AU REVOIR WARREN SCHWARTZ

An era ends Friday as both Warren Schwartz and his lovely wife Marlene retire from the Dade PDs office. 

It wasn't quite as far back as Teddy Roosevelt taking the oath of office for President, but it might seem that long to REGJB denizens, most of whom cannot remember  a time when Warren was not a PD. 


It's been a long and distinguished career and when the whistle sounds at 5:00 p.m. Friday, PDs and ASAs and Judges and friends will gather at Finnegans On the River to hoist a few and say goodbye. Gentle readers of this blog should come by and do the same. 


Every February 22nd (within a day or so, trial schedule permitting) for the last five years,  we go to Jerry's Deli and order two tongue sandwiches. The waitress always gives us a strange look because we are dining alone. Yet we insist on two separate sandwiches on separate plates. We eat one, down a cream soda, munch a pickle and leave, ignoring the strange looks and/or comments the waitress gives us as she eyes the untouched sandwich. 


Why have we done this every year since 2007? 
Because the last time Justice Clarence Thomas asked a question or made a comment from the bench during oral argument was February 22nd, 2006. 


Happy anniversary Justice Thomas. Shhhhssshh.

SHUT IT DOWN

Supreme Court Roundup:
Filing a false tax return (a/k/a the great american hobby) was held to be a deportable offense. Kawashima v. Holder.

Miranda update: Who doesn't believe that a prisoner serving a sentence is NOT in custody for purposes of Miranda? (Hint: six of them work in Washington, DC). 
Why it's our old friend  Justice Alito and his gang of Roberts, Thomas, Kennedy, Scalia and Kagan who comprise  perhaps the only six people on earth who don't believe that being in prison is being in custody. All the fun is  here in Howes v. Fields. 


SHUT IT DOWN:
When Republicans gleefully talk about slashing the budget and shutting the government down, here is a real life and death practical consequence of that kind of nonsensical rhetoric: children dying because of a shortage of a cancer drug according to the NY Times:


Dire shortages of two critical cancer drugs — shortfalls that have threatened the lives and care of thousands of patients — should be resolved within weeks, federal drug officials said....

There is a years-long backlog of applications for new generic drugs at the F.D.A. because the government does not have the money to hire enough reviewers to analyze the applications or inspectors to visit the facilities, many of them abroad. The generic drug industry tired of waiting for Congress to fully finance the F.D.A.’s generic drug office and this year proposed providing the agency with $299 million in annual fees to finance the review process...


[T]he pharmaceutical company Hospira is rushing 31,000 vials — enough to last the entire nation a month — of preservative-free methotrexate from its plant in Australia to the United States. Hospitals began receiving the drug, which is vital in the treatment of a common form of childhood leukemia, on Tuesday. The F.D.A. has also hastened the approval of an application by APP Pharmaceuticals to manufacture methotrexate, an application that has languished since 2010.


“Children are at such risk from drugs in short supply that it doesn’t give me a whole lot of comfort that we’ve moved past one or two of these shortages,” Dr. Adamson said. “What about the next one? And the one after that?”


But here's the thing, and maybe Justice Scalia can assist us, but we have checked the Constitution and do not see any mention of the FDA anywhere. What gives? Shut it down; defund it (cue large applause of tea party morons sitting in the audience; check that-cue large applause of  "healthy" Tea Party morons, because it's amazing how quickly you understand how the FDA works when you have cancer).
So the next time you see a bunch of yahoos clapping like mad while one of the Republican lunatics  candidates talks about not funding government agencies, scan the crowd to see if any them look sick or are wearing a hat because they've lost all their hair to chemotherapy. Odds are the crowd cheering are a healthy bunch of sons of guns. 




See You In Court. 

LINES

This was the distressing scene outside the rear of the REGJB Tuesday morning as crowds jammed and overwhelmed the aging facility we who labor there call home. 
(Thanks to the alert reader/attorney who snapped this picture before heading into the building. If more readers would email us pictures of problems, we be able to spend less time thinking about what to write.)


The problem with courthouse lines is that it lessens the public's confidence in the court system. For a country that prides itself on giving everyone "access" to the courts, in Miami criminal courts, no one really has "access" when it takes 75-90 minutes to get into the damn building. 


What can Brown do for you? 


See you in the building no one can get in to. 

BLASTOFF - 50 YEARS AGO TODAY

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
(Thank you to Rumpole for permitting this to be reposted this afternoon. My apologies to our readers for posting two posts on the same feature - but there is a slightly different slant to my post. I also have posted some new information on Elections & JNC appointments below).

50 YEARS AGO TODAY ......








..... Astronaut John Glenn climbed into his Friendship 7 space capsule atop an Atlas rocket at Cape Canaveral, blasted off, and became the first American to orbit the Earth.


Sometimes I think we forget about these monumental accomplishments in American history. Our children attending elementary, middle school and high school get little in the areas of history and civics. I would guess that if they were asked, "Who is John Glenn", less than 10% would have a clue. Sad state of our educational system, here in Florida, and all around the country. But our Republican presidential hopefuls will surely make the inability to obtain birth control a much higher priority than teaching about history or civics, if any of them are elected President this November.


