... is Tonya Alanez from the Sun-Sentinel (whom I've never met or spoken to) because she had this to say about our blog in this article about the Broward Blog controversy:
South Florida has two other court-oriented blogs.On the Southern District of Florida Blog, Miami-based attorney David Oscar Markus strikes an even-handed, statesman-like tone and tends toward observation rather than critique. The Justice Building Blog, authored by another Miami-based attorney who posts anonymously, cloaks its jabs with humor.
COOL!
UPDATE -- The Miami Herald also did a report on the Broward Blog (by Jennifer Lebovich) and mentioned us.
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
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Padilla and Wilk
What a fun time to be a trial lawyer in the Southern District of Florida. I know I sound like a broken record, but we have the best trials and cases in the country.
Jay Weaver has a great article about the jury selection in the Jose Padilla case. Rising star Dore Louis took on the Government: "Early in the process, one of Jayyousi's attorneys, Marshall Dore Louis, accused the prosecution of striking four candidates with Muslim connections and one who was Muslim herself. I believe they have shown a pattern of bias against people who know Muslims or are Muslims." John Shipley responded, "It is completely untrue. There is no pattern whatsoever."
The Government then complained that the defense was striking Hispanic jurors. At the end of the day, Judge Cooke found that neither side was using their strikes in a discriminatory fashion. Everyone in the courtroom applauded when the jury was finally seated. On to trial!
Kenneth Wilk took the stand in his own defense! "He didn't discuss AIDS dementia, a key part of his defense. He immediately admitted he fired his gun but said he thought the people in his Fort Lauderdale home, Deputy Todd Fatta and Lt. Angelo Cedeño, were intruders, not police. He also said he tried to perform first aid on Fatta, the man he is accused of murdering."
Who's call was it to testify:
Outside of court, Wilk's attorneys, Matthewman and J. Rafael Rodriguez, wouldn't comment on Wilk's desire to testify. "We're just honoring his request," Rodriguez said.When U.S. District Judge James Cohn asked Wilk if he discussed the decision with his lawyers, Wilk replied: "There's been tremendous conversation back and forth. ... And this is something I have to do and, uh, it's my decision and mine alone and I stand by it."
Jay Weaver has a great article about the jury selection in the Jose Padilla case. Rising star Dore Louis took on the Government: "Early in the process, one of Jayyousi's attorneys, Marshall Dore Louis, accused the prosecution of striking four candidates with Muslim connections and one who was Muslim herself. I believe they have shown a pattern of bias against people who know Muslims or are Muslims." John Shipley responded, "It is completely untrue. There is no pattern whatsoever."
The Government then complained that the defense was striking Hispanic jurors. At the end of the day, Judge Cooke found that neither side was using their strikes in a discriminatory fashion. Everyone in the courtroom applauded when the jury was finally seated. On to trial!
Kenneth Wilk took the stand in his own defense! "He didn't discuss AIDS dementia, a key part of his defense. He immediately admitted he fired his gun but said he thought the people in his Fort Lauderdale home, Deputy Todd Fatta and Lt. Angelo Cedeño, were intruders, not police. He also said he tried to perform first aid on Fatta, the man he is accused of murdering."
Who's call was it to testify:
Outside of court, Wilk's attorneys, Matthewman and J. Rafael Rodriguez, wouldn't comment on Wilk's desire to testify. "We're just honoring his request," Rodriguez said.When U.S. District Judge James Cohn asked Wilk if he discussed the decision with his lawyers, Wilk replied: "There's been tremendous conversation back and forth. ... And this is something I have to do and, uh, it's my decision and mine alone and I stand by it."
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Jose Padilla update
1. A jury has been selected!
2. Opening statements are to begin Monday.
3. The jury consists of five blacks, four whites and three Hispanics; seven men and five women.
4. On the panel are an executive in a software firm, a makeup artist, and the manager of several gas stations.
5. The CBS reporter was not held in contempt.
6. The judge has yet to rule on a severance motion that could impact whether Padilla is tried with the other two defendants. It was still being argued today.
AP coverage by Curt Anderson here and here.
Vanessa Blum here.
2. Opening statements are to begin Monday.
3. The jury consists of five blacks, four whites and three Hispanics; seven men and five women.
4. On the panel are an executive in a software firm, a makeup artist, and the manager of several gas stations.
5. The CBS reporter was not held in contempt.
6. The judge has yet to rule on a severance motion that could impact whether Padilla is tried with the other two defendants. It was still being argued today.
