Criminal Law

WEDNESDAY NOTES

Posted on December 01, 2010
Lather was sixty years old today - hey old timers, were you at The Big Rock Pow Wow back in May '69?  Broward County's Seminole Tribe hosted the Grateful Dead on the Hollywood reservation way back when, when many a future lawyer (and judge) were tabbing their tongues almost as often as they were tabbing the pages of law school case books...

ALCALDE WEIGHS IN

Posted on November 30, 2010
THERE IS NO DNA DEBACLE!by Adriana Alcalde (ASA, Sexual Battery Unit)After reading the words ?DNA Debacle? on JAABLOG, my heart sank and I felt a knot forming in the pit of my stomach.  Since many of my cases involve DNA,  I was worried.  I decided to look into what the issue was before going into panic mode...

Tryptophans Wearing Off ...

Posted on November 30, 2010
... which means JAABLOG will update shortly.In the meantime, wish ASA Joseph Zager luck in his quest to become the Statewide Prosecutor under Pam Bondi.Word on the street is he has a shot ...SFT: Charles Cherry Jr. says it is a ?near certainty? he will run against Satz"Charles Cherry Jr...

"OH HELL YEAH"

Posted on November 23, 2010
Alcee Hastings & Howard Finkelstein this morningU.S. Congressman Alcee Hastings was in the house Tuesday, at the invitation of Merrilee Ehrlich.  He spoke for about half an hour in her juvenile courtroom, inspiring at-risk kids to rise above the myriad of challenges they face in their everyday lives...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

LUCKY LILAS

Posted on November 23, 2010
"Karma is a bitch!"    -Kerle Alce, after learning of his persecutor's criminal activityFormer Broward ASA Lilas Ayandeh pled out her hit & run case today, a full month before her scheduled arraignment.  Out in force were representatives of the SAO, including Special Prosecution's Cathy Berkowitz, wife of Ayandeh's lawyer Jason Kreiss...

JAABCAM

Posted on November 21, 2010
1.) Bob Diaz instructs volunteer judges for Nova Law School's Street Law Mock Trial Program, Saturday morning.  Professors Diaz and Mickey Rocque report at least fifty-seven known lawyers drawn from the ranks of high school and junior high school kids inspired by the program to attend law school...

SENTENCING

Posted on November 20, 2010
Gold has released Leyritz over SAO objection pending sentencing. He faces a maximum of six months in the county. Once Wayne Spath confirms whether or not he will stay on the bond, Leyritz will be free pending sentencing a week from Monday.

GUILTY OF LESSER DUI!

Posted on November 20, 2010
GRAND SLAM! MISDEMEANOR!

DOUBLE BUZZER AT 12:20

Posted on November 20, 2010
Leyritz panel just buzzed about forty-five minutes after beginning Saturday morning deliberations ...

GUILTY x 2

Posted on November 19, 2010
Satz gets his man - it took the jury two plus hours to come back guilty as charged on ten of the charges against Yancy Polk.  The four other counts came back as lessers.  The guiltys were not unexpected, but a well done goes out to Mike Satz, Carolyn McCann, and John Abrams nonetheless...

TODAY'S DIRECTED VERDICTS

Posted on November 18, 2010
Marc Gold has dismissed a good portion of the Leyritz charges.  We're told Count I DUI Manslaughter is gone, while Count II Unlawful Blood Alcohol Manslaughter goes to the jury.  The SAO may also have a big problem on this count, since we're hearing there were issues with the breath kit...

WEDNESDAY NOTES

Posted on November 17, 2010
                Samantha Lightbourne                                              Show Trial Evidence"I'm just very concerned that (the ASA) didn't even bother to take a depo or speak to my defense witnesses...

JOA!

Posted on November 16, 2010
Bernie Bober dismissed the charges against Donald Tobkin yesterday.  That's right, Satz's dogged five year plus persecution of Doctor/Lawyer Tobkin was so lacking in evidence, a judge wouldn't even let the case get to a jury.  Once again, your tax dollars at work...

MONDAY NOTES

Posted on November 15, 2010
Brannon v. The PD - here is William Amlong's Amended Complaint in the suit against The Public Defender.  Amongst other things, it strongly disputes the allegation that there was a deal in place between Michael Brannon and George Reres in State v...

DNA DEBACLE?

Posted on November 13, 2010
There's a strong buzz brewing regarding the BSO Crime Lab.  Apparently there's a problem with some of the DNA testing done on some of the most serious cases.  As to whether or not cases may be in jeopardy, or the nature of the problem, we can't say for sure...

WEDNESDAY NOTES

Posted on November 10, 2010
"Let the record reflect as well that Judge Lebow has come back into the courtroom ... " - that's David Haimes, from Part Two of the Rubinger trial transcript ... Swing and a miss - click here  for the Supreme Court's recent Judicial Ethics Advisory Opinion allowing former Assistant Public Defenders to sit as judges in the criminal division...

JAABCAM

Posted on November 10, 2010
1.) Pat Cocalis strikes a Garbo-esque pose, manning the foreclosure desk; 2.) That's Tom Francis, late of the New Times Juice Blog.  He's now stringing nationally, his New York Post articles leading the pack in reporting the lopsided Leyritz match-up; 3...

