DE LA O AND HARRIS MAKE THE CUT

CLARIFICATION - SEE BELOW  

As first reported on the local ground-breaking federal blog run by Mr. Markus, two state court circuit judges have made the cut to the final six for the two open spots in the SDFL. Click on the link to see the full list of nominees. Judges Ayana Harris and Miguel De La O were two of the six sent out of the House JNC that they applied to. Since there are multiple JNCs formed, nobody is sure what this means. 

Naturally, we have some thoughts. 

First, we think these are two wonderful nominations. Judge De La O's work on the circuit bench speaks for itself. He is known throughout the REGJB as the "go to Judge" when there are questions about law and procedure. He is hard working, keeps current with case law, and his courtroom demeanor and treatment of all parties is exactly what we want in a Judge. 

Judge Ayana Harris is newer to the bench, but she comes with a perfect background to be a federal judge, including a stint with the federal PDs office, so she is well versed in the nuances of federal law. Although we have not appeared before her, the reviews and comments by other lawyers confirms that she has made the most of her time on the bench and impressed all who have appeared before her. 

But here is what is on our mind. 

Can anyone form a JNC? Can there be an Au Bon JNC, a Burger King JNC, or even that great restaurant in the back of the gas station on US 1 and 17th avenue that has all those great wines. Can they have their own JNC? Wouldn't it be nice to interview candidates over a bottle of Rumpole's Chateau Miami River and discuss the important federal issues of the day? 

"So here is a scenario. In 2025 President Trump threatens to issue a commutation of a sentence for Matt Gaetz who has been convicted of multiple violations of the Mann Act.  How does that affect your decision on sentencing? And would you like to try the Riesling?"

And finally this. Circuit and Appellate Court Judges have been nominated for the federal bench. Quick quiz, name two 3rd DCA judges who were nominated to the SDFL bench. Lawyers have been nominated to the federal bench. Has a county court judge ever  been nominated to the federal bench in the SDFL?  We cannot think of any.  

CLARIFICATION- There is apparently some confusion on our question. Of course many circuit judges who were appointed WHEN THEY WERE A CIRCUIT JUDGE, were, at a prior point in their career, a county court judge. We do not recall any County Court Judge being appointed to Federal Court WHILE SERVING ON THE COUNTY COURT BENCH.  We do not think our original question was unclear. Perhaps our readers are just duller then we previously thought. 

HATS IN THE RING

 The REGJB's own Judges Lisa Walsh and Miguel De La O have thrown their hats into the ring for the two federal district court spots that have opened up with Former Chief Judge Federico Moreno electing senior status and Judge Ursula Ungaro retiring and joining Boise Schiller. 

We cannot think of two better choices for these spots and we heartily endorse their applications. That and $5 will get you a coffee at Starbucks. 

Here is a trivia question we do not know the answer to: name the Federal Judges who Judge Moreno and Judge Ungaro replaced. 

WHITER MIAMI ?

We have the vaccine. All around us have the vaccine. The Popeyes near the REGJB is open. Restaurants and businesses all around us are open. The garage across from family court sits open and empty, parking spots just begging to be filled by lawyers' Teslas and BMWs and Mercedes SUVs. 

But our courthouses in Miami remain cerrado. 

The feds announced several months ago they were resuming trials July 6. 

Broward is open. Plantation Key is open. Key West is open. From Pensacola to Two-Egg to Key West, courts are open...except you know where.

Miami esta cerrado. 

Now we applaud the caution and concern of our chief judges. We also realize that on a Friday they cannot just decide to open the courthouse on Monday and that is that. Plans need to be made. Au Bon Pain has to order quiches and croissants. JAs need pens and pads. Judges need....well we are sure they need something. 

The clerks office needs to schedule hearings in person. Send out notices that don't have zoom instructions on them. People need to hear it on the news and see it on @Ovalle305 that the courthouses are open for business. It needs to be snapchatted and judges need to post 20 second videos of them dancing in their robes on the courthouse steps with the doors wide open  on Tiktok.  (Judge Soto we are available to coordinate the public relations campaign gratis.) 

So the point is, lets get rolling. We need to feel the gravel of Lot 26 crunching under our Allen Edmonds shoes, new and shined and sitting in a closet lo these last 14 months unused. We long to sit in court and acted surprised "A plea ? Surely madam, you jest. Are you not aware of what our friend and colleague Mr. Markus famously says- 'you cannot win a plea'." 

Miami Esta ABIERTA! 

HIRSCH RULES FOR RUMPOLE

 With all do respect to his learned colleague Judge De La O (a phrase sure to send Mr. Markus and his cohort Judge De La O into a paroxysm),  Judge Milt Hirsch writes an opinion for Rumpole in his battle for the soul  of the legal profession. 

As you may know, Judge De La O weighed in on Twitter, ruling for Mr. Markus. We had no idea the case had been assigned to him. But the battle is not over. As Judge Hirsch has written an opinion as well and we include it here. Judge Hirsch could have been recused. For a period of time he shared space with Mr. Markus. But we trust his judgment and filed no motion.

