JASON MITCHELL GUILTY OF MURDER OF SEAN TAYLOR

WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: Just pondering who got beat worse last night? House Majority Leader Eric Cantor- 56%-44% or the Miami Heat? 
Cantor performed as well as Heat player Mario Chalmers, who had a staggering two points and three turnovers. 
Apparently, the Heat struggled because of concern over the situation in the Ukraine, while Cantor was pounded over his (supposed) position on immigration reform. 

As afternoon approached evening and day slipped into night, so did the life of Jason Mitchell fade into incarcerated oblivion as a Miami jury convicted him of the murder of football star Sean Taylor.  The first degree murder conviction triggers a mandatory life sentence, and Judge Murphy will presumably sentence Mitchell to life in prison either this evening or sometime thereafter.  sentenced Mitchell to life in prison before adjourning court for the day. 

ASAs Reid Ruben and Marie Mato for the prosecution. 

Bob Barrar, who we think may have been appointed as a limited registry attorney, for the defense. If Barrar was appointed as a limited registry attorney, that means he signed a contract in which he agreed to a minimal flat fee (perhaps as low as $2,000) to handle this case regardless of how complicated it was and how long it took to try the case. 
With all due respect to Mr. Barrar, he should not have accepted appointment on a case of this complexity and nature as a limited registry attorney. 


SECRET NOTE:
The jury returned a verdict along with a note to Judge Murphy. The judge cryptically stated that the note was unrelated to the verdict. As of yet, the contents of the note have not been disclosed. 
More information as we receive it. 

Jason Mitchell found  GUILTY of first degree murder of Sean Taylor, even though the evidence clearly indicated that while Mitchell planned the burglary, he did not pull the trigger on the firearm that fired the fatal bullet. 

SEAN TAYLOR CLOSING ARGUMENTS TODAY

The defendant Eric Rivera took the witness stand in his own defense yesterday, and it wasn't pretty. He was subjected to an effective and withering cross examination by ASA Reid Ruben. The defendant had to admit his prior testimony at a motion to suppress that his confession was truthful; he repeated every question Ruben asked him; and at a crucial juncture over the whereabout of the shoes he claims he was wearing (as opposed to the shoes he admitted wearing which were linked to the crime scene) he had no answer and looked to his defense attorney for help. 

Rumpole's Fourth Rule of jury trials: Never, ever, ever, put your client on the witness stand.  

Closing arguments are set for 1pm. The jury will be instructed after arguments conclude and we will probably get a verdict tomorrow. 

See you in court. 

PAY IT FORWARD

BREAKING: After calling the medical examiner, the prosecution rested Monday morning in the trial of Eric Rivera who is accused of firing the gun that killed Sean Taylor. The defense will present a case this afternoon. Herald Reporter David Ovalle has watched the whole trial and keeps tweeting that he doesn't see how the defense lives up to the promises they made to the jury in opening without calling the defendant.  There isn't a better trial lawyer in the Dade SAO than Reid Ruben and he has lived with this case since the beginning. The defense had better be careful. The cross will not be pretty. 

Miami Dade Office Vicki Thomas was called to a Publix in South Dade last week where she encountered a woman stealing a shopping cart of $300.00 worth of groceries. Officer Thomas, a 23 year veteran of the force and grandmother of three issued the woman a PTA for theft, and then, with the knowledge that the defendant was a young mother of three and that her children were hungry and her boyfriend had just lost his job, Officer Thomas went on a quick shopping spree and purchased a $100.00 worth of groceries to tide the family over until the defendant started her new job as a receptionist. The Herald article is here. 

In our field we often trade stories of police officers that are of a less than flattering nature. But Officer Vicki Thomas did a great thing for which she deserves recognition far and beyond this simple blog. Well done Officer Thomas. Well done indeed. 

TEXTS FROM A LAWYER
More texts between our lawyer "Lenny" and his sarcastic secretary "Zoe". 

JUSTICE DELAYED?

Six long years after the tragic Thanksgiving weekend murder of UM/Washington Redskins star football player Sean Taylor, the trial of the alleged shooter begins today before Judge Murphy.  ASA Reid Ruben for the State, some (Florida) west coast lawyers for the defense(after about four or five changes in defense counsel over the years.) Many people don't known that Taylor's Father is the Chief of Police for Florida City. The Herald article is here. Several other defendants await trial after this case concludes. 

STRICTLY BY THE NUMBERS:

        (Photo courtesy of Blog contributor Michael Catalano, Esq.) 

The distinguished gentleman on the left (Carl Maztal, Esq. ) was admitted to the Bar in 1974. The Sean Connery look-a-like on the right (Ben Daniel, Esq) trained legions of State ASAs before wrapping up his career with the Feds (everyone's entitled to one mistake.) Daniel was admitted to the Bar in 1971. 

