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August 2007

Grant guilty on all 19 counts

A DeSoto County jury convicted activist late Friday on charges of practicing law without a license

8-27-07 -- A six-member jury found civil rights activist Nancy Grant guilty Friday evening on all 19 counts against her of practicing law without a license. Each count is a third-degree felony and is punishable by up to five years in prison. . . . She remains free on bail pending her sentencing hearing, which is set for Sept. 25. . . . The 19 counts filed against Grant each involved an inmate incarcerated in the DeSoto County Jail. Grant denied giving legal advice to these inmates. She said the organization she founded, called Florida Pro Se Bar, helps people, especially people who are incarcerated, learn to file legal papers in court for themselves. "Pro Se" is a Latin term meaning "on behalf of oneself." The phrase, Grant said, refers to a person who is not a lawyer, but who chooses to represent himself in court. . . . Grant said she and Pro Se Bar are not giving legal advice, but just doing typing and performing courier services to move legal papers from the jail to court, and to share information.

During testimony Friday, Grant said she would be suing the Public Defender's Office for racketeering. She said lawyers were paid to represent inmates, but did nothing. "Being paid to represent a client, but not doing anything is racketeering," she told the jury.

July 2007

One dollar judgment, thousands in lawyer fees

By: Mike Deeson

7-25-07 -- Pinellas County, Florida - They say justice is blind, for Attorney Andrea Bateman it is also expensive and put her in adversarial relationship with attorney Leslie Conklin. . . . Bateman says she thinks most attorneys would think it is unfair. . . . Bateman is making payments to Conklin for attorney fees and sanctions for a case the two were involved in. When she sent a $250 payment, the check bounced. Bateman made it good with a money order, but it was dollar less than it was supposed to be. Conklin filed suit and won — one dollar. . . . Bateman's attorney, Austin Aaronson says just because you can sue for something it doesn't make it a good idea or the right things to do. . . . And in addition to awarding one dollar,  the judge also said Conklin was entitled to attorney fees and collection costs. That's why he will be back in Pinellas Court next week saying he deserves $8000 for legal fees for the one dollar judgment. . . . Aaronson says it speaks for itself it is ludicrous .

Dispute over attorney fees has $8.5M settlement on hold

By Jim Ash, Florida Capital Bureau Chief

7-20-07 -- Minouche Noel waited nearly a decade for the Legislature to pay the $8.5 million a jury awarded her for a state doctor's botched operation on her spine. . . . Now a $676,000 dispute over attorney fees has brought the case to a screeching halt, and top lawmakers are howling mad. . . . House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt issued a stinging letter Thursday vowing to fight the attorney's demand for fees they say are higher than the Legislature authorized this spring. . . . “In so doing, the lawyers have put their own interests ahead of their clients and seek to flout both the letter and the spirit of the law,” the lawmakers wrote. . . . Florida law shields the state from paying anything greater than a $200,000 claim. To recover more, plaintiffs have to convince lawmakers to pass a “claims” bill.

May 2007

Some Fla. Criminal Defense Lawyers Take Aim at Beleaguered Judiciary Via Web Log

Jordana Mishory, Daily Business Review

5-11-07 --A small band of criminal defense lawyers has shaken up the Broward County, Fla., legal community with a Web log that reports what the bloggers consider abuse and misconduct by judges. . . . Their controversial blog takes daily blasts at Broward judges and urges lawyers to run for election against sitting judges. Designed as the communication arm of the new criminal defense group Justice Advocacy Association of Broward, the site was started last year to provide information about case law. . . . The site, which averages 31,000 hits a week, has become a daily must-read for many in the legal community at a time when Broward judges are involved in a series of verbal gaffes and face allegations of misconduct. . . . The blog gained visibility last month when it was the first to report that Circuit Judge Charles Greene, chief administrative judge of the criminal division, used the term "NHI" -- meaning no humans involved -- to describe the minority victims and witnesses in a recent murder trial. That remark led to a firestorm of criticism. In the wake of the controversy, Greene stepped down as administrative judge and at his request was re-assigned to the civil division. . . . Fort Lauderdale attorney William Gelin, one of the blog's founders and a frequent writer, said the goal of the blog is to inform the public and hold court officials accountable. "We are shedding light on previously very dark places," he said, adding that so far judges have not treated him or his clients differently as a result of his blogging. . . . The Web site has angered many Broward judges and lawyers. Last week at a news conference, Broward Chief Judge Dale Ross blamed the blog's organizers for trying to "undermine" the judiciary. He said in an interview he would prefer that lawyers with concerns come to him directly. . . . "I like folks who are serious people, who come up to me face-to-face and say, 'Hey Dale, I have a problem I'd like to talk to you about,'" he said. While Ross said he doesn't read the blog, he complained that he hadn't "seen one thing yet that was factually correct." . . . The incoming president of the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association, Miramar attorney Jose Izquierdo, also criticized the organizers of the blog, saying they are using it "as a forum to attack and not fix the problem." . . . Russell Williams, vice president of Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, echoed that criticism of the blog. "All they do is complain, and the complaints become a cancer that grows from the inside and spreads throughout the courthouse," he said.