De La O wrote:  Comes now the Court to rule. You are a great lawyer, Rumpole. You put up a strong fight in a losing battle. O'Marcus is not only right, he made his case succinctly. You were more entertaining, but he wins handily.

Judge Hirsch responds with his own (brilliant) opinion in the matter: 

On “opinion day,” some Supreme Court justices read their opinions aloud from the bench.  

That wasn’t Chief Justice Earl Warren’s practice.  

He just filed his opinions with the clerk, and that was that.

Except on May 17, 1954.  

On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Warren read aloud to a packed and hushed courtroom

 every word of his opinion in a case called Brown v. Topeka Board of Education.

  nd he read with particular emphasis the four words appearing at the end of that opinion:

“It is so ordered.”

Of course those four words add nothing to the content of the opinion.  They do not alter or 

add to its import or analysis.  In that sense – and only in that sense – they could be dismissed

 as the sort of “legalese” the value of which the two of you are debating.  

But to anyone who has, as the two of you do, a sense of history;

 an ear for rhetoric; and a feeling for that indefinable but invaluable thing called 

“the majesty of the law,”  those four words sounded forth the trumpet that can 

never call retreat.  They were a clap of silent thunder that we still struggle to hear.

Of course you’re right: there are few judges of the stature of Warren, and few cases of the

 stature of Brown.  

Bad judges lard their orders, and bad lawyers lard their motions, with “legalese” in an 

effort to compensate for a lack of scholarship and prose style.  

But that is not a criticism of the language of the law.  

It is a criticism of the work-product of the judges and lawyers.

Rumpole says: It's now 1-1. Who will cast the deciding vote? 

WADLEY TRIAL DAY TWO

UPDATE # 2 The best words in our job: NOT GUILTY. 

UPDATE THE TRIAL IS OVER WE TWEETED THE WHOLE THING. PD ROBERT VALDES KILLED IT IN CLOSING. A GREAT JOB. DURING THE VERDICT THE AUDIO WENT OUT. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE VERDICT WAS. STAND BY 

 The trial that has transfixed the nation continues in Miami's REGJB today, with Judge De La O, at the end of jury selection on Monday telling the jury that the trial "will be over tomorrow" and then, in answering a juror's question, wisely responding "there is no time limit" on how long the jury can deliberate. 

Can it get any more exciting than this? 

An inside source tells us that openings are expected around 9:30 am. So brew that second cup of coffee and save that donut and sit back watch some real Mi-am-uh lawyerin this morning. 

We will again be live-tweeting the proceedings @justicebuilding.  Follow us for insightful commentary you will not get anywhere else. 

It's kind of interesting to consider putting a jury on the clock, like the NBA 24 second clock, but with more time depending upon the level of the crime. Say 150 minutes for 3rd degree felonies, 180 for second degree felonies, and so on. There would be a clock in the jury room and one in the courtroom and the participants could all count down to the final seconds. Each side would get a few time outs, with the lawyer standing up and dramatically putting their hands into a T before the judge, who would blow a whistle and order the clerk to stop the clock. 

And if we are going to do all that, then we might as well take away Judges'* robes and put them in stripped shirts. 

Because in ruling against us on Twitter in our epoch battle for the soul of the legal profession,  "Judge M" as he apparently doesn't mind being called, is along with  Mr. Markus's,  the foremost opponent of tradition in our profession. Of course we must admit we greatly admire Judge M's thinking outside of the box and conducting Jury selection in the jury pool room. It shows a clear preference for substance over form and an ability to do something different to protect everyone's health- precisely the type of thinking and judging we need these days to re-open the courts and keep everyone safe. 

 * In reviewing our post, we noticed the missing apostrophe designating possession in our original post. And since Judge Robert Watson has joined blog irregulars as our foremost critic of punctuation, we didn't want to receive a comment chastising and embarrassing us. 

LETS PICK SIX! ANOTHER TRIAL IS STARTING

 If it's Monday in the REGIB, then it is time to try a case. Remember when? 

(Don't miss below where Judge De La O rules  against us in our battle against Mr. Markus). 

Well today Judge De La O is finishing voir dire in an armed robbery case where defendant Odell Wadley  has been in custody for two years. Jurors were pre-qualified over zoom last week  and the final panel of 36  is heading -masks on please- to the REGJB to perform their public service in very trying times.  The good news? Parking will be a snap. 

We have had the occasion to email with Judge De La O who has continually assured us that all participants, lawyers, the defendant and courtroom personnel have been made aware that this trial is taking place only because they feel safe and secure to proceed. No lawyer or other participant will be forced to trial in Miami if they have any health concerns, and this has been the policy since the beginning of the pandemic.

The prosecutors are  Casey (Double C) Corey  and Kevin Bentancourt. The defense is Robert Valdes and John  (JOA) Sullivan.  You can watch this extravaganza on the 11th Judicial Circuit's own CourtTV on You Tube.

 Depending on our day, we just might  live tweet the trial @justicebuilding. 

It may not be Ali/Frazier I (see below), but we note that today is the 50th anniversary of the true fight of the century- the only time two undefeated heavyweight champions met for the title. 

