TYLMAN CONTINUES DIGGING HER OWN GRAVE; DIAZ DE LA PORTILLA JUMPING INTO THE SAME HOLE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

UPDATED:

We do our best to keep it light on this Blog, while regularly discussing important issues that affect our criminal justice family.

But, today, a family, and a police department mourn the loss of a brave young police detective, Cesar "Echy" Echaverry. Detective Echaverry was 29 years old when he was shot while on duty Monday night working his job as a Robbery Intervention Detail (RID) Detective. While he bravely fought for his life, his body surrendered and he passed away tonight.

All of the police officers of our community go out to work each day, kiss their loved ones, spouses, children, and then are prepared to take a bullet for us. To make our community safer. Let us never forget the sacrifices they make for us to protect our safety and security.

May God bless Detective Echaverry and may his family gather strength from the prayers of the citizens of our community.

CAP .......

EARLY VOTING CONTINUES ... 

... AND SO DOES TESS TYLMAN DIGGING HER FLORIDA BAR & JQC HOLES EVEN DEEPER .....

In her latest desperate move, Tess Tylman is sending text messages to voters phones that include a photo of Governor DeSantis. Next to the Governor's photo are the words stamped in bright red VOIE #90 (a reference to Tylman's location on the ballot).  This text violates several Judicial Canons including using Desantis' image as if he is endorsing the candidate and using the Governor's image when DeSantis is also running in the same election and on the same ballot.  If by chance Tylman somehow gets more votes than her opponent, Judge Lody Jean, The Captain predicts that it will be a short rein on the bench for Ms. Tylman when the Florida Supreme Court removes her from office.

In other news, we can't help but "like" several of the Comments that have appeared over the past few days in the Justice Building Blog (JBB).  Thanks mom and dad for the following:

Captain killing it this election year with his multiple stories on the candidates. Rumpole and Captain thank you for the public service you are providing. Thursday, August 11, 2022 10:51:00 PM

It is true. This coverage blows away the herald. They should just link to this site and call it a day.  Friday, August 12, 2022 7:09:00 AM

Cap, I'm loving all this campaign info! Great job.  Saturday, August 13, 2022 11:32:00 AM

That’s a pretty nice investigation! Sunday, August 14, 2022 8:29:00 AM

In case you have missed the coverage, we have been quoted and been provided attribution several times over the past month in the Daily Business Review, the Miami Herald, the Florida Bulldog, among other threads.  Yesterday, THE DBR did a follow up to our story called: GET OUT THE HANDCUFFS ??? HAVE THE DIAZ DE LA PORTILLA BROTHERS BROKEN THE LAW ??? that can be found here.

In the DBR story, reporter Michael Adam Mora (who contacted me directly) wrote a story called: 'This Is Gutter Politics': Ethics Question Raised in Miami-Dade Race Between Judge Fred Seraphin and Renier Diaz de la Portilla. Mora writes: 

"Ethics experts say it could become problematic if someone could prove to the Florida Supreme Court or the Judicial Qualifications Commission that Renier Diaz de la Portilla, a partner at Diaz de la Portilla Lawyers in Miami, was aware of the distribution of certain campaign materials in the judicial race from the PAC that supports his brother, Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla."

Mora went on to say:

"But when the Justice Building Blog published the news Saturday of the alleged criminal implications, Renier Diaz de la Portilla claimed in an email that the blog is “conducting a nasty third-party campaign against me with what I am told is my opponent’s full knowledge and consent.”***

Our colleague Brian Tannebaum was quoted in the story saying: “This is gutter politics,” said Tannebaum, who is not involved in the Group 5 race. “This is exactly the type of conduct that causes the Florida Supreme Court to remove a judge, and in the Santino case they made that clear.” (Tannebaum was referring to one of the two Florida Supreme Court cases we cited in our story). 

Mora went on to say: "Tannebaum said that whether the release of the phone number could lead to Renier Diaz de la Portilla or his brother facing a first-degree misdemeanor, as the anonymous blogger claimed (in the Justice Building Blog), is an academic argument, since one could argue the PAC—a non-governmental entity—disclosed the number in the mailer. Regardless, “If you go down the list,” there are allegedly multiple violations of bar rules and judicial canons."

