WEDNESDAY NOTES
*CONFIRMED* - Judge Joel Lazarus has resigned as County Criminal Administrative Head. In an email, he cites his impending retirement, which is only a few months away (he'll be back as a senior judge almost immediately, and his seat will still be filled by the voters, not Governor Crist). Judge Sharon Zeller is currently looking for a replacement. Is there more to the story? Stay tuned ...
Still a few judges without challengers in 2010 - from the list:
County: Joel Lazarus, Peter Skolnik, Gisele Pollack, Gary Cowart, John Hurley, Linda Pratt, Mary Robinson, Steven Shutter, Eric Beller, Kathleen Ireland, Martin Dishowitz, Lisa Trachman, Lee Seidman, Edward Merrigan.
Circuit - Barbara McCarthy, Elijah Williams, Robert Carney, Susan Greenhawt, Susan Lebow, Hope Tieman-Bristol, William Haury, Matthew Destry, Carlos Rebollo, John T. Luzzo, Cynthia Imperato, Carlos Rodriguez, Linda Vitale, Lisa Porter, Kenneth Gillespie, Michael Gates, Cheryl Aleman, Eileen O'Connor.
Pick a winner (or loser), but act quickly. The county races are filling up fast ...
(and don't forget to plan ahead for 2012)
More JQC complaints? - say it ain't so. At least two more Gardineresque allegations plaguing the circuit? Peyton Place has nothing on the Broward Courthouse ...
Adria Quintela Live! - the Florida Bar's Chief Branch Discipline Counsel presents "Overview of the Lawyer Disciplinary Process" Thursday at 11:45 AM, the Tower Club. The luncheon is sponsored by The Broward County Hispanic Bar Association, and costs twenty-five bucks. No word on whether or not any of the fact patterns involve a lawyer's duty to report judges and fellow attorneys who break the canons of ethics with impunity, or whether lawyers who work for the Florida Bar are exempt from the same ethical obligations that bind the rest of us. Who knows, maybe the Q&A session will turn out to be a lot more fun than anyone could have anticipated?
What do you call an old pal who used to party like a Rock Star? - in Broward, sometimes "Your Honor". Sure, everyone's heard the stories, and they can be easily proven. But what if a former user never went to Rehab? Isn't that person still technically a drug addict, who, according to Mike Satz, is probably still committing other crimes? And how can the community be assured their officials are drug free, especially with so many of our elected officials currently grabbing the headlines in a race to the dysfunctional bottom? Can we really afford to continue believing that our top dogs possess the necessary self-control to stay out of their spouses pill bottles, their kids' illicit stashes, or to follow dosage directions given them by their own doctors? No, we think not, particularly in light of the rabid mood swings, outbursts, and suspect decisions landing so many Broward politicos in hot water these days. It's time to drug test all elected Broward officials on a regular basis, as a first step toward reform.
Scheinberg & Gardiner - the SAO responded to our request regarding the number of cases former ASA Howard Scheinberg worked on in front of Judge Ana Gardiner, after their friendship blossomed during Loureiro. They found only two cases, neither involving trials. From the SAO response:
State of Florida v. Bernard Joseph, Case # 06-22947CFA, was presented to the Grand Jury by Mr. Scheinberg. Judge Susan Lebow signed the indictment. Computer records indicate that Mr. Scheinberg handled the arraignment and early stages of discovery when the case was in Judge Gardiner’s division. The case was transferred to Judge Paul Backman’s division. The motions to suppress and the trial were handled by another prosecutor in front of Judge Martin Bidwill. The case was tried in front of Judge Bidwill in July of 2009.
State of Florida v. Keith Lines, Case # 08-2646CF10A, was initially assigned to Mr. Scheinberg. Computer records indicate that he covered calendar calls and status conferences when the case was in Judge Gardiner’s division. The case was nolle prossed on July 21, 2008, after Mr. Scheinberg left the office and re-filed as Case# 08-11699CF10A & B, adding a co-defendant. The case is currently pending and is set for trial in May of 2010 in front of Judge Bidwill.
Lastly - what will happen to Omar Loureiro up in Palm Beach, now that reality might have eclipsed even Judge Chernow Brown's "assume the worst" scenario? Is dismissal back on the menu?
$120 Million In Cash For A New Courthouse? - and Broward Schools are making deeper cuts, including more layoffs. Way to go.
Ballroom Blitz - tomorrow at least one Miami circuit courtroom will be conducting a third degree felony blitz. They're just like the ones tried in Broward a while back, with a twist - they actually resolve a ton of cases.
Here's a shorthand sketch of how we're told it works:
Cases are identified as qualifying for the Blitz Docket. The SAO and Defense try to reach an agreement, and the judge has the final say. Oftentimes the judge will undercut the State, resulting in sentences way below SAO offers. Here's the twist - judges will often give credit for time served, probation, or county sentences, even when the defendant scores mandatory Florida State Prison. How, you ask? Because the SAO, recognizing non-violent garbage cases when they see them, agrees not to appeal the sentence. Everyone goes home happy, with the SAO freeing up precious resources to bring to bear against truly violent offenders. It's smart and effective, and it'll never happen here, so long as Mike "Biggest Loser" Satz is running the show. Sigh ...
