JUDICIAL ELECTION 2016 - THE LINEUP

UPDATE BY RUMPOLE

Rumpole gets the last word here on the putative candidacy of Daniel Espinosa, Esq. 

Putting aside the sob story about how this is his "dream" and Mr. Espinosa begs the clerk to "allow me to go through with it", lets have a brief discussion about the writing skills of a man who wants to be called Judge, and have the power and ability to write orders that will cause millions of dollars to be won or lost, or cause a person to live or die. 

"Knowingly, I enclosed a check for ... please advise at once so that I may appropriate issue a check from my campaign account once it is opened." 

Hmm... so that I may appropriate issue a check. Can one "inappropriate" issue a check? Well, yes. If the check is twenty cents less than the amount due. 

The verb is "issue" and the adverb, modifying the verb is "appropriately" not "appropriate".  Adverbs describe the action. They may modify it as well. "I ate slowly". "The judge incorrectly  decided the motion."  

What Mr. Judge Is My Dream wanted to write was "so I can issue the check from the appropriate account for the correct amount" or "so I can have the check appropriately issued", although this sentence is still on shaky ground. 

And what's the deal with "Knowingly?" Can one "unknowingly" enclose a check? Probably not, but one can improperly issue a check, and for the wrong amount to boot. The inclusion of "knowingly" is nothing more than an example of someone who has poor writing skills trying to write like he thinks a lawyer writes. 

"...I am pleading with you to please accept my check, or in the alternative to allow the twenty cents (or a new check) to be issued." 

Query: How does one issue twenty cents? 
Answer: You are the United States Treasury and you are authorized by Congress to issue a new coin for twenty cents (the ol' "double dime"). 

So what was Mr. Beg, borrow and plead asking for? Well, he wanted the clerk to accept a check for a filing fee for an incorrect amount. FAIL. Or allow him to issue a new check, outside the deadline for the correct amount. FAIL. Or, somehow, allow a twenty cent piece of some sort to be issued by some individual or duly authorized agency that would cover the shortfall. 

Why are we being picayune? 
BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BE A JUDGE. He isn't applying for a license to sell ice cream. He isn't applying for a license to run the El Chapo Cafe, (where being several months late is no problemo).  His wants to be a judge. It is his dream. It is his family's dream. He is saying, by running, that he is amongst the best and brightest of the entire legal profession of our county. 

And yet he cannot even write a coherent letter convincing the clerk to accept his incorrect filing fee. 

If he was a judge and had to run on a statute of limitations issue, how would he rule? 
By virtue of his letter writing skills that would earn a D minus in our legal writing class, good riddance. The citizens of Miami-Dade County are saved from dealing with yet another completely unqualified lawyer who wants to be a judge. 

(Any news on Judge Jackie Schwartz? )





THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

UPDATED:

Thank you to the alert commenter for pointing out that challenger Daniel Espinosa has not been officially qualified to run against Judge Rosa Rodriguez.  Mr. Espinosa turned over his check to the Dept. of State on Thursday, in the amount of $5,843.00.  Only problem is that the filing fee is $5,843.20.  By virtue of the check being 20 cents short, he may be out of luck.

FURTHER UPDATE:

There are actually two checks on file with the Department.  The first one dated April 28, 2016 is for the correct amount but issued from the account of Espinosa Law Group.  The second one dated May 5th, is twenty cents short and issued from the account of Daniel "Danny" Espinosa Campaign Account.

FINAL UPDATE:

The Florida Dept. of State has removed Espinosa's name from Group 30.  Congrats to Judge Rosa Rodriguez who dodged two bullets this week.  First when Jorge Lopez filed against her; only to withdraw.  Then when Espinosa filed against her, only to pay with a law office check at first, and then replace that check with a campaign account check that was 20 cents short of the filing fee.

That decision was worth at least $876,480 to Rodriguez; the salary she will earn over the next six years.


SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERYWHERE A SIGN,
BLOCKIN' OUT THE SCENERY, BREAKIN' MY MIND .....

And there's going to be lots of them, scattered all over Miami-Dade County this summer as, at deadline, there are no less then ten contested judicial races.

While ten contested races sounds like a high number, it's not.  In 2006, there were 16 contested races; in 2012 there were 12 contests; and in 2008 there were also 10.  Anyone remember the likes of Shirlyon McWhorter, Stephen Millan, Michael Samuels, Migna Sanchez Llorens, Bonnie Rippingile, Josie Velis, Gina Mendez, and Jose Sanchez-Gronlier.  Those were just some of the losers in 2006.

Here are your contested judicial races:

CIRCUIT COURT

Circuit Group 9 - Incumbent Jason Bloch v. Marcia Del Rey

Circuit Group 30 - Incumbent Rosa Rodriguez v. Daniel Espinosa

Circuit Group 34 - Mark Blumstein v. Renee Gordon v. Denise Martinez-Scanziani v. Luis Perez-Medina.  (Judge Gill Freeman retiring).

Circuit Group 52 - Rosy Aponte v. Carol "Jodie" Breece v. Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts. (Judge Michael Genden retiring).

