Not man bites dog, but almost.
For those of you who venture north of the border, to the land of perpetually scowling judges and where everyone seems very unhappy, you know that there is a shortage of Broward Judges for all sorts of reasons including retirements and judges acting badly. And in our opinion that's a good thing. The less Judges up there, the better the world is.
BUT, cases need to be adjudicated.
And into the breach a retired Dade Judge has heroically stepped in.
We are speaking of none other than the man, the myth, the judicial legend, retired Judge....
LEON FIRTEL!
Ta da!
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| Stepping into the abyss |
Miami-Dade law in the land of no remorse.
Miami-Dade law in the land of judges that hug prosecutors.
Miami-Dade law in the land that was known for DECADES where judges went out of their way to call lawyers from Miami last.
Miami-Dade law in the land where Broward Judges loved to tell Miami lawyers that "bonds are like elevators, they can go up or down" when a Dade lawyer would file a bond reduction motion. And then they would raise the bond and the deputy sheriffs leading your client back to jail would whisper to them to hire a Broward lawyer if they wanted to get out.
Miami-Dade law in a county where the word "Miami" was verboten.
Miami-Dade law in the land where one county court judge infamously closed and locked his doors at 9:01 and issued bench warrants for clients who showed up a moment later and could not get into the courtroom. And where lawyers were also locked out even if their client was inside.
Miami-Dade law in the land where prosecutors routinely said under Mike Satz "I know your client is innocent but our office's policy is to let the jury decide." (Yes, they really said this, thousands of times).
And finally, Miami-Dade law in the land where Broward Judges ROUTINELY took clients into custody AFTER THEY WERE ACQUITTED for "records checks" that could and would last days. (Yup, they really did this all of the time in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly to clients with Dade Lawyers. The judges also had a nasty habit of revoking your client's bond at the sounding before trial "So that ah know that he's gonna show up for trial counsel").
Good luck Judge Firtel! Broward courts are one of the reasons the good lord invented long, hot showers.