***In response to Diaz de la Portilla's allegations that his opponent (Judge Seraphin) has full knowledge and provided consent for our posts, we just had to laugh out loud (LOL). Judge Seraphin may read the Blog and would therefore have knowledge as to what we have written. We can assure you that we have not contacted Judge Seraphin and asked for his permission or blessing to post what we have written.

ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES, THAT IS THE QUESTION .....

A debate broke out in the Comments section of the Blog last week about whether we should continue with the election of judges, or turn to the appointment system (the one used for open seats, and appointments to the appellate courts and Florida Supreme Court).

One Commenter stated:

"651 what bad or extreme appointments has Desantis made in our trial courts? None."  Thursday, August 11, 2022 8:39:00 AM

Let me respond to 8:39 AM by answering his question with a question. Governor DeSantis claims that diversity is of his highest priority when it comes to the appointment of judges. My question is - is he being honest with the citizens of the State of Florida when he makes that statement; is he being honest with himself?

Between January of 2019 when DeSantis was sworn into office and August of 2022, DeSantis has made a total of 191 judicial appointments. Of those 191 appointments, here are the "diverse" numbers he speaks of:

A total of 123 of those judicial appointments were from a group whose resumes included the previous jobs of ASA’s, AUSA’s, and/or AAG’s. Of the 123, a total of 72 of those appointments were pulled directly from one of those three offices. Can you guess how many APDs/FAPDs were appointed directly out of their offices - TWO, THAT’S RIGHT TWO, VERSUS 72. Federal Assistant PD Ayana Harris was appointed to the Miami-Dade County Court in December of 2019. Assistant PD Barry Dickson was appointed to the Escambia County Court in September of 2020.

The answer to my question, if you are being honest with yourself, is NO. DeSantis’ appointments have been anything but diverse.  

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

TERESSA TYLMAN MUST BE DEFEATED ....... VOTE FOR JUDGE LODY JEAN .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

I’M AS MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE .......

I have been writing for this Blog for nearly 17 years. My readers know that, on occasion (more than a few times actually) I have called out judicial candidates when I thought it was appropriate to do so. This BLOG has a daily readership that numbers in the thousands and it is time for our readers to pay attention and get to work. It is time for you to “get up now ... I want all of you to get up out of your chairs ... I want you to get up right now, and go to the window, open it and stick you head out and yell .....

Judge Lody Jean is a really good judge. She has paid her dues, worked her way up through her entire legal career and impressed two different Governors (Scott in 2018 & DeSantis in 2020) who have appointed her to the County Court, and then the Circuit Court bench.

Her opponent, Teressa Tylman, on the other hand, does not deserve to be on the ballot - nay, she barely deserves to be called a lawyer.  She has brought nothing but shame and embarrassment to the idea of getting elected to the bench.

We first highlighted Ms. Tylman’s making a joke of the entire judicial election process when we wrote a column about her candidacy on April 27, 2022 entitled A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE, EXCEPT WHEN YOUR NAME IS TERESSA MARIA TYLMAN, that can be found here

Since qualifying to run against Incumbent Judge Lody Jean, Ms. Tylman has done just about everything she can to prove to the voters of Miami-Dade County that she does not belong on the bench.

1. Tylman has avoided showing up to nearly every single judicial forum (nearly a dozen at last count) that have been held over the past three months including FACDL-Miami, League of Prosecutors, AFL-CIO, Fraternal Order of Police, Miami-Dade County Bar Association, and numerous other organization sponsored forums.

2. Tylman recently hired Antonio Verdugo as her new Campaign Manager. Verdugo runs a company called Winning Strategies. That is the same Antonio Verdugo who is the President of the ultra right wing Christian Family Coalition. In fact, the CFC is the only endorsement (instead of using the word endorsement, the CFC calls it their list of Highly Qualified candidates) that Tylman has received in her campaign to unseat Judge Jean.

3. Shocker Alert - Tylman finally showed up to a judicial forum last week, a Breakfast Club, hosted by Michael Gongora (former Miami Beach Commissioner and current candidate for Mayor of Miami Beach). Gongora just happens to be an attorney and he works at the Becker Law Firm. Guess who else works at the Becker Law Firm - Teresa Tylman’s husband.

