matter of public concern and ease unrest; it was the message of an angry candidate upon the realization that he would lose power." 

The "so what" utterance has become the most infamous idiom in American Presidential History.

Lincoln spoke about our better angels. 

FDR told the nation that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. 

JFK challenged citizens to ask what they could do for their country.

Ronald Regan spoke of a shinning city on a hill where it would always be, for him, morning in America. 

And POTUS 45, after inciting a mob to storm the capitol and kill the vice president, sneered "so what" when told the secret service was worried about their ability to protect the vice president. 

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a mental health condition that causes people to have an inflated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. People with NPD may appear boastful, arrogant, or unlikeable.   

SO WHAT that we are not a doctor; we can make a diagnosis. 

This is one of our favourite non-Springsteen songs, enjoy:

                     

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 Happy 100th Birthday to James Earl Carter, the 39th President of the United States. 

This op ed piece in the NY Times says it better than we can. 

I hope you know what it means to white Southerners like me, then and now, to have had your example at a time when there were vanishingly few role models among white Southerners. Or what it means to white Christians like me, then and now, to have had your example of what living by the Gospels really means.

...

You are a child of the Jim Crow South who grew up on a farm at a time when Black sharecroppers were hardly more than slaves. But even raised in that world, you understood the injustice of it. “The time for racial discrimination is over,” you said at your gubernatorial inauguration in 1971. Your audience audibly gasped, but for the rest of your political career, you worked to even the playing field for Black Americans.

...

Your presidency was doomed by wars and unrest in the Middle East that led to oil and gas shortages here and to a hostage crisis in Iran that broke your heart and ours. But you recognized the looming threat of climate change even then, understanding that reliance on foreign oil was not the real danger we faced. I can’t help but wonder where the world would be now if Americans had embraced the environmental policies you initiated nearly 50 years ago.

Much of what you worked to do for the environment during your presidency was nothing less than visionary. Using executive powers, you protected a vast swath of the Alaskan wilderness, in the process doubling the size of the national parks system. You directed federal funds toward the development of renewable energy and installed solar panels on the White House. You began an enormous federal effort to bring the country to energy independence and tried to lead us by calling on our own better angels to make it through the crisis in the meantime.

NFL WEEK 4 2024 BIG BEND EDITION

 Before we begin our football picks, let's just have a moment to reflect on our fellow citizens in the big-bend area of Florida- the ones who reliably vote MAGA, who chant "drill baby drill" and "lock her up" at rallies, and most importantly, do not believe in that liberal cancel culture "global warming" nonsense. They got wacked by a gigantic storm- maybe because they didn't pray hard enough. It certainly wasn't because the Gulf Of Mexico waters are warmer than they ever have been. 

Back to football. 

Talking about disasters, our picks for 2024 have been anything but good. Consider we had Georgia -1 last night, and they come back from 28-0, only to lose to Bama. This is what is called a losing streak. The best touts have them and we are in the middle of one now.  (But we did have Skene and the Pirates over the Yankees yesterday- Skenes has been the best bet in Baseball since June). 

So what aren't we doing anymore?

1) We aren't betting on the Titans and Will "fumble" Levis. 

2) We aren't picking the Fins or the Cowboys anymore. 

Personally, we are still able to afford the Opus One we had last night here in Chicago, because of (well Nivida but that's on a different blog) our picks on individual performances- hitting on passing yards and TDs last week for Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. 

Ok, let's reset. 

Best Bet of the day- risk your Opus One Wine money and a little of the mortgage to get back some losses:

Bengals (who are less than 10 points from being 3-0) over the Panthers -5 in Carolina. We initially like the over, but the weather may affect that, so just take the Bengals, who are an angry bunch today. 

Broncos at Jets. Let's play a weather under 39.5 as it has been raining in NYC and NJ all week. 

Give the -5.5 and take the Texans at home, angry like the Bengals for getting their ass whopped last week, over a struggling Jaguars who suddenly have big QB questions. Trevor Lawrence has basically disappeared. 

For passing Props we like Stroud  +250 yards -170 (lay 170 to win 100) or +275 yards +115. 

Survivor Pool: It has been very rough year for Survivor players- not just on the blog, but everywhere, with favorites like the Bengals going down week one, and the Bucs tanking at home last week. But we have a few crafty players left, and lets see this week if the 49ers continue the survivor curse of losing as a big home favourite. If you haven't played the Texans yet, that would be our pick, along with an angry Bengals team on the road- and yet we picked  San Fran at home to right the ship. 

Survivor Pool 2024 Week 4 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

THE H WORD

 Florida's Governor has banned the use of a word, starting with H, that is used to describe a weather phenomenon with cyclonic action that rhymes with...well, we cannot think of anything it rhymes with,  but it is the name of the U of Miami sports teams. 

The tragic news is that the system, which will be named Helene if the winds exceed 74 mph, is bearing down on the west coast of Florida right where ....wait for it....most of Florida's judiciary is now located at their judicial college (Motto: "Sometimes wrong, never in doubt."). This means that their vacation   seminars on Thursday and Friday will be canceled and  your favourite Judges will be scurrying (adjective intentionally used to make reference to something else which scurries) home ahead of the storm. 

Here are the seminars being canceled which will be reset. 

Thursday 9-11 am: Gavel Selection: "The gavel chooses the Judge Mr. Potter."

Thursday 1-4 pm: Calendar scheduling. Or "How I show up at 11 for my 9 am calendars and you can too!" (Requires subscription to Instagram Account "@Just_ Judgin" ).

Thursday 5:30-8 pm: Vodka Martini Mixology. Those cutups from the new 6th DCA show off their bartending skills whipping up the best vodka martinis.  Highly recommended for the lawyer who is told she cannot use fear in a self-defense case and loses the appeal PCA. 

Friday 9-11 am.  Voir Dire- who needs it? Strategies to shut lawyers down in jury selection and move the trial along- tee times at 5pm don't open up very often- neither do mani-pedi appointments at your fav salon. 

Friday 1-4 pm.  Second Continuances? Surely you jest.  You tried every case within a month of getting it when in private practice. There's no reason every lawyer cannot be as successful and efficient as you were. 

Friday 530-8 pm. Elevator Pitches made simple over wine. The doors close and you find yourself alone with the Governor's chief of staff in an elevator. You have 15 seconds to explain why you should be elevated to circuit court/district court of appeal/ Florida Supreme Court. Choose a wine flight (California Cabs; Interesting Pinot Noirs; Racy Rose's) and sip and learn. 

When you see your favourite judge make sure to tell them how sad you were to learn that a pesky storm had the temerity to interfere with their important judicial studies.