Circuit Group 66 - Incumbent Robert Luck v. Yolly Roberson

Circuit Group 74 - Incumbent George "Jorge" Sarduy v. Elena Ortega-Tauler

COUNTY COURT

County Group 5 - Incumbent Fred Seraphin v. Milena Abreu

County Group 7 - Incumbent Ed Newman v. Lizzett Martinez

County Group 15 - Ruben Yury Alcoba v. Linda Luce (Judge Judith Rubenstein retiring).

County Group 35 - Incumbent Wendell Graham v. Antonio "Tony" Jimenez

ELECTED WITHOUT OPPOSITION .....

Congratulations to the following 17 Judges/former Judge who have been elected to a six year term with an annual salary of $146,080 (Circuit Court) and $138,020 (County Court):

CIRCUIT

John Schlesinger
Rodolfo "Rudy" Ruiz
Scott Bernstein
Bertila Soto
John Thornton
Jennifer Bailey
Barbara Areces
David Young* (former Judge)
William Thomas
Milt Hirsch
Samantha Ruiz Cohen
Nushin Sayfie
Monica Gordo

COUNTY

Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson
Carroll Kelly
Diana Vizcaino
Laura Anne Stuzin

FERNANDEZ RUNDLE & MARTINEZ BOTH REELECTED

Also elected without opposition were State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Public Defender Carlos Martinez.  For Carlos, who was first elected in 2008, this is his third term.  For Kathy, who is 66 years young, this is her seventh term.  She took over for Janet Reno in 1993 when President Clinton names Reno as Attorney General.  She was then elected in 1994 and reelected six more times.  Is this her final term?  What do you think?


NORTH OF THE BORDER

One note about the happenings in Broweird.  Our longtime colleague, ASA Abbe Rifkin, has qualified to run in Group 15 against three other candidates, including Incumbent Judge Matthew Destry.


We hope everyone enjoyed their Cinco de Mayo yesterday.  Have a great weekend and we leave you with one of our favourite songs of our youth; (well more like Stan Blake's youth):

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

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2016 - THE DAY BEFORE "THE DAY"

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THE CLOCK IS TICKING ......

With just over 24 hours to go before the deadline to Qualify for the 2016 Miami-Dade Judicial Elections, there are many creatures a-stirring throughout all parts of our great County.

The following Incumbent Circuit and County Judges are holding their breath, all currently unopposed, waiting to see who among them will join the summer breakfast circuit traveling between Florida City to the South and Aventura to the North; from Miami Beach to the East to the likes of Doral, Sweetwater, and Kendall to the West:

CIRCUIT

John Schlesinger
Rodolfo "Rudy" Ruiz
Scott Bernstein
Bertila Soto
John Thornton
Jennifer Bailey
Barbara Areces
William Thomas
Milt Hirsch
Samantha Ruiz Cohen
Nushin Sayfie
Monica Gordo

COUNTY

Michaelle Gonzalez-Paulson
Diana Vizcaino
Laura Anne Stuzin

The following "CONTESTED" races are lining up as follows:

Circuit Group 9 - Incumbent Jason Bloch* v. Marcia Del Rey

Circuit Group 30 - Incumbent Rosa Rodriguez v. Jorge Lopez*

Circuit Group 34 - Mark Blumstein v. Renee Gordon v. Denise Martinez-Scanziani v. Luis Perez-Medina.  (Judge Gill Freeman retiring).

Circuit Group 39 - David Young v. NOBODY YET. (Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat retiring).

Circuit Group 52 - Carol "Jodie" Breece v. Raul Perez-Ceballos v. Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts. (Judge Michael Genden retiring).

Circuit Group 66 - Incumbent Robert Luck v. Yolly Roberson*

Circuit Group 74 - Incumbent George "Jorge" Sarduy v. Elena Ortega-Tauler

County Group 5 - Incumbent Fred Seraphin v. Milena Abreu

County Group 7 - Incumbent Ed Newman v. Lizzett Martinez*

County Group 15 - Ruben Yury Alcoba v. Linda Luce v. Eleane Sosa-Bruzon*. (Judge Judith Rubenstein retiring).

County Group 23 - Incumbent Carroll Kelly v. Rosy Anette Aponte*

County Group 35 - Incumbent Wendell Graham v. Antonio "Tony" Jimenez

*Indicates that the candidate has filed their initial Statement of Candidate for Judicial Office but they have not yet paid their Qualifying Fee.

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

JUDGES SARDUY & KELLY HAVE OPPONENTS, JUDGE SAYFIE DOES NOT .....

AND NOW A WORD FROM JUDGE BLAKE: 

 Stan Blake said...

As a prior administrative judge in the Criminal Division for 9 years, the average person has no idea about all the extra work with no additional pay. Almost daily meetings and putting out fires are just a small part of the job. Because of the experience, administrative judges often teach others and sit on commitees. I know personally how hard Judge Kelly and Judge Sayfie work.