To give you some idea of just how much of a nightmare it would be to the citizens of Miami-Dade County if Tylman somehow got elected on August 23rd, take a look at the video from 20:55 to 31:10 and compare the candidates, Judge Jean and Teressa Tylman. The word embarrassment comes to mind. The link is to a Facebook page that can be found here, scroll down to the Miami Beach Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club, date of July 19, and then run the video forward until 20:55.

4. Tylman told the Miami Herald Editorial Board that she has taken part in “10 to 12” bench trials and “hundreds of hours” of evidentiary hearings, “which is the equivalent of a trial.” When asked to highlight a case she’s worked, Cervera asked, “Can I get back to you on that?”

In their endorsement of Judge Jean, the Herald did provide our Blog with the recognition it deserves when they said: “Unfortunately, Cervera’s campaign has been clouded with accusations, first aired in the Judicial Blog, that she has gone professionally by another name, Teressa Tylman, until she decided to run.” The Herald went on to say: “We think Cervera’s legal resume is thin, especially when compared to that of incumbent Jean. In legal circles, Jean is known as an impartial, qualified and well-prepared jurist who keeps a tight calendar. Voters should return this smart judge to the bench. The Miami Herald recommends LODY JEAN for Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Group 3.”

5. The Daily Business Review has also written a couple of stories about the Jean v Tylman race. In providing attribution to our BLOG, the DBR stated that: “The Justice Building Blog first broke the news about the “name game“ Cervera is allegedly playing”. They went on to point out that: “In 2014, Cervera married Adam Cervera, a shareholder at Becker & Poliakoff. But Cervera has not changed her last name with the Florida Bar, on her driver’s license, her voter registration, the Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser and the Florida Division of Corporations, for instance, until recently.”

6. Political Cortadito has also run a story on the contest between Judge Jean and Ms. Tylman. In citing to the Justice Building Blog, they wrote “The Justice Building blog that broke this story said her driver’s license and voter’s registration were in the name Tylman until recently.” They went on to quote Professor Scott Fingerhut, in saying: “While no judicial seat is guaranteed,” Professor Fingerhut concluded, “in light of Ms. Tylman’s seeming lack of qualifications to serve as judge, her decision to run against an experienced, respected incumbent — Judge Lody Jean —  based on name-recognition alone is foul play and must cause our community to question why.”

7. What kind of support does Tylman have? To date, Tylman has raised a total of $14,625 from 60 contributors (with 12 of them being family members). In comparison, Judge Lody Jean has attracted 785 contributors who have donated $308,476. Tylman’s fundraising numbers are by far the lowest of the 14 judicial candidates in this election cycle; Jean’s numbers, on the other hand, are by far the largest.

8. The Miami-Dade Bar 2022 Judicial Poll Results were released last night. MDB members spoke loudly when they said that by a vote of 87% to 13% that Judge Lody Jean was by far the more qualified candidate; in fact Judge Jean scored as the most qualified of all 14 candidates for judicial office in this cycle.

Each of our readers knows ten voters. Each of our readers gets that same phone call from their mother, or father, or another family member who always asks the same question at this time of year “Hey Captain, I don’t know any of these names - who should I vote for”.  It’s your job to tell ten voters and then ask them to each tell ten voters - to vote for LODY JEAN.

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

A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE, EXCEPT WHEN YOUR NAME IS TERESSA MARIA TYLMAN .....

BREAKING NEWS: In Circuit Court Group 52, Incumbent Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts now has an opponent. Jason Bloch has filed paperwork today to run in that Group. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS RACE IS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION INCLUDING A FEW NUGGETS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS READING.

UPDATE: Rumpole Says: The Japanese have a saying: "When a man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him." 

We have a saying here in Miami: "When an Anglo woman married to a Hispanic man decides to run for judge, she brings her newly adopted name to the ballot."

Well done Captain. And we hope Ms. TMTC (hijklmnop-LSMFT) decides to email us and respond to this post. She is invited to do so without any edits (unless she curses at us). 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE, EXCEPT WHEN YOUR NAME IS TERESSA MARIA TYLMAN.

We have been writing for this BLOG (thank you Rumpole) since late 2005. We got into this business to report on the JNC process, newly appointed judges named by our Governor, and judicial elections. If you are an avid reader, then you know that we have, on several occasions, called out judicial candidates for playing the Name Game. In order to enhance their appeal to a certain segment of the voting population, a candidate who went by one name for years and years overnight becomes a totally different person.

