THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION UPDATE .....

Welcome to our seventh of nine weekly reports analyzing the contested judicial elections in Miami-Dade County. In Week One, we focused on the only contested County Court race of Lindsay v. Lesperance. Since then, we have provided you with the Circuit Court races of Cueto v. Velis; Migna v. Manny, Colodny v. Kopco v. Millan, Garcia v. Glick and Corona v. Cynamon.

As we reported on May 2, 2008 on this blog, there are nine contested races here in Miami-Dade County; eight in the Circuit Court and one in the County Court.

Our final three reports cover three Circuit Court races where an incumbent has a challenger: this week we cover the Chumbley race, next week Geri Cohen, and the final week we cover the Bernard Shapiro race.

Today, we cover Group 51, a seat currently held by Judge Douglas Chumbley.

MARCIA CABALLERO .....

Marcia has been a member of The Florida Bar for 19 years. She was a school teacher for three years before becoming an attorney. She filed to run in October of 2007 and has raised more than $21,000 from 108 contributors. Marcia has throw in another $50,000 of her own money.

Ms. Caballero graduated from Thurgood Marshall Law School at Texas Southern. Her practice primarily handles criminal defense and PI cases, but she also takes on family law, probate and real estate matters. She also donates her time as a Guardian ad Litem.

You can read all about Ms. Caballero on her website at caballeroforjudge.net.

DOUGLAS CHUMBLEY (i) ....

Judge Douglas Chumbley earned his present job when Governor Bush appointed him to the Circuit Court bench in June of 2006 to replace retiring Judge Fredricka Smith. He has spent the past two years sitting in the Juvenile Division. Prior to becoming a judge, Chumbley was in private practice for 24 years with three different firms; spending the last nine years with Carlton Fields.

Chumbley has been a member of The Florida Bar for 26 years and he graduated from Washington & Lee Law School.

As a siting Judge, Chumbley has been extremely successful in the fundraising department bringing in $68,651 from 332 contributors. He has also kicked in $100,000 of his own money to the campaign.

You can check out keepjudgechumbley.com for all the latest news on Judge Chumbley's campaign.

Please do your homework on the two candidates. Help out our readers by giving us your comments, pro and con, on each of the candidates.

The election takes place on Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

CAPTAIN OUT .........

GREGG WENZEL

Today marks 5 years since the death of Gregg Wenzel. Gregg started as an assistant public defender in '94 and then went to The Florida Bar as Bar Counsel.

He then was hired by the Foreign Service and based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was killed by a drunk driver, who was tried in absentia, convicted and sentenced to one year in jail. He remains a fugitive.

Gregg was an avid swimmer, often showing up to the PD's office after a 6am swim in the ugliest gym clothes you can imagine, walking by all the other "suits" down the hall and changing at 8:50into one of the half a dozen suits he kept in his office. (His office door was always required to be closed when David Weed was coming by for various reasons).

There are many Gregg stories, his filing of demands for speedy trial in every single case when he was transferred to the jail division, his daily use of the "necessity" defense in DWLS trials (bringing about the joke that the east wing of DCJ was going to be renamed the "Gregg Wenzel necessity defense wing."),and the blowing up of his briefcase in the hallway of Jackson Towers by Metro Dade Bomb Squad because his beeper was vibrating and no one could determine whose briefcase it was or what was inside. (Gregg was in trial and unreachable as his pager was... in the briefcase). In true Gregg fashion, he was not apologetic about the commotion he caused, he was absolutely furious that his piece of crap briefcase was destroyed.

Gregg was also a ten-time marathon runner and finisher, and three-time Ironman finisher.

He lived life to the fullest, on his tombstone is the Abraham Lincoln quote "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Visit his memorial website at HERE
and keep him in your thoughts today.
Brian Tannebaum

Rumpole says: Very well said Brian. You are a good friend.

Captain: I took down your post when I saw this, and we'll put it up tomorrow, OK? Thanks.

Friend Of Rumpole

Um...uhh...hello. Friend Of Rumpole here. He is uh...indisposed at the moment. He can't post with any regularity at the moment. He gave me the password and asked me to post something. Since I really don't know anything about what you guys do here, this is really my best effort. 

So like uh consider this a summer hiatus. 

A brief respite. 

I can check and clear comments and Rumpole said you should talk among yourselves. 

Oh yeah. He also said something about someone who wears a robe will surely do something dumb and then I would have something to talk about. But I didn't really understand what he meant and he has been somewhat cryptic about this whole thing. So uhh  thanks for reading. And Rumpole will be back soon. Hopefully. 

PS. Oh yeah I remember something else: he said the people running for judges are starting to get on his nerves with their childish (yeah, he said to use that word: "childish") comments on the blog and that they should stop it right away or he would do something drastic when he gets back. Ok. That's it for now. See Ya. 

HERE COME DA JUDGES

Miami Herald article Sunday (new feature: the title of the post links to the article) catching up with what we all know:

That former Judges Marilyn Milian, David Young; Alex Ferrer; Cristina Pereyra- Shuminer and Karen Mills-Francis all have television shows where they play a Judge on TV.