The Numbers:
They have 81 years of legal experience between them. 
There are more judges in the REGJB who were NOT born when these men were sworn into the bar, then were born. 

In 1971 The Dow's high was 950 and the low was 790. Federal spending was 210.17 billion and the total national debt was 408.2 billion. The average cost of a new home was $28,300.00.  A stamp was .06 cents; gas was .36 cents; a dozen eggs were .53 cents and a gallon of milk was $1.18. 

The Colts beat the Cowboys 16-13 in the Super Bowl on January 17, 1971 and Frazier beat Ali in their first meeting in the Garden in NYC in the Fight of the Century.  Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida on October 1, and later that month Nixon nominated Lewis Powell and William Rhenquist to the Supreme Court.  And Ray Tomlinson sent the first ARP Anet email between host computers ( a few minutes later in his in box he received a solicitation from a Nigerian banker asking to split $16,800,000.00 in unclaimed funds). 

The point of all of this is that there is something very valuable in the legal field that Messrs. Maztal and Daniels possess. It's not in any legal books, and you don't get it automatically when the governor calls or when you win an election because you have the right last name. 

It's called perspective.  Perspective is not experience, it is infinitely more valuable, and you can only get it over time. 

See You In Court. 

Sean taylor Lineup.

The line-up is shaping up for the Sean Taylor murder case.

The case has been assigned by the blind clerk to Judge Murphy. This couldn't be a better choice for both the Defendants and Taylor's family. Outside of the 8:00 AM soundings which the defense lawyers from Fort Myers will have a tough time making, we are confident Judge Murphy will handle this case with the experience and fairness he has always shown.

The Prosecution will be lead by Reid Rubin, one of the best trial lawyers the State Attorneys Office has. And whenever you see Reid in court, Penny Brill from the legal division cannot be far behind. Kathy Rundle has picked an experienced and talented legal team to seek justice in this matter.

The Defense attorneys are mostly unknown to us, however, Defendant Charles Wardlow is currently being represented by David Brenner, who was a Dade PD and was in private practice in Dade County for a while.

Predication: the length of time and costs of this case will eventually cause most if not all of the Defendant's to be represented by the PD and court appointed attorneys. Now the public will really see what they are getting from the conflict counsel's office for their tax dollars. And therein lies the problem- none of these defendants can expect to get an ounce of sympathy from the public in this high profile tragic murder case. And yet, as professionals, we know that for the legal system to work, these defendants need experienced attorneys. Right now the phrase "experienced attorneys" and "conflict counsel's office" do not necessarily fit in the same sentence. We shall see.

Legal issues:

The "shooter" in this case is 17 years old. As a juvenile he is not eligible for the death penalty. The remaining co-defendants are all facing first degree murder charges via the felony murder rule.

First question: under the principle of proportionality, can the prosecution seek the death penalty for defendants who were not the shooter when they are precluded from seeking the death penalty for the shooter based on the shooter's age?

Second question: is it time to do away with the felony murder rule?

England, Canada, India, and Hawaii, Kentucky and Michigan have all abolished the felony murder rule as contrary to the western legal traditions of punishing people in proportion to their criminal acts.

From the

NY Times Article on a man serving life in prison in Florida for loaning a friend a car:

“The felony-murder rule completely ignores the concept of determination of guilt on the basis of individual misconduct,” the Michigan Supreme Court wrote in 1980.

Rumpole says: The felony murder rule is an anachronistic legal concept whose time has come and gone. It is certainly a powerful tool for prosecutors. But do we really think justice is served when a person who loans a car, or a person who drives a killer to the scene is sentenced to life in prison? If the prosecution believes an individual actively participated in planning a homicide, then a conspiracy charge is appropriate. But if the evidence is not there, and if all parties agree that a co-defendant had no idea the defendant was armed and planning to commit a murder, then why should both individuals be punished with life in prison, when one individual is clearly more culpable than the other?

And don't start whining to us about the "independent act" jury instruction. In our opinion, that and 2 bucks gets you a cup of coffee at Starbucks allowing you to drown your sorrows in expensive caffeine after a guilty verdict.

As our society moves farther away from the principles of fairness and justice in sentencing, we can expect more two bit politicians trying to make a name on the backs of the accused. If the prosecutor in the NY Times article is correct when he told the jury " No car, no murder", then lets all back a provision to prosecute the car dealer who sold the car, the union workers who built the car, the bank officers who loaned the money to get the car, the engineers who designed the car, and the stockholders who financed the company to produce the car. If nothing else, it would create a lot more work for defense attorneys sitting around in December waiting for their phone to ring.

See you in court, where we have had nothing but unpleasant experiences with the independent act instruction.

SEAN TAYLOR HAS DIED

1983-2007

University of Miami Star

Washington Redskins Star

Father.

Son.