And while we are talking politics, did you happen to read your local newspaper this weekend? The Herald invited former justice of the Florida Supreme Court Raoul Cantero and Mark Schlakman, a senior program director for the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at FSU to write an OP ED about the Death Penalty.


The piece is entitled "Unanimous Jury Verdict A Must For Florida's Justice System". It is well written and it is speaking to deaf ears if it was meant to reach most of our elected legislators in Tallahassee. While they spend their time this session giving tax breaks to businesses that hire only non-union workers and redraw the geographic lines for the next decade of voting districts to make them "fairer", they ignore the two simple facts that speak loud and clear on this issue:


1. Of the 33 death penalty states, Florida is the only one that does not require unanimous verdicts. Even Georgia and Texas demand a 12-0 vote.


2. Since 1973, Florida leads the country in reversing more death sentences than any other state.


You can read the entire Op Ed here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/18/2647451/florida-ignores-unanimous-jury.html


We hope everyone enjoyed their President's Day Weekends. For those of you youngins', we used to celebrate our 16th President's birthday, Abe Lincoln, on February 12th, and our 1st President's birthday, George Washington, on February 22nd. Congress finally changed that in 1971 when they decided to move most federal holidays to Mondays. They chose the third Monday in February to honour our first President, but rejected the part of the legislation that would name the holiday President's Day. Instead, today we actually honor President George Washington's Birthday. Of course, our retailers didn't see it that way, and over the years, they continually called it President's Day, until the name stuck.

On the Election & Appointment news of the day:

Circuit Court - Group 49

As a result of Richard Hersch's appointment last week by Governor Scott, Group 49 found itself with only one candidate: Victor De Yurre. That was until County Court Group 28 candidate Teresa Pooler, (sister of Katie Pooler), withdrew from that race and filed in the Group 49 race. So, for now, County Court Group 28 is left with lone candidate Tanya Brinkley.

JNC: Circuit Court .....

The JNC has received applications from 16 attorneys and three County Court Judges for the open seat of Judge Julio Jimenez. The shock is from who is NOT on the list. After applying for what must have been a dozen or more times, and being nominated by the JNC to the Governor's office a dozen or more times, Judge Deborah White-Labora has not applied for this seat. Judge White-Labora told me last month that she was done, for now, applying, if she did not get the appointment that recently went to Richard Hersch. Can you blame her?!

Also missing from the applicants: Miguel de la O, who was another one of the six finalists in the Hersch group from last month. De la O is currently a candidate for Circuit Court Judge running against Greer Elaine Wallace in Group 42.

Those on the list include:

Paul Aiello, Steven P. Befera, Manuel L. Casabielle, Judson L. Cohen, Michelle Ashby Delancy, Ariana Fajardo, Alan S. Fine, Andrew S. Hague, Victor J. Hayes, Lisa Lehner, Christine Lopez-Acevedo, Louis V. Martinez, Cristina Miranda, Jonathan Parker, Bonnie Riley, Vivian Rosado, Alan D. Sackrin, Rodney Smith, Veronica A. Xiques

JNC: County Court .....

Interviewing this Friday, February 24th, for the open County Court seat of Norma Lindsey:

Veronica Adriana Xiques, Rodolfo A. Ruiz, Vivian Rosado, Yadira Pedraza, Jonathan Parker, Gordon Charles Murray, Sr., Jonathan Meltz, Steven Lieberman, Carlos Guzman, Vincent Peter Farina, Ivonne Cuesta, Judson L. Cohen, Manuel Casabielle, Tanya Brinkley, Christopher Andrew Angell, David Alschuler .

CAPTAIN OUT ...........

GODSPEED JOHN GLENN

IT'S FAT TUESDAY and we will be having pancakes for dinner (but lunch at Irene's) The Captain's take on John Glenn is coming and w are happy to report Maya Angelou is out of the hospital. 


"Godspeed John Glenn". With those words, said fifty years ago Monday, the United States entered the space race for real as Glenn became the first American in orbit.  For further reading on the first seven American astronauts (The Mercury Seven), you can do no better than Thomas Wolfe's  "The Right Stuff." 

We've been thinking a lot lately about "American Exceptionalism" and the fact that there is no such thing. If you think there is, try flying in a plane built by people who brag about American Execptionalism instead of by qualified engineers. Americans have done exceptional things. Indeed we have saved the world from tyranny. Multiple times. But you can't spend money already spent. Each challenge must be met by that generation and merely prattling about how good you were last week or last century gets you nothing. We personally like nothing more than kicking the butt of the lawyer who tells us they've never lost a case, because their record means nothing in the current case. 

