PERSON OF THE WEEK MAY 5, 2017

Our first person of the week is ....

Our Public Defender Carlos Martinez!!!

As detailed in ace Herald reporter David Ovalle's article this week, Carlos Martinez was in Tallahassee successfully fighting for a pay raise of 6% for his employees after years of drought. 

This success was to the chagrin of Miami SAO Kathy Fernandez-Rundle, who immediately cut short a vacation to complain that prosecutors, who have for years been paid more than PDs, weren't being given a space at the trough. 

From the article:

But the issue of the pay differential between the two sides has long been a politically sensitive issue in South Florida’s criminal-justice community. Florida prosecutors have traditionally earned more money than their counterparts at the public defender’s office.

Martinez said Monday that bill solely addresses the longstanding wage inequity, which he says averages about $4,000 between attorneys on each side.

“It tries to provide parity in salaries between assistant public defenders and assistant state attorneys,” Martinez said.

For fighting the good fight for his dedicated and under-paid  employees, the honour of being our first person of the week is Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez. 

Honorable Mention: FACDL President Brian Kirlow- nominated by the Captain. 

Second runner up and a favourite of the commentators on the blog this week, for apparently just showing up to work- Judge Hanzman, who is off to a fast start in making a great name for himself, but-to the best of our knowledge- didn't really do anything exceptional this week. 

GOV. SCOTT PICKS TWO NEW JUDGES .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

AND YOUR TWO NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE ......

Late this afternoon, Governor Scott chose two new Miami-Dade County Court Judges.

LAURA ANNE STUZIN, replaces Judge Rudy Ruiz.  She has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1994.  She joined the State Attorney's Office that year and spent four years as an ASA here in Miami.  She then spent two years working for Coffey, Diaz, & O'Naghten before joining heavyweight Rumberger, Kirk in 1999.  She has been with that firm for the past 15 years.  She currently practices in the areas of casualty defense, criminal defense, construction defect, professional liability and product liability. 

According to Rumberger Kirk's web site, it states: "With more than nineteen years of experience, Laura’s practice includes representing clients in premises liability matters involving claims of slip and fall, general negligence, inadequate security and malicious prosecution in cases seeking damages for personal injury, wrongful death and damage to personal and real property and criminal defense. Laura also practices in catastrophic casualty defense which involves handling claims related to the operation and safety of commercial trucking equipment. She has represented clients throughout Florida in general casualty defense including automobile accidents, trucking accidents and other casualty claims involving catastrophic loss and wrongful death."

DIANA VIZCAINO, replaces Judge Gladys Perez.  She has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2000.  Like Stuzin, she began her career as an ASA in Miami and she spent five years with that office.  She then joined Boyd, Mustelier, Smith and Parker for two years and then the U.S. EEOC for one year.  In 2008, she took a job as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Miami where she has spent the past seven years.

According to the Miami City Attorney's web site, it states that Vizcaino : "is currently the Division Chief of the Labor & Employment Division. Ms. Vizcaino represents the City in employment litigation matters, arbitrations, collective bargaining and formerly the Civil Service Board. Ms. Vizcaino is also the Recruitment and Internship Coordinator responsible for all new hires, internships, and consultant engagements."     

TO DIRECT FILE OR NOT TO DIRECT FILE - THAT IS THE QUESTION .....

On March 3rd, we posted on the opening of the Spring Session of the Florida Legislature.  Two of the bills we focused our attention on included HB 195 and SB 444, both bills relating to the Prosecution of Juveniles.  Today, Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez penned an excellent Op-Ed in the Miami Herald titled: Public Defender: Don’t put kids in adult prisons.  It is a must read and let's hope the legislators up in Tally read it too.

ANOTHER WEEKEND IN PARADISE .....

Another great weekend is in store for South Florida and on Saturday you can take in the first ever E-Grand Prix.  What is an "E" Grand Prix you ask?  That would be the world's first fully electric racing series; the Formula E Grand Prix is on its fifth round of competition and will make its Miami debut Saturday on Biscayne Blvd.

And on Sunday March 15th, it's the world famous, or infamous, 38th Annual Calle Ocho Festival.
   
CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

CARLOS MARTINEZ IS NOT BORED

A message from your Public Defender.

Silent Charlie speaks!!! (so to speak).

From: Carlos J. Martinez
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 7:57 AM
To: All Users
Subject: LEGISLATIVE ALERT - CRITICAL BUDGET ITEM

Good afternoon.

This email is a follow up to our face to face meetings. By now, I hope you have had an opportunity to read the Miami Herald editorial (<-----click for the link to the editorial.) opposing privatization of our office. The battle is not yet over. The privatization proposal is much more than a rumor. It is an open secret. Last week, I was in Tallahassee meeting with legislators, FPDA, and lobbyists regarding the proposal being pushed by some Miami lawyers to cut our funding so they can be paid for handling the third degree felonies assigned to our office. I am in Tallahassee this week.

