Criminal Law

CASES

Posted on May 30, 2008
Criminal law -- Driving under influence -- Driving while license permanently revoked -- Appeals -- As applied challenges to constitutionality of DUI and DWLR statutes were not preserved for appellate review where they were not raised in trial court -- Claim that evidence was legally insufficient to sustain conviction for DWLR was not preserved for appellate review where defense made no motion for judgment of acquittal challenging sufficiency of evidence -- Claim that state presented speculative and unfairly prejudicial testimony through its cross-examination of defense witness was not preserved for appeal where defense counsel made only one objection to a single question, and defense counsel did not pursue original objection after prosecutor clarified question -- Claim that state made unfairly prejudicial and legally erroneous argument to jury in closing was not preserved where defendant made no objection to argument, and prosecutor's argument did not constitute fundamental error     33 Fla...

MEDIA 5/29

Posted on May 29, 2008
DAILY BUSINESS REVIEWFormer judges can?t use title ?judge? during campaigns"The nonbinding (state Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee) opinion released May 13 could be a factor in the state Judicial Qualifications Commission?s case against Broward County Court Judge Terri-Ann Miller...

JNC MAKES IT SIX

Posted on May 29, 2008
                                            Jay Hurley in for William Haury...

4 on 17

Posted on May 29, 2008
Rothschild    Affirm       4D07-732-Liberty Transportation, LLC v. Banyan Air Services, Inc.Krathen       Affirm        4D07-4850-Moore v. PattiBackman     Affirm        4D08-791-Gomez v...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

DAY OF THE LONG KNIVES

Posted on May 29, 2008
Information is coming in in dribs and drabs.  The Criminal Trial Case Managers and Pool workers are rumored to have been fired.Please post a comment if you have information as to how extensive the slaughter of good workers has been.  It's been a bad day.

CASES

Posted on May 29, 2008
Criminal law -- Felony battery -- Double jeopardy -- Error to dismiss felony battery charge that was being prosecuted after defendant had been found to be in contempt for violating domestic violence injunction predicated on the same battery -- Because contempt and felony battery each require proof of element the other does not, felony battery prosecution does not violate double jeopardy protections     33 Fla...

AND THE WINNER IS....

Posted on May 28, 2008
 William Haury with Michael Fischler (DBR)Congratulations to the 17th's newest Circuit Judge, William Haury (replaces Goldstein).Haury's name also was submitted today to the Governor for consideration for Spechler's County seat.The question everyone is asking: will the JNC add another name to replace Haury or will the Governor choose from five?

CONGRATS TO THE 6

Posted on May 28, 2008
The Governor will choose from the following six candidates to replace Jay Spechler:Michael Hursey, Phoebee Francois, William Haury, Edward Merrigan, Jr., Christopher Pole, Kenneth Gillespie.

SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDS

Posted on May 28, 2008
Tallahassee is due to approve the job cuts suggested by the judges this Friday.  Judge Tobin is expected to notify roughly thirty individuals the same day (or early next week) that their positions have been eliminated due to the budget crisis...

MIAMI ASA DAVID RANCK BLOWS THE WHISTLE FOR JUSTICE

Posted on May 28, 2008
DAILY BUSINESS REVIEWLegal Blogs Reignite Controversy Over Miami Shooting"A series of 4-year-old letters between Assistant State Attorney David Ranck and his superiors began surfacing on a Web log maintained by Ranck and were picked up May 4 by the anonymously penned Justice Building Blog, a blog that focuses on events in Miami-Dade Circuit Court's criminal division...

JNC COUNTY COURT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Posted on May 27, 2008
The JNC interviewed seventeen candidates this afternoon to replace Jay Spechler.  The following questions were drawn from complete interviews of five candidates:1. You do a lot of litigation in the circuit courts. Won?t you miss the excitement and be bored in county?     Have you practiced much in county?2...

COULD YOUR JUDGE PASS THE TEST?

Posted on May 26, 2008
NEW YORK TIMES: Judges as Politicians SeriesRendering Justice, With One Eye on Re-election"Contrast (the) distinctively American method of selecting judges with the path to the bench of Jean-Marc Baissus, a judge on the Tribunal de Grand Instance, a district court, in Toulouse, France...

REMEMBERING on MEMORIAL DAY

Posted on May 26, 2008
                                                        "It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars afar away...

4 on 17

Posted on May 23, 2008
M. Kaplan    Reversed    4D06-4993-Titel v. State*Horowitz     Reverse & remand   4D06-5070-Danziger v. Alternative Legal, Inc.Eade            Affirm part, Reverse part, remand  4D07-391 & 4D07-2104-Port-A-Weld, Inc...

ABA WEEKLY BLITZ

Posted on May 23, 2008
U of C Law Grad Accused of Submitting Phony Grades to Sidley AustinA lawyer who attended the University of Chicago Law School has been accused in an ethics complaint of lying about his grades when he applied for a summer position at Sidley Austin'Lawyer' Ranks 6th of Best Jobs for IntrovertsIf you are an introvert, the legal profession may be a good choice for you...

MEDIA 5/22

Posted on May 23, 2008
DAILY BUSINESS REVIEWJack Thompson Busts Judges With Forged Loyalty OathsThe forgeries of signatures by Circuit Judges Dava Tunis and Orlando Prescott and County Judge Linda Singer Stein came to light after Coral Gables attorney Jack Thompson complained about Tunis? signature...

