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. 

GOVERNOR DESANTIS TO NAME TWO NEW THIRD DCA JUDGES TODAY AT 2:00 PM

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR TWO NEWEST 3^RD DCA JUDGES .....

ARE:

JUDGE MONICA GORDO
Judge Gordo has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1999. She spent 11 years at the State Attorney's Office before getting elected to the Circuit Court bench in 2010 besting Robert Kuntz.  She was reelected in 2016 without opposition.

FLEUR LOBREE
Three times a charm.  Appointed to the County bench in 2011 by Governor Scott, she lost in her election to Michelle Alvarez Barakat in 2012 (71% to 29%).  Appointed again by Scott to the Circuit Court bench in 2013, she lost in her bid to hold that seat, in 2014, to Mavel Ruiz (54% to 46%).  She has spent most of her career as an appellate attorney at the State Attorney's office in Miami.

Will be announced today at a press conference at 2:00 PM when Governor DeSantis will personally introduce the two newest appointments at the Alan Schwartz Atrium at the Third District Court of Appeal.

Our sources are buzzing. They first alerted us to the fact that, on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, in Tallahassee, Governor Scott’s Legal Counsel interviewed the nine finalists to replace Justices Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck who were both elevated to the Florida Supreme Court. Those interviewed included:

Hon. Monica Gordo
Christopher Johnson
Hon. Timothy Koenig
Fleur Lobree
Oren Rosenthal
Eduardo Sanchez
Ann St. Peter Griffith
Hon. Daryl Trawick
Hon. Lisa Walsh

Now our sources have confirmed the surprise Press Conference later today.

The two newest jurists will join freshly appointed 3^rd DCA Judges Eric Hendon and Bronwyn Miller who were both appointed by Governor Scott on his way out the door in late December of 2018.

COUNTY COURT

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A COUNTY COURT JUDGE .......

On March 27, 2019, Governor DeSantis named Judges Michelle Alvarez Barakat and Tanya Brinkley to the Circuit Court (replacing Judges Hendon & Miller - see above). With those two appointments, that opened up two seats on the County Court.

The 11^th Judicial Circuit JNC will interview 19 attorneys and then send up to 12 names to Governor DeSantis. A total of 27 attorneys applied to the JNC, but eight failed to make the cut. Those scheduled for an interview on Monday, April 29^th include:

　
8:00 a.m. Karl S. Brown
8:10 a.m. Miguel J. Chamorro
8:20 a.m. Ritamaria Gonzalez Cuervo
8:30 a.m. Elsa Maria Fernandez
8:40 a.m. Blanca Torrents Greenwood
8:50 a.m. Peter S. Heller
9:00 a.m. Zachary N. James
9:10 a.m. Scott M. Janowitz
9:20 a.m. Jeffrey M. Kolokoff
9:40 a.m. Gale Lewis
10:30 a.m. Arya Attari Li
10:40 a.m. Steven Lieberman
10:50 a.m. Jonathan Meltz
11:00 a.m. Griska Mena
11:10 a.m. Julie Harris Nelson
11:20 a.m. Christopher Pracitto
11:40 a.m. Kayla Riera-Gomez
11:50 a.m. Melissa Roca Shaw
12:00 p.m. Stephanie Silver


NEWS FROM THE CAPITOL .......

The Florida Legislature has been in session since March 5^th and they are scheduled to adjourn sini die on May 3^rd. Several bills have passed both the House and the Senate and have been sent to Govenor DeSantis’ desk for his signature. This week, DeSantis received Senate Bill 96, which amends, among other things, F.S. 843.19: the injuring, disabling or killing of a police, fire, or SAR canine or police horse. Those crimes would go from a third degree felony to a second degree felony if DeSantis signs the bill into law.
　
CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

SO, YOU WANT TO BE AN ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY/ASSISTANT PUBLIC DEFENDER .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

TIME TO DISCUSS A REAL PROBLEM IN THE JUSTICE BUILDING .......

(BREAKING - 3rd DCA Grants Writ of Cert in State v. Wong, 3D19-169; issue is - 6 or 12 person jury for capital murder trial before Judge Blumstein. See the Comments Section for more on this story).

An article in the January 11^th edition of  THE FLORIDA BAR NEWS addresses a critical problem in our justice system. One in five Assistant State Attorneys and one in five Assistant Public Defenders left their jobs last year.

In Florida, the average starting salary for an ASA or APD is $41,700. By comparison, in neighboring Georgia, the average is $56,286; in North Carolina it’s $53,000; and in California, they start prosecutors and public defenders at a salary of $92,000.

