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
Want to be a federal magistrate judge in Fort Pierce? The Court is accepting applications. You can apply here.
Ever wonder where Fort Pierce got its name? No? Well, I'll tell you anyway. It's named after an Army post which was built near the city in 1838 during the Second Seminole War. And that Army post, in turn, had been named after Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, a career United States Army officer and, notably, the brother of President Franklin Pierce.
I never practiced before Judge Hoeveler but he's another judge whose name often comes up when I hear lawyers talk about great trial judges. His claim to judicial fame, of course, was presiding over the trial of General Manuel Noriega. And even Noriega was impressed. He told the judge, "The one shining light through this legal nightmare has been your honor. You have acted as honest and fair as anyone can hope for."
Some other quotes about the judge:
And then there's this story, recounted in this excellent FBA profile on the judge:
"Before one of the many drug importation trials he presided over, a defense attorney told the judge that the defendant was still in a jail uniform and needed a few minutes to change. The judge stood up, took off his sweater and handed it to the attorney, saying 'Make sure he’s seated when the jury comes in, and he’ll look fine in this. I hope he likes blue.'"
So, yes, Judge Hoeveler was the kind of man who'd give you the shirt off his back.
FBA write-up below:
Judge William Hoeveler was nominated by President Carter to the district court, where he served from 1977 to 2017. Hoeveler enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and served a tour of duty in the Pacific as a lieutenant from 1942 to 1946. Judge Hoeveler presided over several notable matters, including the Elian Gonzalez proceedings and the 1991 trial of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was convicted on multiple counts of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering. United States v. Noriega, 746 F. Supp. 1506 (S.D. Fla. 1990), aff'd, 117 F.3d 1206 (11th Cir. 1997).
Jury selection starts with Judge Becerra this morning. The AP covers it here:
Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages are charged with conspiring in South Florida to kidnap or kill Haiti’s former leader, plus related charges. They face possible life sentences. They all pleaded not guilty.That's what the Florida Bar is saying after first saying she was under investigation. How odd.
Here's Bloomberg discussing the about-face:
The Florida Bar said it mistakenly wrote in a letter last month that it was investigating former Virginia US Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
The reversal Friday comes a day after the ethics nonprofit Campaign for Accountability announced having received a Feb. 4 letter from the state’s attorney disciplinary authority confirming an “investigation pending” in response to its complaint about Halligan.
“The Florida Bar wrote a letter to the complainant erroneously stating that there is a pending Bar investigation of member Lindsey Halligan. There is no such pending Bar investigation of Lindsey Halligan,” said spokesperson Jennifer Krell Davis. “The Florida Bar received a complaint against Lindsey Halligan and, consistent with standard practice, the Bar is monitoring the ongoing legal proceedings underlying the complaint.”
The Campaign for Accountability had sought a probe into Halligan’s potentially false statements while prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), as head of the Eastern District of Virginia’s US Attorney’s Office.
“CfA has not heard directly from the Florida Bar, but it’s hard to reconcile this latest statement with the bar counsel’s previous letter saying there is an investigation pending,” said the group’s Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith, in a statement. “If there is no longer an investigation into Halligan, the question is why not, given that three judges indicated she engaged in conduct that appears to violate ethics rules.”
The event also made news based on comments made at the gala by Mike Hammer, currently the top US diplomat in Cuba. Hammer predicted that Cuba's dictatorship will end this year. Herald covers it here.
Guest Post By Cary Aronovitz
Sidney Aronovitz – 1976-1997 – Southern District of Florida
It is an honor to write a post about my Grandfather, Sidney Aronovitz. He was the descendent of Romanian Jews who fled persecution in Europe seeking life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A proud Conch—born and raised in Key West—he went to law school at the University of Florida before serving as a Captain in the United States army during World War II. He married my Grandma Eleanor, raised three children Elaine, Tod, and Karen, and then worked in private practice and as a City of Miami Commissioner: always believing in the importance of public service. He was then appointed in 1976 by President Gerald Ford as the first Jewish judge in the Southern District of Florida. When my Dad, Tod Aronovitz, served as President of the Florida Bar in 2002 he wrote a page to honor our judges, focusing on Sidney Aronovitz and Bill Hoeveler. That article—as true today as ever—summarizes it best:
Judges, all too often, are misunderstood. More times than not they toil in solitude, silently wrestle with difficult decisions, quietly seek truth and fairness in their courtrooms, and receive no fanfare.
In 1976, U.S. Senators Lawton Chiles and Robert Stone recommended Sidney Aronovitz to President Gerald Ford to become a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida. My father was a Key West native, a highly regarded local Miami general corporate practitioner, and an active community leader. It took President Ford two long years to make the appointment. My father made President Ford, the U.S. Senate, his family, and his community proud by his dedication to judging.