Wednesday, May 04, 2016 2:54:00 PM

 

This is Rumpole. We want to thank the Captain for doing a great job staying on top of this ever-changing judicial election landscape. The thought that comes to us is....where is Albert Zemlock when you need him?

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS ROUND THREE .....

INCUMBENT JUDGE SARDUY HAS AN OPPONENT

AND

INCUMBENT JUDGE SAYFIE LOSES HER OPPONENT

AND

INCUMBENT JUDGE KELLY HAS AN OPPONENT .....

Incumbent Judges beware.  No seat in safe in Miami-Dade County.  Today, very quietly, Circuit Court Judge George Sarduy, currently assigned to the Family Division, drew an opponent.  That opponent is none other than attorney Elena C. Tauler AKA Elena "Ortega"-Tauler; which is the name she used to file for Judge.

Judge Sarduy was in private practice until April of 2006 when he was appointed to the County Court bench by Governor Jeb Bush.  Less than two years later, Sarduy was elevated to the Circuit Court bench by Governor Charlie Crist.  He ran unopposed in 2010 to retain his seat and he is currently running for reelection.

Elena C. Tauler is an attorney licensed by The Florida Bar since 1988.  On the other hand, Elena Ortega-Tauler is not an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Florida.  Despite that, Elena Ortega-Tauler is running for Circuit Court Judge.

Tauler filed to run in Group 52 more than one year ago, and until today, was running against Carol "Jodi" Breece, Raul Perez-Ceballos, and Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts.  This afternoon, Tauler jumped into Group 74 filing against Incumbent Judge Sarduy.

We have written several posts about Elena Tauler, including on April 24, 2008 and March 8, 2015, that can be found here and here.

We were recently sent a brochure from Florida Mediation Group where Tauler is a Mediator.  The brochure touts "Elena C. Tauler", Esq as a Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court mediator.  It does not mention anybody by the name of Elena Ortega-Tauler in the brochure.

INCUMBENT JUDGE SAYFIE .....

Also happening this afternoon, Judge Sayfie lost her opponent, Rosy A. Aponte.  Aponte has now decided to run against Incumbent County Court Judge Carroll Kelly in Group 23. 

And thank you to the alert reader who pointed out that Sayfie's campaign account has grown since last Friday.  On Monday she reported that for the month of April, 2016, she raised an additional $41,990, bringing her total raised to $96,000.  It is also remarkable how the legal community rallied around her candidacy in opposing the filing by Aponte.  I say that because, of the $41,990 raised in the month of April, $41,465 was donated on Friday, April 29th, the day Aponte filed.  Sayfie also loaned her campaign an extra $25k on the same day).

INCUMBENT JUDGE CARROLL KELLY .....

Judge Kelly has been on the bench since 1998.  Since getting elected that year, she was reelected in 2004 and 2010, and she is running for reelection this year.  Her web page can be found here.

Judge Kelly is currently the Administrative Judge of the Domestic Violence Division.  She previously served as President of the Florida Conference of County Court Judges, teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the UM law school, and serves on the faculty of the Florida Judicial College and the Florida College for Advanced Judicial Studies.

Her opponent is Rosy A. Aponte, who we wrote about on Friday, April 29, 2016.

Three days left until filing closes and by all accounts there will be a lot more action in the final 72 hours.

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

JUDGE ROSA RODRIGUEZ DRAWS AN OPPONENT .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS CONTINUES ... JUDGE ROSA RODRIGUEZ HAS OPPOSITION .....

In what's now becoming a regular occurrence over the past few days, another long time Incumbent Judge has drawn an opponent.

Early on it was the likes of County Court Judges Ed Newman and Fred Seraphin, and Circuit Court Judges Jason Bloch and Robert Luck.

In the past couple of days, add Incumbent Judges Wendell Graham, Nushin Sayfie, and now Rosa Rodriguez to that list.  WHO'S NEXT ?!

Today, attorney Jorge A. Lopez has filed to run against the three time incumbent Judge Rodriguez.

Judge Rosa Rodriguez was first elected to the Circuit Court bench in 1998. She was reelected in 2004 and 2010. She is running to retain her seat.  In 1998, Rodriguez defeated attorney Ann Mason-Parker by 54% to 46% to win her race.  She ran unopposed in '04 and '10.

Attorney Jorge A. Lopez has been a member of The Florida Bar for 29 years. He has an office in Coral Gables. According to his web site, this is what it says about him:

Jorge A. Lopez, Senior Partner

Jorge A. Lopez earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University in 1983 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1986. Mr. Lopez was admitted to the Florida Bar in October of 1986. Mr. Lopez has extensive experience handling complex commercial matters and litigation involving investor fraud and corporate disputes. Mr. Lopez also handles litigation of catastrophic injury claims, aviation disasters and consumer fraud cases. In addition, Mr. Lopez has represented clients against some of the largest financial institutions including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS Paine Webber, Salomon-Smith Barney, CitiGroup, Credit Suisse First Boston and Prudential Securities. Mr. Lopez speaks Spanish and Portuguese

COINCIDENCE

As was pointed out by an alert reader of the BLOG, Attorney Rosy Aponte (who filed against Judge Sayfie) and Attorney Jorge A. Lopez, both have the exact same Campaign Treasurer.  That person is C.P.A. Carlos Trueba who has an office in Doral.

