"I didn’t sense a hostility about being Cuban-American...

...but I sensed a distrust from the committee about being a young mother who wanted to be a judge.”

That was Judge Altonaga responding to a question from a student at her former school. The Herald has the nice story about her return to the school here:

The first Cuban-American woman ever appointed to a U.S. federal court bench said studying at Notre Dame Academy in Miami taught her the meaning of tolerance. It was the end of 1970s, one of the most tumultuous periods of racial discontent in Miami’s history. Her all-girls high school was one of the most racially integrated in the city. “I remember in my last year, coming back from a graduation night,” said Cecilia María Altonaga, who graduated in 1980.

“Our parents had to pick us up from the school, and the riots were going on at the same time. The school was closed. It was dangerous.” There were no final exams that year, due to the violence. But inside the school, a different story about race was unfolding. “This was a place that exhibited all these different racial/ethnic groups coexisting, working together, overcoming differences,” said Altonaga. “There is this perception that all Catholic girls schools are elitist or homogenous or they exclude people. This was quite the opposite, one of the most diverse groups of young women working together.”

She returned to her alma mater — which soon after she graduated merged with Archbishop Curley High School — on Saturday to talk about her career in the law to about two dozen current students. The forum followed a special Mass at the Archbiship Curley-Notre Dame High School, which each year honors an alum who now serves the community as an attorney or judge.

Judge Middlebrooks excludes Judge Altonaga

More fun in the cop perjury trial that I just posted about below. Judge Middlebrooks granted the defense "Motion in Limine to Exclude Federal District Judge Cecilia Altonaga."

The government wanted to call Judge Altonaga to demonstrate that the police officers' testimony was material to the suppresion hearing. Judge Middlebrooks found that Judge Altonaga's proposed testimony would violate Rule 403 as a jury would give too much credence to a district judge's testimony.

Here's the entire order:Judge Middle Brooks Excludes Judge Altonaga

Too bad, I would have gone to see Richard Sharpstein cross-examine Judge Altonaga...

Judge Altonaga remembers Judge Davis

There are so many great comments about Judge Davis that were posted, but I thought I'd share with everyone on the front page, this letter from Judge Altonaga:

May 27, 2010

Dear David:

On Monday, May 24, 2010, you shared the story of U.S. District Judge Edward B. Davis, following his passing as a result of complications from open-heart surgery. I write you this letter in the event you would like to share some of my thoughts in the Southern District of Florida Blog.
I had the extraordinary good fortune of being hired by Judge Davis to be his February term law clerk, or "even" clerk as we were known, and worked for him in 1987. Since then, he has been my mentor, advisor, and kindest of friends. Words cannot describe the goodness and compassion of the man or his depth and integrity. Among the counsel and advice he would give his young law clerks or young lawyers as he would call us, was not to be "mean." I don’t believe Judge Davis had a mean bone in his body. Over the last 24 years I have never seen him angry at or impatient with anyone.

Judge Davis was always thoughtful and generous. I remember one time when he offered then-U.S. District Judge Stanley Marcus to share his office and chambers when the Dyer Courthouse was closed for asbestos removal. We shared chambers for several months with Judge Marcus and his law clerks, and while space was tight, the mood was always light and welcoming. On another occasion, when the late Senior Judge Joe Eaton had need of a law clerk for a particular assignment, Judge Davis asked me if I would mind being on loan to Judge Eaton to help him with that assignment, and proceeded to share me with Judge Eaton.

I clerked for Judge Davis during the days when memory typewriters and word processors were all the tools we had and files were brimming over with paper. The Judge would be in the courtroom every day with trials and all manner of hearings. It was his custom to bring in lawyers after the trials and talk to them privately, giving them encouragement and advice on trial practice. In the late afternoons, the chambers was filled with the sound of his laughter and that of the late Judge Eugene Spellman, for they were good friends and at the end of the day Judge Spellman would come to the Judge’s office where stories were shared and a moment of relaxation seized. When the Judge hired us, he would make clear the work day started at 8:00 a.m. and we were to stay with him until he left, which was usually after 7:00 p.m. He worked very hard, and while we all did as well, it was without undue pressure. Certainly I never felt any pressure from him; he always gave assurances that it would all work out.

Whenever I had occasion to travel with the Judge to Key West for trials, he and his wife Pat would include me in their dinners at the end of the work days. In keeping with the Judge’s casual and informal manner, the Courtroom Deputy, Michael Beck, and I would join the Judge and his wife in their hotel room, and from there we would all go together to share a meal.
I, along with countless of his law clerks, have had the extraordinary good fortune of having been offered the opportunity to share Judge Davis. We each became a part of the Judge’s family, so much so, that when after one reunion he sent me a copy of a group picture and signed it, "To Cecilia, my favorite law clerk and judge," I believed it. I came to discover later that he signed copies of the picture in the same way for each of his law clerks, letting each know he or she was his "favorite!" That picture, and another of the two of us in his chambers so many years ago, rests beside my computer where I am reminded daily of the "gentle giant" who has had such an impact on my life.

