Rumpole on our case

Now even our friends are telling us to mind our own business....

Here's Rumpole's take on the Judge Highsmith story in italics and my response in bold:

Everyone's favourite federal blogger- David O Markus- whose blog can be viewed by clicking on the link on this page- got himself and his blog into a spot of hot water the other day, by publishing the well researched rumor that Federal Judge Highsmith was retiring.

I'm glad I'm Rumpole's "favourite federal blogger" and that he links to us. But is it really a "rumor" when the Judge himself announced it open court?

Julie Kay from the Daily Business Review jumped on the bandwagon and wrote an article and before you can say "contempt" Chief Judge Zloch was issuing denials. Actually, everyone apparently had a good laugh about the whole episode,
and the mere fact Mr. Markus was seen sweeping the floor of Judge Zloch's courtroom the other day had nothing to do with Mr. Markus's ill advised venture into the land of rumor and innuendo. Leave that stuff to us we say.

Judge Zloch's floors weren't dirty at all, so it wasn't a big deal... Fine Rumpole, you are the gossip king (queen?) so we'll leave this stuff to you in the future.

As Muhammad Ali used to say- "Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see" and last we checked there was no known address for US Marshalls to appear at to take us into custody. Mr. Markus writes a great blog. But we think he is better off writing about the legislative histories of Federal Statutes and cheering on Judge Cooke in the Padilla case. In either event, it was nice to see that Rumpole isn't the only Florida legal blogger who needs counsel every now and then.

If we actually did need counsel, we'd hire Rumpole. What's the hourly rate these days?

More blog news

The Judge Highsmith story (controversy?) has made national blog news here at Above The Law, the fun and witty legal tabloid blog.

We had the pleasure of meeting the blog's author, David Lat, during his stay in Miami. He's a very engaging guy. It's no wonder his blogs have been so popular.

Blog controversy

Last week we reported that Judge Highsmith was going to retire by the end of the year and that he was getting off the criminal wheel.

Today, Julie Kay in the Daily Business Review says we're wrong. "Rumors began that U.S. District Court Senior Judge Shelby Highsmith was retiring after it was reported on a legal blog run by Miami criminal defense lawyer David O. Markus. . . . But last Thursday, District Judge William Zloch said in an interview he spoke to Highsmith and the judge is only retiring from criminal cases -- as of March. . . . 'Rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated,' Zloch said with a laugh. 'I just spoke to him and he is not going anywhere. As a senior judge he has the option of taking a lighter load.'"

Interesting. A couple points though --

First, I did not start the rumors. I was told by a number of people that Judge Highsmith himself announced his retirement in open court. Second, I got confirmation from people who would know. I note that Ms. Kay did not speak with Judge Highsmith himself (to be fair, neither did I).... Third, don't you think that the article should have mentioned the blog by name!?

In any event, I hope Julie Kay is right and that Judge Highsmith is not retiring.

Lawyer guilty of Medicare fraud

"South Florida attorney Benjamin R. Metsch pleaded guilty today on charges he defrauded Medicare from October 2002 through August 2004."

Scooter

I know this isn't a SDFLA case, but a bunch of emails came in asking if I would post about it. So here is the story:

A federal jury has found 'Scooter' Libby guilty on 4 out of 5 counts of lying to a federal grand jury and obstruction of justice. He was found not guilty of one count of making false statements to FBI agents investigating the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. Libby's sentencing is scheduled for June 5, 2007.

You can read the following items at these links:

Indictment http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/plame/uslibby102805ind.html

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3543117_1?channel=LP

Defense Attorney Ted Wells, Jr. http://pview.findlaw.com/view/3279455_1?channel=LP

Trial Transcripts http://rd.findlaw.com/scripts/nl.pl?url=11712672000_nl

Jose Padilla DVD lost

Uh-oh.

Hat-tip Discourse.net

Judge Shelby Highsmith to retire

Judge Shelby Highsmith has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the year (the original post said March, but we've been informed that it's actually the end of the year and Judge Highsmith will go off of the criminal wheel at the end of March). We'll miss him.

Judge Highsmith was admitted to the bar in 1958. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, after attending Georgia Military College and the University of Kansas. The Judge was the senior partner of Highsmith, Strauss, Glatzer & Deutsch, P.A., from 1975 - 1991 and before that served as a Circuit Judge in Dade County from 1970 - 1975. He served in the United States Army as Captain from 1949 - 1955. He was appointed to the federal bench in 1991 by Bush I, and he's been a Senior Judge since 2002.

We've always liked that Judge Highsmith looked at each particular person before him and tried to judge that person, as opposed to doing simple math to determine a guideline sentence. He also knew how to try a case, coming from a busy trial practice. Best wishes in retirement.

About that firing range...

The firing range for the Marshals is often cited as one of the cool features of the new courthouse. Apparently not so cool... From today's USA Today (Hat tip to FOB, that's Friend of Blog):

A U.S. Marshals Service official misspent $4.3 million meant for courthouse security and witness protection to pay for fitness centers and firing ranges at federal buildings, a Justice Department investigation found.

The Office of Management and Budget repeatedly told David Barnes not to use construction money on exercise and training facilities, citing agency policy and appropriations laws that restricted the money for improved prisoner security, the report said.

Barnes, who oversees courthouse space for the agency, concealed the spending from his superiors and directed $2.6 million in construction money for fitness centers and firing ranges at 20 federal courthouses from 2000 to 2005, according to a copy of the 41-page report obtained by USA TODAY.

The agency has not acted on the report, which it received last April.

Barnes also used nearly $900,000 budgeted for witness protection to build a firing range in the Miami federal courthouse, and he used nearly $400,000 in construction money to hire fitness center staff and clerical workers at the Marshals Service headquarters, where Barnes works, the investigation found. Some workers were friends or relatives of Barnes and his subordinates and were unqualified for the jobs, the report said.

Barnes' lawyer, Charles Printz, said his client had the authority to spend construction money on firing ranges and fitness centers. Printz said the investigation was spurred by disgruntled employees and he expected his client to be cleared.

Here's the breakdown of bad spending from one of USA Today's cool charts. Miami's in first place!!

REPORT: MONEY MISSPENT
According to a Justice Department report, $3,028,847 was misspent from fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2005 on building and renovating fitness rooms and firing ranges in 20 federal courthouses. (*) The locations and the amount:
Courthouse
Misspent

Miami
$881,500

Tallahassee, Fla.
$385,852

Fort Worth
$361,285

Seattle
$298,414

Phoenix
$226,345

Charleston, S.C.
$137,059

Charleston, W.Va.
$125,000

Buffalo
$105,802

San Diego
$80,158

Cheyenne, Wyo.
$60,000

San Francisco
$59,638

Hattiesburg, Miss.
$57,375

St. Louis
$50,000

Grand Rapids, Mich.
$46,835

Sioux City, Iowa
$46,322

Greenville, Miss.
$38,881

Elkins, W.Va.
$35,000

Oxford, Miss.
$22,950

Fairbanks, Alaska
$9,375

Syracuse, N.Y.
$1,056

Total
$3,028,847

* - In addition, more than $800,000 was spent maintaining and staffing some of these and other facilities.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General