MONEY

We all know that you can't run a campaign without it.  And, like Judge Graham, who has raised no money and filed with one week to go before the qualifying deadline, and like Judge Sayfie, who has raised only $54,000, the least among all incumbent Circuit Court Judges, so does Judge Rosa Rodriguez fall into that same category.  Of the 14 Incumbent Circuit Court Judges running for reelection, only Judges Schlesinger, Bernstein, and Areces have raised less than the $89,000 that Judge Rosa Rodriguez has raised.  And when you add in the amounts lent to candidates' own campaigns, Rodriguez fall down to third to last with Areces and Sayfie bringing up the rear in total funds available for their campaigns.  Rodriguez has contributed a grand total of ZERO loaned to her own campaign. (See our BLOG post dated April 29, 2016).

Alert readers, please email us with any other tips and breaking news.

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

NEW STUFF

El Chapo cafe at the REGJB is now open for business. There was a soft-no-announce opening last week. Probably because the coffee was horrible and the food worse, and there wasn't- according to reports- a lot available. 

Judge Sayfie still has opposition. 
Can this really be the lawyer who thinks she is qualified to challenge Judge Sayfie?

 Anonymous said...

Rosy Aponte, who is currently the subject of investigation by The Florida Bar, is the long time cohort of the self proclaimed king of foreclosure defense, John Ruiz, who has himself spent the batter part of the last five years mired in a myriad of cases consisting of foreclosures, repossessions, and attempts to collect debts related to his la ley "empire". Ms. Aponte luckily managed to avoid payment of her debts through a discharge she obtained in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Interestedly, Ms. Aponte's complete ineptitude has been highlighted recently by the Hon. A J Cristol who barred her from practicing before the United States Bankruptcy Court as a result of her confession that she had no clue what she was doing in a contested chapter 7 case. Ms. Aponte's stellar representation resulted in the debtor and multiple family members of the debtor, including his elderly mother being held in contempt of court, faced with incarceration and substantially sanctioned. Unbowed, in yet another case pending before the Hon. Laurel Isicoff, Ms. Aponte was ordered to show cause and sanctioned as a result of filing an unsuspecting alleged debtor in bankruptcy without ever having met her client. Her excuse was simple, someone in her office used her credentials . It is a sad day when a distinguished, hardworking and well respected jurist is challenged by a puppet who sole qualification is a hispanic last name.

Monday, May 02, 2016 12:27:00 PM

 

And Judge Jacqueline Schwartz is still a judge. 

And in case you didn't see our edit of Sunday's post*, Assistant Federal Public Defender Abby Becker won the Gregg Wenzel Young Lawyer's award for her work in spearheading the Federal Public Defender's Office's clemency project and her obtaining the release of a woman sentenced as a first offender to life in prison for one of those drug conspiracy cases in the 1990's that the Clinton Administration wrought by their desire to pander to the right. 

See you in court. 


* Many federal practitioners are a mild lot. They don't get trained to throw the elbows in close quarters that those who rose through the ranks of the REGJB did. But apparently our slight in not mentioning Ms. Becker by name in our original post brought out the worst in her supporters, not to mention their thesauruses. 
There's only so many ways one can be called a rude, ignorant bore by otherwise mild mannered litigators before you've had enough. We've had enough. We surrender. Ms. Becker has received her well earned, much deserved, due. 

Now stop sending us threatening emails with the words "a good thrashing" in them. 

FACDL AWARDS DINNER

UPDATED Below with a full list of the award winners. As we said, we are an ocean away. 

The FACDL had their 263rd awards dinner last night at the Last Stop Bar in Florida City. Yes, the tradition dates back to a bunch of Calusta Native Americans sitting on a mound of shells in Florida Bay and handing out fresh lobster and oysters as an award. 

Actually, and because we are still in Europe involved in Brexit, we have pieced together events based on the numerous emails we have received in the last 8-10 hours. 

Federal assistant Public defender Abby Becker received the Greg Wenzel young lawyers award for doing something really good. Nobody knows for sure, the acoustics were awful. But we're sure it's well deserved.   for her work in spearheading the Federal Public Defenders Clemency petitions. This is great work that was and is really needed. Well done.  (okay? Everyone needs to stop sending us  mean and nasty  emails now. We weren't there. We don;t know who did what to whom.)

Beji Waxman received the "Against All Odds Award" for writing a winning brief in the Florida Supreme Court and his prior decade of litigation for a client in the infamous Casey Nickelodeon murders in Broward. Eventually Waxman was able to convince the Supreme Court that the Broward rule that identity need not "really be proven" in a Broward murder case was, well,  not entirely kosher to use some Latin. 

Judge Mary Jo Francis deservedly received the Justice Kogan award for her work on the bench, especially in jail court  misdemeanor cases, where 99.9% of the cases involve defendants suffering from mental illness. 