(As nasty as you wanna be, Vic ... )
I always thought Korda looked stoned out of his gourd most of the time while on the bench. His actions proved it to be true. They should erect a plague in the park where he was busted. "Here sat Korda, stoned out of his gourda". To think the Hollywood Gang ran Broward Courts for so long!
A number of suprises coming mid April.
LAZ RUNNING OUT OF STEAM?
Will the Florida Bar luncheon sponsored by the Hispanic Bar Asso. be featuring Judge Ana Gardiner singing "Say It Ain't So," "Walking at Midnight" or the Ghost of Linda Radner?
I thought Ana was going to sing "The Party's Over" and "What Kind of Fool Am I."
Dont insult Sammy like that.
I'm told there is going to be at least one, but likely 2 real shockers coming some time next week and NOBODY is going to be happy with this.
Oh KK, what hast thou wrought!
Trachman and Beller tee hee hee
Trachman and Beller are great judges. They will have huge support if they get opposition. Anyone dumb enough to run against them deserves what they will receive which is a well funded and organized campaign. Why not get in races where there is a remote chance of winning?
Tell that to the other hacks that joined their races too.
A bunch of PDs and ex-PDs with no lives or practices to speak of. Big whoop-dee-freaking do.
Lazarus is retiring, Shutter (great judge) is retiring... Lee Seidman has a few opponents.
CB is a PIP lawyer who only seems to write about County Civil Judges who sign their big fat fee orders. Deborah is on to the PIP lawyers and their lame attempts to intimidate her out of Skolnik race.
Why does Brenda Snapes's website only list people running for County Court Judge, but not those running for Circuit?
Wow, I'm like My Cousin Vinny ("Two Youths").
The answer to your question is that the Broward SOE has the County Judges and the State Elections Board has the Circuit Judges. There is a link on the Broward SOE candidates page that goes to the state site and you can search there.
Lazarus can't retire soon enough.
Lee Jay Seidman is going to file against Susan Lebow....
Biggest misinformation campaign of this season.
$10 says he switches with his wife and she jumps into the sausage party in County Group 26 and he takes on Porter.
steven schaet only put into the seidman race bc seidman is jumping races to run against lebow for circuit. apparently schaet and seidman are good friends and schaet would have never put his name in against seidman if seidman had stayed in his own county race. however, seidman told schaet he was jumping ship now that lebow made headlines for dismissing a murder trial bc now she's looking like a good opponent to beat. please don't let this happen, whatever lebow did, she's much better being a circuit judge than seidman!!! he will be setting million dollar bonds and sending people to prison left & right for millions of years. ugh!
You've got it wrong. It won't be Lebow that gets the bad news ala Seidman.
"You've got it wrong. It won't be Lebow that gets the bad news ala Seidman."
The question is which seidman are you referring to here.
There is going to be multiple bad news situations involving them before this is through.
I've heard it'll be Lebow-Seidman-Gonzalez. Go Julio: good riddance to two lunatics in one race.
http://www.myactsofsedition.com/files/redacted-binder-1.pdf
I think Hurley, Smiler, McGee and Aturd mscrewed with the wrong hombres in Chaz and New Times
Just exactly how dumb is Hurley? This is like off the scale.
Misrepresentations of this sort by a judicial candidate are looked upon with contempt by the JQC. This was no oversight but a direct attempt to mislead voters into believing that he had originally been elected to office. Extremely poor form. This will do it for Hurley. His goose is cooked.
looks like Smiler and his suck butt Aturd miscalculated! Try the truth next time. It will set you free.
Sleezy politics will get you swamped.
I like the fact that Chaz's email refers to the host of the event as the Crudnick law firm...LOL
If you need to ask if he's really that dumb, you dont know him. Typical trick for judges wanting to keep their jobs even if they were never elected to begin with. It's bad news though for his campaign.
First the trick about going to the cops about a bloggers comment about his wedding and then the Seiler/McGee sorted story and now this? It's not gonna bode well with a JQC complaint following so close.
Crudnick Campbell? This guy is good.
Its hard to say its an "oversight" when you yourself (if following the law) say "Paid for and APPROVED by".
Typical frat boy stuff, i.e. the rules dont apply to me. Flying on a private jet and not paying for it, i.e. the rules dont apply to me. Thinking as a Judge his wedding deserves special considerations for privacy despite a very public guest list, i.e. the rules dont apply to me. When the JNC just happened to add his name after it sent up 5 qualified people, i.e. the rules dont apply to me.
Kevin, when are the Black judges going to get opposition? You know Bush appt Elijah Williams and Crist appt Ken Gillespie? Mary Dud Robinson? Oh that's right you don't have the balls and anyway Howard Finkelstein won't let you. Kulik =. Howard's gopher