THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
OCCCRC ...........
The Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel was established in 2007. As many of you who accept conflict cases know, it changed the way we do business in the State of Florida when it came to the PD announcing a conflict.
In 2007, the Governor appointed the five Regional Counsel positions to run each of the five offices; (the offices encompass the geographic boundaries of each of the five District Courts of Appeal). In the 3rd, Joseph P. George was appointed to a four year term. During the past four years the office has grown and now takes 75% of the conflict cases from the PD's office; the remaining 25% of conflict cases end up with an attorney from the Registry ("the wheel").
In February, the Supreme Court JNC asked for applications for the new four year term to be appointed by Governor Scott. In the 3rd DCA region, the applicants were:
James Ermacora
Joseph P. George
Steven Lieberman
Mr. Ermacora also submitted his application to be considered for the 2nd, 4th and 5th DCA's; I guess he didn't care much for living in Wakulla.
Mr. Lieberman, currently a General Magistrate assigned to the Juvenile Dependency Division, has also submitted his name to the local JNC for consideration to become a County Court Judge and his name was on the desk of the Governor (along with four others) for an open County Court seat until yesterday when Governor Scott chose Dawn Denaro as your new County Court Judge.
Earlier this week, in Tampa, the Florida Supreme Court JNC interviewed the prospective candidates for the five positions of Regional Counsel. Their responsibility is to nominate up to three names and send those names to the Governor. Gov. Scott chooses one name subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
In the 3rd DCA region, the JNC chose to nominate:
NOBODY
Instead, their decision as a Committee was: "To be advertised again in order to see more candidates".
We do not know what went on in the interviews of the three candidates and maybe someone with knowledge of that can provide comments. From what we have heard of the OCCRC office run by Mr. George, like any new office, it experienced growing pains during the first couple of years, and then started to blossom with qualified attorneys handling conflicts throughout the Gerstein Justice Building. I believe that they currently employ Eugene Zenobi and Phil Reizenstein to handle their capital death cases.
So, the question now becomes, if Mr. George is not to be nominated to another four year term - then who?
On a separate note, congratulations to our new County Court Judge, Dawn Denaro. She is 44 years old and has spent her entire legal career with the State Attorney's Office. She takes over for Judge Gayles who was appointed to the Circuit Court.
We hope everyone enjoys their long Memorial Day Weekend. Please remember why we celebrate this weekend and take some time to honor the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice in protecting and defending our freedoms.
CAPTAIN OUT .......
Showing posts with label Regional Office Counsel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Regional Office Counsel. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
DISCHARGED!!!
SUICIDE POOL: IT STARTS THURSDAY WITH THE GIANTS -REDSKINS GAME. IF YOU WANT EITHER OF THOSE TEAMS EMAIL US BEFORE GAME TIME. OTHERWISE YOU HAVE UNTIL SUNDAY 12 NOON FOR THE POOL.
Here's how it works: pick one team each week to win. No points. Straight up. However, when you use that team for that week you can no longer use that team for the rest of the year. David O Markus and Clay Kaiser have already emailed us their picks for the week.
At stake: bragging rights. A certificate suitable for framing. A starbucks card. And extra two days to prepare for trial on any case you have before Judge Huck. The right to cut to the front of the line on any county court wednesday sounding. Hmm...and a bunch of other stuff.
There's something about the 5 day forecasted track of Ike that we don't like.
"One hand washes the other."
Chief Circuit Criminal Court Administrative Judge (CCCCAJ for short) Stanford Blake issued his ruling today and from what we know the PDs will no longer be assigned 3rd Degree Felonies (approximately 60% of all cases filed in Dade) as of September 15, 2008. Those cases will now be assigned to the ROC and their staff of two high school students who have expressed an interest in going to law school in the future.
The title links to Oh Susanah's Herald story.
The Canes are an estimated 163 point underdog in their game with the Gators on Saturday. Take the points.
The SAO is now a 125 point favorite in all 3rd degree felonies. Give the points. The Fins are a three point dog to the J..E...T..S and Favre on Sunday. Give the points and take gang green. More on that later this week.
See you in court not taking third degree felonies.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE
to go to court and get appointments,
THE ROC IS BACK!
The Supremes have spoken HERE
The Stay is back in effect.
ROC n roll.
