INTRODUCING .....

From time to time over the year we will be presenting "Rumpole's Practice Tips"

( (c) Rumpole 2010, all rights reserved.)

To present our first tip of the year, we introduce our newest Blog Contributor:

"The COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT".

Colonel, take it away:

THE COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT:

Thank you Rumpole and it's a great pleasure to be here. No saluting, as most of your readers are civilians. There are great changes a foot in County Court, starting with NO MORE SOUNDINGS for any cases other than DUIs. So if you take in a DWLS or NVDL and need some time to get your client a license, you're going to need to develop a system to calendar the case about 30-40 days out and take it off the trial calendar so you get the time you need to get the DL. But that's not our tip today.

Our first County Court practice tip has to do with arraignments and speedy trial. Did you know that if you get hired on a recent misdemeanor arrest and file a NOA the clerk will cancel the arraignment and set the case for trial (or sounding if it's a DUI)? If you do that within a week of the arrest, you're putting about 20-40 days of speedy trial time back on the table instead of in your client's pocket where it belongs.

So our first County Court practice tip is to NOT FILE THE NOA until a day or two before the arraignment. If necessary, go to the arraignment to make sure your pleadings are in the file. This will put the case about a month or more into the speedy trial time period. If you don't do this in, lets say Judge Bloom's division, then you're going to find yourself at a trial or sounding within a month of the arrest and forced to waive speedies.

That's it for now, and remember, as we say in County Court: "There's cash in dem der misdemeanors. "

Rumpole: Thank you Colonel. You're a valuable new addition to our blog for 2010. We've needed a knowledgeable reporter for County Court and you were the very best of the lot who auditioned for the job.

And now, we present Rumpole's First Practice Tip of 2010.

If you've read the Civil Blog today then you know our favourite Federal Blogger has been galavanting off in Tampa and the Middle District on a case and at the pre-trial detention hearing David was quoted as saying this:

We will be going to trial,` top Florida defense attorney, David Oscar Markus, said Thursday at a bail hearing in Tampa federal court for the singer, born Mark Anthony Myrie.

`He did not commit the crimes he`s charged with. He was not in any conspiracy,` Markus added.

David, David, David: NEVER LET ANYONE OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING!

Have you forgotten everything we've taught you?

When you're starting a difficult case, walk over to the prosecutor and agent after the hearing and shake their hands and tell them they did a great job, your client has no chance, and what's the best they can do for you? Very likely you will put them at ease and get them talking about the case. The last thing you want them to do is to go back to their office and start preparing for trial. Let them worry about other cases. This one is a slam dunk for them.

So Rumpole's first practice tip for 2010 is To Keep Your Cards Hidden. Feed misinformation to your enemy. If you're going to attack, show a meek and mild defensive posture. If you're going to defend, be aggressive.

Almost ready to say "see you in court". Things are moving rapidly here, where our opponents were sure we were going to plead, right up until court on Monday.

hahahahaha.

WELL SAID

We received this comment. We agree with most of it,

although we also think Jeff Swartz or Samantha

Ruiz Cohen would be a big step up from the

Judge they are running against.

This needed to be said, and was said very well.

Loyal reader said...

This blog is so full of hypocrisy. You guys constantly bitch that jnc applicants are just looking for a raise because they can't make it in the private sector. You bitch that some of the new judges have no trial experience. Here comes Milt Hirsch and Miguel De la O, two guys taking huge pay cuts, successful private careers and loads of trial experience, and you anonymous yahoos begin engaging in petty juvenile name calling. Tear these guys down, and you'll get the judges you deserve. Sure Milt has an ego, but he's earned it and is a good guy. Talk to him and see for yourself. Have you ever spoken to Miguel? Completely down to earth, approachable guy, with no ego. We could do a lot worse (Planas, Adrien, Swartz), and won't find many better.

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL 2010 – IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR …….

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE:

There are 20 seats up for election in 2010. So far, 16 Groups have candidates; 4 of those are contested races. There are 4 Incumbents that have yet to file.