AP coverage by Curt Anderson here and here.
Vanessa Blum here.
Yahweh Ben Yahweh dies at 71
Here's the obit from the Herald:
Yahweh Ben Yahweh, the South Florida sect leader whose brand of black supremacist preachings drew his followers into a brotherhood of murder and terror in the 1980s, has died in Miami, his lawyers said.
Lawyer Ben Kuehne said Ben Yahweh, 71, died in his sleep overnight. ''Cancer is the cause,'' Kuehne said. Ben Yahweh had been ill with prostate cancer.
The self-proclaimed ''Black Messiah,'' Yahweh based his operation in the bunker-like Temple of Love in Liberty City, once telling his followers that white people were terrorists and that unbelievers were devils.
Federal prosecutors, however, branded him the most notorious criminal in South Florida. Convicted of conspiracy, he served 11 years of an 18-year federal prison sentence.
Born Hulon Mitchell Jr. in Oklahoma, the preacher and activist moved to South Florida in 1978 and changed his name to the Hebrew words for ``God, son of God.''
A charismatic leader, he founded the Nation of Yahweh, boasting thousands of followers who often dressed in white and who once won praise for rehabilitating blighted Miami neighborhoods.
According to a book on Yahweh written by former Miami Herald reporter Sydney P. Freedberg, Yahweh was the oldest child of a minister. He joined the Nation of Islam before turning up in Orlando as Brother Love and eventually finding fertile ground among the poor and black in Miami.
Yahweh, who called himself a prophet and wore a turban and flowing white robes, preached racial and religious separatism for blacks.
At the same time, he amassed a real estate and business empire worth at least $8 million. He won favor with prominent local politicians, who considered him a positive force for inner city neighborhoods. Yahweh and his followers opened grocery stores, hotels and apartment complexes.
Just a month before Yahweh's indictment in 1990, then-Mayor Xavier Suarez declared Oct. 7 as Yahweh Ben Yahweh Day.
Federal prosecutors, however, accused him of plotting 14 Miami-Dade County murders, two other attempted murders and of ordering the firebombing of a Delray Beach neighborhood in 1986 to further his religious empire.
Federal and state investigators spent millions of dollars and more than a decade tracking 20 homicides they believed were connected to the Miami-based religious sect. Yahweh's only conviction came on the conspiracy charge.
In October 2006, after Yahweh completed five years of parole, two of his lawyers, Jayne Weintraub and Steven Potolsky, went to federal court in an attempt to end his parole. They said the prostate cancer had metastasized and he was dying.
The attempt to free him from parole ultimately succeeded, Weintraub said Tuesday.
Yahweh had been living alone in Miami after his release from prison, his lawyers said, and he had kept away from his former followers.
In court papers, they wrote that Yahweh was ``greatly desirous of the simple dignity of being permitted to die a free man, not a parolee.''
Yahweh Ben Yahweh, the South Florida sect leader whose brand of black supremacist preachings drew his followers into a brotherhood of murder and terror in the 1980s, has died in Miami, his lawyers said.
Lawyer Ben Kuehne said Ben Yahweh, 71, died in his sleep overnight. ''Cancer is the cause,'' Kuehne said. Ben Yahweh had been ill with prostate cancer.
The self-proclaimed ''Black Messiah,'' Yahweh based his operation in the bunker-like Temple of Love in Liberty City, once telling his followers that white people were terrorists and that unbelievers were devils.
Federal prosecutors, however, branded him the most notorious criminal in South Florida. Convicted of conspiracy, he served 11 years of an 18-year federal prison sentence.
Born Hulon Mitchell Jr. in Oklahoma, the preacher and activist moved to South Florida in 1978 and changed his name to the Hebrew words for ``God, son of God.''
A charismatic leader, he founded the Nation of Yahweh, boasting thousands of followers who often dressed in white and who once won praise for rehabilitating blighted Miami neighborhoods.
According to a book on Yahweh written by former Miami Herald reporter Sydney P. Freedberg, Yahweh was the oldest child of a minister. He joined the Nation of Islam before turning up in Orlando as Brother Love and eventually finding fertile ground among the poor and black in Miami.
Yahweh, who called himself a prophet and wore a turban and flowing white robes, preached racial and religious separatism for blacks.