Monday, October 22, 2007
PLEASE SIR MAY I HAVE SOME RENT MONEY?
Like Oliver Twist standing there with a sad face and an empty oatmeal bowl, our esteemed Regional Office Counsel, one Mr. Joseph P. George Jr., Esq., has been left standing at the front of the orphanage hungry.
Rumpole has obtained, at great personal sacrifice, a letter from Ms. Jennifer Glazer-Moon, Director of Strategic Business Management of Miami Dade County, in which our County answers Mr. George’s plaintive cry of “please sir, may I have some more?” with a loud and definitive NO.
From the letter dated October 18, 2007 (hot of the presses; you’ve got to admire our sources)
“Dear Mr. George:
In response to your inquiry about funding for facilities, security, and operating expenses for the Regional Counsel Office in Miami, the FY 2007-2008 Adopted Budget does not include funding for a facility and/or operating expenses for such an office.
The letter references FACDL v. Florida Governor Charlie Crist et.al., SC07-01744 and concludes rather rudely:
“While the lawsuit is pending, we do not intend to consider funding for facilities and other expenses related to the Regional Conflict Counsel’s Office in Miami”
Rumpole says: Welcome to Miami. Now leave.
We continue to side with the strategy of slowly suffocating Mr. George and his Rockettes. We don’t want his office in Miami, we think clients will be poorly served by an office that is waiting for law students to pass the bar so they can handle capital litigation against Mr. Laeser and his prosecutors in the division formerly known as “Major Crimes”.
From the letter dated October 18, 2007 (hot of the presses; you’ve got to admire our sources)
“Dear Mr. George:
In response to your inquiry about funding for facilities, security, and operating expenses for the Regional Counsel Office in Miami, the FY 2007-2008 Adopted Budget does not include funding for a facility and/or operating expenses for such an office.
The letter references FACDL v. Florida Governor Charlie Crist et.al., SC07-01744 and concludes rather rudely:
“While the lawsuit is pending, we do not intend to consider funding for facilities and other expenses related to the Regional Conflict Counsel’s Office in Miami”
Rumpole says: Welcome to Miami. Now leave.
We continue to side with the strategy of slowly suffocating Mr. George and his Rockettes. We don’t want his office in Miami, we think clients will be poorly served by an office that is waiting for law students to pass the bar so they can handle capital litigation against Mr. Laeser and his prosecutors in the division formerly known as “Major Crimes”.
In fact there is nothing we like about Mr. George's ROC and we have previously made that abundantly clear.
Take your oatmeal bowl, your request for rent and "security" (just who are you afraid of? Your clients or your colleagues? ) and leave now. We don't need no stinkin ROC office and we do not want you or your kind in our court system learning how to be criminal defense attorneys while your clients (who should be our clients) go off to prison.
See You In Court pulling the chair out from under Mr. George while he's not looking.
Friday, September 28, 2007
DBR ROCKS GEORGE
The Daily Business Review got down to business today with an article on the new Regional Counsel Office in general and Mr. George in particular. The article is
HERE.
When you get past the unfortunate picture of our colleague Mr. Denaro, who is leading the FIDA efforts detailed on the blog earlier this week, you come away with a feeling of distaste for the whole mess. This is not about Mr. George personally. But beyond the issue of the whole ROC system, people have raised questions about his qualifications to run the what is the second public defenders office in the largest and busiest circuit of the State.
From the Article:
Some critics note that Crist’s newly appointed director of the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel in Miami hasn’t worked a criminal case since he was a law student 22 years ago and has never tried a case of any kind before a jury. According to the appointment application obtained by the Daily Business Review, newly appointed director Joseph P. George Jr. wrote that none of his cases during his 13-year law career involved jury trials. George said Wednesday that he tried criminal cases as an intern clerk as part of his practice program at Samford University’s law school, and in his career has done some work involving the Baker Act — the civil state law that allows for the involuntary committal of mental patients. ...
Addressing critics who assert he lacks sufficient criminal experience for the Conflict Counsel job, George said: “I don’t think it gives an appropriate context. When people have their civil rights taken away [under the Baker Act], I think it disserves them to think that they’re a second thought.” “All I can do is the best I can do, and that’s going to be trying to hire the best people the most qualified people, and I’ve already taken steps in that direction,” he said. George conceded he initially failed the Florida Bar exam after he graduated law school in 1985. He worked as a legal investigator in the 16th Judicial Circuit in Key West until he passed the bar in 1994, after being told he needed a bar card if he wished to keep his job.