Lawyer sues Orlando cops in arrest

Police officials dispute allegations in a suit by a defense attorney who says he was beaten in jail.

Pedro Ruz Gutierrez | Sentinel Staff Writer

5-11-07 --Orlando criminal-defense attorney Thomas Luka is used to facing law-enforcement agencies on behalf of his clients. . . . This time, however, Luka has sought his own lawyer after he says he was falsely arrested, beaten and humiliated by Orlando police officers last fall. . . . On Thursday, Luka's attorney filed a civil lawsuit in Orange County against the Police Department, seeking damages for what he says were violations of his client's rights. On Sept. 19, Luka was arrested on charges of battery and resisting arrest without violence by an officer who alleged that Luka touched or pressed against him outside a downtown bar. . . . However, police officials have a different version and question his account of events. They also deny that they hit him or held him for four hours in a holding cell. . . . Luka, 34, said Officer Anthony Miller saw his Florida Bar credentials and recognized him from a lawsuit involving one of Luka's clients. Luka said Miller then told him: "I know you. You are going to jail."

Assistant attorney general charged

5-10-07 -- (AP) An assistant attorney general charged with pulling a gun in a road rage incident has been placed on administrative leave while the case is being investigated, officials said. . . . Carlos A. Ivanor Jr., 31, of Orlando, displayed a handgun on May 3 when another motorist wouldn?t let him over into his lane, according to a Volusia County Sheriff’s Office report. He has been charged with aggravated assault. . . . Ivanor has worked for the Office of the Attorney General in Daytona Beach since February 2006. He handles criminal appeals cases in the 5th District Court of Appeal. He was placed on leave Wednesday. . . . “We have turned this over to our inspector general and our employee will have an opportunity to talk to us,” said John Pare, the regional deputy attorney general in Central Florida. “We are interested in seeing what the State Attorney’s Office has to say.”

Commentary: Scarlet Letter of Shame

Copyright 2007 - North Country Gazette

5-10-07 --Three peas in a pod. . . . George Greer. James Whittemore. Crockett Farnell. . . . All three had a role in the judicial homicide of Terri Schindler Schiavo and the Clearwater Bar Association has exceeded all bounds of decency by lauding these three judicial despots for their egregious violations of human rights laws in addition to the U.S. Constitution and that of the State of Florida. . . . These three individuals have a lot in common, having done more together collectively to undermine the public trust and confidence of the judicial system than any other trio of jurists in recent memory. . . . The Clearwater Bar Association seems to delight in rubbing the public’s nose in the judicial tyranny exercised by the trio of Schiavo judges, awarding all three the George Greer Judicial Independence Award.

Conflict Counsel Bill Faces a Vote in Fla. Legislature

Defense attorneys raise concerns about new plan's possible impact on defendants and on lawyers

Jordana Mishory, Daily Business Review

5-4-07 -- The Florida Legislature is expected to vote today on a measure that would establish separate public defender offices around the state to represent poor criminal defendants whom the existing public defenders can't represent due to conflicts of interest. . . . The bipartisan measure, which was crafted by the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations committee, would establish a new office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel in each of the five Florida appellate districts to handle these conflict cases. . . . Lawyers in these new public offices would take over most of this work from private lawyers who currently are appointed by the courts as so-called special public defenders, based on a rotating wheel system. . . . The bill, SB1088, would allocate $50 million to operate the new offices for the coming fiscal year. That's about half the cost of the current program of appointing private attorneys. The measure has been folded into the omnibus budget package, which is expected to be voted on today.