As we think about John Glenn's remarkable achievement, we wonder where all the criticism is? Glenn was launched into space by NASA- a taxpayer funded agency. We don't see anything in the Constitution about space or NASA.  NASA created the rockets that launched the space capsules through partnerships with hundreds of small companies and several large contractors. And it wasn't the idea of American Execptionalism that created the rockets and capsules. It was exceptional Americans that got us into space and to the moon and safely back, except for the brave men of Apollo One. 

An individual company on their own or even in concert with others could not have afforded the billions of dollars it cost to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade and bring him safely home. And what profit was there in creating the lunar lander or the Friendship Seven or the Gemini and Apollo series of space crafts? Without a partnership between the Government and private industry we all would have been going to sleep-in the words of Lyndon Johnson- by the light of a communist moon. 

Yet in the current environment such promotion  of governmental partnerships gets you called a "socialist" or worse by the Republicans. Yet strangely we don't hear anyone criticizing Eisenhower or Kennedy or  Johnson or  Nixon (that's two Republicans and two Democrats for those of you counting at home) for creating NASA and spending billions of tax payer money landing men on the moon. Why the silence? It's deafening- and there's nothing exceptional about that. 

Coming soon: "Pando and the Faber Effect. "

PRESIDENTS' DAY LONG WEEKEND

UPDATE- The PDs report they're closed. The SAO is open. The courts are closed. RC is just thankful they have Gene Zenobi. 
Broweird? Do you even need to ask? (open). 


Lots of things to do this long weekend, as long as you're not an ASA, PD or full-time Assistant Regional Counsel (see, we remembered you guys for once) as courts are closed Monday, but state offices are open. 


But if you're an ASA or PD and  per chance get the Washington/Lincoln flu, here's what you can do:


The Boat  Show is in town at Miami Beach. Go catch Rumpole looking to trade up. 


The 49th Coconut Grove Art Festival is this weekend in....Coconut Grove of course. Go sneak a peak at Rumpole perusing the art exhibits and snacking on a pita stuffed with greek salad. 


The federal guys are rightfully excited about the confirmation of Judge Jordan to the 11th Circuit Court of appeals. This was a no brainer nomination and confirmation and it was a appointment that was more than well deserved. There wasn't a more professional, courteous and downright intelligent Judge in the Southern District and that reputation began well before Judge Jordan took the bench.  The only downside to the confirmation is we lose a great trial judge. Meanwhile, with Jordan confirmed, Atlanta super attorney Jill Pryor was nominated for a seat on the eleventh circuit Thursday. DOM has all the details. Click above. 


In Maples v. Thomas the U.S. Supreme Court gave an Alabama death row inmate another legal chance when his big shot Sullivan and Cromwell attorneys abandoned him.  Here is the amicus brief by a group of Legal Ethics Professors and a group of law students at the Yale Ethics Bureau.
 S&C is hung out to dry. 


The DOW closed at its highest level in four years Thursday. Unemployment claims for January were the lowest in four years. The economy is coming back just in the nick of time and the Republicans are so baffled at what to do now that they are flinging condoms at each other. 


It should be an interesting spring and summer until the GOP convenes in Tampa. Set aside our usual table at Berns for the week.


See You Tuesday. 

FUNDRAISER FOR DAVID PAULUS

Before we get to the fundraiser details, the great man has spoken and we need to pay attention.


Albert Krieger in court was a magical thing to observe. His voice boomed from the podium, filling the courtroom. Its  rumbling bass made prosecutors tremble and witnesses crumble. Jurors nodded in agreement and vexatious judges were lost in the roar .  So when Albert Krieger speaks, even by email,you had better listen. And here is what he wrote on the FACDL listserv about the appointment of Richard Hersch:


"How wonderful for all of us, the bar and the public. Richard is everything a judge should be and we will all benefit from his service."
High praise for Mr. Hersch indeed. 


There is a fundraiser for the late David Paulus, an Assistant State Attorney who recently passed away after a courageous and lengthy battle with brain cancer. Mr. Paulus is survived by his wife and three children. If you know anything about health care circa 2012, you know that no matter how comprehensive the coverage, the portion of the bills not covered can be crippling, especially for a  public servant. This is a worthy cause, please attend or donate. 

Domino Effect - David Paulus 2012


Our final story is a crime drama. The perp wielded a machete. The victims kept their cool and handed over  $1,000.00 in cash. Luckily no one was hurt. The victim? United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, on vacation at his  Nevis vacation home. 
Maybe now he knows why eyewitness identification is so unreliable. One can hope. 
See You In Court. 

THE HONORABLE JUDGE RICHARD HERSCH

As most of you now know by now,  Richard Hersch was appointed to the circuit court by Governor Scott today. The Governor continues to exceed expectations on judicial appointments and this is another home run. 

Just like in years gone by when we had a gaggle of Judge Klein's (Gerry, Murray, and Herbert) we now have a duo of Judge Hirsch/Hersch's.  And as Judge Hersch would be quick to quip, "What is in a name? That which we call a  rose by any other name would smell as sweet."  And that which we call a Hirsch/Hersch by any other name would judge as well. 

