Judge Martin Greenbaum Has Passed Away.

UPDATED with a remembrance below of Judge Greenbaum by David S Markus

A reader reports that former Judge Martin Greenbaum has passed away. His funeral is tomorrow in Miami Beach.

It should be noted that former Circuit Court Judge Martin Greenbaum has died,and the funeral will be held on Thursday,October 18 at 1:00 P.M. Riverside Gordon Chapel on Alton Road,Miami Beach.

Rumpole says: While I cannot tell you the details of Judge Greenbaum's life and career, I do remember him as one of the "old school" Judges.
The Herald article is HERE. I was surprised to see that he served until 1997. He must have gone to civil for part of that time. I remember him as being kind to lawyers, and I do not recall anyone saying anything negative about him. The Herald obit has lots of nice information, including his love of Shakespeare and puns from the bench.

It's important we celebrate the lives of those who have contributed to our profession and our community, and we would like to hear from those who knew Judge Greenbaum better.


UPDATE:
David S Markus (not the federal blogger) took the time to write in with this wonderful memory of Judge Greenbaum:


One of the first cases I tried (and lost) as a defense attorney was before Judge Greenbaum. My client, a butcher got into an argument at work with a fellow employee and stabbed him with a boning knife.The knife went completely through the victim's body and the ASA argued that fact proved that my client was trying to kill, not merely stab. This became the theme of the state case to prove intent and I didn't really have much of a response to it. The jury came back agg batt, despite my lack of a cogent response to the state's argument. After the trial, Judge Greenbaum took me aside and asked me if I knew what a boning knife was and what its function was in a kitchen. I confessed I did not. He was truly offended by my poor performance and took the time to teach me how to be a better lawyer. He asked me how I could try this case, knowing that the thru-and-thru wound was going to be the main feature of the trial, without knowing that a boning knife was the sharpest knife in the kitchen and is designed to easily pierce and pass through meat, something I learned many years later when I went to cooking school. I mumbled something about reasonable doubt about intent, thinking I had done a good job because the verdict went my way.That day, I learned how to think about my cases using common sense and not law school rhetoric. As a prosecutor, I never had to think "outside the box". As a defense attorney, sometimes that is all that is left for us to do. It is a lesson that has served me well over the past 20 years. I never tried another case in front of Judge Greenbaum, but I thought of our conversation often, usually when I had a tough case that required a little imagination to craft an effective defense.

Rest In Peace, Your Honor.
David S Markus