Well, in 2022, that honor (but will she eventually be called Her Honor) goes to attorney Teressa Maria Tylman.

THE FLORIDA BAR

According to The Florida Bar, Ms. Tylman was listed as an active member of the Bar under the name Tylman from her admission in September of 2010 until February of 2022. She also used the email address for Bar purposes of tessatylman@gmail.com

On February 23, 2022, according to The Florida Bar, she changed her last name to Cervera and her email address to teressamcervera@gmail.com and she became:

Teressa Maria Cervera, The Florida Bar, Admitted: 9/23/10

6800 Bird Rd # 444
Miami, FL 33155-3708

So, with the help of an anonymous tipster, we did some checking.

FLORIDA DIVISION OF CORPORATIONS

According to SUNBIZ, Ms. Tylman is currently and since inception has always (for ten years) been incorporated under the name:

Entity Name: TERESSA MARIA TYLMAN, P.A.

Current Principal Place of Business

2030 SW 60TH AVE
MIAMI, FL 33155

SIGNATURE:  TERESSA TYLMAN PRESIDENT 06/03/2021

MIAMI-DADE PROPERTY APPRAISER

According to the MIAMI-DADE PROPERTY APPRAISER, (we ran her office address used on Sunbiz), she and her husband own a home at that location, under the name, you guessed it, Tylman:

ADDRESS: 2030 SW 60TH AVENUE

Owners:

ADAM CERVERA*
TERESSA MARIA TYLMAN
WARRANTY DEED: Signed June 7, 2017

*Adam Cervera is Teressa Tylman’s husband. He is an attorney employed by the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff.

LINKEDIN

According to LinkedIn, at one time Ms. Tylman was employed by the Law Firm Fein & Meloni, under the name, you guessed it again, Tylman:

Teressa Tylman - Fein & Meloni - LinkedIn

FLORIDA VOTER ID CARD

According to her VOTER Registration card, Ms. Tylman is 37 years old, she is registered as a Republican, and she uses the name, you guessed it, Tylman, on her official voter’s ID card.

FLORIDA DRIVERS LICENSE

According to our investigation, the most recent Florida Drivers License issued to Ms. Tylman was issued on February 12, 2022, under T-xxx-xxx-85-552-0. The name on the license, you guessed it, Teressa Maria Tylman. Only eleven days later, Ms. Tylman was changing her name with The Florida Bar, from Tylman to Cervera.

Let me say very clearly that, Ms. Tylman, is not breaking the law. We last exposed the Name Game charade in 2018, when in Broward County, an attorney names Jason Allen (his middle name) Rosner decided to file paperwork to run for Judge under the name Jason Allen-Rosner. The reasoning for the hyphen was all to in your face clear - Rosner did not want to be listed last on the ballot of the four competitors in his race and by changing his name to Allen-Rosner he went from last to first on the ballot.  We have also reported numerous times in Miami-Dade County when a judicial candidate magically gained an Hispanic name, seemingly overnight.

But running for Judge means that one has read and is familiar with the Code of Judicial Conduct. Canon One of the Code discusses INTEGRITY and states that "An ..... honorable judiciary is indispensable to justice in our society. A judge should participate in establishing, maintaining, and enforcing high standards of conduct, and shall personally observe those standards so that the integrity ..... of the judiciary may be preserved."

INTEGRITY, for those of you keeping score at home, is defined as: "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles".

WHAT IS THE LAW???

We previously spoke with Jesse Dyer, an attorney in the General Counsel's office with the Division of Elections, Florida Department of State, and here is what he told us about the issue of what name they permit to appear on a ballot:

First, there are no Florida Statutes nor Florida Administrative Codes that directly address this issue.

Second, there is an Advisory Opinion issued by the Division of Elections, authored 36 years ago, AO Number 86-06 that primarily addresses "nicknames" appearing on the ballot.

The AO reads, in pertinent part:

" ..... Under common law principles, not abrogated by Florida law, a name consists of one Christian or given name and one surname, patronymic or family name; therefore, the name printed on the ballot ordinarily should be the Christian or given name and surname"..... "However, it has been determined that any name by which a candidate is known is sufficient on a ballot, and a person is legally permitted to have printed on the ballot the name which the candidate has adopted and under which he or she transacts private and official business, 29 C.J.S. Elections §161."