April 2007

Judge balks at plea bargain

A judge has put on hold a federal plea deal that would have sent one-time top personal-injury lawyer Louis Robles to prison for a decade.

By Jay Weaver

4-20-07 -- A federal judge Friday said he was dissatisfied with a plea deal for disbarred Miami lawyer Louis Robles that would have sent him to prison for 10 years on fraud charges and required him to pay back $13.5 million to his fleeced clients. . . . U.S. District Judge Alan Gold delayed the deal mainly because about 4,400 ailing clients exposed to asbestos would likely receive just $1.3 million in restitution. Robles had spent much of the rest of the money on a waterfront home, jets and limousines. . . . Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis told the judge that ``all of the victims are universally pleased with this resolution.'' . . . But Gold said he was ''not satisfied.'' He ordered the U.S. Attorney's Office to notify the victims in writing and to bring some to court for another hearing on May 21.

Plaintiffs Attorneys Awarded $22.9 Million in Trade Secrets Case Against Motorola

John Pacenti, Daily Business Review 

4-20-07 -- Broward County, Fla., Circuit Judge Leroy Moe Thursday awarded the attorneys representing SPS Technologies $20 million in fees and $2.9 million in costs in a trade secrets case against Motorola that ended in a deadlocked jury last fall. . . . But Moe did not address the plaintiff's request for a $100 million sanction against the Schaumburg, Ill.-based electronics giant, which was sought on the grounds that two Motorola witnesses violated Moe's witness sequestration order and read witness testimony prior to testifying. . . . The plaintiffs attorney team, led by Stuart, Fla., litigator Willie Gary, said it would ask the judge to clarify his ruling from the bench late Thursday afternoon. . . . Moe explained that the violation of his sequestration order went to the heart of the civil justice system, because the experts' testimony was crucial to the outcome of the case. "What happened was a new experience for me and I was shocked," he said when he ruled from the bench. . . . The two sides disagreed on whether Judge Moe might still take up the sanctions question.

Is This Lawyer Worth $11,000 An Hour? Or Are His Planes Just Too Expensive?

4-19-07 -- Willie Gary is a 59 year old Florida attorney whose personal Boeing 737 has an 18-carat gold bathroom sink. But his greater claim to fame now is his claim that Motorola owes him at least $11,000 an hour for work on a lawsuit against the company. Gary, who calls himself 'The Brioni Man' (after the Italian suits he favors) is being called something else by some observers. . . . Willie Gary, a Florida attorney whose personal Boeing 737 has an 18-carat gold bathroom sink, claims Motorola owes him at least $11,000 an hour for work on a lawsuit against the company. . . . But he's pushing for more -- twice as much -- because Motorola violated a court order in defending the suit. And a Fort Lauderdale judge will decide shortly whether he gets his wish. . . . The case offers a glimpse into the moneyed world of big companies and the lawyers who make a golden living off them. But the twist is that Gary didn't win the case -- the trial ended in a hung jury. . . . ''This is outrageous,'' says Paul Alfieri, a spokesman for Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola. Motorola is the second-biggest maker of mobile phones behind Finland's Nokia Oyj.

Assistant state attorney kills himself

Scott Pignone was on the high-profile government accountability unit

Christopher Sherman | Sentinel Staff Writer

4-4-07 -- Orange County Assistant State Attorney Scott Pignone, who was a lead prosecutor on the office's high-profile government accountability unit, killed himself this morning at home, according to his office. . . . Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar called him "a gifted prosecutor filled with integrity and energy," in an e-mail to employees Wednesday morning. . . . Tragically, Scott Pignone took his own life this morning at home. I have been with his loving wife and daughter who, like all of us, didn't see any signs of this coming," Lamar wrote. "I have also been with his mom and dad, wonderful strong people. All agree that Scott was happy in his life, his family and his work. All too often those irretrievable acts take place on the spur of the moment, in this case depriving us of a friend, a co-worker and a wonderful person."

