Susan Lebow in for Gina Hawkins, pictured yesterday …

We’re told something major is going on in the Hawkins saga, to the point senior judge Lebow has been called in to cover foreclosures for the near future.

There’s a big story still brewing here, and if rumors are true, it could end badly for the perennially beleaguered 17th Circuit.

In any event, we don’t have time to go through another round of public records requests today, so we’re throwing this tip out to mainstream media just in case they can get the full story out to the general public.

Over and out …

COMING SOON – Bob Norman builds on your comments …

We’re told Gina Hawkins is out of the Family division, reportedly replaced by Frank Ledee.

Hawkins’ JA would not confirm whether or not her judge was still in Family, and directed us to Jack Tuter’s office.  Ledee’s JA didn’t pick up when called.

All of this follows the June 13 JAABLOG post It’s Absolute Nonsense!

Is the rumored reassignment somehow connected?

Stay tuned … mainstream media is chasing the story as we speak.

(Thanks, as always, to tipsters and commenters)

Brenda’s General Counsel Alison Churly-Davis delivered on the Clerk’s salaries a short time ago.  It’s the first time they failed to acknowledge one of our PRR’s, but why complain when the substance came over in record time?  Thank you again, Alison.

And without further ado, here are the Clerk’s employees making over $80,000 annually.  After the list, a link is provided showing all salaries.

David Ahmann: 107,120.62, Sevag Arakelian: 98,800.00, Cathryn Baranowski: 88,935.60, Alison Churly-Davis: 114,400.42, Dian Diaz: 132,040.48, Lauren Eisenberg: 84,912.05, Omar Espallargas: 80,000.00, Brenda Forman: 178,865.00, Veloune Gelin: 114,400.83, Rodolfo Gonzalez: 88,046.82, Kathy Jackson: 88,193.66, Karen Joiner: 81,499.60, Benny Joseph: 99,032.33, Nenad Krstic: 123,429.90, Jason Maraj: 93,600.20, Crystal McKenzie: 90,839.42, Betty Mui: 80,000.00, Joan Manuel Napoles: 107,120.41, Ernesto Nardo: 135,678.40, Christine Raudebaugh: 84,801.60, June Reid: 98,612.59, Renee Schwartz: 88,502.54, Duane Sinclair: 134,345.54, Nakia Smith: 88,193.66, Laura Stallone: 85,419.98, Jeffrey Sutton: 157,040.83, Elizabeth Szmkiewicz: 86,428.16, Terence Thomas: 108,107.79, Kimberly Vaughan: 94,265.81.

ALL CLERK’S EMPLOYEES SALARIES (PDF)

BROWARD HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW

COMING SOON – Florida Bar Salaries!

We’ve got a bunch of public records requests on a variety of topics to follow-up with from the SAO, Clerk, and Bar.  Hopefully time will become available soon to start writing them up.

In the meantime, we’ve sent a request to Brenda for all the salaries and wages paid to Clerk’s employees*, but curiously can’t get even an acknowledgment that it’s been received.  Very odd indeed, but certainly something to look forward to being posted right here on JAABLOG when the information is finally produced …

*Clerk’s employee salaries are not included in the Florida Has A Right To Know database.

The scene from today’s North Wing dedication in honor of TJ Reddick.  The dedication comes nearly twenty-five years after the old “new” building opened in 1995, and a month or so after the actual new tower was officially commemorated in honor of Skip Campbell.  According to the Sun Sentinel, Dale Holness fortunately suggested the long overdue honor for the late, great Reddick after discussions started for the new courthouse naming.  Whatever the dynamics, it’s a good thing proper official respect has finally been shown.  As far as the drop “K” pictured above, that happened during the unveiling, and may have been a cosmic reminder from Reddick himself that there’s still so much work to be done to level the scales of justice …