The Advisory Opinion goes on to state that:

"Election officials, however, may be justified in refusing to print on the ballot a candidate's nickname when it is not shown that the nickname ever was used by the candidate as part of his legal name, and such officials may be equally justified in refusing to print on the ballot a candidate's choice of a name which has not been adopted by him or her and under which the candidate has not transacted private and official business. See C.J.S. Elections §161."

For 37 years, Teressa Maria Tylman held herself out as Tylman. When she married her husband, Adam Cervera in 2014, she continued to use the Tylman name for another eight years. But when she decided to run for Circuit Court Judge against Judge Lody Jean, Tess Tylman magically became Teressa Maria Cervera, overnight.

So, there you have it. Maybe it’s time for a change in the law. Or maybe, just maybe, we should expect just a bit more integrity from some of our judicial candidates.**

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

**Ms. Tylman aka Cervera is invited to email us with an explanation/understanding as to why she decided to change her name with The Florida Bar in February to Cervera. We will print her emailed response on this Blog (with her permission of course).

***The photo above is of the UPS Store located at 6800 Bird Road.  Ms. Tylman aka Cervera has her law office address listed with The Florida Bar, as #444, at that location.

TWO NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGES APPOINTED TODAY .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

Today, Governor "Co'ron'a Ron" DeSantis named eight new judges to the bench, four to the Circuit Court and four more to the County Court. And, you can’t make this up - seven of the eight new judges are former or current Assistant State Attorneys; the eighth was formerly a County Attorney. No, none of the new judges hail from the Public Defender’s Office. Two of the new judges were appointed to the Miami-Dade County Court bench.

YOUR TWO NEWEST COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE .......

CRISTINA RIVERA CORREA

Ms. Correa has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2010. She began her career as an ASA in Miami. For the past seven years she has worked as the Assistant School Board Attorney for Miami-Dade County Schools. She replaces Judge Zachary James who was elevated to the Circuit Court.

CHIAKA IHEKWABA

Ms. Ihekwaba has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2001. She has spent her entire career as an ASA in Miami. Her trip to the bench began when she obtained her Barrister at Law degree from the Nigerian Law School, her LLM from Kings College in London, and another law degree from St. Thomas Law School. She fills the vacancy created by Judge Lody Jean who was elevated to the Circuit Court.

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL

Your next 3^rd DCA Judge will be selected from the six names sent to Gov. DeSantis to replace retiring Judge Vance Salter who leaves the bench on August 31, 2020:

Judge Antonio Arzola
Judge Alexander Spicola Bokor
Judge Lisa Walsh
Kansas Gooden
Christopher Johnson
Eduardo Sanchez
 
 
CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2020 ..... THREE NEW JUDGES .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:


MAJOR, MAJOR, BIG TIME BREAKING NEWS .....

Incumbent Judge Dava Tunis has drawn an opponent.

Candidate Rosy Aponte, who filed and qualified to run against Incumbent Judge Gordon Murray in Group 38 of the County Court has just switched and filed to run against Judge Tunis in Circuit Court Group 75.

Aponte has previously been unsuccessful in seeking a seat on the bench:

- she ran for a County Court seat against Judge Kristy Nunez in 2018, losing that race by 52 % to 48%.

- she ran for a Circuit Court seat against Judge Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts and Carol Breece in 2016. Ms. Aponte failed to make the runoff as she gained only 26% of the vote compared to Rodrgiuez Fonts (34%) and Breece (40%) in the Primary.

Judge Tunis was first appointed by Governor Bush in 2005. She ran unopposed in 2008 and again ran unopposed in 2014. She has never faced an opponent. UNTIL NOW.
 

Mr. Vereen has now been qualified by the Department of Elections.



Ms. Martinez-Scanziani has also been qualified by the Dept. of Elections.



Ms. Delancey is still without an opponent.


Mr. Spector has not yet qualified to run against Judge Bandin.

UPDATE ON CANDIDATE ROD VEREEN:
He has submitted a NEW check at 11:41 AM today. This check has written at the top left:  
CAMPAIGN TO ELECT
RODERICK VEREEN




and

This check appears to be signed by his Campaign Treasurer. So, by all accounts, it appears that Mr. Vereen has resolved any issues with his qualifying check. 
 
