QUALIFYING WEEK UPDATE .......

 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION 2024 - QUALIFYING WEEK UPDATE.......

EVEN BIGGER BREAKING NEWS

SCOTT JANOWITZ has withdrawn from the Circuit Court Group 25 race and he will not challenge Judge Marrero. We predict that he will jump back into a County Court race.  

There is a back story. 

BREAKING NEWS  

As we reported last night (read below) Candidate Scott Janowitz has jumped out of his County Court Group and filed against Incumbent Circuit Court Judge Yery Marrero. UPDATE #2. Scott Janowitz has paid his Qualifying Fee. He is locked into Group 25 and will be running against Judge Marrero.

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Very little to report after two days. Qualifying Week ends at Noon on Friday. As of 5 PM today, there have been no new candidates entering races for Circuit or County Court Judge.

In the Circuit Court:

All candidates that filed have paid their Qualifying Fee except for two: 

Group 14 - Vivianne del Rio - NOW QUALIFIED

Group 56 - Javier Enriquez - NOW QUALIFIED

In County Court:

All candidates that filed have paid their Qualifying Fee except for:

Group 18 - Betsy Alvarez Zane - NOW QUALIFIED

Group 29 - Scott Janowitz - Moved to Circuit Group 25

Group 31 - Rita Maria Baez - we spoke with Ms. Baez and she has indicated that she will be qualifying in this Group. - NOW QUALIFIED

In Group 29, there are three candidates listed as intending to run in that Group. Two of those candidates, Christopher Benjamin and Alina Salcines Restrepo, have paid their Qualifying Fee. They are each locked into this race.

Candidate Scott Janowitz, who was appointed to the bench by Gov DeSantis in 2020 and ran in 2022 to hold his seat, and lost that seat to current Judge Alicia Privolos (60% to 40%), Janowitz has communicated with me and stated that he will be Qualifying in a Group. Janowitz would not respond to my question as to which Group, which leads me to believe that, given the fact that Group 29 already has two candidates, Janowitz is looking at other Groups and gauging which race would give him the best chance of winning.

Christopher Benjamin has raised $32,078. Alina Salcines Restrepo has raised only $9,510 but has added $40,000 to her campaign in the form of a loan. Scott Janowitz on the other hand has raised only $1,250 and loaned his campaign an extra $500.

Which Group might Janowitz jump into? There are two open seats: Group 4 where Judge Robin Faber is retiring and only one candidate has qualified. Michelle Urbistondo, who has raised $54,150 and loaned her campaign an additional $100,500. There is also Group 12, where Judge Steve Leifman is retiring. Only Mario Corcilli has qualified in that Group and he has raised $43,801 and kicked in an additional $120,000 of his own money.

There are also 15 Incumbent County Court judges and 21 Incumbent Circuit Court judges currently facing no opposition. Judge Christopher Green has drawn one opponent, that being the above-mentioned Rita Maria Baez.

It has also been very quiet in the race for State Attorney where Katherine Fernandez Rundle is still unopposed.

NORTH OF THE BORDER

State Attorney Dave Aronberg, of the 15th judicial circuit in Palm Beach County, is not seeking re-election. So far, seven candidates have filed to replace Aronberg but only two have qualified as of today. They include: Forrest Freedman and Craig Williams. Other candidates who have not yet paid the qualifying fee include: Alexcia Cox, Adam Farkas, Gregg Lerman, Rolando Silva, and Samuel Stern.

Also in the 15th Circuit, Public Defender Carey Haughwout is also not running for reelection. Daniel Eisinger has qualified in that race while candidate Adam Frankel has not yet paid his qualifying fee.

In Broweird, State Attorney Harold Pryor and Public Defender Gordon Weekes do not appear to have attracted any opponents.

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL .....

In the wake of the sudden death of Judge Eric Hendon, the 3rd DCA JNC has scheduled interviews this Friday, April 26, with the following persons:

Donald Barrett

Woody Clermont

Margaret Correoso

Angel Cortinas

Kansas Gooden

Judge Spencer Multack

Judge Joseph Perkins

Judge Thomas Rebull

Judge Daryl Trawick

Judge Robert Watson

Judge Laura Gonzalez-Marques

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

GOV. DESANTIS NAMES NEW 3RD DCA JUDGE .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR NEWEST 3RD DCA JUDGE IS:

JUDGE ALEXANDER SPICOLA BOKOR

Alexander Bokor is 42 years old. Judge Bokor earned his JD from the Univ. of Pennsylvania in 2002 and passed the Bar in New York in 2003. He worked with Jones, Day from 2002-2006, except for a stint as a Law Clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Merryday (Middle District Florida) from 2004-2005.  He joined Koyzak, Tropin in 2006 and was with them until 2008. He then became an Assistant County Attorney for Miami-Dade County handling cases as legal counsel for the Miami Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works, the Property Appraiser’s Office and the Tax Collector’s Office. 

In October of 2016 he was appointed to an open seat on the County Court (Jacqueline Schwartz resigned) by Governor Scott.  He ran for election to a full term on the County Court bench in 2018 and was elected unopposed. He spent 25 months in County Court before Governor Scott elevated Bokor to the Circuit Court (Stephan Millan resigned), in November of 2018. Bokor ran for election for a full term on the Circuit Court bench in 2020. Once again, he was elected unopposed.  He indicated on his Financial Disclosure form that his Net Worth was $1,442,792. 