Must be something in the water at the REGJB. Or the asbestos.

News flash for the Herald: Truman beats Dewey. Really.

Lets see. What else?

President Bush is going to China for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. The largest communist country on earth is apparently not a sponsor of terrorism. Just oppression. Ask the Dali Lama.

John McCain's new plan to win the white house involves hiring a majority of Americans to actually work on his campaign.

There are rumours that Ford and GM are considering bankruptcy, and we live in a time when Starbucks has a larger market capitalization than GM. Astounding.
Here's the NY Times Article on Oil. We were warned since the gas lines of the 1970's about oil running out. And GM and Ford responded by building SUV's. Here's a neat fact: the next time you are in County Court and a prosecutor tells you that you have no idea what you're doing, remember that they were probably NOT EVEN BORN when we had our first gas crisis in the early 1970's.

ASLEEP AT THE SPIGOT

See You In Court, studying the Metro Rail map of Miami.

PS. Stop by the Federal Fight Blog and wish them a happy Third Birthday.

NEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

The history of the present BUSH is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has led this nation into war based solely on a lie.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden the congress to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has had his government spy on the people.

He has had his government stop, search, arrest, and detain people without cause or legal warrant.

He has formed secret prisons all over the world.

He has had his government agents torture people in violation of the law of these colonies, the law among nations, and common decency.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone; he has threatened judges, and he continually appoints judges who share his narrow view of freedom and rights.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent and running a deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for a war not supported by the people.

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury.

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the current tyrant Bush.

And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Rumpole notes, what is amazing is the content of the original text that over 230 years later still applies to the current tyrant.

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTION UPDATE .....

Welcome to our 6th in a series of nine weekly reports breaking down the contested judicial elections in Miami-Dade County. In Week One, we focused on the only contested County Court race of Lindsay v. Lesperance. Since then, we have provided you with the Circuit Court races of Cueto v. Velis; Migna v. Manny and Colodny v. Kopco v. Millan and last week, Garcia v. Glick. As we reported on May 2, 2008 on this blog, there are nine contested races here in Miami-Dade County; eight in the Circuit Court and one in the County Court.

Today, it's Group 50, a seat currently held by retiring Judge Stuart Simons. Our goal will be to attempt to provide you with a weekly contest overview and then let you have at it and give us your opinions on why we should or should not vote for a certain candidate.

The candidates for Group 50 are Ricardo "Rick" Corona and Abby Cynamon.

RICARDO "RICK" CORONA .....

This is a campaign that has had lots of publicity over the course of the past couple of weeks. We do not want to rehash it all, but if you want to read what Rick had to say about all that has been written by the DBR and others, go back and review his front page post on this BLOG of June 22, 2008. I think Rick rightly pointed out that, The Florida Bar had the opportunity to thoroughly review all of the allegations and history of the FDIC charges that his father and brother were tied up in. The Bar gave Mr. corona a license to practice law.

Mr. Corona has been in several different occupations during his lifetime. Banking, supermarket owner, real estate developer are just some of the things he has accomplished in his career. Now he want to be a Circuit Court Judge. He filed in October of 2007 and has only reported raising $1,250 from three contributors and loaned his campaign an additional $16,000. He has a lot of catching up to do if he plans on matching his opponent dollar for dollar. Rick has been a member of The Florida Bar for 11 years.

We have been unable to locate a website for Mr. Corona's campaign.

ABBY CYNAMON ....

Ms. Cynamon has also had much written about her on this BLOG. She is a graduate of the UM Law School and has been an Assistant General Counsel for the 11th Judicial Circuit from 1993-2008. She was the President of FAWL from 2006-2007. Abby has been licensed for 18 years in Florida.

Ms. Cynamon is running this campaign and leaving nothing in the bag, so to speak. Her Campaign Treasurer is Hector Lombana. She has stormed the fundraising scene with $51,363 from 259 donors; (and that does not count what she has raised in the past three months as second quarter reports are due to be filed any day now). She also throw in $300,000 of her own money.

She has hired the entire hit list of campaign gurus: Susan Fried, Robert Levy, Armando Gutierrez and ?? have each been paid $11,000 so far. Tangela Sears has been paid an additional $4,500. In fact, Cynamon has spent over $100,00 already on the campaign.

You can read all about Abby on her website at abby4judge.com.

Please do your homework on the two candidates. Help out our readers by giving us your comments, pro and con, on each of the candidates.

The election takes place on Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

CAPTAIN OUT .........

DCBA JUDICIAL POLL RESULTS ......

Also, this week, the DCBA posted the results of their annual Bar Poll of the Judicial Candidates. We will not comment on the results of the non-elected candidates, but we do feel that it is important to comment on three TOP FIVE lists of the sitting judges.