March 2007

Florida Supreme Court finalizes DNA rules, rejects defenders' objection

By Associated Press

3-30-07 -- The Florida Supreme Court adopted a permanent rule Thursday on DNA testing of prison inmates and criminal defendants after turning aside an objection from public defenders at least for the time being. . . . The rule replaces an emergency rule the justices approved last year to conform with a new law that requires judges to ask defendants, their lawyers and prosecutors about possible DNA evidence before accepting guilty or no-contest pleas. . . . The Florida Public Defenders Association argued against that requirement on grounds that such an inquiry is outside the Legislature's purview, places undue burden on the defendant and would result in the waiver of a defendant's right to a valid post-conviction appeal.

Broward court reporter who was jailed admits violating court order
By Tonya Alanez, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

3-30-07 -- A court stenographer who was jailed, then placed on house arrest for failing to complete a transcript, admitted to a misdemeanor criminal contempt charge Thursday. . . . Ann Margaret Smith, 44, of Lauderhill, admitted that she violated court orders by not completing the trial transcript of a child rapist and as a result delayed his appeal for a new trial. . . . Broward Circuit Judge Charles Greene admonished Smith for impeding justice. . . . "You are the wheel that turns and allows everyone to receive justice," he said. "Everyone is entitled to finalization, the defendants, victims and the attorneys. ... It all breaks down when the court reporter doesn't do the transcript. Without you doing your job, no one else in the justice system can."

Stenographer Jailed For Failing To Provide Court Transcripts

© 2007 North Country Gazette

A court stenographer who failed to complete a transcript needed for an appeal in a child-rape case has been found in indirect civil contempt of court and jailed. . . . Ann Margaret Smith, 44, a stenographer with Laws Reporting, a court reporter agency located across the street from the Broward County Courthouse, was sent to jail Friday by Circuit Court Judge Charles Greene after an appeals court asked him for the trial transcript of Damion Foster who had been sentenced last April to three consecutive life terms for kidnapping a 2-year-old boy from his bedroom in Pompano Beach, wrapping the boy's head with duct tape and raping him. He then left him two blocks from his home. . . . According to the Sun-Sentinel, Smith will remain in the Broward County Jail until she completes the transcript. The judge ordered that her transcribing equipment and notes be sent to the jail and ordered that the facility provide her a place to work.

Judge: 'I Got Your Attention, Now Finish My Transcript'

They say timing is everything. . . . And one judge said a South Florida court reporter was out of order -- sending her to jail for the weekend. . . . "We're talking about tardy transcripts that were reportedly delaying a high profile child rape case, which ended almost a year ago," the judge in the case said. . . . On Friday, Ann Margaret Smith was sent to jail, along with her typewriter so she could get the job done. She said she didn't meet her latest deadline for the transcript because her computer broke. . . . Broward Circuit Judge Charles Greene had Smith arrested and held without bond on contempt of court, saying a child rapist's appeal for a new trial was being delayed.

First Name		Last Name

Judicial Homicide

Liz Wilbert, Cornell American

“Please make no mistake, this was a court-ordered murder issued by Circuit Court Judge George Greer,” Bobby Schindler says of the “right-to-die” movement’s agenda to kill the disabled. “Terri’s life ended after two weeks of suffering without food and water and without receiving ice chips to help ease some of the pain she was suffering.” Devoting his life to educating the public about end-of-life issues and offering support to those with disabilities, Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo, will speak on campus Wednesday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m. in Goldwin Smith’s HEC Auditorium. Hosted by the Cornell Coalition for Life, he will tell “Terri’s Story” followed by a question and answer session. With new laws defining the subjective diagnosis of the persistent vegetative state (PVS), this diagnosis is now being used to determine whose life has value to society, and more troubling still, whether or not an individual has the right to life. . . . The tragic story of the Schindler family began when Terri, as a young vibrant woman of 26, collapsed in her home under mysterious circumstances while she was alone with her husband. Although her husband, Michael Schiavo, won a $1.2 million medical malpractice suit stating that Terri’s collapse was caused by undiagnosed bulimia, this was determined not to be the case at her autopsy fifteen years later. After her husband collected the malpractice award which he vowed he would use for her rehabilitation, he “suddenly remembered” that Terri had once said that she would not want to live in such a condition.

Judging the look of Lady Justice

Criticism greets the statue at its unveiling at the courthouse. To be just, some liked it.