Edith Georgi won the Sy Gaer founders award for her lifetime of wonderful, dedicated, and top notch advocacy at the Public Defenders office. 

Alex Michaels won the Gino Negretti "Courtesy in Court" award, for obvious reasons. 

But according to all emails, the highlight of the event was when moderator Milt Hirsch paused in his annual rendition of Federalist Paper #78 (on the judiciary) 

But it is not with a view to infractions of the Constitution only, that the independence of the judges may be an essential safeguard against the effects of occasional ill humors in the society. These sometimes extend no farther than to the injury of the private rights of particular classes of citizens, by unjust and partial laws. Here also the firmness of the judicial magistracy is of vast importance in mitigating the severity and confining the operation of such laws. It not only serves to moderate the immediate mischiefs of those which may have been passed, but it operates as a check upon the legislative body in passing them; who, perceiving that obstacles to the success of iniquitous intention are to be expected from the scruples of the courts, are in a manner compelled, by the very motives of the injustice they meditate, to qualify their attempts. This is a circumstance calculated to have more influence upon the character of our governments, than but few may be aware of...

whereupon Judge Hirsch introduced Judge Sayfie, to a rousing standing ovation of attorneys who all then made patting movements on their jackets and rummaged through their purses to mostly discover that, darn, they forgot to bring their check books. 

Judge Hirsch then returned to conclude with his rendition of "A Costly Ride" by Guy de Maupassant,  reprising his long-ago defense of a case in which he successfully argued the old "wrong place, wrong time defense."


A good time was apparently had by all. 

One of these years someone is going to invite us. 
Until then.... see you in court. 

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...

The Captain Reports:

Rumpole - here is your Errata Sheet:

The last Award is called the Pearson-Prebish Founders Award named after the two FACDL-Miami founders. It is awarded for Lifetime Achievement.

There were two winners, both well deserved:

Edith Georgi and Rory Stein

Congrats to all of the winners last evening.

Cap Out .....

JUDGE SAYFIE HAS AN OPPONENT

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS ..... JUDGE NUSHIN SAYFIE HAS DRAWN OPPOSITION .....

UPDATED BELOW

In a stunning move, Judge Nushin Sayfie, Chief Administrative Judge of the Criminal Division, has drawn an opponent.  Judge Sayfie is running for reelection in Group 59 of the Circuit Court.

Her opponent is attorney ROSY APONTE, who has been a member of The Florida Bar for, hold your breath, a whopping seven years.  Ms. Aponte maintains a law office in the City of Doral.  Ms. Aponte filed to run against Judge Sayfie earlier today.

Judge Sayfie began her career with the Public Defender's Office and worked for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit PD from 1994-1999 and from 2001-2007. She also spent two years with the PD in the Second Circuit from 1999-2001. Judge Sayfie became a Circuit Court Judge in 2007.  She was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist in 2007 and ran unopposed in 2010.

Judge Sayfie has currently raised $54,000 and loaned her campaign a total of $5,000.

We know nothing about her opponent.

UPDATE:

If Aponte decides to leave Group 59 and jump into another race, here are the Incumbents currently running unopposed. One of them may end up having a long, hot summer filled with shaking lots of hands:

John Schlesinger - $61,000**; $100,000***
Rudy Ruiz - $118,000; $3,500
Scott Bernstein - $76,000; $50,000
Bertila Soto - $108,000; $2,000
John Thornton - $189,000; $100,000
Jennifer Bailey - $156,000; $5,000
Rosa Rodriguez - $89,000; $0.00
Barbara Areces - $64,000; $10,000
David Young * - $222,000; $250
William Thomas - $188,000; $500
Milton Hirsch - $174,000; $100,000
Samantha Ruiz Cohen - $111,000; $25,000
Monica Gordo - $144,000; $0.00
Jorge Sarduy - $105,000; $500
*former judge with no current opposition
**the first number represents the amount raised
***the second number represents the amount the candidate loaned to their campaign

If Judge Sayfie is lucky enough to have Ms. Aponte move to another Group, I'm thinking that Scott Bernstein is shaking in his boots right about now.

COUNTY COURT .... GROUPS 15 & 35

The latest on Group 35 is that Judge Wendell Graham is down to one opponent; Antonio "Tony" Jimenez.  That's because his other opponent, patent attorney Ruben Alcoba, has jumped into the Group 15 race against Linda Luce and Eleane Sosa-Bruzon.

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

20 QUESTIONS

UPDATED 
Why....

Why does life and practice of law in the REGJB need to be so difficult?

Twenty questions:

1) Why aren't court documents scanned so they can be accessed electronically? 
Let's break this down in to two subsets. First, the Feds have a great system. You electronically file something and it is available for downloading from then on. This system was fully functional before the state instituted our filing system which does not make filed documents accessible. 
Second, what's the document attorneys wait in line at the clerk's office (now down to one clerk and counting) to copy? An A-Form on a new case. Why aren't those scanned so we can get them?
We can order a four course meal from a French restaurant on our phone and pay for it and have it delivered to the courthouse within an hour, but we can't get a copy of an a-form without waiting in a line for the same hour. 
You can apply for a freaking mortgage on your phone. But we can't an electronic copy of one damn pink piece of paper ("the defendant fraudulently applied for over 200 mortgages from his phone and was arrested after an investigation.") 