Rumpole responds: Try telling "I did my best" to the parents of an 18 year old boy who gets a life sentence because the lawyers were inexperienced. This is the real game here. The legislature is passing minimum mandatory sentences as fast as they can get out of the bar and vote, and State Attorneys Offices are enforcing the law. Is this really the appropriate place to start learning about voire dire, much less the other parts of a criminal trial? We would tell Mr. George to take his good intentions, get a job with Mr. Brummer's office, get some training under supervision of lawyers who know what they're doing, and then apply in five or ten years. Or in other words- do like the rest of us have done and get the training and experience necessary before saying you are competent to run a criminal defense office where you will be litigating against the very best prosecutors who may very well be trying to have your client executed.
Racism?
In late August, Crist appointed George, who is white, director to the Conflict Counsel Office in Miami. The five Conflict Counsel Offices cover regions based on the state courts of appeal. Crist passed over Tampa attorney Belinda Noah, who holds a doctorate in law, to pick George. Noah, who is black, said she believes she is the victim of racial discrimination. “I feel it was a miscarriage of justice. It’s totally unjust what happened,” she said.
HERE.
When you get past the unfortunate picture of our colleague Mr. Denaro, who is leading the FIDA efforts detailed on the blog earlier this week, you come away with a feeling of distaste for the whole mess. This is not about Mr. George personally. But beyond the issue of the whole ROC system, people have raised questions about his qualifications to run the what is the second public defenders office in the largest and busiest circuit of the State.
From the Article:
Some critics note that Crist’s newly appointed director of the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel in Miami hasn’t worked a criminal case since he was a law student 22 years ago and has never tried a case of any kind before a jury. According to the appointment application obtained by the Daily Business Review, newly appointed director Joseph P. George Jr. wrote that none of his cases during his 13-year law career involved jury trials. George said Wednesday that he tried criminal cases as an intern clerk as part of his practice program at Samford University’s law school, and in his career has done some work involving the Baker Act — the civil state law that allows for the involuntary committal of mental patients. ...
Addressing critics who assert he lacks sufficient criminal experience for the Conflict Counsel job, George said: “I don’t think it gives an appropriate context. When people have their civil rights taken away [under the Baker Act], I think it disserves them to think that they’re a second thought.” “All I can do is the best I can do, and that’s going to be trying to hire the best people the most qualified people, and I’ve already taken steps in that direction,” he said. George conceded he initially failed the Florida Bar exam after he graduated law school in 1985. He worked as a legal investigator in the 16th Judicial Circuit in Key West until he passed the bar in 1994, after being told he needed a bar card if he wished to keep his job.
Rumpole responds: Try telling "I did my best" to the parents of an 18 year old boy who gets a life sentence because the lawyers were inexperienced. This is the real game here. The legislature is passing minimum mandatory sentences as fast as they can get out of the bar and vote, and State Attorneys Offices are enforcing the law. Is this really the appropriate place to start learning about voire dire, much less the other parts of a criminal trial? We would tell Mr. George to take his good intentions, get a job with Mr. Brummer's office, get some training under supervision of lawyers who know what they're doing, and then apply in five or ten years. Or in other words- do like the rest of us have done and get the training and experience necessary before saying you are competent to run a criminal defense office where you will be litigating against the very best prosecutors who may very well be trying to have your client executed.
Racism?
In late August, Crist appointed George, who is white, director to the Conflict Counsel Office in Miami. The five Conflict Counsel Offices cover regions based on the state courts of appeal. Crist passed over Tampa attorney Belinda Noah, who holds a doctorate in law, to pick George. Noah, who is black, said she believes she is the victim of racial discrimination. “I feel it was a miscarriage of justice. It’s totally unjust what happened,” she said.
Rumpole says: We've said this before. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. We are tired of hearing about Mr. George's good intentions. In all honesty he would not hire someone like himself to represent a family member who was charged with murder or drug trafficking. Why would he seek to force his inexperience upon the poor of Dade County who don't have a choice in legal representation? The real honorable thing would be to decline the appointment and let someone who knows what they are doing run the office. That would really show his good intentions. We are left to conclude that Mr. George is merely a rank opportunist willing to balance his own personal ambitions upon the backs of clients who will suffer because of his ineptitude.
