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

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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 .......
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GOV. SCOTT NAMES THREE NEW MIAMI-DADE JUDGES .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THREE NEW JUDGES COMING TO A COURTROOM NEAR YOU .....

Tonight, Governor Scott, announced the appointment of three new Judges in Miami-Dade County. Scott leaves office on January 7, 2019; (maybe even earlier if he is confirmed to have won the Senate race), and he clearly wants to leave his final and lasting impressions on trial court benches throughout the State. He moved quickly to name replacements for Circuit Court Judges Stephen Millan and Ariana Farjardo Orshan and County Court Judge Wendell Graham.


CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE ALEXANDER BOKOR

Judge Bokor, age 40, has been a member of The Florida Bar for 13 years. Bokor was an Assistant County Attorney, when, in October of 2016, Scott named him to the County Court bench. Two years later and Bokor is now a Circuit Court Judge replacing Stephen Millan. Bokor had applied to open seats on the Circuit Court, 3^rd DCA, and Florida Supreme Court all within the past two months.


CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE CARLOS GUZMAN

Judge Guzman, age 48, has been a member of The Florida Bar for 21 years. Guzman was an ASA for two years, then worked for the FBI for six years as a legal advisor, followed by two years in private practice before working as a Chief Assistant Statewide Prosecutor for five years.  He was named a County Court Judge by Governor Scott in 2012. Six years later he becomes a Circuit Court judge replacing Judge Farjardo Orshan.


COUNTY COURT JUDGE LODY JEAN

Lody Jean, age 40, has been a member of The Florida Bar for 14 years. Jean was born in Haiti of Lebanese decent. For the first eight years of her legal career she was employed as an ASA in Miami-Dade County. She has been in private practice for the past six years handling immigration and criminal defense matters. She is the Immediate Past President of the Haitian Lawyers Association. She replaces Judge Wendell Graham.


NORTH OF THE BORDER .....

Congrats to Miami-Dade ASA Frank Ledee. Governor Scott named Ledee a Circuit Court Judge today in Broward County replacing Judge John Contini.

Scott named a total of ten new judges today, the four aforementioned judges as well as six others in Broward (County Judge Natasha DePrimo and Circuit Judge Gina Hawkins); 7^th Circuit (Circuit Judge Christopher Ferebee, Ponte Vedra Beach); Palm Beach (County Judge Paige Hardy Gillman); 5^th Circuit (Circuit Judge Gregg Jerald, Ocala); 14^th Circuit (Circuit Judge Dustin Stephenson, Panama City).

Governor Scott still has ten names on his desk for two open seats on the 3^rd DCA. We expect he will name those replacements sometime in the next 30 days.

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