Contested Races:

Group 21 (Judy Kreeger retiring):

Miguel de la O
Patricia Kopco

Group 41 (Gerald Hubbart retiring)

Milton Hirsch

Group 45

Peter Adrien (I)
Samantha Ruiz Cohen
Jeffrey Swartz

Group 62 (Paul Siegel retiring)

Robert Kuntz
Juan-Carlos Planas

Incumbents that have yet to file:

Group 10 – Scott Bernstein
Group 12 – Bertila Soto
Group 13 – Norman Gerstein
Group 30 – Rosa Rodriguez

Incumbents (without opposition) that have filed:

John Schlesinger, John Thornton, Scott Silverman, Jennifer Bailey, Barbara Areces, Gill Freeman, William Johnson, William Thomas, Michael Genden, Nunshin Sayfie, Julio Jimenez, George Sarduy


COUNTY COURT JUDGE:

There are 10 seats up for election in 2010. So far, 8 Groups have candidates; 2 of those are contested races. There are 2 Incumbents that have yet to file.

Contested Races:

Group 11

Flora Seff (I)
Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson

Group 31

Lisa Walsh (I)
Silvia Perez

Incumbents that have yet to file:

Group 5 – Fred Seraphin
Group 35 – Wendell Graham

Incumbents (without opposition) that have filed:

Edward Newman, Judith Rubenstein, Beth Bloom, Carroll Kelly, Amy Karan, Rodney Smith

A reminder that the Governor has six names on his desk to replace former County Court Judge Arzola. Those names are:

Tanya Brinkley
Tamara Gray
Steven Lieberman
Anita Margot Moss
Lourdes Simon
Andrea Ricker Wolfson

Signing off for now, from Election Central ……

CAPTAIN OUT …….

SLIP AND FALL

We are sad to report that the attorney general of the United States (Eric Holder) has slipped and hit his head.

After sustaining said injury to his cerebellum, he wrote this:

“The Department of Justice’s responsibility is not just to win cases,(Rumpole asks: since when?) but to do justice. (ha!) Along with the increased training for prosecutors we have already instituted, these new guidelines will ensure that we strive to meet that standard every day and in every case.

and this....

There are times when providing discovery broader than that required even by current Department policy serves the interests of justice. Providing broad and early discovery often promotes the truth-seeking mission of the Department and fosters a speedy resolution of a case. On the other hand, there are times when countervailing considerations counsel against broad and early disclosure. For these reasons, the discovery guidance is intended to assure that prosecutors make considered decisions about whether to disclose information beyond the requirements of law and policy and when to disclose it.

Let us translate- "Things have gone too far. We've been caught prosecuting innocent people too many times recently. As part of a public relations campaign, we will loudly and repeatedly say that we are considering giving more discovery than the rules apply, but in the final analysis, don't do anything that could cause you to lose a case. Full Jenks material should still be given only after the appeal is denied. "

The full memorandums are here.

We'll believe it when we see it, some time around the First of Never.

Dick Cheney called this traitorous, and John Ashcroft just fainted dead away.

SPOTLIGHT ON: ZLOCH

The Daily Pulp is taking a close look at Judge Zloch's financial disclosure form in the wake of Attorney Loring Spolter's accusations that Zloch didn't file one. Bob Norman raises some legitimate questions here.

FLORIDA DOESN'T GET THE MESSAGE...

...on not incarcerating non-violent offenders.

That was one of the conclusions of a NY Times Op-Ed piece entitled Prisons and Budgets. The title of the post links to the piece.

From the Op-Ed piece:

The United States, which has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, has about one-quarter of its prisoners. But the relentless rise in the nation’s prison population has suddenly slowed as many states discover that it is simply too expensive to over incarcerate

Between 1987 and 2007 the prison population nearly tripled, from 585,000 to almost 1.6 million. Much of that increase occurred in states... that had adopted overly harsh punishment policies, such as the “three strikes and you’re out” rule and drug laws requiring that nonviolent drug offenders be locked away.

These policies have been hugely costly. ..