By Colleen Jenkins

The specter emerged from a white sheet outside the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse. . . . Looming before downtown Tampa was a 10-foot-tall, 2,000-pound bronze sculpture, a New York artist's modern interpretation of Lady Justice. With verdigris skin and gilded ringlets spilling from a crown of stars, the work cost Hillsborough County taxpayers $400,000. . . . "Magnificent," decreed County Administrator Pat Bean. . . . Passers-by had other words Thursday. The lady looked like a mermaid, they said. Or a gaudy Gasparilla float. A fairy with dreadlocks. A comic book character. Something out of SpongeBob SquarePants. . . . "At first glance she looks a little bit like an exotic Mesopotamian dancer," said Duane Damon, who works for the Clerk of the Circuit Court. "But when you get closer, it's really not as sensual as that."

Common Sense Lost: World Gone Mad

By Carrie K. Hutchens

3-6-07 -- Common sense has indeed been lost in so many areas of life that it has become overly alarming. How did that happen? Is it something in the air? Something in our food? Something beaming us from a satellite in the sky? A signal from our cell phones or radiating outward from our computer monitor and television screens? Is it the ink on our newspapers or the toilet paper? Or maybe it is the water we drink, cook and wash with? What little burgers might be secretly invading our common sense and putting us on the path of madness at its best? . . . A nobody judge in Florida actually blew off a federal subpoena, thereby disrespecting the entire US legislative body and the judicial system, and nothing happened to him? If he says subpoenas don't have to be respected on the one hand, and nobody does a thing about it (except to give him some awards), how can ANY court demand ANY ONE else to respect a subpoena either? I mean... a judge said they are meaningless, so why bother with them? Hasn't a precedent been set here? The precedence of how crazy and unreliable this world and its rules have become? (Rules only must be followed by some -- not all. Judge George Greer has ruled such to be so.) . . . But then, we have the situation with Judge Cliff Barnes, who is from -- you guessed it -- Florida. Wonder what is happening with that case. The case where a judge actually spoke up about some problems in the system and the JQC wanted to wipe out his judge hood as a result of his speaking up. How dare he suggest that anything might be wrong with a system that so impacts the lives of citizens? Can't have that happening, now can we? . . . One might think this ends at the borders of Florida. If only it did.

February 2007

Prominent Fla. Lawyer Battles Ex-Employee's Claims of Adultery, Stalking

Forrest Norman, Daily Business Review

Prominent Miami attorney Thomas Tew has entered mediation with a former employee of his law firm to resolve a lawsuit accusing him of harassing her, stalking her and firing her for blowing the whistle on an alleged adulterous affair. . . . The suit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court Jan. 26, pits Tew, a partner at Tew Cardenas in Miami, against former Tew Cardenas employee Jo Edda Rosskamp and her attorney, Jack Thompson of Coral Gables, Fla. . . . Tew did not return calls for comment. His attorney, Susan Potter Norton, issued a written statement mentioning Thompson's long history of litigation against public figures. "Mr. Thompson has latched on to false allegations by a disgruntled former employee, who was terminated for gross misconduct, to advance his agenda against Tew Cardenas," Norton wrote in the statement. . . . Responding to the statement, Thompson said, "It makes for interesting fictional reading, but it has nothing to do with what Tom Tew did." . . . Thompson is facing Florida Bar ethics charges for alleged misconduct against Tew Cardenas and others. The Bar recently dismissed Thompson's and Rosskamp's ethics complaint against Tew, which claimed that Tew's purported affair improperly affected his work as inventory attorney in the massive Louis Robles client theft case.

Court: Bury Anna Nicole Smith in the Bahamas

(CNN) -- A Florida appeals court cleared the way Wednesday for Anna Nicole Smith to be buried next to her son, Daniel, in the Bahamas. . . . The decision by a panel of three judges with the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that gave custody of Anna Nicole Smith's remains to the court-appointed guardian for her daughter, Dannielynn. . . . Last week, Broward Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin awarded custody of Smith's body to Richard Milstein, whom Seidlin had appointed as guardian ad litem for the nearly 6-month-old girl. . . . Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, appealed that ruling, because Milstein wants the former Playboy playmate buried in the Bahamas and Arthur wants her daughter buried in Texas with other family members. . . . Milstein intends to have Smith buried next to her son, Daniel. The late model purchased the adjacent Bahamas burial plot after Daniel, 20, died in September, three days after Dannielynn's birth. . . . Howard K. Stern, Smith's partner and attorney who claims to be the biological father of Dannielynn, also wishes to have Smith buried in the Bahamas. . . . Any appeal of the decision by the panel of Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal would go to the Florida Supreme Court.