Not to be petty, but now that he is appointed, when will we be getting our $500.00 bucks back that we donated to his campaign? Or did we not send a donation, secure in the belief he would be appointed? We'll have to check the books and get back to you on that.  

Oh...and of course Richard Dreyfus plays Judge Hersch in the movie. 














(not Judge Hersch) 


OK. A little blog experiment. 
Close your eyes. Inhale slowly...1..2...3...4..5..6..7..8..9..10 (you too, President Clinton)
Now hold hold it.....
And exhale slowly.....P...A....N...D...O..
...and let it go.....P...A...N...D...O....
Let it go and move on dot org. 
Lots of responses and comments over the weekend to Judge Pando's peculiar letting writing habits. Now it's time to move on. 
See You In Court. 

Judge Pando: "The Rest of the Story"

BREAKING NEWS ..... Governor Rick Scott appoints Richard Hersch to the Circuit Court. Congratulations to Richard.

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

JUDGE PANDO, FLORIDA WELLNESS, AND PIP SUITS ....

First things first. Horace, you should know by now, that if you want an investigation done right, you should not be turning to Carmel Cafiero, when you have your top notch investigative reporter right here on staff. And with that, I add to your post:

Judge Ana Maria Pando:

A graduate of UM law, she became an attorney in 1988. She joined the Miami City Attorney's office in 1991 and spent most of her legal career there. She was first elected County Court Judge in 2000 and took office in January of 2001. She was re-elected in 2006 and is again running for re-election in 2012.

Florida Wellness & Rehabilitation Center, Inc.

Florida Wellness & Rehabilitation Center, Inc. is owned by Dr. Mark Cereceda. Dr. Cereceda actually owns numerous clinics under the Florida Wellness name. Florida Wellness of Little Havana, Florida Wellness of FIU, Florida Wellness of South Miami, and Florida Wellness of Hialeah are just a few of his locations where his clinics generally treat people injured in auto accidents. They offer physical therapy to their patients along with chiropractic adjustments. They are paid, overwhelmingly, by auto insurance companies, whereby Florida Wellness files claims under the PIP coverage of the injured person's auto insurance policy.

PIP & PIP SUITS

Florida law requires you to carry only two types of coverage as part of your automobile insurance: Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Property Damage Liability. Your PIP coverage provides you with up to $10,000 to pay for "reasonable and necessary" medical expenses as a result of injuries sustained in an auto accident.

Dr. Cereceda's clinics submit thousands and thousands of HICF's (Health Insurance Claim Forms) to auto insurance companies on a monthly basis. Sometimes they are paid; many times they are not paid. When they are not paid, it is usually because the auto insurance company has made a determination, rightly or wrongly, that the medical care received was not medically necessary. When Florida Wellness is not paid, they will sometimes get an assignment from the injured patient, and they then file a PIP SUIT against the auto insurance company for not paying them within the statutory time required by law. These cases are filed in County Court, and many of these cases end up in Branch Court in South Dade, Coral Gables, North Dade, and in HIALEAH - before Judge Ana Maria Pando. If they are successful, the Plaintiff clinic is paid the money they are owed, interest on that money, court costs and attorney fees. There are many law firms that work almost exclusively on PIP suits and they make a very good living doing it.

THE FACTS:

1. On May 4, 2011, Articles of Dissolution were filed by Fastkit Corp. on behalf of Florida Wellness & Rehabilitation Centers, Inc. Fastkit is one of these companies that handle all of the paperwork with the Florida Department of Corporations on behalf of a corporation.

First problem with these Articles is that they were signed by someone who is NOT a Director of the corporation, according to the Florida Department of State. The signature line prints the name Luana Alonso. The signature above it does not appear to be that of a Luana Alonso. It represents that she is a Director of the Corporation. Based on the available research we could locate online, she is not.

2. On October 12, 2011, an accountant by the name of Lestor Barreras signs an Affidavit. Barreras is the CPA for Dr. Cereceda and his clinics. In the Affidavit, Mr. Barreras states that his office inadvertently dissolved the corporation by filing the papers with the Florida Dept. of Corp.

Problem with that is, they did not file the papers. Fastkit did. In all fairness, they may have prepared the papers and forwarded them to Fastkit, who then filed the papers.

3. On October 14, 2011, Judge Ana Maria Pando prepares a letter on her official Judicial stationary. The letter is faxed to Mr. Jay Kassees, Division Director, Division of Corporations. Attached to the letter is the Affidavit from Barreras. In the letter, she refers to Florida Wellness owner Mark Cereceda. She tells the department, "I see no reason not to reinstate the above-mentioned corporation. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Judge Ana Maria Pando. "

Well, what was she thinking.?! Mr. Cereceda, through his many clinics, appears as a Plaintiff in dozens of cases, all before Judge Pando. The Judge has to rule in each case and her decision will determine whether Mr. Cereceda's clinics get paid their money - his money. What in the world was she thinking?