Michigan, which has been hard hit by the recession, has done a particularly good job of releasing people who do not need to be in prison. ..Michigan reduced its prison population by about 8 percent between March 2007 and November 2009 by taking smart steps, notably doing more to get nonviolent drug offenders out, while helping in their transition to a productive, and crime-free, life.

Not every state has gotten the message. Florida, for example, has a state law mandating that all prisoners serve a high percentage of their sentence, which is both dubious corrections policy and terrible fiscal policy.

ZLOCH SAVES RUMPOLE?

UPDATE- WE WENT 10-6 on picking all games yesterday. Assuming we wagered 100K a game, we're up $340,000.00 for the day. (1,000,000 win -600,000 -60,000 (vig) )

Courtesy of the Daily Pulp, the title to the post links to Judge Zloch's extraordinary order suspending Attorney Loring Spolter from practice in the Southern District of Florida for 42 months, and imposing fines and attorneys fees of over $100,000.00.

We have no dog in that fight.

But this passage from the order caught our wizened eye:

Mr. Spolter has the absolute right to

criticize a judge, but what he does not have the right to do is to file pleadings in Federal court for an improper purpose and in bad faith.

Our response is: Really? All this time we've been ducking bar complaints and sanctions for running this blog and now we have a Federal Judge in writing saying it's ok for us to criticize a Judge- a Federal Judge no less?

We want to see the appellate opinion on this, no disrespect meant to Judge Zloch (although apparently we can do that if we want), but.....we just think we need a firmer foundation upon which to rest our decision to reveal our identity.

Until then....

BACK TO WORK

Shooting at LV federal courthouse. One security officer (former police officer) dead. One suspect dead. David Markus working on a blog post as we write this.

BROWARD BLOG UPDATE ON JUDGE HURLEY- CONTEMPT SENTENCE REDUCED TO CTS.

Ooops - by now, everyone's seen The Daily Pulp's piece on Judge Hurley's wedding, which also took the good Judge to task for slamming cocky Defendant Brian Noval with a four month contempt of court sentence. Well, it turns out we could have saved two of our favorite FOB's (friends of the Blog) a bit of embarrassment, if we hadn't been so lazy. If only we'd followed up on the widespread media exposure regarding Noval's chicken flavored comments, we could have told Bob that Hurley had mitigated the sentence down to time served just a few days later, having clearly made his point. Instead, we had to find out Sunday evening, in no uncertain terms, that the kid was released a long time ago, long before The Pulp called about the nuptials. Our apologies to both, since the whole issue could have been avoided, and since we should have known a mitigation was inevitable. Chalk it up to being fat and giddy on an overabundance of free Holiday Continuances ..

After two weeks of miniscule calendars and nothing much going on, it's back to work on Monday. A new year with new resolutions. Some have vowed to try more cases and some have vowed to be a little bit fairer with defendants. As the Captain points out, this is an election year, and at least one Judge (Adrien) has two challengers and counting. Your reap what you sow, eh?

But with all the hope a new year brings, it's business as usual North of the Border where Bob Norman of the Daily Pulp recently reported on Broward Judge Hurley's hissy fit over the Broward Blog's reporting of Hurley's marriage to a courthouse cafeteria worker. (Talk about "marrying up"....Hurley that is.) Hurley called the police (but we doubt he dialed 911) to complain about the Broward Blog's reporting of his impending marriage. This is the same Judge Hurley (recently appointed by Charlie Crist with a ringing endorsement by Scott Rothstein, and a large donation by Rothstein to the State Republican party within days of the appointment) who gave a man 6o days and then another 60 days for contempt of court during a bond hearing. CBS4 of Denver (of all places) has the story here on Hurley's other hissy fit. The Defendant expressed surprise about being held no bond and an increase in charges. Rather than the Judge understanding the natural disappointment of a person being incarcerated without bond, and rather than the Judge showing the experience and temperament we expect of a Circuit Court Judge to deal with a defendant having a bad time in court, the judge came down hard and then twice as hard on the unsuspecting defendant who cursed after being held without bond.