See You In Court, where the more we think about this, the angrier we get.
PS. When soemone decodes Mr. George's defense of his exprerience as reported int he DBR, please let us know. If that is the best he can do defending himself, prosecutors will be lining up to try cases against him and his office.
Monday, September 24, 2007
FIDA
No it’s not a secret Masonic organization.
Nor is it the female version of Fido, your local neighborhood mutt.
It may well be Joe George and his Rockettes worst nightmare.
We requested an email on FIDA, and here is what we got, which we have edited:
FIDA, inc. or Forida Indigent Defense Association is a non profit organization dedicated to defeating SB 1088. Also affiliated with FIDA is a CCE or a committee of continuous existence called "Alliance For Legal Reform." Both organizations have been raising money for the singular purpose of getting things back to the way they used to be vis a vis the court appointment system. To date, we have raised around $30, 000.00. FIDA’s philosophy is that the best way to influence the process is to become part of the political process. To that end FIDA has hired lobbyists to advance our case. The firm we hired is called the "Barretto Group." Brian May, one of the partners, was Dade Mayor Pinellas' chief of staff for 8 years. Part one of the plan advanced by May and FIDA was to get the county attorney to cut funding for the ROC offices. This just happened last week. Part two is to get the County Commission to sue the state since SB 1088 requires the County to pay for elements of the conflict office notwithstanding article 5 which reserves such costs for the state. We also have a lobbyist working the Broward County Commission for the same goals. Step Three is to work the legislature once the law suit is filed. The Legislature does not have the highest respect or concern for criminal defense attorneys or our clients. FIDA believes that the reason this whole problem occurred is that criminal defense attorneys have never played the game- lobbying Tallahassee to make sure that the money in the budget for criminal appointments would remain.
Currently FIDA is paying the Barretto group $7,000.00 per month. Attorneys have given up to $3,000.00 but the average donation has been around $1,500.00. FIDA needs to raise around $250,000.00 per year to become major players.
Criminal Defense Attorneys who want to help should send checks
payable to FIDA
to 777 Brickell Avenue
Suite 400
Miami, Florida, 33131
Rumpole says: It seems simple- you want to get your money out of Tallahassee? Pay up and play the game.
This is a fantastic NY Times Sunday Magazine article on
Justice John Paul Stevens, who it turns out, spends half of the court’s term working out of his condo right here in South Florida.
We highly recommend the article.
See You In Court.
Nor is it the female version of Fido, your local neighborhood mutt.
It may well be Joe George and his Rockettes worst nightmare.
We requested an email on FIDA, and here is what we got, which we have edited:
FIDA, inc. or Forida Indigent Defense Association is a non profit organization dedicated to defeating SB 1088. Also affiliated with FIDA is a CCE or a committee of continuous existence called "Alliance For Legal Reform." Both organizations have been raising money for the singular purpose of getting things back to the way they used to be vis a vis the court appointment system. To date, we have raised around $30, 000.00. FIDA’s philosophy is that the best way to influence the process is to become part of the political process. To that end FIDA has hired lobbyists to advance our case. The firm we hired is called the "Barretto Group." Brian May, one of the partners, was Dade Mayor Pinellas' chief of staff for 8 years. Part one of the plan advanced by May and FIDA was to get the county attorney to cut funding for the ROC offices. This just happened last week. Part two is to get the County Commission to sue the state since SB 1088 requires the County to pay for elements of the conflict office notwithstanding article 5 which reserves such costs for the state. We also have a lobbyist working the Broward County Commission for the same goals. Step Three is to work the legislature once the law suit is filed. The Legislature does not have the highest respect or concern for criminal defense attorneys or our clients. FIDA believes that the reason this whole problem occurred is that criminal defense attorneys have never played the game- lobbying Tallahassee to make sure that the money in the budget for criminal appointments would remain.
Currently FIDA is paying the Barretto group $7,000.00 per month. Attorneys have given up to $3,000.00 but the average donation has been around $1,500.00. FIDA needs to raise around $250,000.00 per year to become major players.
Criminal Defense Attorneys who want to help should send checks
payable to FIDA
to 777 Brickell Avenue
Suite 400
Miami, Florida, 33131
Rumpole says: It seems simple- you want to get your money out of Tallahassee? Pay up and play the game.