CASES

Posted on May 23, 2008
Criminal law -- Bail bond -- Estreature -- Notice to surety of defendant's arraignment -- Notice to surety was not defective where it provided actual notice to surety of date, time and place for defendant's arraignment -- Failure of notice to specifically state that defendant's presence was required does not render it defective -- Notice which fails to specifically identify type of proceeding, fails to state that defendant's presence is required, and fails to state that defendant's failure to appear will result in estreature isnot defective as matter of law -- Conflict certified33 Fla...

CASES - Civil

Posted on May 23, 2008
Torts -- Settlement -- Contribution -- Error to grant summary judgment in favor of third-party defendant based on finding that settling tortfeasor could not seek contribution for personal injury settlement from third party because third party was not included in definition of ?Defendants? in general release signed as part of settlement -- Language in general release was ambiguous, and parties' intent was a material issue of fact which precluded summary judgment, where release first defined defendants as ?ny and all other persons, firms, corporations and legal entities of any type whatsoever? and then stated that plaintiffs would cooperate with the ?DEFENDANTS' ? efforts to seek contribution from third party     33 Fla...

CASES

Posted on May 23, 2008
Criminal law -- Causing bodily injury during commission of felony -- Revised statute required state to prove that defendant committed or attempted to commit an intentional act that was not an essential element of the underlying felony, an element that was not required under earlier version of statute -- Information which did not allegethis element was fundamentally defective, as it charged a nonexistent crime     33 Fla...

CENSORSHIP BY BROWARD COUNTY

Posted on May 23, 2008
                ATTENTION                                          Access to this web page is restricted If you happen to be in the Broward County Public Law Library (basement of the downtown Courthouse) and want to access JAABLOG from one of the free computers, forget about it...

DUI VIDEOS - CD

Posted on May 21, 2008

TUNIS RECOMMENDS GUILT FOR THOMPSON

Posted on May 21, 2008
 Jack ThompsonDAILY BUSINESS REVIEW27 Bar violations recommended in case against Coral Gables lawyerRecommendations As To Guilt And Notice Of Disciplinary Hearing

Around South Florida with Elgin Jones

Posted on May 21, 2008
 Elgin JonesFrom The South Florida Times:REQUEST FOR HELPJoe Major, the central Broward area community advocate, is known for sending out incendiary emails on any number of topics. This week, Major sent an email to Gov. Charlie Crist, chiding Broward State Attorney Michael Satz and his agency?s record on prosecuting public officials, while asking for a review of the agency...

Judges -- Vacancies -- County court vacancy caused by involuntary retirement of judge

Posted on May 20, 2008
Judges -- Vacancies -- County court vacancy caused by involuntary retirement of judge must be filled by election, rather than gubernatorial appointment, where vacancy occurred during statutory qualifying period -- Circuit and county court vacancies which occur after ?election process? begins are to be filled by election -- Statutory qualifying period is the start of the election process ADVISORY OPINION TO THE GOVERNOR RE: APPOINTMENT OR ELECTION OF JUDGES...

JERRY ON JAABLOG

Posted on May 20, 2008
 Jerry Seinfeld"Did you ever notice that defendants who resolve their cases in court in the morning often don't get released from jail until after midnight?  What's the deal with that?  Is it because BSO can count them as part of the jail population for the following day?  Do they really get a full day's compensation from the County even if the guy is released at 12:01 AM?  And how do people without rides get home?  Do they sometimes wander around in the middle of the night without anyplace to go?  And what about those little Smart Cars? Did you ever see one of those things next to a Hummer?  They should call them Stupid Cars...

INTERVIEWS FOR SPECHLER'S SEAT

Posted on May 16, 2008
(The following) is the list of interviewees and interview times relative to the currently vacant County Court Judicial Seat in Broward County.  Comments are still being sought.I am sending this on behalf of Ileana Almeida, Acting Chair, Seventeenth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, as I have recused myself from the current proceedings...

Cases - Civil

Posted on May 16, 2008
Torts -- Medical malpractice -- Action alleging that defendant neurosurgeon was negligent in failing to timely diagnose plaintiff's cauda equina syndrome caused by postoperative hematoma -- Error to enter summary judgment for defendant on ground that there was no evidence of defendant's negligence -- Deposition testimony of plaintiff's expert created issue for jury on defendant's breach of standard of care -- Error to strike expert's clarifying affidavitwhich did not conflict with expert's deposition testimony     33 Fla...

CASES

Posted on May 16, 2008
Criminal law -- Sentencing -- Restitution -- Principles of double jeopardy precluded trial court from increasing restitution amount once order setting the restitution amount was entered, although the amount the trial court originally ordered to be paid at sentencing hearing was based on erroneous information -- Earlier amended agreement which stated that defendant voluntarily agreed to make restitution to the victim in a greater amount and which stated that agreement would be void at the discretion of the state attorney or the court if defendant failed to meet conditions of the agreement, no longer had any legal effect once state attorney chose to void it and reinstate charges against defendant -- State could not rely on rule 3...

MEDIA 5/16

Posted on May 16, 2008
SENTINELMore Problems For Ostrow"A Hollywood man sued criminal defense attorney Gary Ostrow on Thursday, claiming that Ostrow misrepresented his qualifications when he was hired to defend the man's son in a death-penalty case."Satz Loses First Degree Murder Charge On Speedy Glitch"The 4th District Court of Appeal ruled last month that Broward prosecutors violated Quenten "QT" Walden's right to a speedy trial by waiting more than a year to indict him...

JQC ONE

Posted on May 15, 2008
                                                                                                                                           IS THE JQC BACK IN TOWN?

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.