At the same time, he amassed a real estate and business empire worth at least $8 million. He won favor with prominent local politicians, who considered him a positive force for inner city neighborhoods. Yahweh and his followers opened grocery stores, hotels and apartment complexes.
Just a month before Yahweh's indictment in 1990, then-Mayor Xavier Suarez declared Oct. 7 as Yahweh Ben Yahweh Day.
Federal prosecutors, however, accused him of plotting 14 Miami-Dade County murders, two other attempted murders and of ordering the firebombing of a Delray Beach neighborhood in 1986 to further his religious empire.
Federal and state investigators spent millions of dollars and more than a decade tracking 20 homicides they believed were connected to the Miami-based religious sect. Yahweh's only conviction came on the conspiracy charge.
In October 2006, after Yahweh completed five years of parole, two of his lawyers, Jayne Weintraub and Steven Potolsky, went to federal court in an attempt to end his parole. They said the prostate cancer had metastasized and he was dying.
The attempt to free him from parole ultimately succeeded, Weintraub said Tuesday.
Yahweh had been living alone in Miami after his release from prison, his lawyers said, and he had kept away from his former followers.
In court papers, they wrote that Yahweh was ``greatly desirous of the simple dignity of being permitted to die a free man, not a parolee.''
"Witness: Tests indicate murder suspect has AIDS dementia"
Paula McMahon, who has been covering the Kenneth Wilk trial for the Sun-Sentinel, has this interesting article in today's paper re the defense witnesses in the case. From the intro:
A second medical expert says there is objective evidence that Kenneth Wilk has AIDS-related dementia and likely had the condition when he fatally shot Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta more than 21/2 years ago.Medical testing of Wilk's brain shows damage consistent with dementia, said Dr. Jeff Gelblum, a Miami Beach and Aventura neurologist, in two days of testimony that ended Monday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
(As an aside, who is the anonymous person who keeps emailing me these articles?)
A second medical expert says there is objective evidence that Kenneth Wilk has AIDS-related dementia and likely had the condition when he fatally shot Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta more than 21/2 years ago.Medical testing of Wilk's brain shows damage consistent with dementia, said Dr. Jeff Gelblum, a Miami Beach and Aventura neurologist, in two days of testimony that ended Monday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
(As an aside, who is the anonymous person who keeps emailing me these articles?)
Monday, May 07, 2007
Broward Blog controversy...
Broward judges have been taking some heat lately. Check out this article in which the Chief Judge of Broward Circuit Court, Dale Ross, blames the JAABLAW blog for the court's woes.
[Chief Judge] Ross on Friday repeatedly referred to the blog and its "undermining" effect."I am disturbed honestly and truly that there are folks that want us to fail," he said.Attorney Bill Gelin, who helped establish the Justice Advocacy Association of Broward blog, said the postings are geared toward "positive change and proactivity.""There's been a desperate need for some kind of communication medium like this," Gelin said. "Nepotism, cronyism and cynicism have set in here and we're talking about fixing the real problems."
Bill Gelin responds on the blog:
I just wanted to add to my previous statements about Judge Ross saying we are "undermining" the judiciary. I've been fielding calls and questions all day on this issue, and I've gone from bemusement to anger. The bottom line, in my mind, is that this type of judicial behavior is nothing new in Broward, and that these judges don't need my help, or this blog's help, in undermining the 17th Judiciary. They are doing a great job all by themselves.
Ouch. I think Judge Carney's letter to the Miami Herald is a much stronger argument than Ross' complaint about the blog. Here's Carney:
Re the May 3 editorial Intemperate judges tarnish judicial system: The Broward County bench is made up of 90 judges -- 58 circuit judges and 32 county judges. The editorial and recent articles unfairly lump the entire Broward bench under an umbrella based on the actions of a few judges.
This does a disservice to most of the judges who have dedicated their careers to public service. Most important, however, it does a disservice to the residents of Broward County by undermining confidence in their courts.
Judicial polls routinely show that the vast majority of Broward judges are viewed as qualified or extremely qualified to hold their positions. These ratings are independently made by the attorneys of Broward County who practice in front of them.
The problem, of course, is that in the last couple of months, we've had pot, crying, and NHI -- in high profile proceedings. Yikes...
Hat tip on the JAABLAW blog: Rumpole.