Judge Davis was my source of inspiration and I credit him with my desire to become a judge. He administered my oath as judge on three separate occasions, the last of which was as a federal district judge. When I joined the Southern District of Florida in 2003, I was humbled to occupy his former office and courtroom.

Judge Davis was the face of kindness, fairness and compassion in our court. May God bless and keep him.

Sincerely,

Cecilia M. Altonaga

"Well Known" Motorcycle Mechanic Sentenced Before Judge Altonaga

Hi folks!

SFL here, still doin' time at David's fine place while the big man goes to court and cross-examines witnesses -- you know, the stuff we all wish we were doing right now....

Here's what's happening in Judge Altonaga's courtroom:

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that defendant Jimmy A. Soto, of Miami Lakes, was sentenced on February 24, 2009, for his participation in a $5.4 million health care fraud and money laundering scheme. U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga sentenced Soto to 140 months' imprisonment.

In December 2008, after a week long trial, a Miami jury convicted Soto of a series of related health care fraud and money laundering charges. The evidence at trial established that Soto conspired with Leonardo Lozada, Eliades Diaz, and Jose D. Claro to defraud Medicare through the fraudulent submission of $5.4 million in durable medical equipment ( DME ) claims during 2005 and 2006. The claims concerned a Hialeah-based DME company operating as Med-Pro of Miami, Inc ( "Med-Pro" ). Medicare paid Med-Pro approximately $1.3 million based on the bogus claims, which were for DME items that were neither prescribed by doctors nor delivered to Medicare patients, most of whom resided in the Treasure Coast area of Florida.

Soto, a well known motorcycle mechanic, was also found guilty of laundering more than a $1million in monies stolen from Medicare. At trial, it was established that Soto recruited his customers and friends to cash several hundred thousand dollars worth of checks for Med-Pro during 2006.

Question -- can someone be a "well known motorcycle mechanic"? The only one I know is that guy from California with all the tattoos (new book cover pictured above), and even he's not that well-known.....

Judge Altonaga is busy...

In addition to the 400 plaintiffs to be tried 5 at a time, Judge Altonaga also has the "child camel jockey" case, which was profiled this weekend in the NY Times:

The plaintiffs are thousands of boys from South Asia and Africa who say they were abducted, enslaved and forced to ride racing camels to entertain the rich in the Middle East. The defendants live in the United Arab Emirates.
But the case is pending in Miami, and the jockeys are represented not by human rights groups but by Motley Rice, a leading contingency-fee class-action firm based in South Carolina known for its work in tobacco, asbestos and other domestic injury cases.
The class-action bar is going global. Until recently, international human rights cases in American courts were brought mainly by public interest lawyers more interested in calling attention to abuses and in establishing universal legal standards than in a potential payday.
The prominent plaintiffs’ firms, their critics say, are in it for the money. And the fact that they have started to embrace international human rights law may be a reflection of the relatively limited opportunities left in domestic class-action suits after legislative and judicial efforts to cut them back.

Verdict in the NCL trial

Well, the first five plaintiffs can't be happy they went first in the case involving 400 plaintiffs against NCL for cruising through a big storm. They were zipped. Now what? I've heard that Judge Altonaga plans on using the same jury again in three months for the next five plaintiffs. Do they get to retry liability? Anyone in the know have any insight on what's the next step assuming no settlement.

Civil trial

A helpful reader has sent me the following email:

You're missing out on the big civil trial going on right now in front of Judge Altonaga. In 2005, the M/V Norwegian Dawn sailed into a storm off the coast of South Carolina while en-route from the Bahamas to NYC. A class action was brought against NCL, but Judge Altonaga denied certification. The case has proceeded with 400 named plaintiffs. After initially granting plaintiffs' motion for bifurcation, then reversing herself, Judge Altonaga ordered that all 400 cases be tried, five plaintiffs at a time.

The first trial commenced today, and it's expected to last at least three weeks.

The attorneys are Curtis Mase and Richard Lara for NCL; Brett Rivkind and Nicolas Sakellis for the plaintiffs.

Yikes. 400 plaintiffs, 5 at a time is 80 trials. 80 trials at 3 weeks a piece is 240 weeks or 4 1/2 years. I'm sure Judge Altonaga goes home every night and prays to the settlement gods.

“They have stolen the courthouse from the Superior Court of California, and I mean nothing short of that.”

So said Mike Tein in front of Judge Altonaga yesterday. Robert Parks wasn't happy about it and the gloves came off. Julie Kay has the whole story here.