Criminal Law

3rd DCA ROUNDUP SUPER BOWL EDITION

Posted on February 05, 2010
It's that time of the week (after Wednesday) and with the Super Bowl looming, what better time to discuss and dissect the Third District's kerfuffles? In our only case this week Judge Nushin Sayfie catches a reversal in a downward departure case.In State v...

FRITO BANDITO STRIKES AGAIN!

Posted on February 03, 2010
UPDATE: Woody Brooks, formerly an officer of the Surfside Police department and usually the lead arresting officer on most Surfside DUIs has been arrested for a felony: F10-003413.Hat tip to DUI Ace Bobby Reiff. UPDATE ON DISMISSAL OF MURDER CHARGE BELOW...

GOT A TICKET?

Posted on February 02, 2010
UPDATES BELOW:FHP Trooper Paul Lawrence has been arrested for official misconduct (a felony) for writing traffic tickets. Oh yeah. He was issuing those tickets to people without actually stopping them and giving them the ticket. He was just making the offenses up while using real people with real driver's licenses...

THE COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT REPORTS

Posted on February 02, 2010
Our intrepid County Court Colonel- the eyes and ears of this blog in County Court has filed this report on the effects the new no-soundings system has had on County Court:The Colonel Reports from the front lines of county court: Listen up soliders and take a knee...

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MONDAY 2/1/2010

Posted on February 01, 2010
One month down, 11 to go. Today is the 32 day of the year. There are 333 days left to go. Last night were the Grammy Awards and Sunday was the first Sunday without a meaningful football game since September. Super Bowl next week. It's here, right?Justice Alito: David Markus had the video of Justice Alito shaking his head and mouthing "not true" in response to President Obama's criticism of the recent decision on corporations and political speech...

COMMENT OF THE YEAR

Posted on January 30, 2010
This comment, left at 8:13 on the "Wicked Wednesday" post has engendered a lively discussion. So this comment is the comment of the year (so far). Anonymous said...To 10:35 pm: It's hilarious when former ASA's tell us county ASA's how to do our jobs...

TOUGH NEWS THURSDAY

Posted on January 28, 2010
Word reaches us today that Judge Amy Karan has resigned from the bench effective January 31, 2010. Many of you know Judge Karan has been battling Parkinson's disease and she needs to spend more time working on her health. This is a tremendous loss to the Bench and to our community...

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Posted on January 27, 2010
Trial woes continue for the battered and beleaguered State Attorneys Office as the first Not Guilty of the week comes in from a PRO SE Defendant in a DUI trial before Judge Luise Krieger Martin. More later. Site Feed

TERRIFIC TUESDAY

Posted on January 26, 2010
Judge Tunis starts the penalty phase in State v. Calloway. Calloway stands convicted of the horrific execution murder of FIVE individuals in a Liberty City Apartment over 13 years ago. Calloway was convicted in July of 2009. The Herald article is here...

JUST ANOTHER MANIC MONDAY

Posted on January 25, 2010
Monday in the REGJB. 340 days and 48 weeks left in the year. Plenty of time for the SAO to get back on track. Congrats to the Saints and Colts. The two best teams in the league will meet in Miami in two weeks. Get your exclusive Super Bowl tips here, including our patented "coin flip lock" which is 1-1 in the last two years...

CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY

Posted on January 24, 2010
Four teams, two games, a trip to the Super Bowl and Sun Life Stadium is on the line. For two teams, their Sunday will be akin to the week the SAO just suffered through. For two teams, the chance at an elusive championship. The problem for us today is that as a fan, the two teams we want to win are not the two teams you should be betting on if you want to make some scratch and score a SB seat...

WEEK IN REVIEW

Posted on January 23, 2010
This past week shaped up to be a difficult one for the State Attorneys Office. All we heard were not guilty verdicts- from the Roscoe Parrish in DUI court, to a NG in Domestics and a few NGs in the REGJB. Any of those attorneys want to step forward and take credit? Any Harvey Baxter reference bears repeating- and we received this one in the comments section yesterday (edited a bit here- the full comment is in the last post's comments section...

3RD DCA ROUNDUP 2010 EDITION & ROSCOE PARRISH NOT GUILTY

Posted on January 20, 2010
Here's our first 3rd DCA roundup for 2010: But first a word from the Colonel Of Court Court on the acquittal at trial today of NFL star Roscoe Parrish: The Colonel: All right soldiers, take a knee and gather round. The scene was Courtroom 5-1 as two (countem- 2) DUI Chiefs faced off against Broward defense attorney Adam Swickle and Dade lawyer Frank Garviria who successfully defended former UM start and current Buffalo Bills standout Rosco Parrish in a DUI case before Judge Miranda...

CLEARED!!! and ELECTED!!!!!

