JAABCAM
1.) Extra! Extra! Rothstein sells papers, as evidenced by the Courthouse garage news boxes this morning; 2.) The family of thirteen year old Deerfield burn suspect Jeremy Jarvis meets the press this afternoon, outside attorney Steve Melnick's office. All the locals were there, together with CNN and Good Morning America; 3.) Sharon Lawson, Channel Six, at the press conference; 4.) Pollack & Pollock, LLP, representing BSO and the judiciary; 5.) Zack & Moldof relive a DUI trial from twenty-five years ago; 6.) It's not all fun and games for Broward's minority populations. Walk into any circuit criminal courtroom any day of the week and you'll see the mirror image of this photo shot Tuesday. Institutional racism is alive and well in Broward County, where the SAO sends non-violent minority offenders to prison at nearly twice the rate per capita of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties.
MONDAY NOTES
"Integrity. Passion. Commitment." - the RRA website that proudly displayed these words is no more.
If only we'd saved the lawyer pictures and profiles before they went down. You have to wonder, how could so many savvy former prosecutors, ex-judges and an ex-Sheriff have gone along for so long without seeing the warning signs of such a massive scam? Of course, most of them are Satz trained, so there you have it. Still, it's not exactly confidence inspiring.
We're told good guy Julio Gonzalez has landed on his feet, already having secured another lucrative gig. As far as the others, we can't say for sure. And what will become of former Loureiro prosecutor Howard Scheinberg? Will Satz take him back? Or might he consider joining forces with Ana Gardiner, if the rumors about her retiring from the bench are true? Add ace Gardiner pal/paralegal Ken Jenne to the mix, and you've got one heck of a budding law firm (and you can bet their Christmas Party will be awesome).
And how does the meltdown reflect on Satz himself? (that's a rhetorical question). Will it lead him to actually do something about the unbridled lawlessness, corruption and greed amongst Broward's ruling class, or, more likely, will he continue to shrug his shoulders and mumble platitudes like "(grunt) corruption is awful hard to prove (ugh)". Here's an idea - maybe "Iron Mike" could pass on one of his patented slam dunk, headline grabbing cop killer prosecutions, and personally prosecute a public corruptions case himself? Or maybe he can divert some of the massive resources currently being wasted on non-deterrable cocaine residue cases to actually combat the real criminals in Broward? We can dream, can't we?
Be sure to check The Daily Pulp for the full text of Chief Judge Tobin's Rothstein email (he also sent a second one around today, asking for a single judge to handle all the multiple filings of receivership and creditor motions). Also, click here for Governor Crist's reaction.
Today's Brady - Perjury or No Perjury? - Click here for a 2006 SAO closeout memo, after a Davie cop was accused of perjuring himself during a DUI trial for one of his cop buddies. Of course, the SAO found "(t)here is not a reasonable likelihood of conviction if (he) was charged with perjury for this statement because a jury could be persuaded that when he said he made 250-300 DUI arrests he was including calls he responded to as well as arrests". Gee, whatever happened to "let the jury decide"? And does Jeff Marcus believe possibly lying under oath in trial would not be "exculpatory" to a defendant charged by this officer? Slippery slope, indeed ...
Bits and Pieces - Judge Robinson has reportedly become the second judge to rule on the aggregated Intoxilyzer motions; Attorney Jack Fleischman in St. Lucie today, trying a cock-fighting case. (updates to follow)
Gone Troppo?
We told you something big was brewing, but this isn't it - like most local lawyers, our extra hour of morning slumber was broken today with outrageous phone calls concerning Scott Rothstein, of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, Adler. Yes, we'd heard the house of cards stories in the past, and even recent grousing by some of the lucky "partners", but all this stuff about Morocco seemed pretty far-fetched (even by Satzland standards). Luckily, Bob Norman's number wasn't busy, and he kindly confirmed two things: 1) something really heavy really was going down, and 2) he was, as usual, light years ahead of us (and everybody else). By now, of course, everyone's read Bob and Buddy's coverage over at The Daily Pulp and BrowardBeat.com, with even the Sentinel catching up a little after 10:00 PM.
What can be said? If all this stuff is as bad as people are saying, a lot of fine, honest attorneys will be hurt, not to mention the support staff and investors. It'll also be more than a little ironic, following so closely on the heels of the FBI probe and Rothstein's beration of the aforementioned Bob Norman. Charlie Crist will have egg on his face, and convicted felon/Satz pal Ken Jenne will be looking for work (oh well, at least something good may come of all this). Keep watching the other blogs for breaking Rothstein news all this week, and keep your eyes peeled for the long awaited answer to the million dollar question - Why did so many people hire a guy who wears suits like that?
(The other really big story is still brewing)
Speaking of Ken Jenne - today, November 2nd, 2009, is KEN JENNE DAY in the 17th Judicial Circuit. Make sure to remind your judges and ASAs to take a break from imprisoning African-American males, in order to pay homage to everyone's favorite convict. Feel free to point out that Jenne got less time for betraying the public trust and crapping on the badge than the average minority drug addict gets in the upside down world of Mike Satz. A judicial day of worship for a formerly corrupt politician - only in Broward!
Miami-Dade court program for mentally ill people allows prosecutors to drop felony charges
Judge Candidate Klitsberg Won’t Take Lawyers Or Bail Bonds $$$
Bill,
You are so full of mierda!
Hilly! What did you do - Where is that gorgeous mustache??
maybe the police are to blame for the people in the box. They make the arrests and present the cases. Maybe youre complaining about the wrong agency. Start complaining about the sheriff's and departments' focus on those individuals. That might help rectify the situation you complain of.
It disappeared with my integrity -- or was that my conscience?
This guy is going down big time.
hey bill maybe you should take some cases to trial instead of taking their money and putting them on probation knowing full and well that they will violate. oh those poor black defendants. its because satz put crack in their pockets and forced them to sell it to their own communities !!!
Moldof and Zack. Now there's a pair.
Rothstein's firm represented scherer, sounds like he had everyone
was scherer involved in business with rothstein?
Has anyone's reputation dropped so fast as Moldof's has in the past 5 years?
Not that it's not deserved. Like Rothstein, it all eventually comes out in the wash.
That's some dirty wash load. Watch for Lavoti next.
Things are getting hotter over at RR & A.
Did you see Rothstein in the channel 7 interview? That dude was as high as can be? What's with that neck twitch also? That guy is fucked.
These were obviously long term investments being offered by RR&A.