2) Why aren't informations provided to the defense? It's only the charging document. The prosecution doesn't give you one when they file charges and all the in court clerk will do is give you some vague promise about mailing it to you sometime before 2027. But why incur the mailing cost? Why not have a copy available? Or scanned and emailed? We realize we're being picky here. It's only the charging document. The piece of paper that is bringing your client to court and may send her to prison for life. Other than that, it's not that important. 

3) Why can't clerks in court certify a copy? Why do we have to get a copy of an order in court and then have to trek up to nine and wait in line for the clerk (down to one every other day and counting) to get it certified? 

4) And if the in court clerk could certify a document, then a motion to transport a defendant could be certified in court and handed to a corrections officer. Instead, here is the procedure (edited for brevity) : i) Go to court; It's not on calendar. leave; ii) Re-set the motion; iii) Go back to court; iv) Get the order signed;  v) Walk or ride the elevator up to nine;  Go see the clerk (down to working twice a week and counting); vi) Get six certified copies;  vii) Walk down to six. Go to corrections. Give them six certified copies. They want seven. vii) Go back to court. Court is finished for the day; viii) Call the JA and ask the case to be put back on calendar. JA asks for a written motion first. Email the motion. JA sets it on calendar in six weeks; ix) Go to court. Get motion signed. Judge comments she already signed this. "It's too long to explain judge. Just sign it again." x) Get order. Take elevator up to nine;  xi) Wait in line for clerk. xii) Get sixteen certified copies; xiii) Take certified copies to corrections. "Why do you have sixteen certified copies? We only need three." ; xiv) Look for window to jump out of.  

Rinse. repeat. 

5) Why do we have to call over-worked JAs to calendar a case? We can schedule an appointment with a heart surgeon over an app on our phone. We can buy a car on-line, book a trip to Bali, make reservations at Per Se on our phone. We can short Apple and go long on Bank of America with three clicks on our phone. But we have to call a JA to schedule a two minute motion. 

Why does the practice of law in the REGJB have to be this difficult? 

There are Apps for everything these days. Uber is changing the world. In San Francisco most of the parking spaces downtown are being electronically monitored so an App can find a parking space for you. But in the REGJB if you want almost anything, you need to wait on line and ask for a paper file which the odds are 50-50 cannot be found, and then copy the item in the file. It boggles the mind how far behind the times we are. 

Five questions about five simple issues for which the technology exists to do it better, cheaper, and easier. 

15 questions left. Post yours in the comments and we will consider using them. 

See you in court, where you must turn your beeper off before entering a courtroom. 

UPDATE: Question # 6

6) WHY CAN'T WE GET DECENT WI-FI in the courthouse? 

Lot 26 Woes

"Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony."

So goes the song. 

Not so much for criminal defense attorneys and law enforcement officers. 

Lot 26, the parking lot adjacent ("next to" for our robed readers) to the REGJB, has become a flash point of sorts once again. This is the parking lot young ASAs tramp through every day, lugging carts teeming with disorderly conduct and DWLS cases while sipping Starbucks and snapchatting and walking right down the middle of the lot oblivious to the line of cars creeping  behind them looking for a parking space. 

But more of the issue is police officers who are not good neighbors, parking lot wise. Which reminds us, as Donald Trump is wont to say, tall fences make good neighbors. 


However, the problem  with sharing (a skill covered in kindergarten) is percolating just beneath the surface:

Evidence this rant, which went the  FACDL listserv equivalent of viral:

Good morning,

Several years ago those of us who pay upwards of $100 a month to park in lot 26 were asked to share the parking lot with law enforcement officers who get to park there for free.

Throughout the years there's been conflict especially on Monday mornings when the parking lot tends to be over full.

Below please find photographs of a particular law enforcement officer who chose to park in a manner taking up two parking spaces on a Monday morning.

If we are all required to share we should all be courteous to those around us, especially if you were invited to park in our lot for free.

If someone knows who this officer is please advise he or she that they would benefit from retaking the parking class at the police academy. Thank you

Here is defense exhibit one, which to be honest with you, is more like the work of a City of Miami Crime Scene tech, then a good and clear picture of the problem. 

ELECTION CENTRAL UPDATE .... WENDELL GRAHAM UPDATE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION CENTRAL 2016 ...................

COUNTY AND CIRCUIT COURT RACES

A whole lot of changes in the landscape of judicial races has taken place in the past week in both the County Court and Circuit Court.

COUNTY COURT

GROUP 15

We were the first to report (on March 8^th) that Judge Judith "Judy" Rubinstein had decided to hang up her robe after 16 years on the bench.