Can you spell J-U-D-I-C-I-A-L- T-E-M-P-E-R-A-M-E-N-T? Neither can Judge Hurley. But you'd better believe he'd love to give us 120 days for having the temerity to speak out about him. First amendment be damned.

Well, we already broke one of our New Year's Resolutions (#5- Give Broward a second chance) so we'd better stop before we break the other 5.

Still out west, but some movement on a plea.

PICK EM ALL

UPDATE: WE WENT 6-3 IN THE 1PM GAMES. 10-6 overall .Not too shabby.

Last week of the regular season, so we decided to pick em all!

Indianapolis +8 at Buffalo. Colts resting most of their team, we'll take the Bills -8 at home. (WIN)

Saints +8 at Carolina. Saints resting most of their team as well, including their QB, so

we like the Panthers at home. (WIN)

Jaguars at Browns -1. Browns playing well lately, but Jags have an outside shot at the playoffs and need the win, so we're taking the Jags. (LOSS)

Bears -3 at Lions. Bears take this one easy. (WIN)

Cheaters at Texans, Teaxans -8. NE still has some pop left and also needs to sew up the number three seed. We'll take the Cheaters +8. (WIN)

Steelers at Miami. The Fins are getting 3 points but the Steelers are motivated and need this win. The Fins played very well this year and should be proud of what they did with a difficult schedule and a second year QB making his first NFL starts. Champs in what may be their last hurrah, -3. (WIN)

Giants at Minnesota: Vikings are reeling from some poor play while the Gints have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Vikings are favored by 8.5 but something tells us the Giants will keep this game close. Giants +8.5. (LOSS)

49'ers at Rams. Rams are getting 7 at home, and we'll go with the visiting 49'ers to close out the season with a win. (WIN)

Atlanta at Tampa Bay. The game is even and the Bucs gave been playing well. Bucs to win at home. (LOSS)

Eagles at Cowpokes- game of the day. Pokes are 3 point favorites at home. The winner takes the division title. Never bet against Vanilla Phillips and his January Cowpoke swoon. Eagles +3.

(loss)

Green Bay at Arizona. The Cardinals are 3 point favorites at home and we'll take the Cardinals in a sleeper of a game as both these teams could be seeing each other again very shortly. (loss)

KC at Denver. The Broncos are 13.5 point favorites and need to win this game to get into the playoffs. But we don't like this Bronco team and we don't think they have the heart to win this game. KC +13.5. (win)

Ravens at Raiders. The Ravens also need to win this game to make the playoffs. They are giving 11 points on the road and while they may beat the Raiders, take Oakland +11 at home.

(win)

Redskins at San Diego. The Chargers are 7 point favorites and despite the fact they have the second seed sewn up and may not be playing their regulars, the Redskins are awful and in disarray. San Diego -7. (loss)

Titans at Seahawks. Hawks are 5 point dogs at home. Seattle may be as bad as the Redskins. Tennessee -5 on the road. (win)

Bengals at Jets. Jets need this game, the Bengals don't. The Jets will be the recipient of playing the second team in two weeks that has no incentive to win. If the Bengals lay down today the Jets will back into the playoffs. If you were Cincinnati, who would you rather play- the Jets or the Steelers? True that the Bengals beat the Steelers twice this year, but one of them was a on a fluky play, and the Steelers and their QB who thrives on last minute drives are the last team we think anyone wants to play this year in the playoffs. The Jets are 9 point favorites. Take Gang Green to coast into the playoffs. It just galls us to see the Jets make the playoffs, but that's the way the ball bounces. (win)

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Someone sent this to us, and it seems appropriate to usher in the New Year:

There is a blue moon tonight (the second full moon of a month) on a New Years Eve which is ushering in a new decade. Last time was in 1819. James Monroe was president. The next time a blue moon will appear on a new decade's New Years Eve won’t be until 2229.

2010 is upon us. Back in say, 1975, didn't it seem that by 2010 we'd all be zipping around in flying cars, and perambulating through cities on moving walkways? 2009 was a difficult year. We lost some people close to us. We got a year older, and hopefully wiser. We won some wars and lost some battles, but we never stopped trying or fighting.