Posted on January 19, 2010
Many of us know the problem: We have a client who is difficult, perhaps obstreperous, and doesn't always do what we want them to do. So congratulations go out to Brian Tannebaum for his victory over the Florida Bar. Word reaches us today here in the frozen north, where they are also having a senate election, that Tannebaum was the victor over the Florida Bar in their relentless and continuing prosecution/persecution of defense attorney and courthouse legend Alexander Michaels...

Martin Luther King, Jr.: I Have a Dream

Posted on January 18, 2010
I think what I take most from this speech every time I hear it, is the declaration that "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...

PLAYOFF SUNDAY

Posted on January 17, 2010
Two more big games round out this playoff weekend. 1-1 yesterday and as the alert commentators were quick to point out, a price is paid for betting against Peyton Manning. The evening matchup is the J....E....T....S against the San Diego Chargers. We've said before that the Jets are built for the playoffs, but the train ride ends here...

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF WEEKEND

Posted on January 16, 2010
4 Big games this weekend, and two on Saturday starting with..... some fun facts:Cardinals at Saints. Fun fact: Kurt Warner has never...repeat NEVER lost in the Superdome. He's 8-0. Fun Fact: The Saints limped into the Playoffs losing three in a row. Fun Fact: No team ever losing three in a row to end the regular season has ever won a playoff game...

IN MEMORY OF JUDGE TOM CARNEY

Posted on January 14, 2010
It's really hard to know how to begin to remember former Miami Circuit Judge Tom Carney. I guess the first thing that comes to mind is he had a very low tolerance for BS. And he had a definite way of letting you know that. He was a consummate jurist...

HAITI HELP- Several people have

Posted on January 13, 2010
HAITI HELP- Several people have confirmed this is a legitimate donation and way to immediately help in Haiti: Text the word: HAITI To Number: 90999 This will charge a $10 donation to the victims of Haiti.Good work capt. THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:NORTH OF THE BORDER ...

BIG DUI HEARING THURSDAY

Posted on January 13, 2010
THE COLONEL OF COUNTY COURT REPORTS....At ease. I know that Rumpole owes you a DD22/416 (3rd DCA Report) but there are big doings Thursday in County Court that you should know about. So take a knee solider and listen up:Not to many of you need additional reasons to drink adult beverages when in the Florida Keys, but thanks to DUI super-maven Richard Hersch, and attorney Hal Schumacher, the Intoxilyzer 8000 has been out of service ever since Hersch and company laid a whole lot of hurtin on the Monore County State Attorneys Office last summer...

CATASTROPHIC EARTHQUAKE HITS HAITI

Posted on January 12, 2010
Unrestricted Blog chat tonight. Log on and have your say and see it posted right away. (we will monitor this and remove offensive comments right away.)UPDATE: BBC REPORTS MANY BURIED UNDER RUBBLE. (photo from the NY Times here. )BREAKING NEWS: THE BBC REPORTS THAT AN EARTHQUAKE OF "CATASTROPHIC STRENGTH" HAS HIT THE CAPITAL OF HAITI, CAUSING WIDESPREAD DAMAGE...

BACK IN MIAMI

Posted on January 11, 2010
Back in Miami. First Monday without Monday Night Football. Luckily my Madden NFL for Playstation arrived today. Hank Adorno- remember him? He gets 2 million per seven clients. By contract. Got a bar complaint. Won one count, lost one count from the referee - a North of the Border Judge who really stretched the law to give ol'Hank the benefit of the doubt about lying to Circuit Judge Peter Lopez:Can the referee say with ?precise explicit, lacking in confusion and of such weight that it produces a firm belief or conviction, without hesitation about the matter? that respondent Adorno misled Judge Lopez and was less than forthright in the hearing? The answer is no...

PHIL DAVIS GETS 20 YEARS

Posted on January 09, 2010
The sad and sordid saga of the life and legal career of former Dade Circuit Judge Phil Davis came to an inglorious end on Friday in a fourth floor courtroom in the Justice Building. A courtroom that was two floors above the second floor courtroom where Davis used to preside over twenty years ago...

INTRODUCING .....

Posted on January 08, 2010
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...

WELL SAID

Posted on January 07, 2010
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...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:ELECTION CENTRAL

Posted on January 06, 2010
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 OPatricia KopcoGroup 41 (Gerald Hubbart retiring)Milton HirschGroup 45Peter Adrien (I)Samantha Ruiz CohenJeffrey SwartzGroup 62 (Paul Siegel retiring)Robert KuntzJuan-Carlos PlanasIncumbents that have yet to file:Group 10 ? Scott BernsteinGroup 12 ? Bertila SotoGroup 13 ? Norman GersteinGroup 30 ? Rosa RodriguezIncumbents (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 SarduyCOUNTY COURT JUDGE:There are 10 seats up for election in 2010...

FLORIDA DOESN'T GET THE MESSAGE...

Posted on January 05, 2010
...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...

SLIP AND FALL

Posted on January 05, 2010
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...

BACK TO WORK

Posted on January 04, 2010
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...

ZLOCH SAVES RUMPOLE?

Posted on January 04, 2010
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...

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