EXCEPTIONALLY QUALIFIED:

1. Judge Emas - 70%
2. Judge Farina - 66%
3. Judge Robert Scola - 64%
4. Judge Reemberto Diaz - 60%
5. Judge Tam Wilson - 58%

UNQUALIFIED (lowest five):

1. Judge Schumacher - 4%
2. Judge Robert Scola - 4%
3. Judge Prescott - 4%
4. Judge Farina - 5%
5. Judge Emas - 5%

UNQUALIFIED (highest five):

1. Judge Esquiroz - 43%
2. Judge Jacqueline Schwartz - 36%
3. Judge Eig 30%
4. Judge Butchko - 30%
5. Judge Donner - 25%

These last five judges need to figure out what it is they are doing that is causing their ratings to be so low. Granted, there were only a small percentage of attorneys voting in this poll, but these numbers still represent the voices of anywhere from 400-900 practicing lawyers in this County. The people of Miami-Dade County deserve better.

As for the other two "top five" lists, those jurists are to be congratulated for being such fine public servants.

CAPTAIN OUT .....

UPS AND DOWNS

UPDATE AND BREAKING NEWS:

FEDERAL FRACAS!!!

FDC FIST-A-CUFFS!

BILL  "The Brawler" BARZEE 

vs.

 BENSON "First Punch" WEINTRAUB. 

Punches; headlocks. Read all about it on David Markus's Federal Fight Blog. 

Rumpole says: You know, we've often thought that there needed to be little more civility and professionalism in Federal Court. Like we have here in the REGJB. And this just proves our point. Perhaps like the Judges North of The Border, it's time for the Federal Lawyers to take a course in sensitivity training. 

And now....on with the show.

Regulars to the REGJB may have noticed that in the last few weeks at least one, and usually two escalators have been out of service. This has been going on much longer than the usual day or two it takes for the highly trained repair crews to fix an escalator. 

And now Rumpole knows why. 

In a Justice Building Blog Exclusive, we (at great personal expense and some personal risk) bring you the daily work schedule of the Otis Escalator repair crews:

9:45 Arrive at REGJB and look for parking

10:15 Park. 

10:20 Arrive at REGJB security line.

10:40 Clear security and enter building.

10:45 Begin work.

11:15 mid morning coffee break.

11: 30 Resume work.

12:15 Lunch Break

1:30 Return to REGJB. 

1:40 Clear security and begin work.

2:00 Crew meeting to discuss daily progress.

2:15 Resume work.

2:45 Mid afternoon coffee break.

3:15  Resume work. 

3:30 Fill out written reports on work progress.

3:45 Resume work.

4:00 10 minute personal break ( 1 per day. Union Rules).

4:10 Resume work.

4:30 End work for the day. 

There you have it folks. Our government contractors in action.

This is 100% true: Alert readers will have noticed that the escalator work crews have put up construction siding that contain this bit of information:

"United Technologies of Otis. First in Safety First in Service..." 

(and Rumpole adds) 

"Last in speed and efficiency."

Running up and down the stairs is fun. What we can't understand is how the chief judges have missed a golden opportunity: knowing that the escalators will be down, how have they managed not to schedule extra cases? Maybe a combined  traffic and felony blitz is just what we need in the heat of the summer to really have some fun. 

In any event we have it on good authority that the escalators will be repaired and fully functional by July 7.

July 7, 2009 that is.

See You In Court.

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

.... AND IN THIS CORNER








For the defence: A distinguished member of The Florida Bar for the past 47 years, PARKER THOMSON. (Horace, you may have the "Clarence Clemons" of criminal law, but we've got the Clarence Darrow of the courthouse).

Barrister Thomson is a member of the international law firm of Hogan & Hartson, founded in Washington D.C. over 100 years ago, in 1904. Holland & Knight, his counterpart, has been around a measly 40 years and was founded in Tampa.

Thomson has extensive experience representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals (11th Circuit), the Florida Supreme Court, and various state and U.S. federal courts throughout Florida. He has presented oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in three cases and before the Florida Supreme Court in dozens of cases. How many cases has Rudy argued before SCOTUS: ZERO!!! (But, fail not State, according to our crack research staff, since leaving the bench, Sorondo has been invited to teach at the Conference of Circuit Court Judges and has even lectured at the Miami Dade State Attorney's Office).

According to our sources, the State already has its work cut out for them trying to get past the issue of Standing. And, if they manage to get past that large hurdle, the Supreme Court of Florida, in 1990, stated, in part: "when excessive caseload forces the public defender to choose between the rights of the various indigent criminal defendants he represents, a conflict of interest is inevitably created." The same Supreme Court also mentioned in a 1980 case involving these same issues, that, "the acceptance of additional cases where an existing caseload precludes adequate representation may subject an attorney to disciplinary action."

We could not have said it better than FACDL Prez Rick Freedman stated today: "The legislature's answer to this problem [the excessive workload] is to create more crimes with new statutes, increase penalties for existing crimes and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build more prisons. All of this results in more defendants being arrested, more cases being filed and an exponentially higher chance that an innocent man's freedom will be taken from him. In order for every accused American to have competent and effective counsel, the second branch of our government must stop ignoring, at budget time, the third branch."

Horace, pack in it and join the good guys on this fight. Stick a fork in it cause the State Attorney's Office is "done" in this battle.

CAPTAIN OUT .....