It may be time for a change for us. Time is slipping by and things that we thought we would have done by now remain a distant dream. There is more to life than work. Nobody on their death bed ever said "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

So here's our New Year's resolutions: to stop and smell the ocean breeze; to do even more random acts of kindness; to exercise more and get angry less; less sugar - more fiber; to breathe deeply and to communicate better; and most importantly- to write, to write and to write, for writing is the art that warms our heart and feeds our soul.

Happy New Year dear readers, and may this year bring you unexpected joy and simple pleasures.

AIRLINE SECURITY

US EMBASSY, Lagos Nigeria.

Embassy Officer: How can I help you?

Applicant: I wish to apply to travel to US.

CIA Officer: For what reason?

Applicant: I wish to see NY Knicks in Superbowl.

EO: The Knicks made it?

CIA Off: I'll have research check it out. I think the Expos made it too. Why are you flying to Minnesota, is that where the Super Bowl is this year?

EO: I thought it was in Buffalo.

Applicant: Frequent Flier miles.

EO: Sounds good. Enjoy the game. You're approved.

Secretary: There's a man on the phone saying his son is trying to get to the US to do a terrorist attack.

CIA Off: Another one? Jeeze, don't these people stop with the Nigerian bank scams and terrorists attacks. Put it in the file and I'll look at it in a few months.

................

Airport Security :

Security Officer: I see you have your approval from the US Embassy in Lagos.

What is the purpose of your trip to the US?

Traveler: To watch Mets in Super Bowl, allah be praised.

SO: The Mets have no chance buddy. Favre is way too old. Ok...name?

Traveler: Abdullah Yoseff Mohammed Khomeni-Bin Laden.

SO: Wait a sec- your passport doesn't have the last part- Khomeni-Bin Laden on it.

AYMKBL: Yes. I added that after I became a muslim to show my support for the Iranian people and Osamma Bin Laden.

SO: Really. Hey Ralph- we got some guy here with a last name of Bin-Laden, how funny is that?

Sorry sir...OK. You're approved. Please proceed to the security check point Mr. Bin Laden.

Airport Screening Area:

Screening Officer: Sir. Please wait a minute. YOU- Lady with the baby. Just where do you think you're going with that kid and the bottle? And what's this - Diaper cream? Oh no no no. Not on this plane you don't. That could be an explosive. What's your name? Ms. Smith? Sure, we're gonna check that out "Ms. Smith." You're being sent to the enhanced security area, now please step aside.

Your name sir?

ADYMKBL: Abdullah Yoseff Mohammed Khomeni-Bin Laden.

SO: Oh yeah. They said a Bin-Laden was heading down. Kind of ironic isn't it?

Right this way through the machine.

OK. You're good to go. Enjoy your flight. .....Hey, what's this powder? Buddy. Hold up. You! Bin-Laden, back here. What is this powder leaking down from your leg? You got a secret compartment in there or what? Look at this. I scratch it and sparks fly. Jeeze pal, this could start a fire. What a mess. Do me a favor? Help me clean this up before my supervisor sees this. He'll go nuts. And do me a favor? This stuff is dangerous. Get it all out before you board the plane, ok? Could start a fire Mr. Bin-Laden, and we can't have that.

Ok. Have a great day.

YOU- Ms. Smith. With the baby. Over here. Just who told you that you could bring a bottle of formula on to a plane? Aren't you aware of the terrorist warnings? We may have to delay you lady while we check out your identity......

Item: President Obama criticizes breaches in US Security. WSJ here.

BIGGEST NEWS STORY

UPDATE: Speaking of big stories, the Herald has the story here of the bomber who created the legend of the "The Cuban Rocket" a/k/a Miami Attorney Gino Negretti.

For you young prosecutors and PDs who can't imagine a world without Starbucks and cellphone cameras, 1989 must seem like 1899 to you. But it wasn't that long ago. Miami was slowly emerging from the wild west cocaine cowboy days of the late 1970's and early 1980s. Although the Herald identifies Gino Negretti as a divorce attorney, he was well known in the REGJB. The bombing of his car was something out of a movie, and more than a few defense attorneys in the REGJB were shaken by the attack. A disgruntled client- immediately suspected of being a drug dealer- was the immediate conclusion many lawyers reached. The actual perpetrator was a nefarious drug smuggler, although his motivation was related to Negretti's representation of his wife in a divorce case.

