Papa Jack was a great guy and wonderful lawyer.
Rumpole has a nice post about him here.
UPDATE-- From the Blumenfeld family:
On Sunday, May 15, 2022, Jack R. Blumenfeld, loving husband, brother, father and grandfather, passed away at age 79 surrounded by his loved ones.His funeral will take place on Wednesday, May 18 at 9:30am at Temple Judea,
5500 Granada Blvd, Coral Gables, FL. The service will be live streamed here
for those who can't make it: https://bit.ly/3lnfi1L
We ask that you give the family time to grieve during this difficult time.
We will be monitoring Jack's Facebook messages if you have any questions.
UPDATE 2-- From the comments by Michael Caruso:
This is very sad news. As David wrote, Jack was a kind and caring man in addition to being an excellent lawyer.
I
first met Jack when I was a young-ish lawyer. I received a call from
Judge Gold to represent a potential defense witness that Jack wanted to
call.
Jack's client—Jose Miguel Battle, Sr., was on trial for
being a felon in possession of a firearm. Apparently, Battle caught my
client on his property, picking maymey. After a brief dust-up, they
became friends. Because they were friends, Battle let my client hunt on
his large property. After one such hunting adventure, my client left his
shotgun at Battle's house. Of course, this shotgun formed the basis for
the indictment. Despite my client's testimony, the jury convicted.
I'm
grateful I had this experience. Spending this brief time with Jack and
watching him in trial was a highlight of my early career. And I can't
remember a subsequent encounter with Jack that didn't leave me with a
smile on my face. He'll be missed.
Finally, for those old
enough to forget or too young to remember—Battle led quite a notorious
life—from the Bay of Pigs to being described as the "Cuban Godfather"
here in the U.S. Here are some links to stories about his life. Jack's
quoted prominently.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2007-08-07-0708060320-story.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-cuban-gangster-who-mysteriously-refused-to-die
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/jose-miguel-battle-jr-head-of-cuban-mafia-ring-la-corporacion-released-from-prison-9830697
This is very sad news. As David wrote, Jack was a kind and caring man in addition to being an excellent lawyer.
ReplyDeleteI first met Jack when I was a young-ish lawyer. I received a call from Judge Gold to represent a potential defense witness that Jack wanted to call.
Jack's client—Jose Miguel Battle, Sr., was on trial for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Apparently, Battle caught my client on his property, picking maymey. After a brief dust-up, they became friends. Because they were friends, Battle let my client hunt on his large property. After one such hunting adventure, my client left his shotgun at Battle's house. Of course, this shotgun formed the basis for the indictment. Despite my client's testimony, the jury convicted.
I'm grateful I had this experience. Spending this brief time with Jack and watching him in trial was a highlight of my early career. And I can't remember a subsequent encounter with Jack that didn't leave me with a smile on my face. He'll be missed.
Finally, for those old enough to forget or too young to remember—Battle led quite a notorious life—from the Bay of Pigs to being described as the "Cuban Godfather" here in the U.S. Here are some links to stories about his life. Jack's quoted prominently.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2007-08-07-0708060320-story.html
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-cuban-gangster-who-mysteriously-refused-to-die
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/jose-miguel-battle-jr-head-of-cuban-mafia-ring-la-corporacion-released-from-prison-9830697