Today, Governor DeSantis appointed Bokor to an open seat on the 3rd DCA (Judge Salter retired).  So, in less than four years, Bokor has risen from Assistant County Attorney, to County Court Judge, to Circuit Court Judge, to 3rd DCA Judge.

Bokor was appointed over nominees Judge Antonio Arzola, Judge Lisa Walsh, Kansas Gooden, Christopher Johnson, and Eduardo Sanchez.

CAPTAIN OUT …….
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

3RD DCA UPDATE

Perhaps it's time we started reading the 3rd DCA decisions again. 

Sex Offender probation upheld in sentence for simple battery. State v. Villanueva. Defendant charged with LL on a child Convicted of lesser misdemeanor simple battery. Judge Murphy gives him a year sex offender therapy as a condition of probation. 3rd DCA holds that while section 948.03 requires sex offender probation for certain offenses, it does not prohibit them for others. 

Go figure. 

PAROLE 
PFC Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years Wednesday for the Wikileaks case.  We were some what startled to learn that the US Military has a parole system for inmates who serve a third of their sentence. 
Wow. Imagine a justice and corrections system that evaluates inmates to see if they are rehabilitated during the course of their incarceration and allows them to be released upon due consideration of proof of rehabilitation. What a fascinating concept. 

3RD DCA APPLICANTS
Yesterday we reported on the applicants to two open federal seats in the Southern District of Florida (Motto: "You can be nominated to serve, but that's a whole different kettle of fish than being confirmed.")

Today we list the applicants to the open seat on the 3rd DCA ("Proudly PCA'ing criminal appeals since Florida became a state.")


Judge Jorge E. Cueto 
Judge  Norma S. Lindsey
Judge Fleur J. Lobree
Judge  Bronwyn C. Miller
Judge Jose M. Rodriguez 
Jonathan D. Colan 
Candace Renee Duff 
Sergio Garcia-Pages 
John A. Greco 
Edward G. Guedes
Eduardo I. Sanchez
Edwin A. Scales, III


"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you."

 See You In Court. 

Preserving the Record for Appeal

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THIRD DCA ...... "BUNKER" EDITION

http://www.3dca.flcourts.org/opinions/3D10-1290.pdf

Borrowing a term used by South Florida Lawyer, they describe the ongoings of our esteemed jurists who reside out West by the FIU campus as practicing in the "bunker".....

Today's sap is Joaquin Blanco. Mr. Blanco was arrested back in 2008 under case number F08-41616. Mr. Blanco was charged with trafficking in amphetamines when he sold crystal methamphetamine to an undercover police officer. Blanco claimed he was induced into making the sale by Jesus Felizzula, a State confidential informant who Blanco met at an HIV facility.

What say you 3rd DCA? "Because we find that the errors complained of were waived or harmless, we affirm."

Defense counsel’s request to voir dire the jury panel regarding their opinions on entrapment was denied. Thereafter, defense counsel accepted the jury without renewing his objection to the restricted voir dire.

There were several appellate issues, but the meat of the appeal, where the case was going to rise or fall, was the issue of the denial by Judge Tinkler Mendez of Blanco's counsel's request to voir dire the jury regarding the entrapment defense. And the last sentence of this section of the appeal is the real "rub" in the case - more like a rub in the defendant's face.

"Blanco contends that the trial court erred in denying defendant’s request to voir dire the jury regarding the entrapment defense because this prejudiced his effort to obtain a fair and impartial jury. Counsel should be given some leeway in questioning prospective jurors regarding their understanding of defendant’s defense. See Lavado v. State, 492 So. 2d 1322 (Fla. 1986); Walker v. State, 724 So. 2d 1232 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). But, it is well settled that counsel must renew any objections to voir dire errors before accepting the jury. See Lavin v. State, 754 So. 2d 784 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000); Stripling v. State, 664 So. 2d 2 (Fla.3d DCA 1995). Here, defense counsel’s request to question the jury about entrapment was denied before voir dire commenced. Thereafter, defense counsel accepted the jury panel without renewing his objection to the trial judge’s restrictions. Accordingly, the error was not preserved below, and relief is unavailable by direct appeal."

So, what Judge Ramirez (along with Judges Suarez & Rothenberg) is telling Mr. Blanco, is sorry Charlie, (or better stated, Joaquin), but your lawyer dropped the ball, and you'll just have to catch us on the flip side with a 3.850 in order for us to entertain the "meat" of your argument on appeal.

Meanwhile, Blanco, who was taken into custody following the trial, on May 12, 2010, waited 22 months for his appeal to be heard and decided, and who has a scheduled release date from the Florida DOC of October 29, 2012, will undoubtedly be out of custody before any meaningful decision is reached on whether trial counsel's ineffectiveness, in not preserving the record, warrants Blanco a new trial.

Might they have saved the judicial system a lot of money by having the issue briefed and argued as part of the appeal? I know, appellant attorneys and judges are turning over in their bunkers right about now as I am sure there is some Rule of Appellate Procedure they starts with the number 9 that prohibits this from happening.

But, meanwhile, Blanco will have done his 30 months on his 36 month MM sentence. For good measure, Blanco does have another two years of probation that he must serve upon release. So, maybe he will learn his fate whilst reporting to probation.

Thoughts?

Cap Out ......