Throw in famed Miami Defense lawyers Richard Sharpstein and Jack Blumenfeld, and you have one of the thousand "only in Miami" Justice Building stories that infuses our humble courthouse with legend and mystery.

And in a "it's too strange for the movies" ending, the man accused of ordering the bombing? The one who allegedly went after Negretti because of Negretti's vigorous representation of his wife in the divorce case? While not only did Sharpy and Jack win an acquittal- but the stress of the trial re-united the estranged couple.

Which is why we confine out legal adventures to the relative safety of representing murderers, and not husbands and wives.

What's the biggest story of 2009 that has affected our humble little courthouse?

It could be something as large as President Obama being sworn in, to something as small as the escalators being fixed/broken/fixed....

In no particular order, the nominees are:

1) Scott Rothstein steals a few bucks;

2) Judge Adrien gets two challengers;

3) Former Judge Phil Davis finally convicted;

4) Carlos Martinez dummies up;

5) Jay Kolsky: busiest man alive;

6) Conflict Counsel stays alive;

7) Abe Laeser retires;

8) ???

What/who are your nominees?

Remember this is Miami, so vote early and vote often.

Biggest news story today? Temperature should drop to mid 40's in North Miami/Broweird tonight. A veritable heat wave where we are, but still pretty cold for the rest of you who are sticking it out at home in Miami.

NFL WEEK 16

BREAKING GATOR NEWS: For those of you that care, and we don't, UF Football Coach Urban Meyer has CHANGED HIS MIND AND WILL NOT RETIRE. He will announce this afternoon at a 4:30 press conference that he will instead take an indefinite leave of absence and the D-Coordinator will take over as interim head coach for the foreseeable future (IHCFTFF).

Second to last week of the regular season. Congratulations again to Rick Freeman for his record breaking Suicide pool win.

Denver goes to Philly with the Bronocs playing a win or out of the playoffs game. The Broncos will lose, but we like the over 41 for 700 Geno's Cheesteaks ("wit" of course)

The Texans come to cool Miami with both teams having a playoff appearance on the line. Basically, the Fins need to win out and the House and Senate need to vote for cloture on the final health care bill for the Fins to make the Playoffs. The Fins have been our savior this year and they are 1.5 favourites at home over the inconsistent Texans. One caveat- the Texans have a better road record than a home record. But with that being said we have only a few things to add: RUN RICKY RUN, and THROW CHAD THROW!

Dolphins -1.5 over Texans for a 1000 Ginns.

If the Dolphins win, if the Broncos lose, and if the Steelers beat the visiting Ravens (which is a huge IF) the Dolphins and the Steelers just may meet next week for the final AFC Wild Card spot (if Congress votes for Cloture.)

Pick Em Paulie said...

We're here mourning the resignation of Urban Meyer. But we must press on with our ho-hum football picks. Every time we ask the gambling gods for a 4-1 week, we get 3-2. So now I'm asking for an 0-5 week. Each pick for $500.00
Buffalo +9
Carolina +9
New England -9
Pittsburgh -3
Philadelphia -7
35-37-3 48.61% -$2850

Another reason why we're a happy and satisfied NETJETS customer: avoiding the riff raff and hoi polloi: You won't believe the cretins they let fly in First Class these days. Ivana Trump booted off first class yesterday. Herald Story here.

Trump showed her class by cursing at children as she was escorted off the plane. Good riddance we say.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Click on the title of the post to watch NORAD track Santa. Dick Cheney once ordered the Air Force to shoot down Santa when he squawked the wrong frequency when approaching Washington, DC. Thankfully the President overrode the order.

POPE IN "INCIDENT". UPDATE: POPE KNOCKED DOWN- woman assailant tried to attack him a year ago. Swiss Guards asleep at the switch. NY Times coverage here.