 
 





DOES ROD VEREEN HAVE SOME QUALIFYING ISSUES? On it's face he appears to have two problems.  His check may not have been written from a "campaign account".  Also, his check was signed by Mr. Vereen - which according to the Election Rules (see below), he was not permitted to do. (He is not his own campaign treasurer). Story developing .....


Qualifying Fee The qualifying fee must be: • Paid by a properly executed check drawn on the campaign account. (A personal check, cashier’s check, money order, or cash is not acceptable); • Made payable to the Florida Department of State, Florida Secretary of State, or Florida Division of Elections; and • In an amount not less than the fee required. The check must be signed by the campaign treasurer or deputy treasurer. A check signed by a candidate who has not been designated as the treasurer or deputy treasurer is not acceptable.



Shaun Spector has just filed in Group 24 of the County Court against Incumbent Judge Christine Bandin.  Spector has been an attorney for nine years and runs his own law firm in Coral Gables where he primarily practices commercial litigation.  Judge Bandin was appointed to the bench by Gov. Scott in October of 2018. At the time she was a partner with Shutts & Bowen.  She has been an attorney for 13 years.  Ms. Bandin has only raised $12,780 from 45 contributors and loaned her campaign $500.  She does have a net worth of $540,979. 

Denise Martinez-Scanziani has just filed in Group 65 against Incumbent Judge Thomas Rebull.  She has a Net Worth of $1,423,019 and had income last year  of $323,657.  Judge Rebull was first appointed to the bench by Gov. Rick Scott in 2011. He ran unopposed in 2014.  Ms. Martinez-Scanziani first ran in 2008 against Incumbent Circuit Judge Bernard Shapiro losing 59% - 41%.  She next ran in 2016 in retiring Judge Gill Freeman's Group against three opponents. The primary results were no better for her: Mark Blumstein (29%); Luis Perez-Medina (25%); Renee Gordon (24%); and Ms. Martinez-Scanziani (23%).

Roderick D. Vereen has just filed in Group 57 to run against Carmen Cabarga. He has a Net Worth of $2,189,086 and income of $650,000 last year. Vereen is no stranger to campaigns. He ran for Congress in 2010 as a Independent against Fredricka Wilson and lost 86% to 14%. He then ran as a Democrat in 2012 for State Attorney against Katherine Fernandez Rundle, losing 60% - 40%.


BREAKING NEWS #1 .......

COUNTY COURT

Tahya Fuenmayor has decided that she will no longer be a candidate for any judgeship in 2020.

BREATHE - that’s the nine incumbent County Court judges all exhaling a sigh of relief.

Ms Fuenmayor, who had filed in County Court Group 35, and who was on the short end of the move by Governor DeSantis when the Governor appointed Judge Lody Jean to the Circuit Court last Friday, spoke with us earlier today. She was congratulatory towards Judge Jean. But she was disappointed that the Governor chose to steal the opportunity away from the voters of Miami-Dade County to name the Group 35 replacement. Remember, Gov DeSantis could just as easily have chosen Judge Jean on Monday, and then let the voters choose her replacement through an election.

We have it on good authority that there will be some last minute surprises in both County and Circuit Court. That means the nine incumbents in County Court will need to continue to hold their collective breaths for another three days. In Circuit Court, there are still two open seats with only one candidate each:

In Group 37, with Judge Celeste Muir retiring, Michelle Delancy is still unopposed.

In Group 57, with Judge Bernard Shapiro retiring, Carmen Cabarga is also still unopposed.

BREAKING NEWS #2 .......

YOUR THREE NEWEST COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE:

CARLOS GAMEZ. Judge Gamez has been an attorney for 11 years. He is currently employed as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Miami. He was first hired out of law school by Perez & Rodriguez. He takes over for Judge Ramiro Areces who was recently elevated to the Circuit Court.

SCOTT JANOWITZ. Judge Janowitz has been an attorney for 14 years. He was an ASA in Broward County for three years. He is now an associate with Geyer, Fuxa, Tyler, PLLC. He fills the vacancy created when Judge Christina DiRaimondo was recently elevated to the Circuit Court.

JEFFREY KOLOKOFF. Judge Kolokoff has been an attorney for 13 years. He was an ASA in Miami-Dade for six years. He is currently an associate with Beighley, Myrick, Udell and Lynne. He replaces Judge Robert Watson who was elevated to the Circuit Court recently.

Two closing points on these three recent appointments.