Judge: Baby's Guardian Gets Smith's Body

By Matt Sedensky, Associated Press Writer

2-22-07 -- Blubbering as he announced his ruling, a judge Thursday left it up to the guardian of Anna Nicole Smith's baby to decide where the model should be buried. But he expressed hope it would be in the Bahamas, alongside her dead son. . . . "I want them to be together," said Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin, steering a surprise middle course in a dispute that became more urgent by the day when the medical examiner warned that Smith's body was rapidly decomposing. . . . The ruling came a full two weeks after Smith died at a Florida hotel at age 39 of still-undetermined causes. . . . It was still unclear was what the guardian, attorney Richard Milstein, would do. He did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. . . . Smith's estranged mother wanted her buried in her native Texas, while Smith's boyfriend wanted her laid to rest in the Bahamas. . . . The judge, who choked up frequently and wept as he explained his decision, compromised and gave custody to Milstein, the guardian for Smith's 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn. . . . Milstein works for the Miami office of the Akerman Senterfitt law firm. He has 30 years of experience and specializes in guardianship, probate and mediation, according to the firm's Web site.

Anna Nicole Smith Snarky 'Judge Larry': Aspiring Tv Star Or Regular Guy Running No-Jury Trial?

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans, Fox News

2-21-07 -- Citing unidentified sources, celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com published a report Tuesday — while the proceedings over who should get Smith's body and where she should be buried were under way — that Broward County Circuit Court Judge Larry Seidlin is angling for his own television program. . . . And, it certainly seemed that way many times during the hearing. Seidlin frequently threw out comedic one-liners; sent the courtroom into bursts of laughter by calling lawyers nicknames like "Texas" and "California"; badgered attorneys with repeated interruptions about bad grammar and questionable strategies; interrogated witnesses himself; and even made broad, bold declarations like "I am the trier of fact" and "We are here on a search for the truth." . . . At one point early in the day, "Judge Larry" even invoked the War on Terror with a bizarre request that the courtroom stop and pay homage to American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Florida Prosecutors Want to Falsify Court Records

© 2007 North Country Gazette

2-19-07 -- Some prosecutors in Florida are pushing the state Legislature to pass a law that would permit state prosecutors to alter or falsify court records if a judge approves, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. . . . RCFP reports that under the proposed bill, the court would be able to authorize or approve an application by law enforcement officers and state attorneys to alter, withdraw or falsify records for undercover law enforcement purposes in active cases and investigations. . . . Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine-Fernandez Rundle floated the proposal. Although the bill would limit authorization to put false documents in court files for up to 180 days, there are provisions for an unlimited number of 30-day extensions.

George Felos: Ethics and Spiritual Practice
Commentary By June Maxam

2-19-07 -- It was 17 years ago this week that Terri Schindler Schiavo mysteriously collapsed, certainly forever changing the course of her life as well as that of vulnerable adults throughout the United States. . . .  Right-to-die proponent George Felos used the Schiavo case to promote his own ideological agenda while being compensated by monies that were to have been used for therapy and the rehabilitation of the ward of his client. . . . Terri collapsed amidst suspicious circumstances at her home on Feb. 25, 1990, during a time when witnesses say there had been on ongoing situation of argument and strife between Terri and her husband, Michael Schiavo, and possible domestic violence. The only person known to be at the home at the time of her collapse which resulted in a lack of oxygen to the brain, causing incapacitating brain damage, was her husband.

Judges in fear after e-mails

A man in a custody dispute is charged with sending threats to them.