This is a fantastic NY Times Sunday Magazine article on
Justice John Paul Stevens, who it turns out, spends half of the court’s term working out of his condo right here in South Florida.
We highly recommend the article.
Suicide Pool: Everyone except 52nd Street Irwin remains alive for week 4.
Football: Cowpokes redeemed us. Pulling out a tougher than expected 34-10 win. Bears are showing that in this day and age you need more than a very good defense to win. Bears played the Boys even at 3-3 and then 10-10 through 3 quarters, but with the rules slanting towards the offense, the Belichick philosophy that you need an offense to win a shootout to be successful in the NFL appears to be true. Bears just could not shut out a top quality offense for a full game. Rumpole improves to 3 wins (Fins/Jets Over; Cowboys; and the upset we called- Packers the underdog win outright: if you followed our advice and shunned the points for the money line, 100 got you 215 in return.)
We are not counting our "win" with the Texans and the points because we later backed away from that after the Texans announced that Ron Dayne would not play. We had two ties- Jets -3 and Seahawks -3, and one loss: Jax upset the Broncos in Denver. 3-1 makes money every time.
See You In Court.
Friday, September 21, 2007
"THEY SHOT SONNY ON THE CAUSEWAY"
Conflict with the Conflict office?
Our spies say yes.
As another secret source once muttered many years ago “follow the money” or in our case, the lack thereof.
It should be no secret that Governor Crist’s little experiment with the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has developed several powerful enemies in several places. Beyond the lawyers and lawyer-lobbyists, can you think of another group of people who are more than a bit ticked off?
The answer is the Mayors and County Executives of local governments who are being forced to foot some of the bill for the ROC office. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and that could not be more clearer than in Dade County where an unlikely confluence of defense lawyers and Dade County executives have banded together.
What Crist has joined together, let no man tear asunder? Not when it comes to the Regional Counsel Office.
What Rumpole has learned is that Dade County is now of the opinion that SB 1088- the bill that creates the Regional Counsel Office- is unconstitutional. Because Dade County believes that SB 1088 is unconstitutional, the County now is of the belief that Dade County is under no obligation to fund their portion of SB-1088.
What does that mean?
It means that while Mr. Joe George and his top leftenants were making the rounds in the Justice Building Thursday introducing themselves to Judges and pledging to work hard in representing defendants, powerful political forces were at work undermining Mr. George’s office’s very existence.
Dade County funds its projects with a Budget Memo. Rumpole has obtained that Memo, and there is currently no funding for the ROC included. There is also consideration for adding language in the Memo indicating Dade’s official position: that the county is under no obligation to fund ROC.
Translation: Mr. George and his Rockettes have no money for office space, so they better start getting used to working out of their homes. It’s ironic. Because of Mr. George’s existence, several criminal defense attorneys have opted to work out of their home to save costs while the court appointment mess shakes out. Now, Mr. George and his staff have no money for office space either.
Karama Kramer.
Unfortunately, that may not be 100% correct, because we have received conflicting information that the State legislators, anticipating these maneuvers, have authorized additional funds to cover the first year of expenses. Yet we have also learned that as late as Thursday Mr. Crist cut another 2 million from the ROC offices.
Like most politics, its all pretty confusing to a poor country lawyer.
Be that as it may, it cannot be very comforting to Mr. George and his Rockettes to know that their very existence depends upon the additional funding of the legislature to make up for the hostile reception from local governments that everyone was anticipating they would receive.
Howdy- now leave.
You can bet this battle is not over. The Republicans will not rest until they have wrung every possible protection out of the 6th Amendment until it hangs there, like the cheap suit in the back of the closet that no one wants to wear.
So Mr. George, as we have opined before, most of your colleagues resent your very (professional) existence. But it’s not personal Sonny. It’s strictly business.
They killed him on causeway.
See You In Court.
Our spies say yes.
As another secret source once muttered many years ago “follow the money” or in our case, the lack thereof.
It should be no secret that Governor Crist’s little experiment with the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has developed several powerful enemies in several places. Beyond the lawyers and lawyer-lobbyists, can you think of another group of people who are more than a bit ticked off?
