BAKING SODA?

A Judge in Washington County, PA., was sentenced to 1 to 23 months for stealing cocaine that was in evidence in a case before him.  Judge Pozonsky not only broke the evidence seal on the drugs and  replaced the cocaine with baking soda, but he left his DNA in the process.  When the Judge realized that the police were investigating, he ordered the drugs in that case, along with evidence in sixteen other cases destroyed. 

But all is not lost for the former robe wearer. A day after arriving in prison he was approved for work release. The entire sordid details are here. 

We can't help but be reminded of a former Dade Judge, Phil Davis, who was also caught up in a drug and bribery scandal. The case in Miami was known as "Courtbroom" and it's sort of sad that there are judges on the bench, and lawyers in our courtrooms who know nothing about the earthshaking events in the REGJB that broke in the summer of 1991 if memory serves us. 

The scorecard in Courtbroom was:
Judge Harvey Shenberg - who was memorably videotaped stuffing $50,000.00 in his pants in  while remarking it was hard to send a kid to college on a judge's salary, was sentenced to 15 years and that was later reduced to 12 after appeal. 
Judge Alfonso Sepe, was acquitted of 27 counts at trial, while the jury hung on five. Sepe eventually pleaded to one count and did a year. 
Former Judge David Goodhart, aka "the bag man" was convicted and received we think about five years, but that is a guess. 
Judge Roy Gelber flipped and got about seven years. 

A gaggle of lawyers also went to trial and lost. Part of the scheme was that Gelber and Sepe and Davis were receiving kickbacks for court appointments. Sepe got partially paid in pasta, with lawyers picking up his bill at fancy italian restaurants around town. 
Say what you want, but our bad judges had flair. 

And then there was Phil Davis. Represented at trial part of the time by flamboyant defense attorney (and former federal judge in Miami who was impeached) Alcee Hastings (you can't make this stuff up), Davis was acquitted of all charges, based mostly on the best closing of Hasting's life. Hastings, BTW, is now a congressman in Florida. 

Given a second chance, Davis couldn't keep out of trouble, with a bar complaint in California from a case he handled there, to a grand theft case in Miami where Davis was charged with running a scheme to steal from a charity. Davis got veinte anos  on the theft case after losing at trial.  We covered the case here. 

All of this goes to show that when it comes to bad judges, Pennsylvania can't hold a candle to Miami. 

Have a good week. 

NEW SAO POLICY?

WE RECEIVED THIS EMAIL:

Anonymous said...

as a PD in county court, I am getting those discovery notices on all my cases...crimes and traffic...they basically list witnesses who may be called at trial and then say we can go view and copy the rest of discovery at the SAO, thursdays and fridays between certain hours...total bullshit...i never thought the SAO would stoop this low!

OK FACDL- TIME TO STEP UP AND DO YOUR STUFF. YOU GUYS GOING TO ALLOW THIS BS?

PHIL DAVIS IS BACK! SEE BELOW.

Is there some sort of new half baked policy by the State Attorneys Office (motto: give us a minute and we'll have a new policy on that) in which the prosecutors are now refusing to provide police reports with discovery?

We haven't run into it- but several people have mentioned it to us, and we are now receiving emails on this.

IS FORMER JUDGE PHIL DAVIS ON TRIAL?

According to some sources, former and disgraced Circuit Judge Phil Davis is starting trial before Judge and noted judicial conciliator Beatrice Butchko for the white collar fraud case he got pinched on in 2005.

Here is the St. Petersburg Times article on Davis's current case.

We have a prediction: before this thing ends Davis will be wondering "Alcee Hastings where are you?"

For those of you relatively new to the REGJB, Phil Davis was a defense attorney who ran for circuit judge and won the election. (bonus trivia question: What federal prosecutor did he beat in a run off?)

Once elected, Davis was, to put it mildly acting erratically while on and off the bench. It turns out he had a few problems- he was abusing controlled substances and was caught up in the infamous Courtbroom judicial fraud case.

Judges Davis, Sepe, and Shenberg, went to trial in federal court. Judge Roy T Gelber was the flip. (second trivia question- who represented Sepe and Shenberg ?)

Alcee Hastings, a former federal judge himself who was impeached, represented Davis. He did a hell of a job. Davis was acquitted despite a mountain of evidence against him. Hastings then ran for congress when new district lines were re-drawn and won and has been serving ever since. Life is indeed stranger than fiction.

Harvey Shenberg, a county court judge, was convicted of among other things, selling the name of a confidential informant he was led to believe would be killed. As the FBI cameras rolled, Shenberg stuffed $50,000 in cash down his pants at a park and lamented how hard it was to put a kid through college on a Judge's salary. We heard Shenberg was recently released after serving almost 18 years.

Al Sepe's was not decided at the first trial. We seem to remember there was a hung jury. Eventually Sepe pled out to some federal felony, did a year, and faded into Miami obscurity.

Any updates on the Davis trial will be appreciated.