State Attorney Dave Aronberg of the 15^th Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach) stated that front line prosecutors and public defenders are leaving government service at such a fast rate that it is becoming an issue of public safety. "Many times, you will have a young prosecutor making $42,000, who is sitting at a table discussing a case with a first-year cop from Boca Raton, who is making $62,000 a year," Aronberg said. "And this is someone with seven years of education and six figures of education debt." The problem is, "once they get to be three- to five-year lawyers, and they’ve had about 50 or more trials, [his ASAs] are very attractive to private law firms who will pay them a lot more."

Buddy Jacobs, from the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, described the situation this way: "There are two kinds of prosecutors in Florida, those leaving . . . and those looking."

Aaronberg suggested that, according to a TaxWatch study, "raising salaries for assistant state attorneys and assistant public defenders would actually save taxpayers money in the long run."

So, what say you, our readers who work in the pits everyday? Is there a problem? What can WE do about it?

IN OTHER NEWS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE .....

The 11^th Circuit JNC received a total of 22 applications from those wanting to replace Judges Eric Hendon and Bronwyn Miller who both now sit on the 3^rd DCA. The Commission narrowed the list to 18 that will be interviewed on February 15^th. They include:

9:00 a.m. William I. Altfield
9:10 a.m. Rebecca Valentina Aroca
9:20 a.m. Michelle Alvarez Barakat
9:30 a.m. Jason Bloch
9:40 a.m. Tanya Brinkley
9:50 a.m. Michelle A. Delancy
10:30 a.m. Ivy R. Ginsberg
10:40 a.m. Blanca Torrents Greenwood
10:50 a.m. Peter Heller
11:00 a.m. Scott M. Janowitz
11:10 a.m. Zachary N. James
11:20 a.m. Jeffrey M. Kolokoff
12:00 p.m. Steven Lieberman
12:10 p.m. Joseph J. Mansfield
12:20 p.m. Griska Mena
12:30 p.m. Julie Harris Nelson
12:40 p.m. Kayla A. Riera-Gomez
12:50 p.m. Abbe S. Rifkin

(Those who did not make the cut: Carmen R. Cabarga, Robyn J. Cohen (McCarthy), Tahya Fuenmayor, Gustavo Javier Losa).

SPEAKING OF THE 3^RD DCA .....

You still have time to apply to the 3^rd DCA JNC if you want to become an appellate court judge. There are two open seats on the 3^rd DCA resulting from the elevations of Justice Barbara Lagoa and Justice Robert J. Luck to the Florida Supreme Court.

The deadline to submit your application is Tuesday, February 19, 2019.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

GOVERNOR SCOTT APPOINTS TWO NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGES .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING: GOVERNOR DESANTIS WILL NAME THE NEXT SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ON WEDNESDAY at 10 AM with an announcement at the Freedom Tower in Miami.  Expect DeSantis to name a justice to fill the open seat for a justice that must reside in the 3rd Appellate District. The three finalists include: Judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck and attorney John Daniel Couriel.

Also, as I touched on below, Gov. Scott appointed a total of 76 people to various posts around the state last Friday.  DeSantis has indicated that he will be rescinding many of those appointments.  It is clear that DeSantis was not happy with Scott's actions in pulling off these last minute appointments.


YOUR TWO NEWEST COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE ...

NATALIE MOORE.  Ms. Moore has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2006. She is currently an Assistant State Attorney and also a Training Director at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.  She previously served in the Hate Crimes Unit.  She fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Carlos Guzman.

ROBERT WATSON. Mr. Watson has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2003. A Stanford law grad (Georgetown undergrad), he is currently a principal with the law firm of Kobre & Kim. Prior to joining Kobre & Kim, Mr. Watson served as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Before that he practiced at Holland & Knight, where he focused on money laundering cases, commercial disputes and international arbitration. He currently represents corporations and individuals in white-collar criminal defense matters, regulatory enforcement actions and internal investigations. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese and focuses on representing clients in connection with matters related to Latin America.   He fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Alexander Bokor.

In case you were wondering, this is Governor Scott’s last day in office and therefore his last appointments to the bench.  Scott has been very busy over the holidays naming dozens of appointments to Boards, Committees, Commissions, and the bench.  While for the past eight years, he has almost always taken the full 60 days to review the JNC names sent to him before he selects a new judge, for these two appointments, Scott needed only 18 days to choose Ms. Moore and Mr. Watson as their names were included in a JNC correspondence sent to Scott on December 20, 2018.