4. On October 24, 2011, the Florida Department of Corporations acts on the letter sent by Judge Pando. They decide, based on the "Court Order" they received, that they are "re-activating corp. status". They also decide to charge Florida Wellness NO FEE for the reinstatement.

I am attaching to this post the Affidavit from Barreras, the letter from Pando, and the action taken by FDOC. http://www.sunbiz.org/pdf/80709709.pdf

And with that, Florida Wellness and Rehabilitation Center, Inc., is again a registered Florida Corporation. Kind of important because there are hundreds, (currently approximately 200) cases filed in the County Courts of Miami-Dade County where the Plaintiff is listed as Florida Wellness.

5. Judge Pando has opened a campaign account and she has raised $69,685 through the reporting cycle December 31, 2011. Here are some notable contributors:

*Florida Wellness Little Havana, 11/11/11, donated $500.
*Florida Wellness FIU, 11/11/11, donated $500.
*Florida Wellness South Miami, 11/11/11, donated $500.
*Florida Wellness Hialeah, 11/11/11, donated $500.

Performance Orthopaedics, 11/11/11, donated $500. (This writer believes that Dr. Cereceda has an ownership interest in this medical provider).

*One minor problem with the checks that were written by these four corporations in November of 2011. The four corporations did not exist in November of 2011. That's because, in September of 2011, Dr. Cereceda changed the name of all four of the corporations to Ceda Health of Little Havana, Ceda Health of FIU, Ceda Health of Hialeah, and Ceda Health of South Miami. I have no idea whether there is a problem with a Judge accepting checks from a corporation that does not legally exist; or whether Dr. Cereceda violated any campaign donation laws by issuing checks on corporations that no longer existed.*

6. Dr. Cereceda has retained numerous law firms over the past four years to file these PIP suits on behalf of himself and his clinics. As stated above, there are at least 200 such cases currently listed on the Clerk's website. In the past twelve months, there have been at least 34 cases filed in the Hialeah branch court that are now before Judge Pando. All of those cases were filed by either attorney John Llarena of Hess & Llarena or by attorney Todd Landau.

7. The 34 cases filed by Llarena or Landau are all PIP suits filed against automobile insurance companies. Those companies include:

Progressive - 7 cases; State Farm - 11 cases; Allstate - 6 cases; Kingsway Amigo - 4 cases; GEICO - 3 cases; and Responsive, Safeco, and Infinity, with one case each where they appear as a named defendant in these PIP suits. These cases have all been filed between March and December of 2011.

8. Here is a list of some of the attorney/law firm contributors to Judge Pando's campaign that have held themselves out as Plaintiff's counsel for Florida Wellness in the past four years:

***John Llarena, 11/8/11, donated $500.
***Hess & Llarena PA, 11/8/11, donated $500.
***Todd Landau PA, 11/8/11, donated $500.
Buchalter, Hoffman & Dorchak PA, 11/9/11, donated $500.
Paul Schrier, 11/8/11, donated $500.
Paul Schrier PA, 11/8/11, donated $500.
Armando Brana, 11/8/11, donated $500.
Armando Brana PA, 11/8/11, donated $500.
John Friedland PA, 11/8/11, donated $250.
Kevin Whitehead, 11/8/11, donated $500.
Kevin Whitehead PA, 11/8/11, donated $500.
Bernard Butts PA, 11/14/11, donated $500.


Please note that according to our research of the Clerk' s office records, it appears that only Llarena and Landau have cases filed before Judge Pando at the Hialeah branch court. The other attorneys listed above have open cases in other branch courts throughout the County on behalf of Florida Wellness; these cases are not before Judge Pando. In fairness, all of these donations appear to be legal and within the laws of the State of Florida as they relate to donations to a judicial campaign.

So now you have heard "the rest of the story". Care to comment?


CAPTAIN OUT .....

A MOST PECULIAR CASE OF PANDO

Carmel Cafiero of WSVN  channel seven wields a rather sharp hatchet, which she does not hesitate to use on the subjects of her stories on the nightly newscast; the pieces are  edited with quick cuts, and dramatic music and graphics, all done in a manner designed to inflame the viewer against the subject of her story. 


Enter Judge Pando of the County Court in Hialeah  and this story. 


The Facts:
Florida Wellness and Rehabilitation Center is a corporation being sued in several cases before Judge Pando. 


In 2011 the company filed papers with the secretary of state to dissolve the corporation.  An accountant for the company later said the papers were filed in error. 
Query: How does one mistakenly produce the necessary paper work to dissolve a corporation, then mistakenly put it in an envelope addressed to the secretary of state, then mistakenly put a stamp on it and then mistakenly put the envelope in the mail?
Answer: The account is Rosemary Woods reincarnate. (You young PDs and ASAs go ask your parents who Rosemary Woods was.) 




Enter Judge Pando, who inexplicably (at the moment-perhaps the Judge will explain)   then wrote the secretary of state asking them to reinstate the corporation. The secretary of state did so and notated on the file "re-instated by court order." The secretary of state then went out and had a drink, having worked harder on this case in a few days then he/she has for the year so far. 
Item: a month after the letter was sent, four separate Florida Wellness clinics contributed the maximum of $500.00 to Judge Pando's re-election campaign (the Judge is on the ballot with Barak Obama this fall). 


