I never appeared before Judge Roettger but people told me that he was often armed while sitting on the bench. That got my attention. There was also his magnificent handlebar mustache, rendered perfectly in the portrait below.
Judge Roettger was serving as Chief Judge of the district when the planning for the "new" Miami federal courthouse began. He chose Judge Moore to oversee the project, which ultimately produced the Wilkie D., where his portrait now hangs with the portraits of the other chief judges.
FBA write up below.
Judge Norman C. Roettger was nominated to the district court by President Nixon and served from 1972 to 2003, including a term as chief judge from 1991 to 1997. Prior to his legal career, Judge Roettger served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. In Beck v. Prupis, 529 U.S. 494 (2000), the Supreme Court affirmed Judge Roettger’s decision, holding that firing someone as part of a RICO conspiracy isn’t enough to sue under civil RICO unless the firing itself was racketeering or otherwise independently wrongful under RICO.
the law east of the Pecos
ReplyDeleteTHOMAS,., REHNQUIST, O'CONNOR, SCALIA, KENNEDY, GINSBURG, and BREYER, for the majority. STEVENS and SOUTER dissenting. Eclectic split.
ReplyDeleteJudge Roettger had many colorful idioms. One of my favorites was "that hymn doesn't play in my church" which he used when he denied drug couriers a minor role reduction.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoyed having trials before Judge Roettger. He could come down hard on the Government as well as the defendant, but he was always consistent and pragmatic. As an example, when the sentencing guidelines first came into existence, I had filed a motion to declare them in several pending cases. The entire Southern District of Florida decided to take the issue up En Banc. During the oral argument Judge Roettger looked at me and twirling his handle-bar mustache asked the following question: “Mr. Bronis are you saying that your client has a constitutional right to be sentenced by a lenient judge?”
ReplyDeleteHe was quite a character. He was an avid hunter and yes, he was armed while on the bench. Off the bench he had a great personality and was a pleasure to talk with.
Here’s another. “That path you’re walking on counsel is very rocky”. I agree with Stephen. He was pragmatic and as tough on the gov as the defense when he saw fit to do so.
ReplyDeleteHe loved Key West and would set as many trials there that he could. He made sure that each day’s session would end precisely at 5:00 pm so he could have happy hour at the Pier House.
ReplyDeleteOne of three United States District Judges from the old Fort Lauderdale law firm Fleming, O’Bryan & Fleming.
ReplyDeleteHe was definitely colorful. Will share 2 wild stories. He was cleaning a rifle during a trial once and when lawyers objected he would look up from cleaning his rifle and rule. He was famous for taking REALLY LONG lunches. Once during a trial the jury slipped him a note "can we not take such a long lunch today? The jury was really impatient taking a 2 hour lunch and then waiting another 90 minutes for a sentencing on another case. Judge Roettger came to the bench and was furious. He started yelling at the jury that it was a "nasty note." The jury just sat there in astonishment while he kept yelling at them. Sadly the USAO lost that case on aquital. The most famous story was after hurricane Andrew. A defense attorney. lost his house and belongings in the storm. The judge mandated his appearance for trial anyway. The attorney had no shoes and appeared in court in big cowboy boots in a cheap suit that survived the storm. Oh wait another story. He once continued a sentencing until the defendant's wife drove home to bring tax records for the defendant. He said he wanted to see the defendant was in the boat rowing like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI had just finished a long drug conspiracy trial in Albany, NY which resulted in my two clients getting a NOT GUILTY and resulted in a lot of publicity in the local Albany newspapers. I was retained by an Albany resident who was indicted in the SDFL. The prosecutor advised me on the eve of trial that they would be dismissing the indictment (hoping to flip a CO-def to reindict later) For some reason before heading to WPB for the dismissal I decided to pack some clothes to bring up. As the AUSA announced the dismissal, Norman refused to accept it and told the AUSA " you indicted him, now you have to try him" During the trial, the cooperating witness seemed to have lost his memory and could not recall much about my client. Norman stopped the trial, took out the jury and demanded that the witness come to his Chambers alone without allowing me and the co-defendants counsel to witness. Norman must have scared the witness to death, as the trial resumed the witness now had an amazing memory about both defendants. My co-defendants counsel was a former state PD, a very large guy, with reddish hair and was an aggressive advocate for his client. Norman growled at him and told him "To quit walking around the courtroom like a bantam rooster and to sit down. Norman also had an interesting with his courtroom deputy; I seem to recall her name was Sandy. But he could be harsh on the government as well. He was the trial judge in the Otero terrorist bombing case that was moved to Jacksonville which resulted in a NOT GUILTY verdict. Later, when Otero appeared in his courtroom in Ft. Lauderdale before U could say a word, he signaled me to be quite and said that Otero was being punished for his acquittal and gave him concurrent time with the state conviction. Pat Kennedy and Jerry Sanford had tried the case in Jacksonville and were left speechless. He was quite a character with his very deep voice and handlebar mustache.
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