The proposal seeks to privatize a substantial amount of our felony work and pay a private law firm to do that work, transferring a disproportionate amount of our current funds to do so.

This privatization proposal is the biggest threat the office has ever faced. If approved, it would result in massive layoffs, between 100 and 240 employees, depending on how much money is taken out of our budget. While I do not want to alarm you, it is important that you have the facts.

The lobbyists for the Private Defenders’ Clinic have been trying to convince Representative David Rivera to file a last-minute proposal during budget negotiations. We have been fighting to prevent that from happening, and if it happens, from being approved. The Florida Bar, Florida Public Defender Association and Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are actively lobbying against the proposal. The Dade County Bar Association, Florida Public Defender Association, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami have also unanimously passed resolutions opposing the proposal.

I met with Representative Rivera and explained why it’s a bad idea for our employees, clients, residents and the court system:
· The government bailout of private lawyers will not save one cent of taxpayer money.
· It’s a bad deal for taxpayers. It’s a waste of money.
· It’s bad public policy to have no bid contracts.
· Don’t fix what is not broken.
· We do it cheaper - $125-150 per case vs. $300-700 - with better quality.
· Cutting our budget would adversely impact our ability to provide quality representation in more serious felony cases.
· It will require massive layoffs.

Right now, Representative Rivera is the key person on this issue. Many of you live in the Representative’s current or possibly future district (zip codes 33014, 33015, 33016, 33018, 33030, 33031, 33032, 33033, 33034, 33035, 33157, 33166, 33170, 33175, 33176, 33177, 33178, 33182, 33183, 33184, 33185, 33186, 33187, 33189, 33190, 33193, 33194).
IF YOU THINK THE PRIVATIZATION PROPOSAL AND RELATED BUDGET CUT AFFECTS YOU AND WISH TO CONTACT REPRESENTATIVE RIVERA (850-488-7897) OR YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINION, PLEASE DO NOT USE STATE RESOURCES (TELEPHONE, COMPUTER, EMAIL, ETC.) TO CONTACT THEM.
If you plan to call, know that personal stories are the most effective. Do not expect to speak to the legislator when you call. You can inform staff about your position.

Some tips if you decide to contact a legislator:

1. Keep the message short and to the point.
2. Start with your position (“I’m against” or “I’m in favor” of cutting the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s office budget to enrich private lawyers).
3. State your personal situation.
4. Ask staff to inform your legislator that you want the legislator to fight for your position.
5. Be polite; do not argue.

Thanks,
Carlos

Rumpole weighs in: We don't know much about the proposed legislation to sell off part of the PDs office. As a rule we avoid speaking to pimps, prostitutes and legislators. However, what we can gleam from the Herald editorial (and we also avoid the Herald, preferring the Times and Le Monde) is that this proposed legislation is the fallout from silent Charlie's lawsuit with PD Jay Kolsky as the busiest lawyer in the US. See our coverage about that here and here.

The Dade PDs went to court and said they should be able to conflict from a case simply because they have too many and cannot provide adequate representation to all their clients. This is turning out to not have been a very smart move in this economic environment in a day and age when legislators are searching everywhere to cut money. Lets face it, the last thing any legislator cares about is giving people whom they all view as criminals competent representation. Martinez files a lawsuit seeking permission to do less work, and is now shocked to find a target on his back.

Welcome to the big leagues buddy.

Perhaps that is one move you now regret. (Not speaking to us on how you budget monies for salaries is another. Saying your office is overworked when you hire less people than you are budgeted for and then spending the money on large raises for long time employees and even a consulting gig for Brummer is also not the wisest move in the world.)

Do we want to see the legislature gut the PDs office? No way.

Are we concerned about the competency of the person steering the ship over there and calling the shots? You betcha.

Tough Times for White Shoes

No, we're not talking about Houston Oiler kick returner Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, who ran through opposing team's kick coverage units in the NFL in the 1970's like Fast Gerry Klein used to a bond hearing calendar (until he was unceremoniously sacked like Chad Pennington facing a Ray Lewis blitz). 

Can you tell we're getting ready for football season? 

Anyway, what we are talking about are  tough times hitting those big high falutin "White shoe" Wall Street law firms. You know, the ones who sneered at us when we decided to go into criminal law while they did MA deals for the Street. Who's laughing now? Check out the Times Article on all their troubles here

Just to show we're still paying attention, our intrepid (if quiet) Public Defender still refuses to publicly discuss where the money went for the PD straw employees. Carlos Martinez remains ensconced in his Fortress Of Solitude, pictured below.

Nothing Super about his refusal to discuss this issue. 