As soon as Judge Rubinstein announced her intention to retire, two attorneys who had filed to run in Circuit Court jumped at the opportunity for a less crowded field and filed in her County Court Group. The first attorney, Antonio G. Jimenez, who had previously filed to run in Circuit Group 34, is still now running for County Court.  But, the second lawyer, Raul Perez-Ceballos, who previously filed to run in Circuit Group 52, then filed to run in County Court Group 15, has now firmly chosen to return to the Circuit Court race in Group 52 against Jodie Breece, Elena Ortega-Tauler, and Oscar Rodriguez-Fonts. Perez-Ceballos plucked down his check in the amount of $5,843.20 last week representing the filing fee to run for Circuit Court Judge.

GROUP 35

We previously reported to you that only one incumbent, Judge Wendell Graham, had yet for file to run for reelection in his Group 35 of the County Court. When we spoke with Judge Graham this past October, he indicated to us that he intended to run again. Judge Graham has been on the bench since 1994. With two weeks left in the filing period Graham has still not filed to retain his seat.  When we recently spoke with him again, he reiterated his intention to file.  The problem is, because he waited as long as he did, when he does file, he will now have to face two challengers who are attempting to take his seat away from him.

Filing to run in Group 35:

Antonio G. Jimenez. Yes, the same Jimenez that had first filed in Circuit Group 34; then moved to County Group 15, has now settled into running for the open seat in County Group 35.

Ruben Y. Alcoba. He joined the race this past Friday. Mr. Alcoba has been a member of The Florida Bar for the past 17 years. He is a patent attorney having handled over 500 patent and trademark legal matters.

GROUP 15

Wait, so if incumbent Judith Rubenstein first filed, then dropped out of County Group 15; and if challenger Antonio Jimenez first filed in this Group and then switched to County Group 35; and if challenger Raul Perez-Ceballos first filed in Circuit Group 34, then switched to County Group 15, only to switch back to Circuit Group 34,

Who, you ask, is left to run in County Group 15. Well, until a few days ago - nobody. Enter:

Linda Luce. She has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1995. We believe Ms. Luce handles primarily family law matters with an office in Coral Gables.

Eleane Sosa-Bruzin. She has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2005. Ms. Sosa-Bruzin is currently employed with Landau & Assoc., a large firm based in Hollywood. She began her career at the Broward PD’s office. She now handles PIP suits.

No doubt there will be a lot more hopping around between Groups and a few last minute surprise candidates as we draw closer to the filing deadline of Friday, May 6, 2016.

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

She's 90














And he died 400 years ago.



It's better to be in England, now that spring is here. 
Events at Stratford-upon-Avon this weekend.

WHEN OA AT THE SUPREME COURT GOES BAD 
Slate has the uncomfortable details here (h/t Mr. Markus).

Our read: The Supreme Court wants to require warrants in DUI blood tests for certain, and maybe even breath tests, but no competent lawyer can give them the facts they need. 

Interesting side note: the court talks a lot about "insta-warrants"- warrants obtained electronically in minutes,  and we're just wondering- original intent and original text wise- in which federalist paper that was discussed? 


EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK

EL CHAPO CAFE

Photo reprinted without the permission of El Chapo Cafe, but sent in by alert reader Kenneth Weisman, at great personal expense.

DOCTOR (?????) STANFORD BLAKE .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

"DOCTOR" STANFORD BLAKE .....

 "I thought I was going to be a dentist.

    I don't know why. After three chemistry

         courses I said, 'This is not going to work.' "

The year was 1966. It was a fun time to be on campus at the University of Florida. But for freshman student Stanford Blake, it was all business. That was until he barely survived his first year of science classes. Then he switched to majoring in Advertising, even winning a national competition and earning job offers from NY ad agencies.

Fortunately for us, Stan didn’t want to live in cold weather NYC and really didn't see his future in advertising. NY’s loss - our gain. He went to the UM law school, and in his final year there, he interned at the Miami PD’s office. "He loved it "from the first day I went to court," Blake said.

"Your deodorant was failing you in 10 minutes,

but afterward you would say, 'What a rush!'"

He was hired by the PD’s office and spent five years there. Then 16 more in private practice as a criminal defense attorney. While he always thought that he might run for Judge one day, it wasn’t until Operation Court Broom that Stan thought seriously about it.  He said:

"My disillusion with everything really made me move it up," .

"I was so upset that judges were on the take, and I said,

'Sometimes, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.' "

Elected in 1994, he took the bench the following January. Now, 21 years later, he reflected on his career in a story this past weekend in the DBR that can be found here.

In 1996, he took a brief leave from the bench to donate a kidney to his brother.  He took another medical leave last year after doctors diagnosed him with cancer of the tonsils; which is related to the HPV virus and in men is often contracted through oral sex. He likes to joke about that scare:

"Lisa (his girlfriend) said I'm the only guy

who can brag about how he got cancer," Blake said.

It won’t be long before Judge Blake retires from the bench and goes the mediation route. While he is still on the bench, all of us in the criminal justice community want to say while we can: "Thanks for all the great memories" and all of your great years of service on the bench working for the citizens of our community. Well done my friend, well done.