The piece ends on a high note with clips from a 2005 video from the Florida Supreme Court issuing Judge Pando a public reprimand for some transgression during her prior campaign. 


As always, we invite the Judge to respond by email with the assurance her response will be posted on the front page unedited and without snarky comments. 

TWO JUDGES

Two Judges both alike in dignity, in fair Miami where we lay our scene...

We received two emails this morning from two judges who asked us to post something, and because Chief Judge Federico Moreno is a gentleman, the email from the Honorable Yvonne Colodny will go first:

Dear Rumpole,

As a result of a recent blog discussion regarding my extended leave my wonderful judicial assistant, Nikki, has been inundated with calls and visitors concerned about my absence.

While I am sincerely grateful for these expressions of concern, they are truly unnecessary.  The reason for my not so mysterious absence is this.........his name is Charlie, weighing in at 6 pounds 14 ounces, born on February 2nd.  I suppose the judicial robes were more forgiving than I ever thought!

I will be on maternity leave until May 2, 2012.  Until then, senior judges will be covering the division.

And, as always, LET'S GO HEAT!

Yvonne Colodny

And now the honorable Chief Judge of the Southern District of Florida, Federico Moreno, who started his judicial career as a humble county court judge back when our courthouse was known simply as The Justice Building:

Rumpole, I must confess that from time to time I read your blog as well as other blogs. However, I have never written to a blog, but I do so now because in the past I have seen how you remember "the old guys" on the bench. You probably missed the obituary on the death of Judge Richard Hickey. I went to his funeral mass  yesterday where his son-in-law David Rothman, as well as his sons Dickie and Joey( Judge Hickey had 8 children)  reminded us of Judge Hickey's service in the Navy. He was part of the Normandy invasion, and served in Italy and the Pacific too during WW II. I have always admired the Greatest Generation , including the President who appointed me, Bush I, and know from your prior reports that you share that admiration. Judge Hickey was an Irish mench on the bench. An honorable, hard working, fair, compassionate and always polite to all at the MJB from the time when he did preliminary hearings until after he was appointed by Governor Askew (another great man) to the Circuit Court in 1978. I know that so much time has passed since Judge Hickey's retirement in 1989, only the older readers of your blog will remember him. But it may be worthwhile to recognize the good guys on the bench, even long after they have left the bench. FAM

Well said by a Judge who obviously exhibits excellent taste in his reading habits, and more importantly, about Judge Hickey who indeed exemplified the Greatest Generation. He went to war to defend liberty and freedom and his nation and then returned to raise a family of eight children and finally dedicate his talents to serving his fellow citizens on the bench. "An Irish Mench" sums it up. Thank you, your honor, for helping us remember. 

HR. 

"THE STATE OF FLORIDA IS NOT MADE OUT OF MONEY"

The following is courtesy of the JAA Broward Blog. We do not know any of the individuals involved in this matter. Warning: for practitioners of criminal law, the following may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. 


Dramatis Personae: Judge Matthew Destry, Broward County; Ira Still, Esq, defense attorney; Rossaine Baker, client; JAC and the Broward State Attorneys Office-bureaucracies extraordinaire. 


Background: Rossaine Baker was by all appearances a client in need. Sitting in jail for five months, charged with interrelated life felonies in two separate cases, her case was going no where fast and her future was bleak. Enter attorney Ira Still who was appointed to represent Ms. Baker. The title of the post links to the JAA blog's transcript of the fee hearing in which Mr. Still lays out the remarkable job he did. Some highlights: he took over the case and prepared for trial in less than a year which included depositions of over 80 witnesses. To do this he basically shut his office down regarding working on other cases.  In the first case,  Rossaine Baker was acquitted of armed burglary and aggravated battery after a four day trial. 


In the second case the prosecution charged Rossaine Baker with attempted murder and armed kidnapping, the theory of the case being that Rossaine Baker tried to have the victim in the first case killed so as to avoid prosecution. Central to the theory of the first case was the prosecution's William's rule motion to introduce the facts of the second case. Motion denied after the defense filed a 20 page memorandum. 


After the acquittal in the first case. Mr. Still obtained bond for his client in the second case. Then, based on how apparently flimsily the evidence was in the first case, Mr. Still attempted to save the State of Florida money by trying over and over to convince a series of prosecutors to not try the second case which was a sure acquittal. But lets remember this is Broward where Mr. Satz lives by the credo "try em all, let the jury sort it out." 


The second case proceeded to trial but not before the witness tampering charge was dismissed by defense motion based on double jeopardy because of the acquittal in the first case.  The second case also apparently involved the use of cell phone experts to show that the prosecution's allegations about the defendant making phone calls which would show her guilt were completely false. To make a long story short, the Defendant was acquitted in the second case. 