The answer is the Mayors and County Executives of local governments who are being forced to foot some of the bill for the ROC office. Politics makes strange bedfellows, and that could not be more clearer than in Dade County where an unlikely confluence of defense lawyers and Dade County executives have banded together.
What Crist has joined together, let no man tear asunder? Not when it comes to the Regional Counsel Office.
What Rumpole has learned is that Dade County is now of the opinion that SB 1088- the bill that creates the Regional Counsel Office- is unconstitutional. Because Dade County believes that SB 1088 is unconstitutional, the County now is of the belief that Dade County is under no obligation to fund their portion of SB-1088.
What does that mean?
It means that while Mr. Joe George and his top leftenants were making the rounds in the Justice Building Thursday introducing themselves to Judges and pledging to work hard in representing defendants, powerful political forces were at work undermining Mr. George’s office’s very existence.
Dade County funds its projects with a Budget Memo. Rumpole has obtained that Memo, and there is currently no funding for the ROC included. There is also consideration for adding language in the Memo indicating Dade’s official position: that the county is under no obligation to fund ROC.
Translation: Mr. George and his Rockettes have no money for office space, so they better start getting used to working out of their homes. It’s ironic. Because of Mr. George’s existence, several criminal defense attorneys have opted to work out of their home to save costs while the court appointment mess shakes out. Now, Mr. George and his staff have no money for office space either.
Karama Kramer.
Unfortunately, that may not be 100% correct, because we have received conflicting information that the State legislators, anticipating these maneuvers, have authorized additional funds to cover the first year of expenses. Yet we have also learned that as late as Thursday Mr. Crist cut another 2 million from the ROC offices.
Like most politics, its all pretty confusing to a poor country lawyer.
Be that as it may, it cannot be very comforting to Mr. George and his Rockettes to know that their very existence depends upon the additional funding of the legislature to make up for the hostile reception from local governments that everyone was anticipating they would receive.
Howdy- now leave.
You can bet this battle is not over. The Republicans will not rest until they have wrung every possible protection out of the 6th Amendment until it hangs there, like the cheap suit in the back of the closet that no one wants to wear.
So Mr. George, as we have opined before, most of your colleagues resent your very (professional) existence. But it’s not personal Sonny. It’s strictly business.
And you remember what happened to Sonny Corleone don't you?
They killed him on causeway.
See You In Court.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
ROC -n- ROLL
We received a comment from an individual who may or may not be the Head of the Regional Office Counsel for the 11th Judicial Circuit:
rumpole,You seem like a reasonable fella. Can you please stop posting negativity about the regional conflict office? You all need to stop bitchin and get on board to make this thing work. For Pete's sake!! AND BY THE WAY, I HAVE RECEIVED 16 APPLICATIONS OF PEOPLE WHO WISH WORK AT THE ROC.
tHANK YOU,
JG
Rumpole responds: Assuming for argument that is Mr. George, we respond with this open letter:
Dear Mr. George:
First, welcome to the Miami Criminal Defense Community.
However, unlike other new lawyers, you are not being welcomed with open arms. Why? Because the very existence of your job will deprive many of our colleagues of a living. Some of our colleagues have worked very hard for many years to obtain the skills necessary to represent Defendants in criminal court. Many of these lawyers worked for years at low pay for the State Attorneys Office or the Public Defenders Office and then went into private practice with the skills necessary to represent individuals charged with crimes.
Your job will deprive our colleagues of a job. We recognize that you did not cause this situation. But you are profiting from this situation much like a scab that crosses a picket line in a strike. What makes matters worse is that it appears to many of us that you take this job without the hard earned qualifications and experience in criminal law that almost all of us who work in the REGJB have. When you meet members of the defense bar, you will notice that all of them are justifiably proud of the work they did as prosecutors or public defenders. As far as we know, you did not work in either office. The experience they obtained in those jobs gives them the ability to assume the awesome responsibility to stand in court between the state and the Judge and say "prove it."
So you assume your job with two strikes against you: a perceived lack of experience, and the belief that you and you alone are profiting from the misfortune of hundreds of lawyers. That is quite a load to bear in a new job.
However, beyond the money and the anger, lies the most important reason of all: concern for the client. You will notice that almost every criminal defense attorney has a strong desire to see the system work and see clients well represented. The feeling among the defense bar is that the clients your office represents will not be well served. The belief is that the attorneys that will staff your office will not have "the right stuff" to represent individuals facing the death penalty, or life in prison, or a lengthy minimum mandatory sentence.