By Paul Pinkham, The Times-Union

2-14-07 -- Three Jacksonville judges testified Tuesday they were scared enough by e-mails sent by an angry father that they feared for their safety and their families. . . . "My fear is that he will carry out what he's threatening to do," Circuit Judge Jack Schemer told jurors hearing the trial of Patrick D. Cahill, charged with two counts of sending written threats to judges who presided over his child custody battle. The charge of making written threats carries a maximum 15-year prison term. . . . But Cahill's lawyers argued that the e-mails weren't threats at all, just rude expressions of frustration and despair at not being able to visit his young son. Both e-mails were sprinkled with expletives. . . . "Calling a judge a fat, lazy pig is offensive, but it's not illegal," said Assistant Public Defender Ann Finnell. . . . Finnell was quoting from an e-mail sent to Circuit Judge Jean Johnson's office in July 2003. In the same e-mail, Cahill, now 45, wrote: "You're on my list for personal visits the day you get off the bench. You will explain to my son why you couldn't do your job." . . . Johnson testified she perceived the entire e-mail as a threat but particularly the line about explaining herself to Cahill's son. She said she knew that Cahill, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, had mental issues and her first thought was that he was lurking somewhere in the courthouse, ready to accost her. Fueling her fear, she said, was that she hadn't handled Cahill's case in four years when the e-mail arrived.

Judge orders Fla. TV station not to broadcast story
By The Associated Press

2-5-07 --A judge has barred a television station from broadcasting news reports about what it found in 80 boxes of documents that belonged to a political consultant at the center of an election-law scandal. . . . WKMG-TV cannot report about the boxes' contents until the courts decide whether the station properly obtained them, Orange Circuit Judge Rom Powell ruled on Feb. 2. He said the broadcasts, scheduled to begin today, would destroy any privacy rights consultant Doug Guetzloe might have. . . . The station says it received the documents from a man who bought them for $10 at auction after Guetzloe failed to pay his rent at a self-storage unit where they had been kept. . . . Henry Maldonado, WKMG's vice president and general manager, said the station's attorneys expect to have Powell's order lifted in time to air the reports as scheduled.

Judge's firing cited in motion

Because he was later deemed unfit, defense in a murder trial wants evidence tossed.

By Jamal Thalji, Times Staff Writer

2-2-07 -- The Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office plans to argue today that the evidence in the first-degree murder case against Lawrence Kenneth Tener - the body, the weapon, the confession - should all be excluded. . . . Among several arguments, the defense says that the search warrant should be thrown out because of the signature on it: . . . John Renke III. . . . As in former Circuit Judge John Renke III, unceremoniously kicked off the bench last year by the Florida Supreme Court. . . . Renke "lacked legal authority to sign the search warrant," the motion says, because he was "unfit to hold office." . . . "It's novel," was all Assistant State Attorney Mary Handsel would say about that particular defense argument.

Chief Justice: Secret Court Records Not Pervasive

Inquiry finds most instances come from failure to follow rules, miscommunication.

By Bill Kaczor, The Associated Press

2-1-07 -- Secret court records are not pervasive around the state but appear isolated to certain areas, Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis said Wednesday. . . . Lewis ordered an inquiry, including reports from the chief judge in each of Florida's 20 judicial circuits, after reading newspaper accounts last year about hundreds of secret dockets and files uncovered in South Florida. . . . The first disclosure, by The Miami Herald in June, was of a secret docket in Broward County that included cases involving TV personalities, judges, elected officials and other prominent individuals.

January 2007

Lawyers Call For Assistant U.S. Attorney to Admit to Alcohol Abuse

By Jessica Clark, First Coast News

1-31-07 --More time. That's what the attorney representing Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gallagher asked a judge for Monday. He wanted more time to prepare for the criminal trial against his client. . . . Gallagher faces two trials, one civil and one criminal, for the vehicular homicide case from March 2006. . . . That's when he slammed his car into the back of an SUV on A1A. The crash killed the passenger in the SUV, 23-year-old Coty Hastings. . . . Now the lawyers representing the Hastings family in the civil case are speaking out and telling First Coast News they want Gallagher to admit to various things. . . . Howard Coker, an attorney for the Hastings family, said, "At the scene, [Gallagher] was not forthcoming and forthright." . . . In court documents, Coker and the Hastings family want Gallagher to admit he had "ingested alcoholic beverages" the night of the crash, refused to tell authorities how the crash happened, had been "a functioning alcoholic" for a year before the crash, and had been counseled by his employer (the U.S. States Attorney's Office) about his "abuse of alcoholic beverages."

