Criminal Law

IT'S OFFICIAL - GOLDSTEIN CALLS IT QUITS

Posted on February 12, 2008
Thank you to the commentator who wrote the following yesterday as "Anonymous" at 3:10 p.m. on "21 From 47":"Goldstein recently sent his resignation letter to the Gov effective July 1. JNC has to fill the seat before the may filing period deadline so the new judge is not up for election til 2009...

PRETRIAL FOLLOW-UP

Posted on February 11, 2008
                                                       I had the opportunity to speak with Ms...

CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE?

Posted on February 11, 2008
Who should be attending first appearances?Rules panel finds the answer is not as clear as it might appearBy Jan PudlowSenior Editor/The Florida Bar News© 2008 The Florida Bar A hotly debated issue boiled over at The Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee: Should both prosecutor and public defender be required to attend all first appearance proceedings?If you thought both sides already do attend those critical hearings ? held within 24 hours of arrest, when judges consider defendants? release on recognizance or set bail, review the sufficiency of probable cause affidavits, and appoint public defenders if the defendant cannot afford to hire attorneys ? you are in for a surprise...

Suit: Airport searches of laptops, other devices intrusive

Posted on February 11, 2008
                                                                                                                        Should customs search laptops?  

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JAABLOG SPORTS HERO DOCK ELLIS

Posted on February 09, 2008
                                                                                                     The Pirates' Dock Ellis Pitches No Hitter, June 6, 1970, On LSD "What's weird is that sometimes it felt like a balloon...

Cases - Civil

Posted on February 08, 2008
Torts -- Automobile accident -- Jury misconduct -- New trial -- Trial court abused discretion in granting defendant's motion for new trial on ground that jurors failed to disclose during voir dire that they had been injured in automobile accidents -- In order for juror's nondisclosure of information to warrant new trial, the facts must be relevant and material to jury service, the facts must be concealed on voir dire examination, and the failure to discover the concealed facts must not be due to the want of diligence of the complaining party -- Nothing in jury interview suggests that omitted information would have caused jurors to be biased or sympathetic toward plaintiff -- Record suggests that jurors did not so much conceal their prior accidents as fail to appreciate that disclosure was requiredReported at 33 Fla...

CASES

Posted on February 08, 2008
Criminal law -- Vehicular homicide -- Defendant was erroneously convicted of vehicular homicide where evidence did not prove that defendant was driving in a reckless manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another -- Defendant's act of briefly stopping and then making a left turn across opposing lanes of traffic and hitting an oncoming vehicle after a following truck had almost hit defendant's vehicle from the rear did not rise to level of recklessness necessary to support convictionReported at 33 Fla...

4 on 17

Posted on February 08, 2008
Jack Tutor                  Reversed & remanded                    4D06-4322-Department of Revenue v. NesbittCarol-Lisa Phillips      Reversed & remanded                    4D06-4322-Department of Revenue v...

SHOULD JUDGES HEAR CASES INVOLVING CONTRIBUTORS?

Posted on February 08, 2008
NEW YORK TIMES:"LOOKING ANEW AT CAMPAIGN CASH AND ELECTED JUDGES":by Adam Liptak (1/29)http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/us/29bar.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=liptak&st=nyt&oref=sloginA couple of weeks ago, the United States Supreme Court said the Constitution had nothing to say about the way New York elects its judges...

12 FROM 47

Posted on February 08, 2008
                           JAABLOG:"47 APPLICANTS FOR DAMOORGIAN'S SEAT":http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/01/28/47-applicants-for-damoorgians-seat...

MENTAL HEALTH COURTS

Posted on February 08, 2008
                                                    "HOW SPECIAL COURTS CAN SERVE JUSTICE AND HELP MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS"by Emma SchwartzFebruary 7, 2008http://www...

MEDIA 2/8

Posted on February 08, 2008
    HERALD:JENNE LOSES PENSION:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/story/411129.html"Jenne a former prosecutor, has 21 days from the receipt of the letter to appeal the decision.His lawyer, Dave Bogenschutz, could not be reached for comment on Thursday night...

JUDGES MAY BE NEXT AT THE CHOPPING BLOCK

Posted on February 07, 2008
 Senator Victor CristDuring a meeting of the Senate Judicial Appropriations Committee earlier today, Chairman Victor Crist announced that due to the severe cuts suffered by the State Attorneys and Public Defenders and the continuing economic downturn, the Committee would consider decertifying Judicial positions as well...

January 18 FLW highlights

Posted on February 07, 2008
JURY INSTRUCTIONS ? LEWD AND LASCIVIOUS, SIMPLE BATTERY AS LESSER:  Khianthalat v. State, 33 Fla. L. weekly S44 (Fla. Jan. 18, 2008).  Defendant is charged with L & L and requests simple battery as a permissive lesser included offense.  The problem is ?without the victims consent? is not alleged in the information and there was no testimony that the sexual conduct was not consensual...

TAKE THE JAABLOG CURE ©

Posted on February 07, 2008
                            HEAR WHAT JUDGES ARE SAYING ABOUT THE PATENTED JAABLOG CURE ©                                                                                                                "I resisted it at first, but now people like me for who I am...

UPDATE FROM NORM KENT

Posted on February 06, 2008
 Judge HoevelerAnecdotal Update to "The Missed Dis-Justice System".BY NORM KENT:Today (2/5) a young man in Coral Springs, celebrating his 18th birthday, was busted by the CSPD for consuming alcohol as an underage minor.He was brought to the county jail where he will spend the next 14 hours while waiting for a friend to post his $25 bond...