Those that were not chosen from the JNC final list included:

Karl S.H. Brown, Peter S. Heller, Zachary James, Scott M. Janowitz, Jeffrey M. Kolokoff, Jonathan Meltz, Julie Harris Nelson, Christopher Pracitto, Manolo Reboso, and Stephanie Silver.

So now we will wait to see what kind of judges our new Governor will choose.  Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis, our 46th Governor of the Great State of Florida, will be sworn in on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 9 AM.

As one of his first acts that will have a lasting effect on our judicial system, expect Governor DeSantis to quickly name three replacements to the Florida Supreme Court.  That's because as of 5 PM tomorrow, Justices Pariente, Lewis, and Quince, will all be retiring.

Also on the Agenda, two open seats on the Miami-Dade Circuit Court. With the elevation of Judges Bronwyn Miller and Eric Hendon to the 3rd DCA, Desantis will get to name their two replacements.  The JNC is accepting applications until January 18, 2019, so don't expect to see their replacements named until early April.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

GOV. SCOTT NAMES TWO NEW 3RD DCA JUDGES; FOUR OPEN SEATS FOR THE JNC

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR TWO NEWEST 3^RD DCA JUDGES ARE .......

JUDGE ERIC HENDON. (62 years old). Hendon began his career at the SAO in 1979 where he worked for two years. He spent most of the next eight years in private practice before joining the PD’s office in Miami-Dade in 1989. He spent ten years as an APD before Governor Bush appointed him to the County Court bench in 1999. In his bid to maintain his seat on the bench in 2002, he was defeated by Judge Jacqueline Schwartz. It was back to private practice for four years until his appointment again to the County Court bench in 2006 by Governor Jeb Bush. In 2008 he ran to maintain his seat against Denise Martinez-Scanziani, defeating her. In 2012, Govervor Scott promoted Hendon to the Circuit Court bench. He ran for a full six year term unopposed in 2014. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Leslie Rothenberg.


JUDGE BRONWYN MILLER. (46 years old). She began her career as an ASA in 1997. She spent eight years with the SAO before being appointed to the County Court bench by Governor Jeb Bush in 2005. She ran against George Alvarez in 2006 winning a six year term. In 2010, Governor Charlie Crist appointed Miller to the Circuit Court. She ran unopposed twice, in 2012 and again this year. Miller fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Richard Suarez.

Those that were passed up for the 3rd DCA include: Hon. Monica Gordo, Hon. Timothy J. Koenig, Hon. Fleur J. Lobree, Hon. Thomas J. Rebull, Hon. Lisa S. Walsh, Oren Rosenthal, Ann M. St. Peter-Griffith, Melissa Damian Visconti.

The appointments of Hendon and Miller creates two openings on the Circuit Court bench.  The JNC will be back at work sending nominees to Governor-Elect DeSantis in the next month or so.

Speaking of the JNC, they have announced that they will interview a total of 20 attorneys to replace County Court Judges Alexander Bokor and Carlos Guzman. Both judges were recently elevated to the Circuit Court. Those interviews will take place on December 20, 2018:

8:00 a.m.: Renier Diaz de la Portilla
8:15 a.m.: Gustavo J. Losa
8:30 a.m.: Zachary N. James
8:45 a.m.: Natalie Drew Moore
9:00 a.m.: Robert T. Watson
9:30 a.m.: Michelle A. Delancy
9:40 a.m.: Blanca T. Greenwood
9:50 a.m.: Marcia Giordano Hansen
10:00 a.m.: Jeffrey M. Kolokoff
10:10 a.m.: Jonathan Meltz
10:20 a.m.: Julie Harris Nelson
10:30 a.m.: Christopher Pracitto
10:40 a.m.: Manolo Reboso
10:50 a.m.: Stephanie Silver
11:20 a.m.: Karl S. H. Brown
11:25 a.m.: Carmen R. Cabarga
11:30 a.m.: Scott M. Janowitz
11:35 a.m.: Griska Mena
11:40 a.m.: Gavin N.L. White
11:45 a.m.: Peter S. Heller
 
CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

MILLER TO 3RD DCA

From Judges on the way down to judges on the way up. 
Governor Scott (motto "I'm so outta here. DC here I come.") appointed Judge Bronwyn Miller to the 3rd DCA. 
It's a good appointment for a fine judge. And since the job mostly involves carefully writing "PCA AFFIRMED. See, Marbury v. Madison..." we are sure she will fit in just fine. 

Congrats to Judge Miller. It's a very good appointment and we now she will do us all proud.