He was a compassionate man, a legal scholar, and was fair to everyone who entered his courtroom—attorney, litigant, witness, or a person being sentenced. He truly loved being a judge, including the challenges, the demands, and the results achieved in completing a task well. Most judges exhibit the same qualities and the same judicial goals.
During his 22 years on the bench, he brought home a stuffed briefcase six days a week and would labor over complex cases and difficult criminal sentencing issues. He would only speak of the outstanding, well-prepared, articulate attorneys who came before him. The poorly prepared lawyers were never the subject of his conversations. His pride in his judicial colleagues was noteworthy. I see in the eyes of Florida’s judges the same pride.
Four-month multi-defendant criminal trials with a sequestered jury were grueling, especially when a literal mountain of heavily footnoted briefs from his other pending cases awaited his attention. Receiving U.S. Marshal Service protection 24 hours a day—and even moving from Miami to North Carolina once for safety reasons—was a part of his job.
I asked his dear friend and “bookend” on the Southern District bench, always-admired Senior U.S. District Court Judge William Hoeveler: “What does being a judge mean to you?” He responded, “I love the law and all of the collateral requirements that go with it. . . . Being a judge is hard work, long hours, and attention to the rights of the parties. It involves cases in which we have to make difficult decisions, often in situations where you find it difficult, but necessary, to rule. All in all, however, I go home satisfied with my effort to seek the truth.”
I then wanted to know of Judge Hoeveler: “What is the biggest misperception people have about being a judge?” He said, “The average citizen thinks that we get cases assigned and then we go off to try cases before a jury, and that is the end of it. The citizen who serves as a juror comes to realize what work there is in connection with the case.”
When my father was in failing health, I sat by his side while he was being admitted in a Miami hospital emergency room. Behind the admissions clerk we saw a news bulletin on CNN advising that Panamanian General Manuel Noriega was being transported to Miami to stand trial before Judge William Hoeveler. With difficulty breathing, he turned to me and said, “Bill will do a great job on that case.”
I knew my grandfather as Grandpa, not as a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida. Still, his legacy continues with the lives of so many attorneys, judges, clerks, and litigants he shaped along the way. Those judges and lawyers (including Judges Robert Mark and Federico Moreno) advocated and succeeded in renaming the Key West courthouse after Sidney Aronovitz.
FBA write-up below
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Judge Sidney Aronovitz was nominated to the district court by President Ford and served from 1976 to 1997. A third-generation Key West native, Judge Aronovitz obtained both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Florida. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II, earning a Bronze Star for his service.
A notable case of his was Polgreen v. Morris, 496 F. Supp. 1042 (S.D. Fla. 1982), In 1980, during the Mariel boatlift, plaintiffs—owners/captains of commercial fishing and shrimping vessels—transported Cuban refugees from Mariel Harbor to Key West. When they returned, federal authorities served them with notices of intention to fine under the immigration statutes and seized (constructively seized) their vessels, effectively grounding the boats unless substantial bonding/conditions were met.
Judge Aronovitz held that, even if the government could lawfully seize the vessels without a pre-seizure hearing, the Fifth Amendment required prompt post-seizure notice and a timely hearing at which the owners/operators could contest the propriety of the seizure, regardless of which statutory authority the government invoked. Because the government did not provide an adequate, prompt post-seizure forum, Judge Aronovitz issued a preliminary injunction allowing plaintiffs to resume lawful domestic fishing/shrimping use of their vessels (subject to bond/conditions). He wrote, in part:
"For what occurred, America is a greater nation. The manner in which the Cuban nationals were received, having been victimized by the Castro government, and being the pawns of the Cuban Freedom Flotilla, is stark evidence of that humanitarian quality which separates the United States of America from the chains imposed by those countries wherein freedom to pursue life, liberty and enjoy the fruits thereof is subjugated to the whim of the government."
But I also really like this story about his love of classic cars:
He's on house arrest.
And speaking of the house, he asked for a jury trial on the forfeiture of his house. The jury returned a verdict for him, so at least his house is not immediately forfeited.
He's got sentencing and his appeal next.
Professor Todd Haugh discusses his prospects here:
Goldstein may have a few cards left to play. To be convicted of loan fraud, the government must prove proper venue, meaning that the criminal offense took place in the charging district. Under the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in United States v. Mosby, mere “preparatory” acts to the underlying offense cannot provide a basis for venue.
The defense will argue that while prosecutors may have proven preparatory acts such as filling out loan applications took place Maryland, they didn’t prove from where he sent the documents. The Second and Eleventh Circuits would seem to agree, but language from the Tenth Circuit could create a split. That is the meatiest of a number of arguments, including over the admission of statements made in media interviews and the wording of jury instructions, that he will surely make on appeal.
Goldstein built a career managing legal risk at the highest level. Yet he’s never faced what’s happening now: being on the other side of a white-collar conviction. He undoubtedly will continue to push his chips forward.