ELECTION TERMS + FINANCE

Posted on February 06, 2008
                                                    2008 General Election:Circuit Court Judges:Aramony, Bidwell, Bowman, Damoorgian, Dijols, Frusciante, Greene, Gold, Goldenberg,Goldstein, Grossman, Henning, Horowitz, Kaplan (Michael), Kaplan (Stanton) (open seat),Krathen, Levenson, Lynch, Moe, Murphy, Orlando, Rodriguez-Powell, Siegel, Streitfeld,Tobin, Tuter...

SUPREME COURT REVISES NELSON HEARING PROCEDURES

Posted on February 06, 2008
 "You're working for the State!"; Peter Hafer Fires His Public DefenderINSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO (2 CLE CREDITS) (1:16):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrRy2A1-rVU KENTUCKY.COM (11:20):http://videos.kentucky.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1693323

CASES

Posted on February 05, 2008
Criminal law -- Murder -- Death penalty -- Post conviction relief -- Counsel -- Ineffectiveness -- No error in denying relief on claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to present voluntary intoxication defense where defendant failed to present evidence that he was intoxicated at time of murder and, accordingly, failed to establish any reasonable basis upon which to assert this affirmative defense -- Further, counsel made reasonable tactical decision not to pursue defense, and trial court also found, based on competent, substantial evidence, that defendant refused to participate in any defense that required him to admit that he did the shooting -- Sentencing phase of trial -- Investigation or presentation of mitigating evidence -- No error in denying relief on claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate and present evidence of alcohol abuse or dependency in support of impaired capacity mitigator and for failing to investigate and present school, military, and employment records in mitigation -- No error in denying relief on claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to retain adequate mental health experts and provide experts with necessary background information -- No error in summarily denying remaining claims, including claim based on trial counsel's failure to investigate and present, and trial court's failure to find, defendant's age, low IQ, and good jail behavior as mitigators; claim that jury was misled by trial court's repeated instructions that its sentencing role was merely advisory; claim that jury instruction and state's argument shifted to defendant the burden of proving that death was inappropriate sentence; claim that jury instructions were unconstitutionally vague and allowed jury to consider murder in the course of a felony aggravator as an automatic aggravator; claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate forensic evidence and obtain proper forensic experts; claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to object to introduction of gruesome photographs; claim that rule prohibiting juror interviews is unconstitutional; and claim that defendant is innocent of death penalty due to lack of valid aggravating circumstances -- No error in summarily denying claims that Florida's death penalty is unconstitutionally vague and violates Ring v...

BSO Pretrial Attorneys?

Posted on February 05, 2008
                                                   I have noticed a disturbing trend concerning prospective clients on Pretrial Release (PTR)...

BROWARD JUDICIARY GETS A RUN FOR ITS MONEY

Posted on February 04, 2008
                                                                                 Chief Judge Charles Kahn Jr       Judge Michael Allen            Bruce Rogow                           "Unstable and Scary"                JQC Target                 Allen's Attorney                                                               INFIGHTING AT 1st DCA ST...

JQC RECOMMENDS PUBLIC REPRIMAND AND COSTS FOR ALEMAN

Posted on February 04, 2008
 Judge Cheryl Aleman Testifies During Her Trial (DBR)JQC FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS:http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/briefs/07/07-198/Filed_02-04-2008_Findings.pdfALL DOCUMENTS JQC v. ALEMAN:http://www.floridasupremecourt...

JUDGE LERNER-WREN AND THE RESILIENCY OF SPIRIT

Posted on February 03, 2008
                                                                                         Ginger Lerner-Wren             Richard EntrikenFounder of First Step Sober House will be missed by manyby Broward County Judge Ginger Lerner-WrenCopyright 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinelhttp://www...

JAABLOG SPORTS HERO WRONG WAY RIEGELS

Posted on February 02, 2008
                                                           Wrong Way Riegels speeds toward his own end zone in 1929 Rose Bowl Championship...

MEDIA 2/1

Posted on February 01, 2008
DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW:HOEVELER TOPS FEDERAL JUDICIAL POLL:http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=46919BAR POLL:http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/images/news_photos/46919/Bar_Poll.PDFSENTINEL:COMPETENCY ISSUES IN TODDLER CASE:http://www...

"DEATH IN GEORGIA"

Posted on February 01, 2008
     Jeffrey Toobin reports on the meltdown                              of Georgia's indigent defense system                             in the wake of the courthouse murders...

CASES - Civil

Posted on February 01, 2008
Torts -- Legal malpractice -- Limitation of actions -- Commencement of period -- Statute of limitations did not begin to run in this action until date on which parties filed the stipulation to dismiss underlying action with prejudice -- In holding that malpractice complaint was barred by two year statute of limitations for professional malpractice, trial court erroneously interpreted Silvestrone v...

CASES

Posted on February 01, 2008
Criminal law -- Evidence -- Statements of defendant -- Miranda warnings -- Recent decision in Powell v. State, holding that a police department's standard Miranda warnings were deficient because they did not inform defendant of right to have counsel present during questioning, requires reversal of court's denial of motion to suppress statements defendant made to detectives at police station and statements made to detectives en route to police station -- Question certified: Does the failure to provide express advice of the right to the presence of counsel during questioning vitiate Miranda warnings which advise of both (a) the right to talk to a lawyer ?before questioning? and (b) the ?right to use? the right to consult a lawyer ?at any time? during questioning?Reported at 33 Fla...

JAABLOG'S ONCE UPON A TIME

Posted on February 01, 2008
                                                                               Dr...

CASES

Posted on January 31, 2008
Contempt -- Criminal -- Juveniles -- Trial court not prohibited from imposing consecutive sentences for each instance of direct criminal contempt -- Section 985.037 limits sentence for a second or subsequent offense to fifteen days, but nothing in statute states that multiple instances of direct contempt cannot be separately punished with consecutive sentences of fifteen days of confinement for each offense -- ConflictReported at 33 Fla...

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