COMING SOON ...

Posted on November 09, 2010
Sorry for the slow pace of blogging ... Here's what's brewing: JQC calling - phones are ringing concerning Jeff Levenson's former habit of canoodling with jury panels post-verdict. Not all victims are created equal - Satz, Carolyn McCann, and his investigator/baby-sitter picking a jury before Levenson...

WWB* (YouTube VIDEO)

Posted on November 05, 2010
Do police officers have a right to break the law if they have a feeling someone possesses drugs? The answer to the question is obviously NO, but that doesn't stop some officers from lying in police reports, or our beloved SAO from filing charges. Case in point: a Black male is walking down a residential street, where he is spotted by BSO personnel...

NOT GUILTY!

Posted on November 04, 2010
It's business as usual in Satzland, with high profile cases tanking everywhere. About an hour ago Ariella Rubinger was cleared of DUI Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide.  She was found guilty of a single count of Culpable Negligence, a second degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of sixty days in jail...

JOE KOLLIN WEIGHS IN

Posted on November 04, 2010
JAABLOG's old friend Joe Kollin contacted us today, after reading about the latest not guilty verdicts  in Broward.  Kollin, a retired Sun Sentinel journalist, wants to make it perfectly clear that the following is based solely on his perspective as a juror, and that he realizes there could have been other reasons why the case he writes about went to trial (not likely Joe, but we have to honor your wishes)...

COMPASSION BE HER NAME

Posted on November 04, 2010
 Susan Lebow in the house ... Here's part one of the transcript featuring Mike Gottlieb's and Eric Schwartzreich's argument to David Haimes concerning Susan Lebow's support of the prosecution in State v. Rubinger.  The photograph above shows Lebow comforting the family after the not guilty verdicts...

JAABCAM

Posted on November 04, 2010
1.) Jennifer Allen, Marla Chicotsky, Eric Schwartzreich, Mike Gottlieb, and Ariella Rubinger, after the verdict; 2.) Jeff Marcus was called in due to all the Susan Lebow talk before the Rubinger verdict was read.  Unfortunately for Marcus, the SAO's great white whale Lebow had nothing to do with their most recent major defeat; 3...

THE GOOD NEWS

Posted on November 03, 2010
                                    The Frys say thank you ... Congratulations to John Fry, John Howes, Jahra McLawrence, and all the 2010 candidates. Message to Mardi Cohen: You should have had faith in your ability to win fair and square. Coming soon - Joel Lazarus' commentary & wrap-up of the 2010 Election Season; Ken Keechl is a convicted loser...

JAABLOG ETHICS QUESTION

Posted on November 03, 2010
The following question has been certified to the Florida Supreme Court by JAABLOG: Should a sitting circuit court judge attend a DUI Manslaughter trial in her own circuit, hugging the wife of the deceased alleged victim in full view of the presiding judge and the jury, while not responding to requests to stay away from the trial before the jury has been sent away for deliberations? Background: The trial is currently in its second week before David Haimes...

ANYTHING TO WIN

Posted on November 02, 2010
*UPDATE*   Seidman grants motions - click here for the Order Lee Seidman has issued on every Public Defender case.  His courtroom is now the sole purview of private lawyers and their lucky clients.  Well done! Broward gets blanked - the following four judges were recommended to Charlie Crist to fill a single vacancy on the Fourth DCA: Peter Blanc; Burton Connor; Jack Cox; Elizabeth Maass...

BUSTED!

Posted on October 26, 2010
         BSO POMPANO NARCOTICS DEPUTY  ALBURY AUGUSTUS BURROWS 10018954CF10A 812.014-2c1 GRAND THEFT>$300<$5000 GRAND THEFT IN THE 3 DEGREE PENDING TRIAL (Surety Bond is pending) BD 1,000.00 MORE COMING?

FINKELSTEIN FIRES BACK

Posted on October 25, 2010
From: Howard Finkelstein Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 12:00 PM To: 'Judge Tobin/17THCircuit' Cc: ALL JUDGES; ALL JAS; Chiefs Subject: RE: Judge Lee Seidman Judge Tobin, We find your implication that you cannot handle this matter without our assistance to be "interesting" and know that to be untrue...

TOBIN PROTECTS SEIDMAN

Posted on October 25, 2010
From: Judge Tobin/17THCircuit [JTobin@17th.flcourts.org] Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2010 3:46 PM To: Howard Finkelstein Cc: ALL JUDGES; ALL JAS Subject: Judge Lee Seidman Regarding Judge Seidman's demeanor, your letter is contrary to what I was told orally by your office only a matter of days before your writing...

JAABCAM

Posted on October 25, 2010
1.) Scott Raft last week with his witness, Mike Brannon; 2.) Soul practitioner.  Mike Gottlieb en route to DUI Manslaughter trial early this morning; 3.) Presto-Changeo.  Legendary reporter Jerry Reeves, the newest court deputy; 4.) Places of worship and political events will never be the same...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.