Just how many Arthur Hearings, let alone criminal trials, have you done?
The remarkable thing is that many of your new colleagues can speak from experience about the intricacies of a consent defense in a sexual assault case, the difficulties in voire dire in a drug entrapment defense case, while also exhibiting a working knowledge of things like blood spatter and exit and entrance wounds. The problem is that while your colleagues obtained that experience while working on cases with more experienced lawyers, you and your staff will apparently be obtaining that experience on the backs of your clients, and to their detriment. And that bothers us a lot.
So when you and your staff appear in court ( Click
HERE for directions to the REGJB), our hope is that our colleagues will be nice and cordial. But do not expect our best wishes for you to succeed, because truth be known, to a person, we all hope this comes crashing down and embarrasses the Governor for what it is- an attempt to balance the budget on the backs of indigent defendants.
The Legislature has no problem spending money on police and prisons, but when they skimp on something as important as the Sixth Amendment right to COMPETENT counsel, we take that pretty seriously.
See You In Court.
PS. In answer to your question about not posting criticism about your office, the answer is NO. See, The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
rumpole,You seem like a reasonable fella. Can you please stop posting negativity about the regional conflict office? You all need to stop bitchin and get on board to make this thing work. For Pete's sake!! AND BY THE WAY, I HAVE RECEIVED 16 APPLICATIONS OF PEOPLE WHO WISH WORK AT THE ROC.
tHANK YOU,
JG
Rumpole responds: Assuming for argument that is Mr. George, we respond with this open letter:
Dear Mr. George:
First, welcome to the Miami Criminal Defense Community.
However, unlike other new lawyers, you are not being welcomed with open arms. Why? Because the very existence of your job will deprive many of our colleagues of a living. Some of our colleagues have worked very hard for many years to obtain the skills necessary to represent Defendants in criminal court. Many of these lawyers worked for years at low pay for the State Attorneys Office or the Public Defenders Office and then went into private practice with the skills necessary to represent individuals charged with crimes.
Your job will deprive our colleagues of a job. We recognize that you did not cause this situation. But you are profiting from this situation much like a scab that crosses a picket line in a strike. What makes matters worse is that it appears to many of us that you take this job without the hard earned qualifications and experience in criminal law that almost all of us who work in the REGJB have. When you meet members of the defense bar, you will notice that all of them are justifiably proud of the work they did as prosecutors or public defenders. As far as we know, you did not work in either office. The experience they obtained in those jobs gives them the ability to assume the awesome responsibility to stand in court between the state and the Judge and say "prove it."
So you assume your job with two strikes against you: a perceived lack of experience, and the belief that you and you alone are profiting from the misfortune of hundreds of lawyers. That is quite a load to bear in a new job.
However, beyond the money and the anger, lies the most important reason of all: concern for the client. You will notice that almost every criminal defense attorney has a strong desire to see the system work and see clients well represented. The feeling among the defense bar is that the clients your office represents will not be well served. The belief is that the attorneys that will staff your office will not have "the right stuff" to represent individuals facing the death penalty, or life in prison, or a lengthy minimum mandatory sentence.
Just how many Arthur Hearings, let alone criminal trials, have you done?
The remarkable thing is that many of your new colleagues can speak from experience about the intricacies of a consent defense in a sexual assault case, the difficulties in voire dire in a drug entrapment defense case, while also exhibiting a working knowledge of things like blood spatter and exit and entrance wounds. The problem is that while your colleagues obtained that experience while working on cases with more experienced lawyers, you and your staff will apparently be obtaining that experience on the backs of your clients, and to their detriment. And that bothers us a lot.
So when you and your staff appear in court ( Click
HERE for directions to the REGJB), our hope is that our colleagues will be nice and cordial. But do not expect our best wishes for you to succeed, because truth be known, to a person, we all hope this comes crashing down and embarrasses the Governor for what it is- an attempt to balance the budget on the backs of indigent defendants.
The Legislature has no problem spending money on police and prisons, but when they skimp on something as important as the Sixth Amendment right to COMPETENT counsel, we take that pretty seriously.
See You In Court.
PS. In answer to your question about not posting criticism about your office, the answer is NO. See, The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
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