
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Friday, July 25, 2014
Monster 11th Circuit opinion decided by no active 11th Circuit judges
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Prosecutors reading lawyer-client emails
From the article:
Getting confidential postal mail to inmates takes up to two weeks, Mr. Fodeman wrote. The detention center, like all federal jails is supposed to allow inmates or lawyers to arrange unmonitored phone calls. But a paralegal spent four days and left eight messages requesting such a call and got nowhere, Mr. Fodeman wrote.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Robin Rosenberg confirmed
Monday, July 21, 2014
Quick news and notes
He was handcuffed behind his back and taken into custody in the courtroom — about three feet from Marcy Romeo, a woman whose illegal arrest on trumped-up drug charges he ordered in 2009.
"I think it's important that Ms. Romeo see the defendant taken into custody," U.S. District Judge James Cohn said as he ordered that Benjamin begin serving his prison term immediately.
"Mr. Benjamin, while wearing the cloak of BSO authority, engineered the arrest and incarceration of an innocent citizen," the judge said. "This was done purely for financial gain. This conduct is deplorable — it is unconscionable."
Romeo gave a powerful victim impact statement in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, turning and looking Benjamin in the eye as she spoke.
"I've never met you and I'm 'that bitch' you told [Jeff Poole] to arrest," Romeo told Benjamin, quoting former deputy Poole's account of what Benjamin told him to do.
"Well, my name's Marcy and I'm a mother and I'm a daughter and I'm an aunt and I'm a sister, I'm a cousin — I'm a human being," she said. Her voice shook a little with emotion, but she remained calm.
Benjamin, who was clearly flustered by her direct comments, attempted to apologize to her while she was speaking, but his lawyer, Mike Dutko, told him to let her speak.
Romeo said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of what happened to her. She was arrested, strip-searched a number of times and detained at the Broward County Jail for about 18 hours.
"It felt good," Romeo said later about seeing Benjamin handcuffed and sent to prison.
He spent his first night behind bars at the Broward County Main Jail in downtown Fort Lauderdale, records show.
•••
Benjamin, who now has a thick beard and longer hair than when he worked at the Sheriff's Office, apologized personally to Romeo in court and expressed regrets to everyone he harmed.
"First of all, I'd like to apologize to Ms. Romeo," Benjamin said. "All I can do is apologize for my actions."
He denied that he ever called her "that bitch," but acknowledged the depth of his criminal conduct.
"My actions were absolutely horrible," Benjamin said. "I take full responsibility. I've taken full responsibility from day one. All I can do is apologize."
He said Benjamin has done everything in his power to cooperate with investigators who are still scrutinizing the enormous amount of misconduct by dozens of people linked to Rothstein.
Prosecutor Jeffrey Kaplan told the judge that Rothstein tried to corrupt and co-opt several law enforcement officers and "in the case of defendant Benjamin, he was successful."