Has our new CJ thought about selling spots on the live stream? Along with announcers, we can turn this into something: 

Gene: "Howard, there is a sidebar going on over presumably the prosecution's desire to use a picture of the crime scene in opening before it's been admitted."

Howard: "That's right Gene. It should be an easy call for De La O on this matter. Pictures are often used in opening by both sides.  But while we are on this break, the law firm of Dewey Cheetum and Howe wants you to know that when trials don't go the way you hoped they would, DC&H are available for immediate consultation for appeals and that includes an appellate bond."

Gene: "They're done at side bar Howard. I like the way the defense includes their client in these matters. Making a point before the jury to touch her on the arm and then inform her of what occurred at side bar. As we have said many times, it is oh so important for the defense to humanize their client before the jury."

What say you CJ Sayfie? Have we got an idea here or what? 

Speaking of Judge De La O, he issued a decision on his twitter @delao that was a bitter pill for us: 

. Comes now the Court to rule. You are a great lawyer, Rumpole. You put up a strong fight in a losing battle. O'Marcus is not only right, he made his case succinctly. You were more entertaining, but he wins handily.

Permit us to opine that perhaps his twitter handle should be @delanoideawhatheistalkingabout.....too long? 

It is hard to convey to this Starbucks/millennial generation what Ali/Frazier I was. It was not just a sporting event. It was the greatest event in the greatest city in the world. It was all anyone could talk about for weeks before the fight.  Ali had previously lost his title when it was stripped from him because of his stance on the Vietnam war. Frazier was the champ, and in his own right he was a great great champion, boxer, athlete and man. That night was deservedly Frazier's night when he threw and landed perhaps the best left hook in the history of heavyweight championship fights. How Ali got up and finished the round is indeed a testament to his own greatness. How big was the event? Frank Sinatra was ringside as the photographer. Hollywood star Burt Lancaster was one of the announcers. A young Rumpole was left to scrimp and save twenty dollars to watch it in a movie theater on closed-circuit. 

Watch the whole fight on You Tube when you have 100 minutes. The ebb and flow is breathtaking. Up to the start of the last round it was anybody's fight to win although Joe had staggered Ali on the ropes in the 11th. And then in the 15th  Joe showed why he is, like Ali, a champion for the ages. It is rare you get two men as great as these two at the same era in a sport. Each could not have been what he was without the other. 

FACDL AND DE LA O SQUARE OFF OVER PVHS

 There are Judges who approach the REGJB pantheon of greatness. Judge Ed Cowart is the standard by which all REGJB judges are measured. In more recent times Judge Murphy was a favourite of both the state and defense for the way he ran his courtroom and his well reasoned and fair decisions. The same can be said for Judge Miguel De La O. He works hard at his job. Other judges have been known to commit felonious acts to get a copy of his well regarded case law email updates.  And now Judge De La O finds himself at the center of a standoff between the criminal defense bar, which does NOT want to proceed via ZOOM for probation violation hearings, and Judge De La O, who reads into the Supreme Court's Administrative Orders on proceeding electronically nothing- nada-zilch- zero- reasons preventing a PVH taking place via zoom. Although he didn't say it, defense attorneys want their cake (bond hearings via zoom) and to eat it as well (no PVHs via Zoom). Can't we all just get along? 

Apparently not.  If you should find yourself awake in the wee hours of any morning, unable to sleep, take a gander at the below litigation: The FACDL's motion, and Judge De La O's DENIED order. Because he is a good judge, De La O has rescheduled the hearing giving time for the defense and FACDL to take a writ to the Third.  No fear of appellate review is he.  As the old joke goes: "How do you get to the 3rd DCA? Lose a motion and take a writ." Ba dum dum. 

Here are the motion and order. The warning label states to not drive or operate large machinery after reading the motion and order. 

Zoom Hearing Objection Clarington w Facdl (1) by HR on Scribd

 

If you are still awake, here is the order.

Order Overruling Objection to Zoom Probation Violation Hearing (1) by HR on Scribd

DE LA OVERTURNED!

Breaking: Broward veteran ASA Stacy Honowitz has been arrested for shoplifting forty-two dollars and change in beauty supplies. Channel 10 has the story on the web  here. She has been suspended. As the case below shows, she is absolutely presumed innocent. We have seen more than one professional caught in a shoplifting snafu that wasn't what it first appeared. And the late-great Richard Sharpstein once defended a newly married man who was arrested for shoplifting when he attempted to return some wedding gifts to a bridal registry. Richard-being his brilliant self- had this spectacular line in closing argument on a case he won: "He was a stranger in a strange land." 

We're not sure how a person who was identified by an eyewitness who was "60%" certain, loses a trial and an appeal, but that's what happened to Tony Brown. 

Enter enterprising journalism students, and lawyers from the under-appreciated Regional Counsel's office. Add one great judge who is not afraid to do the right thing, and what you have is the below order. 
Congrats to Regional Counsel Lawyers Philip Reizenstein and Kristen Kawass who get the win. 

Order Granting Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence - Tony Brown (3) by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd