JNC SENDS NAMES TO GOV. DESANTIS FOR SEVEN CIRCUIT & COUNTY OPENINGS

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

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

The JNC for the 11^th Judicial Circuit has been very busy. There are currently three open seats on the Circuit Court due to the resignation of Judges John Thornton and Diane Ward, and the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the 15^th Circuit Court (Palm Beach County).

There are currently four open seats on the County Court due to the elevation to the Circuit Court bench of Judges Altfield, Beovides, and Shearson Cruz, and the resignation of Judge Slom.

The JNC interviewed a total of 38 candidates for the openings. They considered 12 candidates for both Circuit and County; 8 candidates for Circuit Court only; and 18 candidates for County Court only.

Today, the JNC has nominated 15 names for the three open Circuit Court seats and they nominated 23 names for the four opening Son the County Court. Eight of those named were nominated for both Circuit and County.

The list below shows the time of the interview, followed by the name, followed by what the JNC was interviewing the candidate for (in small letters), followed by what, if anything, the candidate was nominated for (in caps).

8:30 a.m. Ramiro Christen Areces, circuit CIRCUIT

8:35 a.m. Jason Bloch, circuit CIRCUIT

8:40 a.m. Karl Brown, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

8:45 a.m. Rachel Canfield, county

8:55 a.m. Raul Antonio Cuervo, circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

9 a.m. Jeffrey Cynamon, county

9:10 a.m. Madelin D’Arce, county/circuit COUNTY

9:20 a.m. Miesha S Darrough, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

9:25 a.m. Renier Diaz de la Portilla, county

9:35 a.m. Christina DiRaimondo, circuit CIRCUIT

9:40 a.m. Elisabeth Espinosa, county COUNTY

9:50 a.m. Elsa Fernandez, county

10 a.m. Michael H. Galex, county/circuit COUNTY

10:10 a.m. Carlos H. Gamez, county COUNTY

10:20 a.m. Rita Gonzalez Cuervo, county

10:25 a.m. Christopher Green, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:05 a.m. Blanca Greenwood, county COUNTY

11:10 a.m. Marcia Hansen, county COUNTY

11:20 a.m. Ayana Harris, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:25 a.m. Julie Harris Nelson, county/circuit COUNTY

11:30 a.m. Peter Heller, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:35 a.m. Kevin Hellman, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:45 a.m. Zachary N. James, circuit CIRCUIT

11:50 a.m. Scott M. Janowitz, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:55 a.m. Amy Josefsberg Ederi, county

1:05 p.m. Jeffrey Kolokoff, county COUNTY

1:15 p.m. Gale Lewis, county/circuit COUNTY

1:20 p.m. Steven Lieberman, county COUNTY

1:25 p.m. Joseph J. Mansfield, circuit CIRCUIT

1:30 p.m. Griska Mena, county COUNTY

1:35 p.m. Hilton Napoleon II, county/circuit COUNTY

1:45 p.m. Steven Paulson, county

1:55 p.m. Luis Perez-Medina, circuit CIRCUIT

2 p.m. Christopher Pracitto, county COUNTY

2:05 p.m. Cristina Rivera Correa, county COUNTY

2:15 p.m. Patricia Salman, county

2:25 p.m. Robert T Watson, circuit CIRCUIT

2:30 p.m. Craig Weissberg, county COUNTY　


The Governor has 60 days to make his selections.


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

SIX OPEN SEATS; TWO CIRCUIT AND FOUR COUNTY .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....
          THEN FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL .....

CIRCUIT COURT

Judge John Thornton has resigned. This has resulted in an open seat on the Circuit Court.

Judge Renatha Francis has resigned, sort of. The Honorable Judge Francis was first appointed by Governor Scott to the County Court in August of 2017. Scott elevated Francis to the Circuit Court in June of 2018. On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis appointed Francis to an open seat on the Circuit Court bench in the 15^th Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Meenu Sasser.  Open seat Circuit Court.


COUNTY COURT

Judge Sam Slom has resigned. Open County Court seat.

Judge William Altfield has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.

Judge Gina Beovides has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.

Judge Laura Shearson Cruz has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.


The Eleventh Judicial Circuit JNC is going to be berry berry busy these next few months.  If you ever wanted to sit on the bench, now would be a very good time to get your Application submitted.  Just remember that the first two lines of your resume better read: current (or former) ASA/AUSA/AAG; Member, The Federalist Society.


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


 

TWO NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGES COMING TO A COURTROOM NEAR YOU .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

AND YOUR TWO NEWEST COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE:

LAURA SHEARON CRUZ. Ms. Shearon Cruz is 39 years old and she has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2007 out of Tulane Law School. She spent her first four years working as an ASA, then left the office in 2011 to join Wicker Smith doing civil litigation (defense insurance cases). She returned four years later in 2015 and she is currently a DC and handles homicide cases. She was born in Memphis and she grew up in Alabama. Her father was an attorney and her great grandfather was criminal court Judge in Tennessee. She is married to Erick Cruz, former ASA and current criminal defense attorney. Judge Cruz replaces Judge Ivonne Cuesta. ***Up until today, Shearson Cruz was a candidate in Group 18 of the County Court running against Mike Mirabal. (Group 18 is an open seat due to the retirement of Judge White Labora).

CHRISTINA DIRAIMONDO. Ms. DiRaimondo is 33 years old and she has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2010 out of Nova Law. She is also with the State Attorney’s Office and she replaces Judge Laura Ann Stuzin. She is also a Division Chief and has been with the office for all seven years of her career.

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