SILENT CHARLIE DAY 4

UPDATE: This comment by a reader says it all:

rump - I think the real horror that needs to be looked into is why PDs who work their butts off (and there are LOTS of them, besides what some of your readers think) haven't gotten raises. This when most of them are carrying ungodly amounts of student loans and live in the 3rd most expensive city in the US!

UPDATE: BLOCKBUSTER INDICTMENT!  A Former Federal and State Prosecutor in New Jersey, and now a prominent criminal defense attorney- Paul Bergrin-has been indicted in federal court on 14 counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The charges arise out of accusations that Bergrin orchestrated the murder of witnesses in two cases. High profile NYC defense attorney Gerald Shargel is defending Bergrin. The NY Times article is here. 

We are still wondering about our questions in re:  the 16 PD "Straw attorneys" whose position was budgeted by the Legislature, and whose salaries were paid by us tax payers, but who otherwise don't exist. Is what the PD's office did legal? Do other state  offices do this?  Is this why there's only one person at the clerk's office whenever we need a file? 

And here's a new one- while we were in the shower the other day we started, as is our wont, to do some math. 16 positions- assume on the low side an average starting salary of $30,000.00 per year, that's ..hmm...carry the two....ummm...$480,000.00 Brummers!!!  That's an awful lot of hay to give to the top horses in the barn. 

  And (because we take long showers) we also thought of this: Is this the first time BHB has done this?  We all know that no matter how bad the evidence is against out client, we all like to say "they've never done this before. It was a one time, stupid thing to do."

So has the PD's office been taking money for "straw lawyers" for years? And who got that money? 

You see, without the Susannah Nesmiths and now the Vanessa Blums of the world  (Markus reported Tuesday that the Sun Sentinel canned Blum for budget reasons)  who else is there to ask these questions and "follow the money"?

We'd much rather see Ms. Nesmith or Ms. Blum meeting with a strange and mysterious figure cloaked in a Macintosh and obscured by the shadows of a late night in the Jackson Medical Garage across from the PDs office.   "What is going on over there"? we imagine them saying, fog swirling in the background. 

"Follow the money" would be the whispered reply.  The glow of a cigarette breaking the dark and gloomy midnight hour. 

The problem is that at the rate we're going, this story will be assigned to the obit copy clerk, as there are no real reporters left in Miami to "follow the money" flowing through the strangely silent offices of Carlos Martinez and company. 

SILENT CHARLIE DAY FOUR.

And yes, we have been Twittering about the silent PD's office here. 

STRANGELY SILENT

(For a guy that clearly knows how to use a phone, Carlos Martinez is strangely silent these days.)

For a lawyer, for a defender, for an advocate for the poor, the weak, the gullible,  Miami Public Defender Carlos Martinez remains strangely silent over the controversy regarding his office.

His employees are not, judging from the response in the comments section of the last post. 

THE ACCUSATION: That facing times of trouble and crisis, the Miami Dade Public Defenders office used money designated by the Florida legislature for 16 new attorney positions for raises- mostly for upper echelon employees.  Someone from the Dade PDs office signed off on a budget request that included positions for 16 attorneys that they never had any intention of hiring. Who did that? Why?  Is it legal?  Do taxpayers have any rights here to find out what's going on in the Dade PDs office? What about the Florida Legislature? Do they care? How about other SAO and PDs offices who submitted legitimate budgets without straw positions? They played by the rules.  Do they have a right to complain?

There are lots of questions. Unfortunately, the person who knows the answers isn't speaking. 

THE RESPONSE BY CARLOS MARTINEZ:

(this space for rent. Inquire 305-545-1600. Ask for Carlos.)

THE FALLOUT: The 3rd DCA just spanked his office. More than 40 private attorneys have agreed to pitch in and help out the PDs office by taking cases for free. Now those attorneys are learning that they are working for free, not because the PDs office has no funds for new attorneys, but because the PDs office chose to use that  money for raises for  long term employees who mostly are not those in court fighting for clients. 

THE LEGAL COMMUNITY AWAITS THE RESPONSE FROM "SILENT CHARLIE." 

PLEASE RESPOND

OK Carlos Martinez (BHB) here's your forum. 

The criminal legal community is watching. 

The 3rd DCA just spanked you and said that you (BHB) made poor choices in spending money for new attorneys on raises for existing attorneys. Several in-court  PDs have sent us emails saying they haven't received a cost of living increase in a few years.

SO WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

 

Were the raises given to top echelon attorneys who are not the ones in court trying cases and holding the line against overwhelming odds?  

Is the 3rd DCA wrong?

You have a serious morale problem bubbling beneath the surface and we have the emails to prove it. 

So as we said once before to another PD in another circumstance, PUT DOWN THAT DANISH  and answer the question:

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO?

See you in court. (Well not you Carlos, but we will see those hard working, under paid PDS who haven't had a COLA in a while. )