Latest trial order from Chief Judge Moore (spoiler... trials continued till May)

The order is below. Although trials are technically continued until May, it's going to be longer than that. There is a pilot civil jury trial scheduled for May now (as reported earlier), but juror summons go out about 8-10 weeks in advance. So assuming that May pilot trial goes well and the Court decides to open things up again, we are looking at July before we get back in earnest.

2021-12 Coronavirus Public Emergency - Eighth Order Concerning Jury Trials and Other Proceedings 02-10-21 by David Oscar Markus on Scribd

Mark Lapointe front runner for U.S. Attorney in SDFLA

 Jay Weaver covers the story here:

With sweeping turnover in the U.S. justice system under way in the new Biden administration, a Black lawyer has emerged as the leading candidate for the high-profile job of U.S. Attorney in Miami.

If President Joe Biden nominates Markenzy Lapointe, 53, for the influential post, it would be an historic choice in one of the most dynamic federal prosecutor’s offices in the nation.

Not only would his nomination be a first in the Southern District of Florida, but it would also signal Biden’s nod to the Black vote that helped him defeat Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. Lapointe is the only candidate to be interviewed by the White House counsel so far for the U.S. Attorney’s job, reflecting the strength of his prospects.

This is so great.

Prof. Ron Sullivan for Aaron Hernandez

Welcome to Episode 3 of For the Defense, Season 2. 

This week, we have Harvard Law Professor Ron Sullivan (pictured below, left) to discuss the Aaron Hernandez trial (available on Apple and all other platforms). Sullivan tried the case with Jose Baez (last week's guest, who discussed the Casey Anthony case -- available on Apple here and other platforms here).  Hernandez already had been convicted of murder, and this was his second murder trial where no one gave him a shot.  Enter Sullivan and Baez...

Here's a short clip (via Twitter) of Prof. Sullivan discussing the prosecutor's attempt to use Hernandez's tattoos in closing argument:

Two TDs for Gronk in the Super Bowl. Brady’s former TE, Aaron Hernandez, had two murder trials. In today’s episode of #ForTheDefense, I speak to Prof. Ron Sullivan about the 2nd trial. In this clip, he discusses Aaron’s tattoos and their use at trial. https://t.co/HaF2A4rnxY pic.twitter.com/xcDY4kj5dy

— David Oscar Markus (@domarkus) February 8, 2021

In other news, we are going to have a new U.S. Attorney very soon.  According to this CNN article, President Biden will be asking all Trump hold-overs to resign, including in the SDFLA. According to the article, there are a few exceptions -- including Michael Sherwin in D.C. who is doing a great job handling the insurrection cases.  

Black Lives & Medicine program at the Court (virtually)

 To attend, all you need to do is send an email by February 19, 2021, to: FLSD_Program@flsd.uscourts.gov.