[Chief Judge] Ross on Friday repeatedly referred to the blog and its "undermining" effect."I am disturbed honestly and truly that there are folks that want us to fail," he said.Attorney Bill Gelin, who helped establish the Justice Advocacy Association of Broward blog, said the postings are geared toward "positive change and proactivity.""There's been a desperate need for some kind of communication medium like this," Gelin said. "Nepotism, cronyism and cynicism have set in here and we're talking about fixing the real problems."
Bill Gelin responds on the blog:
I just wanted to add to my previous statements about Judge Ross saying we are "undermining" the judiciary. I've been fielding calls and questions all day on this issue, and I've gone from bemusement to anger. The bottom line, in my mind, is that this type of judicial behavior is nothing new in Broward, and that these judges don't need my help, or this blog's help, in undermining the 17th Judiciary. They are doing a great job all by themselves.
Ouch. I think Judge Carney's letter to the Miami Herald is a much stronger argument than Ross' complaint about the blog. Here's Carney:
Re the May 3 editorial Intemperate judges tarnish judicial system: The Broward County bench is made up of 90 judges -- 58 circuit judges and 32 county judges. The editorial and recent articles unfairly lump the entire Broward bench under an umbrella based on the actions of a few judges.
This does a disservice to most of the judges who have dedicated their careers to public service. Most important, however, it does a disservice to the residents of Broward County by undermining confidence in their courts.
Judicial polls routinely show that the vast majority of Broward judges are viewed as qualified or extremely qualified to hold their positions. These ratings are independently made by the attorneys of Broward County who practice in front of them.
The problem, of course, is that in the last couple of months, we've had pot, crying, and NHI -- in high profile proceedings. Yikes...
Hat tip on the JAABLAW blog: Rumpole.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Weekend reading...
The Herald had a bunch of stuff this weekend:
1. "The former Monroe County attorney wound up with probation for his role in a bribery and corruption case dating back nearly a decade." Judge Highsmith sentenced James Hendrick, former Magistrate Judge Hugh Morgan's partner, to probation and said: ''An awful lot of people came forward on your behalf. Do not disappoint us.''
2. "Feds cast wide net in Pepe Diaz probe: A federal investigation into a Miami-Dade commissioner revolves around a law that has been a boon to prosecutors, but that a defense lawyer rips as a `toxic waste dump.'" That's Richard Sharpstein, our local quote master.
3. "Lesser sentences sought for two Posada associates: The U.S. attorney's office in Miami agreed to lower the prison sentences of two Cuban exiles with ties to anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles."
1. "The former Monroe County attorney wound up with probation for his role in a bribery and corruption case dating back nearly a decade." Judge Highsmith sentenced James Hendrick, former Magistrate Judge Hugh Morgan's partner, to probation and said: ''An awful lot of people came forward on your behalf. Do not disappoint us.''
2. "Feds cast wide net in Pepe Diaz probe: A federal investigation into a Miami-Dade commissioner revolves around a law that has been a boon to prosecutors, but that a defense lawyer rips as a `toxic waste dump.'" That's Richard Sharpstein, our local quote master.
3. "Lesser sentences sought for two Posada associates: The U.S. attorney's office in Miami agreed to lower the prison sentences of two Cuban exiles with ties to anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles."
More Awards
Last night the Miami Chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers had its annual banquet (this year's was at the JW Marriot on Brickell). Great turnout to honor Kathy Williams, Scott Fingerhut, Paul Rashkind, and Judge Joseph Farina. Each of the honorees gave incredible speeches. (I was president of FACDL-Miami this year; Barry Wax is taking over.)
It's been a very difficult couple of weeks for the criminal defense lawyer and criminal defendant in state court. No more rebuttal close for the defense, and court appointed funding for conflict cases (their equivalent to CJA lawyers) is no more. Instead, there will be an underfunded second public defender's office to handle conflicts. It's a total disaster. Most of the speakers discussed these recent events.
Federal sightings: Judge Moreno, Judge Brown, U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, and lots of federal PDs.
It's been a very difficult couple of weeks for the criminal defense lawyer and criminal defendant in state court. No more rebuttal close for the defense, and court appointed funding for conflict cases (their equivalent to CJA lawyers) is no more. Instead, there will be an underfunded second public defender's office to handle conflicts. It's a total disaster. Most of the speakers discussed these recent events.
Federal sightings: Judge Moreno, Judge Brown, U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, and lots of federal PDs.
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