Law.com - Prosecutors Change Course on Money Laundering Charges Against Prominent Attorney

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423615601

Here's some reading, sent from the road.

The case keeps getting worse for the government. It's time to drop it already, isn't it?

--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

Agent Donald Pettit, RIP

More sad news today. Customs Agent Donald Pettit was shot to death in front of his daughter. The cause of the shooting looks like road rage. Herald article here.

Prosecutors seek protection

Julie Kay reports here on the government's desire to get prosecutors more protection:

In the wake of three murders and the recent attack on a federal prosecutor in a New York courtroom, a group representing the nation's federal prosecutors is calling for stepped-up security, including home alarms, self-defense training and the right to carry firearms.Additionally, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, which represents the country's 5,400 federal prosecutors, wants secure parking for prosecutors, particularly those who handle dangerous criminal cases."Statistically, we are threatened more than judges," said Steve Cook, chairman of the NAAUSA security committee and a Tennessee federal prosecutor. "Security is a very important issue for us."

Hmmmm. Self-defense training? My advice -- let the Marshals do the defending for you guys. That's all we need -- [INSERT NAME HERE] going toe to toe with an armed career criminal...

According to the article, prosecutors also want to be able to carry firearms without having to wait two weeks to get approval. Oh boy.... How long till a defense lawyer gets shot?

Steve Chaykin funeral

I just got back from Steven Chaykin's funeral, which was very emotional and extremely well-attended.

I only knew Steve professionally, having worked with him on a couple of cases. But after the funeral, I felt like I've known the guy for a long long time. His brother Robert Chaykin and his sister Robin Chaykin spoke beautifully. Donna Shalala from UM spoke, as did his friends Sam Rabin, David Mandel, Dan Gelber, and Bruce Udolf.

Rumpole wrote a very nice tribute on his blog about Steve. I echo the sentiment.

Here's more from SFlaLawyer:

Steve's younger brother Robert shared tearful remembrances of growing up in North Miami Beach, and running away at age 9 to the nearby Royal Castle and 163rd Street Mall, playing in a local band, and even getting into a sibling squabble or two.Steve's younger sister Robin perhaps is a secret Dylan ranter, as she quoted the lyrics from "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go":
But I'll see you in the sky above,In the tall grass, in the ones I love,Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
UM President Donna Shalala ended her eloquent tribute to a huge UM booster with an invitation to Steve's ten-year old daughter Sydney -- the door is always open for you at the University of Miami.Sam Rabin -- still shocked as are we all -- told old stories, funny stories, and gave us a picture of a man that he described as a total "mensch."David Mandel choked back tears as he quietly remembered a dear friend and mentor.Dan Gelber was funny, quick, and to the point as usual, and ended with some beautiful words to Steve's daughter about a man that he said "took him under his wing and never left."Bruce Udolf shared several remarkable stories of "Diamond Steve" Chaykin and the heyday of the US Attorney's Office in the 80s and early 90s. He even said that Steve and Bruce were perhaps planning to assist in restoring public trust in the US Attorney's office, and of course everyone in Steve's orbit shared his passion for politics and for a change in the direction of the country.

I'm backkkkkk

Who was the little rat who lied and told Google we were a spam blog, huh? (A couple of days ago we received a msg from Google saying that we were under suspicion of being a spam blog. Google therefore blocked us and said that until it could investigate, we were shut down... This happened to Rumpole a while back too. He was gracious enough to agree to post anything important while we were blocked, but I figured I could use a day or two without blogging.)

Well, your dirty tricks didn't work...

We're back baby.

And now we know what Jay Weaver has been holed up doing the last couple of weeks.... writing about Medicaid fraud. Lots of words to read here.

Cliff's Notes version -- There is a great deal of Medicaid fraud in Florida.