After a spectacular job, Mr. Still submitted a bill for $95,872.50 based on billing at $75.00. That's 1,278.3 hours for those of you scoring at home.  After auditing his bill, JAC did not find anything objectionable as to the hours billed or the form of the bill. But they did not want to pay. 


Judge Destry remarked that "the State of Florida is not made of money" and then issued the following ruling:


A) Granted the attorneys fees request in full. 
B) Cut the bill in half. 
C) Cut the bill to the statutory cap of $2,500 per case.
D) Cut the bill to $20,000.00 for both cases. 
Go to the comments section for the answer. 
Click on the title of the post and read the transcript of the hearing. It's well worth a read. 
See You In Court. 

AN AGE OLD QUESTION

Did you ever wonder why.......

Why we do what we do as Criminal Defense Attorneys

Presented by Attorney

David Oscar Markus

David Oscar Markus will provide a motivational lecture on the moral, legal and ethical obligations of our noble responsibilities as criminal defense attorneys.  David will share some of his insights and strategies in preparing and defending criminal cases.

Tuesday February 28^th, 2012

12pm to 2pm at the Public Defender’s office in Room 110

RVSP to Maria PH at 305-545-1902 or  mprovostheron  at pdmiami.com  by February 24th 2012.

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor we will be heckling Mr. Markus...

DRUNK AND INCOHERENT

Here is the real headline from the Miami Herald- we are not making this up:
"Drunk, Incoherent Man Mysteriously Dropped Off At Courthouse". Click the link and see it for yourself. 
Our first thoughts revolved around the too many glasses of champagne we consumed Sunday celebrating our good fortune. When we remembered we weren't in Miami, our next gleeful thought was "which judge is it?" 
From the article: "The drunk man could only mumble when asked why his friends deposited him at the courthouse." The plot thickens as it could be any number of robed readers we know. 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/06/2628079/drunk-incoherent-man-mysteriously.html#storylink=cpy"

What's the worst possible thing you could imagine happening to you (outside of being deposited by your so called friends drunk and incoherent at the courthouse? Which by the way got us thinking: "weren't there any strip clubs around?") 
Whatever your worst personal nightmare is, having a fully loaded port-a-potty truck overturn on your lawn must be at the top of anyone's list. The Herald has the messy details here. 

What's worse than losing the super bowl? Having your QB's super-model wife blame you for it:  Here is the Patriots new wide receivers coach on the fundamentals of the game:  You have to catch the ball when you're supposed to catch the ball," Bundchen is heard saying. "My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time."

Super Bowl wrap up: Here are the numbers that count: since being exposed as a cheater, the Bill Belichick coached Patriots are 12-13 in playoff games and 0-2 in Super Bowls. Heck of a genius of a coach. 

See you in court. 

DON'T BET ON IT

Before we begin- we nailed the coin flip again yesterday. In super bowl coin flips, we believe we have called each one correctly but one since starting the blog. Plus we told you the Giants +3 was a great bet and we told you to forgo the points and take the money line because the Giants were going to win outright. 
When will you listen? 


And now...Don't Bet On It....


Somewhat quietly, and not with a bang but a whimper, the bill to bring a mega-casino to the Miami Herald property fizzled   and went bust in the Florida legislature last Friday.  Genting Berhad, the Asian company that bought the Herald property and made the bet,  threw a seven on it's second roll, which any Vegas craps player will tell you results in the stick man shouting "seven out!" and wiping all the chips off the table and into the coffers of the house. 


Next shooter? 


The NY Times covered the defeat of the gambling bill, and not surprisingly, all the usual suspects were behind the murder of the bill: Disney World, The Florida Chamber of Commerce, Norman Braman, some religious groups and the Miccosukee  Indian tribe, which has a near monopoly of the Casinos already operating in Florida.  
Casinos  and legalized gambling make strange bedfellows.


We're not sure how we felt about the prospect of a mega-casino five minutes away from the REGJB. 
Judges leaving court early to catch the 7pm Cher Concert?  
Racing from morning calendar to get in line early for the $9.95 lunch buffet?


In the final analysis, these are the things people fly to Vegas for. And in our humble opinion, they are better left in Vegas. 


See You In Court.  

GIANTS WIN SUPER BOWL

SB UPDATE: I'll be live blogging the game a bit with comment moderation off, so dig in and enjoy the game and post your comments which will be visible immediately. 




That should be the headline Monday. Will it be?


The last time the Giants beat the Cheaters in the Super Bowl they battered Brady into submission. So that should be the playbook this time, right? Lots of blitzes and stunts and safeties shooting the gaps. 


Not this time.  Not if Giant Coach Tom Coughlin is smart. The way to beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick this time is not to blitz, but to rush two or three and keep eight  or nine men in coverage, a/k/a The Dime Defense. Go ahead and let the Patriots run. Their running game never beat anyone and it never will. But their wide receivers break the best teams if they aren't properly covered.  


