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Criminal Law

Justice Building Blog

Discussion about and between the judges and lawyers who labor in the world of Miami's criminal justice.
By "Captain Liberty" and "Rumpole"

Post Frequency: 3.5/day

Last Entry: November 04, 2020 at 06:48:00

The Ties That Bind

Posted on June 15, 2009
It's 96 degrees outside. It feels like 105. The humidity is 100%.And only one profession mandates that the male participants wear not just a tie, but also a coat, no matter how hot it is. Imagine if you will an alien species making contact with earth...

3rd DCA ROUNDUP

Posted on June 12, 2009
Quiet week at the 3rd DCA. Not much to report except these three gems:Braggs v. State. Generic case law here on the issue of Melbourne and striking jurors during voire dire. BUT- talk about pulling victory from the jaws of defeat!! The court initially reversed the conviction because the trial judge left out parts of the mandated ?Melbourne analysis?...

FED STUFF

Posted on June 09, 2009
Courtesy of everyone's favourite federal blogger, Dade Circuit Judges Jerald Bagley, Robert Scola, Mary Barzee Flores, and Darrin Gayles have applied for the vacancy in US District Court. (Click on the link for the full list).We all know that the Chief (Judge Fred Moreno) got his start in the humble confines of county court in our Justice Building...

THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM

Posted on June 09, 2009
The title of the post links to the US Supreme Court's recent decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey. The case reached the Supremes when the West Virginia Supreme Court (motto: "readin and writin at the highest legal levels") voted 3-2 to overturn a 50 million dollar verdict...

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Tough Times for White Shoes

Posted on June 08, 2009
No, we're not talking about Houston Oiler kick returner Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, who ran through opposing team's kick coverage units in the NFL in the 1970's like,We're talking about tough times hitting those big high falutin Wall Street firms. You know, the ones who sneered at us as we decided to go into criminal law while they did MA deals for the Street...

RaIN RAIN

Posted on June 07, 2009
Go away, rain on Broward not us today. The rain has knocked our internet service out on an intermittent basis. We have a lot to say, but little ability to say it. Some people have been hoping for this for years now. But what countless legions of lawyers and others could not accomplish, mother nature has, at least on a limited basis...

MURDER OR TAN?

Posted on June 04, 2009
Very quietly a real battle is shaping up over the prosecution of Aventura Developer Adam Kaufman for murdering his wife. The state and ME Dr. Bruce Hyma (someone we have found to be very thorough) aver that the woman died of mechanical strangulation. Attorney Bill Matthewman (who knows his way around a courtroom in the biggest cases) counters with ME Dr...

GREGG WENZEL

Posted on June 02, 2009
For those of you who remember Gregg Wenzel, he was a Dade Public Defender in the mid-1990's. The title of the post links to a CIA press release confirming that Gregg Wenzel died in the service of his country as a field agent for the CIA in Ethiopia in 2003...

AT THE REQUEST OF JASON GREY

Posted on June 02, 2009
Jason Grey sent us this emailDear rumpole, my wife of 15 years died monday at 4:41. she had struggled against cancer for 8 long years and couldn't go on she leaves me our 8 year old son jordan and literally hundreds of friends behind. I ask you for a favor...

GANT AND CARS: IS SCALIA OUR FRIEND?

Posted on June 01, 2009
Before we begin, we take note of these petitions for cert: Florida v. Powell 08-1175 and Florida v. Rigternik 08- 1229 in which the innocuous little question before the Scalia Court is "must a suspect be expressly advised of his right to counsel before questioning, and if so, does the failure to provide this express advice vitiate Miranda v...

THIS IS WHAT AN OPINION SHOULD BE

Posted on May 28, 2009
Concise. To the Point. Strict constructionist. Recognizing that emotionally the Plaintiffs are damaged, but following the letter of the law, which did not allow them to collect. Justice Scalia take note: Judge Gillis is at work.The Justice Building Blog proudly presents to you Fisher v...

3rd DCA ROUNDUP

Posted on May 28, 2009
Better late than never, considering the volume of Supreme Court cases we have been reading lately:Brown v. State: Judge Mark King Leban joins the HALL OF FAME (as opposed to the hall of shame) for conducting an evidentiary hearing on a rule 3 motion, and issuing a decision based on facts that the record supports...

SUPREME COURT

Posted on May 27, 2009
Update- our favourite federal blogger has temporarily lost his marbles. Go see his blog and see what he says about Scalia. With the Supreme Court taking center stage in the news, we present to you a few supreme tidbits: Supreme Court Decision Predictor...

STARE DECISIS

Posted on May 27, 2009
Or- "How to over rule precedent in five easy steps and on five dollars a day."A treatise. By Antonin Scalia. Assoc. Justice. U. S. Supreme Court. Our last post dealt with the decision in Montejo v. Louisiana, and our belief that it represented the thin edge of a larger wedge created by Justice Scalia...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:BREAKING NEWS

Posted on May 26, 2009
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:BREAKING NEWS ....... U.S. SUPREME COURT .....SONIA SOTOMAYOR NOMINATED TO SUPREME COURTLooks like it's the hispanic female as Pres. B. Obama will announce his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, age 54, to replace David Souter. She is a federal judge on the U...