First, it is even more transpicuous what Governor DeSantis pulled with the Judge Lody Jean appointment (and the one for Judge Zachary James). It took him 57 days (he has a maximum of 60) to name these three new County Court Judges from the date the nominees were placed on his desk. By contrast, he named James after 14 days and Jean after 28 days - the two shortest turnarounds in Miami-Dade County history for Gov DeSantis.

Second, it bears repeating what I wrote about last Friday. The Governor has once again made it crystal clear of his insouciance toward anyone that has the name Assistant Public Defender on their resume. The count is now 62 judges appointed by DeSantis; 43 of them are former ASAs/AUSAs/AAGs and only one was appointed out of the P.D. office: Judge Ayana Harris. This time the Governor had 18 names on his desk for these three open seats, including APDs Kevin Hellman and Gale Lewis. They never had a chance.


We will update these pages regularly with any breaking election news.


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

TWO NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES ......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES ..... TWO NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that elections don’t have consequences. Just ask Tayha Fuenmayor. More on her shortly.

A couple of months ago, Circuit Court Judges Jacqueline Scola and John Schlesinger announced their retirement. Scola’s last day on the bench was March 6th; Schlesinger’s April 3^rd. The JNC met and interviewed several applicants. On March 20, 2020, they sent 12 names to the Governor for his consideration. Governor DeSantis had SIXTY DAYS to make his decision, meaning we should have expected the two new appointments to be made on or about May 19, 2020. Ah, but here’s the rub.

Picking the two replacements from the current pool of County Court judges, specifically County Court judges that were running for re-election in 2020, well that was the smart play. And appointing two County Court Judges running for re-election, and doing so before Monday, April 20^th, that would be the really smart play. Because, that would mean the seats would be "open" before Qualifying Week (which runs from April 20-24, 2020) and then DeSantis gets to appoint the two replacements, depriving the voters of Miami-Dade County of that right.

Very, very shrewd. If DeSantis regularly made appointments to the bench 30 days or less after receiving the names from the JNC, well, then, ok, that would be "normal". But DeSantis almost always makes his appointments on or very close to the 60^th day.

AND, with two open seats on the Florida Supreme Court, the Supreme Court JNC sent their nominations to the Governor on January 23rd. Constitutionally, he had 60 days to make those appointments with a deadline of March 23rd. Guess what - DeSantis said he had something a bit more important to do - manage the COVID-19 crisis - and that the appointments could wait.

That leads us to DeSantis’ two newest appointments to the bench.

JUDGE ZACHARY JAMES. He replaces Judge Scola on the Circuit Court bench. In less than ten months, James has gone from private attorney to County Court Judge (having been appointed on June 5, 2019) to Circuit Court Judge - he was appointed on April 3, 2020, a mere 14 days after his name arrived on Gov. DeSantis’ desk. By the way, James is a former ASA.

JUDGE LODY JEAN. She replaces Judge Schlesinger on the Circuit Court bench. Like James, Judge Jean jumped from ASA to the County Court bench (November 16, 2018) to the Circuit Court bench (today) in exactly seventeen months.

THE KICKERS. Judge James had filed to run in Group 28 of the County Court. Now, not only does he not have to face the voters in August, but because his appointment comes before Qualifying Week, DeSantis gets to name his replacement .

And that’s where Tayha Fuenmayor comes back into the story. You see, she filed to run in Group 35 of the County Court against, you guessed it, Judge Lody Jean. With DeSantis’ appointment today of Jean to the Circuit Court, he literally pulls the rug out from under Ms. Fuenmayor’s feet. If he had made the appointment next Monday, during Qualifying Week, the voters would have decided who the next Judge would be in Group 35. Now, instead, Jean gets a free ride until 2022 before she has to face the voters, and DeSantis gets to chose Jean’s replacement. Fuenmayor, we are guessing, will need to find another Incumbent judge to challenge next week.

In case you are keeping count, and we are, that’s two more former ASAs named by DeSantis to the bench. In less than 16 months on the job, DeSantis has named 59 judges to the County, Circuit, DCAs, and Supreme Court bench. The count to date: 41 of the 59 were at some point in their careers an ASA/AUSA/AAG. The only appointment Governor DeSantis has made directly out of a P.D.’s office so far: Judge Ayana Harris.

Have a COVID-FREE weekend.

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

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