Most important change: the Giants best defensive back plays Wes Welker wherever he lines up, including the slot. This is key. Welker beats linebackers like The Mavs beat the Heat- easily. 
In a dime defense, there are six defensive backs, and then either four defensive linemen and one line backer or three d-linemen and two linebackers. The key is to put a corner back and/or safety on every Patriot wide receiver when the Patriots go five wide, which they do quite often. And out of the five wide set you will see if you study their film that they run crossing routes, Welker in the slot waiting while Branch crosses in front of him at the snap. By the time the linebacker sheds Branch's "pick" Welker is eight yards down the field.  Tight man coverage at the line will stop that. 


The Giants offensive will score almost at will against a weak Patriots defense. Belichick will take his QB in a shootout against any QB in the league. So this game boils down to the Giant defense stopping the Patriot offense. 
When there are seven or eight defensive backs in coverage, it throws off Brady's short passing timing routes. Tight man coverage by corner backs with two safeties playing zone and perhaps one linebacker either blitzing or doubling one of the troublesome Patriot TEs is the way to disrupt the Patriot routes and confuse Brady. With eight backs n coverage, a tipped ball turns into a pick six more often than not.  If the Giants can do this, they will win. 


Giants 35-Patriots 27. 


Take Heads in the coin toss. 

WWMS

What would Mitt say? Pick  a topic:


Health Care: WWMS? "I can't stand all those sick people. They take up space in hospitals, and a recent poll shows that the Obama Administration's policies of health care are directly related to payments for sick people at hospitals and doctors. In a Romney administration that would stop. Hospital care for those who can afford it will be our new slogan."


The Mentally Disabled: WWMS?  "They bother me. They annoy me. They bother and annoy plenty of americans. This will stop in my administration. They will be kept behind locked doors where they belong."


Hunger In America: WWMS?  "Where? Who? I see restaurants plenty full, especially on weekends. Look, you can't have an obesity epidemic in America and still claim children are going hungry. "


Euthanasia: WWMS? "We are not the policemen of the world. Our own youth here in America have their own challenges and that's where our focus should be."

SUPER BOWL WEEKEND

Before we begin, this is well worth repeating: David Paulus was a career public servant. He bravely battled brain cancer for the last few years, and that battle was expensive. Mr. Paulus leaves his wife and three children. There is a Paulus Family trust which you can donate to: Make your check out to the  David Paulus Family Trust: and mail the check to : David Kahn, Esq. at Green & Kahn, 
317 71st St., Miami Beach, FL 33141. 


Here's what you do: On Friday or Saturday night skip that night out at Capital Grille or The Palm or Mortons, and mail a check for $250.00 or whatever you can afford. Then check out last weeks post and go to one of the pizza joints and get a pie and a six pack and sit at home and eat some pizza and drink some beer and feel great about doing a really good deed. 


The Captain Reports:

Welcome back Judge Glick .....

That's Lenny Glick by the way as he will be sitting in for Judge Colodny who will be on an extended leave from the bench. 

Great seeing you Judge. 

Cap Out .....


Super Bowl: There is one more football game to be played this Sunday. A few facts: If they win, the Giants will be the first 9-7 team to win the super bowl (The Cardinals advanced to the super bowl as a 9-7 team a few years ago, but lost in the last minute.) The Giants will also be the first team to win a super bowl that gave up more points then they scored in the season (-6 for the year).   This will be a close game but we look for some surprises. The cheaters could come out....running?? Meanwhile the Giants defense which beat and battered Brady into submission a few years ago is expected to blitz often. Just don't be surprised if they drop 8-9 into coverage and try and force Brady into making some mistakes. 


More on the game this weekend. 


How are the new judges doing? Are they finding their home room ok? Are they getting along with each other at lunch? 


Here's the thing with Mitt: He just can't help himself. Every time he gets  a big win, he puts his foot in his mouth. 


See You In Court. 




Coming Saturday: WWMS? (what would Mitt Say?)

DAVID PAULUS

ASA David Paulus has passed away at the much too young age of 46. 


Mr. Paulus was a worthy adversary  in court. He was a tough as nails negotiator, and his dedication to the people of the State of Florida and Dade County as a public servant was nonparell.  The people of Dade County are immeasurably better because of his service.  


We invite those prosecutors and friends who worked closely with him to write in with their memories. 


The Herald article is here. 

The Captain informed us:
If you want to give a donation, they can be made to the David Paulus Family Trust and mailed to David Kahn, Esq. at Green & Kahn, 317 71st St., Miami Beach, FL 33141. 

abe laeser said...

I will mostly miss David because of the week we spent on a recruiting trip. He showed a kindness and concern for others that he could hardly express as a gang and narcotics prosecutor.

We spent a great deal of down time speaking about his family and the things that were truly important to him. I learned more about the soul of this fine man than I ever could at the office.

It was obvious that David was a most decent person who was a prosecutor for only one reason: he cared.

Scott Saul said...

I battled with David many times. He was a very worthy adversary, tough as nails but always professional and the tax payers were very well served. Such a sad loss. Passing away at 46...really puts things in perspective.