30 YEARS OF SHAME

Posted on May 24, 2009
Florida marks the 30 year anniversary of the re-institution of the death penalty. The title of the post links to the Herald's article. John Spenkelink was executed May 25, 1979 for the kind of murder that now-a-days would not come close to meeting the aggravating factors required for the death penalty...

THE PAYOFF

Posted on May 22, 2009
45 years after 3 civil rights workers were brutally slain, Philadelphia, Mississippi, a town synonymous with deep south "justice" and racial hatred, has elected its first African American Mayor. The election of Pentecostal Minister James A Young on Tuesday means that James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner did not die in vane...

SHOOTING SNAFU?

Posted on May 22, 2009
First- SILENT CHARLIE - DAY 5. By virtue of the comments yesterday, some people have many of the questions we have about what's going on at the PDs office. ASA VON ZAMFT BLAMES MEDIA FOR SHOOTING:This has been on our plate for a while, but we just couldn't get to it...

SILENT CHARLIE DAY 4

Posted on May 21, 2009
UPDATE: BLOCKBUSTER INDICTMENT! A Former Federal and State Prosecutor in New Jersey, and now a prominent criminal defense attorney- Paul Bergrin-has been indicted in federal court on 14 counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, murder and conspiracy to commit murder...

3rd DCA ROUNDUP

Posted on May 20, 2009
If it's sometime after Wednesday, it's time for our (semi) regular perusal of the opinions emanating from somewhere down south and right near the Fair/Carnival grounds. Location coincidence? We say not. Nottage v. State, stands for the proposition not being sure as a juror still means you can find someone guilty for murder...

YOUR NEXT COUNTY JUDGE IS HERE

Posted on May 19, 2009
A READER WROTE IN WITH THIS LIST OF ATTORNEYS APPLYING FOR COUNTY COURT JUDGE.The reader's comments to the list are in yesterdays comment's section. We do not pass any judgment except to say we agree with the person who posted the original comment: ASA Bill Altfield would be the perfect selection...

STRANGELY SILENT

Posted on May 18, 2009
(For a guy that clearly knows how to use a phone, Carlos Martinez is strangely silent these days.)For a lawyer, for a defender, for an advocate for the poor, the weak, the gullible, Miami Public Defender Carlos Martinez remains strangely silent over the controversy regarding his office...

PLEASE RESPOND

Posted on May 14, 2009
OK Carlos Martinez (BHB) here's your forum. The criminal legal community is watching. The 3rd DCA just spanked you and said that you (BHB) made poor choices in spending money for new attorneys on raises for existing attorneys. Several in-court PDs have sent us emails saying they haven't received a cost of living increase in a few years...

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:BREAKING NEWS

Posted on May 13, 2009
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:BREAKING NEWS ...................3RD DCA ISSUES THEIR OPINION ON PUBLIC DEFENDER CONFLICT CASEWhile I have no doubt that Rumpole will provide you with a more comprehensive review of the very important decisions reached by that august body in Southwest Dade, one opinion today needs to be immediately reported ...

SCALIA UNLEASHED.

Posted on May 12, 2009
The most engaging, interesting and perhaps (just perhaps) the brightest of the Supreme Court Justices recently let loose in a talk at the American University's College of Law. The title links to the Time's article. Here's something even our favourite federal blogger will like: Scalia on Hahvad:?By and large,? he said, ?I?m going to be picking from the law schools that basically are the hardest to get into...

LOCAL NEWS

Posted on May 12, 2009
The BBC is on fire today. The Vatican denies Pope (Adolf) Benedict's participation in the Hitler Youth, although the Pope himself has admitted it. The BBC reports here on the convictions of 5 of 6 defendant's in Miami Federal court after 16 or so trials...

HARD AT WORK

Posted on May 11, 2009
Here was the scene (sent to us by an alert reader) last week at approximately 10:00 AM. With at least three escalators out, denizens of the REGJB took bets on the 45 minute period the escalator technicians would actually stop their breaks and do some work...

NOT GUILTY IN BROWARD CAPITAL MURDER CASE

Posted on May 11, 2009
North of the Border, which leads the state in acquittals at trial, just took a torpedo beneath the waterline last Thursday as as defendant accused of the murder, sexual battery, and strangulation of a young woman was acquitted of all charges. Yes you read that correct...

A CHILLING EFFECT

Posted on May 07, 2009
Before we begin, we continue our story that broke late yesterday that Circuit Judge Tam Wilson will be retiring this coming October, 2009. A CHILLING EFFECT:The Justice Department has announced that the former Justice Department lawyers who authored legal memos justifying the use of coercive (read, torture) tactics against Al Queda prisoners, will not be subject to legal prosecution...

THE FRED STRIKES BACK

Posted on May 06, 2009
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Albert Einstein. After last week's dustup over Judge Fred Seraphin's putative refusal to call attorneys out of turn during the busy Wednesday sounding calendar in County Court, we sent our spy to Judge Serpahin's courtroom Wednesday morning for a report...

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