There was an "incident" at St. Peters today as the Pope began to celebrate mass. The Pope is OK. More on this as it becomes available.

Not a bad place to hike, eh?

MERRY CHRISTMAS

HE MAY BE A BIT OF A PAIN.

(at times) but HE 'S OUR PAIN, and we don't take kindly to the Broward Blog putting him through the wringer.

Who are we talking about? What did the Broward Blog do?

It all started with this post on the Broward Blog:

JAABLOG FIELD TRIP - our first stop this morning took us to the North Dade Justice Center, for our first ever hearing before the legendary Judge Sheldon Schwartz. We were warned by a Miami lawyer about his curt, sometimes abrasive demeanor, with the caveat that he always does the right thing in the end. This description turned out to be accurate.

Schwartz came out bedecked in a black trimmed, glaring red robe. Was the sartorial splendor simply a nod to the holiday season, or par for the course? No, we were advised, he often dons flowing, colorful accoutrements worthy of a Roman emperor.

Next, he proceeded to rip an Israeli national, represented by counsel. Schwartz felt the defendant was trying to pull a fast one, by claiming he didn't speak English. He ordered the tapes played from a previous hearing, when the defendant had appeared without benefit of counsel, apparently understanding and speaking the English language. MOTION DENIED.

Counsel for the defendant got into it with Schwartz, but the Judge wouldn't budge. There were some choice berations directed at the defendant, worthy of Broward's finest, along the lines of "You may be one of the privileged people, but you don't have the privilege of driving in the United States without a license."

Classic north of the border stuff, except very un-Broward-like in the end, since Schwartz stated on multiple occasions that he would recuse himself if the defendant didn't feel he was getting a fair shake. Just like that. No motions to file, no tricky rules and deadlines to navigate, and no convoluted, hide the ball, highly technical bogus rulings to appeal later. In short, it was fair.

Impressed, we asked around after returning to home turf. It turns out Schwartz was also a super hot shot lawyer before he retired, at least according to Fred Haddad and Howard Finkelstein. As far as the red robe is concerned, however, no one could offer a satisfactory explanation.

Rumpole says: If you don't know about Shelly Schwartz's penchant for sartorial statements in the form of colorful ties, robes, shirts and suits.... then you don't know Shelly Schwartz, which puts that last line from the Broward Blog in dispute. How could Haddad or Finkelstein profess to know Shelly Schwartz and not know about his signature choices in haberdashery?

Kudos in the end to the JAABlog for recognizing the world of difference between Miami schtick, and Broward nastiness.

JUDGE TINKLER MENDEZ HAS NO SYMPATHY

for people who kill little children.

"For you sir, I have no sympathy." And with those words, Judge Marissa Tinkler-Mendez sentenced defendant Damon Darling to 50 years for firing a weapon whose stray bullet struck down nine year old Sherdavia Jenkins as she played with her doll in her front yard.

The Herald reported on the sentencing here. From the article:

`It was a selfish, violent act. Nothing I can do to punish you can minimize the pain of the family of the dead child,'' the judge told Darling, adding: ``For you, sir, I have no particular sympathy.''

YOUR COUNTY COURT FINALISTS:

For Judge Arzola's county court seat:

The Captain Reports:
The six finalists have been chosen for our next County Court Judge. They are:

Anita Margot Moss
Steven Lieberman
Tanya Brinkley
Tamara Ilene Gray
Andrea Ricker Wolfson
Lourdes Simon

Gov. Crist has sixty days. The Captain invites all comments and will personally forward them to Gov Charlie.

Captain Out.

Rumpole notes: Just one guy.

ARE THE PDS KEEPING CASES FROM THE REGIONAL COUNSEL'S OFFICE?

A reader writes in:

Anonymous said...

Pit PD's do there best to keep cases out of RCA's hands - but only because we see how those cases are handled after they leave ours.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6:23:00 PM

Soon it will be harder to get a DL than a motion to suppress granted.

The Herald has the bureaucratic details here.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas from our vantage point high in the Sierra Nevada mountains.