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

　

JUDGE JACQUELINE SCHWARTZ IN TROUBLE AGAIN

We interrupt our Donald Trump like coverage of the suspension of Judge Schwartz to remind the denizens of the REGJB that there is a lunch and learn Wednesday. 

The topic, and we couldn't make this up if we tried, is...
"Defending clients with professional licenses."

Hmm.. truth is stranger than fiction. 
Sometimes the blog spirits shine on us. 
Go eat and learn. 

DCBA- Lunch and Learn - April 2016

UPDATE: Judge Schwartz has been suspended. Initially the suspension is with pay. In other words, unlike the rest of the real world, she doesn't have to work for her paycheck. But we understand, she is a constitutional officer (as difficult as that may be to choke down) and there has to be a procedure in place for the Supreme Court to suspend her without pay. The below order requires the parties to brief that issue. 

Judge Schwartz suspended

THE DBR REPORTS:

Disciplinary troubles mounted Monday for Miami-Dade County Court Judge Jacqueline Schwartz, who was accused of being intoxicated in court and starting a drunken confrontation with staff and police at a Miami restaurant...

Thee latest incident, according to the state Judicial Qualifications Commission.

Witnesses said the judge "took the bench and presided over a criminal traffic docket while impaired" March 28, the commission charges said.

"After approximately 90 minutes, Judge Schwartz was removed from the bench by the chief judge and sent home. At first, Judge Schwartz stated that she was OK to drive herself home," the complaint said. Her bailiff drove her home in her car, but the judge couldn't remember her address or give directions and didn't recognize her bailiff or realize she was in her own car.

There was also an incident on March 18 at the Ergon Greek restaurant where the police had to be called and the judge was removed and appeared to be intoxicated, cursed at the police officers, threatened them, told them she was a judge, and threatened to have a waiter who would not serve her alcohol fired. 

Most disturbing of all is that Judge Schwartz "self reported" the incident to the JQC in which she totally and completely denied anything unusual occurring. This despite the fact that patrons of the restaurant individually called 911. 

Probable cause has been found. Things look dim. 

There are times we are hard on people and there are times we are not. In the pages of this blog recently we have refused to publicize the name of a prosecutor arrested. We said it was personal incident and we didn't want to pile on. We distinguished the arrest from an incident that would occur during the time someone was at work. 

Judge Schwartz was impaired on the bench. (Allegedly). She was removed from the bench by our chief judge while trying to preside over a trial. There was a rumor she locked herself in her chambers. Most disturbingly, Judge Schwartz apparently attempted to drive home but was stopped by police at the courthouse. 

We are by no means DUI experts, but isn't there case law that allows for the arrest of an individual who is impaired and has car keys and is going to their car under the theory they are in actual or constructive possession of their vehicle?

Was Judge Schwartz granted a courtesy that normal clients, defendants, lawyers, have not been granted? 

Enough is enough. Whether she has an alcohol problem or not, this is a judge who is consistently rude to people, who flouts her position as a judge outside of court and during the time she has nasty interactions with the public,  and has firmly demonstrated in our mind that she does not have the ability, temperament and judgement to be a judge.  She should do us all a favor and resign. If she doesn't resign, she should be removed. 

And the Miami Herald should cringe that they endorsed her in the last election and they should issue a retraction and admit they got it 100% wrong. 

Judge Schwartz's behavior is an embarrassment and brings discredit to the legal profession and the judiciary. 

Here is the complaint. 
Jeff Feiler, Esq., for the defense. 

2016-655_notice_78411

Dr. Bruce Hyma Dade ME has Passed Away

David Ovalle and the Miami Herald have the sad news here, that Dr. Hyma, known to a generation of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and more importantly-the next of kin of the deceased- as a kind, honest, decent and superb medical examiner has passed away. 

As the article points out, Dr. Hyma joined the Medical Examiner's office when it was led by the legendary ME Joe Davis and Dr Hyma became the chief ME where he left his mark on the office, the court system, and the bereaved.

IT'S BAIL BEFORE JAIL

There's a phenomenon occurring in our criminal courts- the use of rap lyrics by prosecutors against defendants. 

Here is an interview with Dr. Erik Nielson who has a masters in Shakespeare and a doctorate in English Literature. 
The article is here, and the highlights with the yellow below are original (sorry, they're annoying)

Rap lyrics are being used in three main ways: 1) They’re treated as confessions if they’re written after the crime. 2) They’re treated as proof of intent if they're written before the crime. 3) They’re classified as "threats"—the lyrics are the crime themselves.

Rap is the only fictional genre that’s being used in court like this. And its use is undoubtedly racially motivated since only one or two cases involved white defendants.

The one case Nielson cannot let go of involves No Limit’s Mac, who is currently serving a 30-year sentence for shooting a man at a concert. Not only were Mac's lyrics used in court, the prosecution spliced lyrics together from two different songs to change the meaning of what he rapped.

Judges aren’t supposed to allow “evidence if it’s prejudicial,” but they’re misled by police and prosecutors. Maybe it’s because they’re older, or maybe it’s because they’re just as prejudiced as juries.