December 2006

Florida Lawyers Urging Bar to
Tighten Estate Planning Ethics Rules

HALT (An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform)

12-15-06 -- A small circle of concerned estate and trust lawyers are urging the State Bar of Florida to recommend tighter rules governing lawyers who draft wills and trusts for clients or act as conservators. Although Supreme Court rules do prohibit lawyers from being named beneficiaries in their clients’ wills, there is nothing to stop a lawyer from being designated as a personal representative or trustee to their client’s estate. As a personal representative, a Florida lawyer can earn significant amounts due to the state’s percentage fee system, up to 3 percent of the first million in probate estate assets and 1.5 percent of everything over $10 million. A lawyer who serves as both personal representative and counsel to the estate can charge even more. . . . “We need a disciplinary rule for lawyers who serve as not only trustees but personal representatives," Rohan Kelley said, head of the bar’s real property, probate and trust law section. Too many lawyers “are writing themselves into documents for their own personal gain.”

News flash: Florida's judges play politics

By Barry L. Crane, guest columnist

Response To The Nov. 28 Editorial, "Is This Any Way To Honor Judges?"

12-2-06 -- I agree with your Nov. 28 editorial — "Is this any way to honor judges?" — but I have some insights that you might have missed or been unaware of. . . . From mid-1967 to mid-2003, I was an official court reporter in the courts of Palm Beach County assigned to the criminal divisions. As such, I was involved in more than 1,700 jury trials and probably a quarter of a million hearings, motions, etc. . . . Our appellate judges are selected and not elected. Potential judges for the appellate courts are nominated by a nominating committee, which is not above politics, and then usually three names are sent to the governor for each opening. . . . The governor makes the selection. If the governor is a Democrat, we get left-leaning judges. If the governor is a Republican, we get right-leaning, conservative judges. . . . Here's the problem: There are three groups that know and understand the rulings by the individual appellate judges. They are: judges themselves, lawyers and the news media. . . . The judges are a very tight group and never publicly criticize their own. Lawyers have to appear before appellate judges, so they may discuss appellate judges among themselves but never in public. . . . The news media, while printing articles occasionally covering appellate court rulings, never publish how individual judges rule.

October 2006

Bonita lawyer faces contempt charges

By Chris W. Colby

A judge charged a Bonita Springs lawyer with contempt of court Monday and set a trial date that could end with a misdemeanor conviction and a jail sentence. . . . After attorney Diane Gonzalez failed to show up Oct. 10 for the trial of a client, Andres Cisneros Sanchez, Collier Circuit Judge Fred Hardt issued an order demanding she come to court Monday and explain her absence. . . . Gonzalez told the judge she had asked another attorney to fill in representing Sanchez, 39, who was charged with driving while his license was revoked because of habitual traffic offenses. But that attorney didn't know anything about the case, the judge said. . . . "It was set for the trial," Hardt said. "That meant you had to be here. You couldn't have some other attorney do the trial for you. That would be malpractice."

State prosecutors face lawsuit

Two lawyers say prosecutors are changing procedures only for their firm to punish them for criticizing prosecutors.

By John Frank

10-13-06 -- Two well-known Inverness attorneys are at war with the State Attorney's Office, alleging that they are being treated unfairly after they made claims of impropriety against state prosecutors. . . . In documents filed with the state Monday, attorneys William Grant and Milan "Bo" Samargya announced their intent to sue the 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office after prosecutors instituted new procedural rules that singled out their law firm. . . . Grant and Samargya claim that State Attorney Brad King and Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman are deliberately discriminating against their firm, engaging in unfair trade practices, abusing the judicial process, engaging in antitrust activities, civil conspiracy and imposing extraordinary and unlawful requirements.

Truancy blues
'I SHOULDN'T BE IN HERE'

Mother pays price for son's habitual school absences
By Joe Callahan, Star-Banner

10-2-06 -- Inmate Kimberly Niedzielski stared through an interview window at the Marion County Jail last week and discussed why she believes she shouldn't have been sentenced to 30 days because of her 16-year-old son's habitual truancy record. . . . Niedzielski says she can't help that he son missed 71 of the 100 days he was enrolled in North Marion High School last school year. She says all she could do was walk him inside and hope that school officials could keep him there. . . . "I shouldn't be in here," she said. "He's the one that missed school, not me." . . . Though her son's truancy is the reason she was brought to court to face Circuit Court Judge Jack Singbush, her own actions put her in jail on contempt of court charges.

September 2006

Book Investigates Corruption in Attorney General Charlie Crist's Administration