Here’s Holness with Mike Robinson, who gave an impassioned speech regarding the achievements of Reddick, and the need to stay the path he helped lay to correct stubbornly ongoing injustices.  Mike may have also inadvertently done a solid for JAABLOG by acknowledging the importance of removing “that racist statue“, since Brenda v. Blog grievance committee member Madeleine Mannello was in attendance.  The statue trashing is, of course, one of many feathers in JAABLOG’s cap, so maybe Mannello will relay the public judicial nod to her colleagues when deliberating Brenda’s discredited claims against the blog.  For her part, Madeleine, who we know from her days as a scrappy ASA, gave a good-natured “I’m good” and a smile when we jokingly asked her to pose with Brenda for a picture, who was also in attendance …

The aforementioned duly elected Clerk of Courts still doesn’t think we have the right to take her picture, as she once again took great pains to memorialize your humble photographer in action.  Are her photos going to the Bar?  Is that why she also instructed the woman below to take our picture while taking her picture?  Wait and see …

Dale Holness again, this time with Harold Pryor.  Holness is rumored to be supporting a Pryor run for SAO, although Harold wouldn’t confirm anything but to say “I’m leaning towards running“.  Jack Seiler, on the other hand, is definitely out, following a conversation earlier today …

One time presumed PD and SAO heir apparents Gordon Weekes and Sarahnell Murphy saying hello …

Last Friday’s robing with pitiful judicial attendance that is apparently the new normal.  Gina Hawkins gave an invocation in her official capacity as a judge summoning Jesus, which struck many as inappropriate given she wasn’t the one being robed, and the fact she was in a state-funded courthouse …

COMING SOON – Petition Time!

SAO Update – Sarahnell Murphy states she is running for SAO, and should file around July 1st.  Rumors that Judy Stern will be guiding the campaign remain unconfirmed …

Chris Mancini is rumored to be filing for SAO as an Independent, which should close the primary.  Chris would not confirm or deny when reached by text message earlier today …

Suskauer Update – Jonathan Friedman, Michelle Suskauer’s successor as counsel for Anthony D’Amico before Jimmy Cohn, has filed this Motion to Withdraw Plea, with exhibits and transcripts.

D’Amico’s letter to the judge regarding disbarred attorney John Garcia, and the transcript featuring Cohn asking Suskauer about the Florida Bar Rules were previously posted on JAABLOG, while the transcript of the plea colloquy from February 14, 2019 is found here.

Excerpts from Friedman’s Motion and the transcript of the plea are pictured below, as well as Cohn’s order requiring the Government’s response by June 28th.

From Motion To Withdraw Plea:

From Plea Colloquy:

Government response due June 28th:

Remember When You Were Young? – photo from Statewide Prosecution, circa 1990.  Recognize anyone?

COMING SOON – Does Jesus belong in the jury room?

In response to phone calls received and a blog comment by Judge Hawkins did what? at 5:06 PM today alleging a physical altercation involving the judge and a courthouse employee, we reached out to Gina Hawkins on her cell a few minutes ago.

Here’s what she said:

“It’s absolute nonsense.  I have not had an altercation with anyone ever.”

Thank you Gina, for setting the record straight!

(click to enlarge image)

ASA Alim Babayev, most recently assigned to Marty Fein’s felony division, has been accused of DUI Property Damage and Leaving the Scene.

Thanks to Anonymous at 5:30 AM for breaking the news in the comments section, once again proving those who would stifle or destroy anonymous, constitutionally protected speech dead wrong …

BLAME GAME! – Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rafael Olmeda has the following:

An accused killer was mistakenly freed from jail after the Broward Clerk of Courts did not produce a routine document telling the jail to keep him there …

Prosecutors dropped a second-degree murder charge against (Eric) Vail in (a) shooting after a grand jury indicted him for first-degree murder for the same crime. He was supposed to be held without bond on the more serious charge, but the clerk’s office never sent that paperwork to the jail.

After the change to Vail’s criminal charges, the clerk’s office never generated a “capias” — or an order to arrest or detain the 28-year-old defendant.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, may have compounded the problem: It wasn’t required to check the clerk’s website to see whether Vail had other cases against him. Sheriff’s officials say checking the clerk’s website is not part of their routine procedures because it’s unreliable “and not an official warrant database.” The jail searches for a capias, a warrant, or a court order, not the clerk’s website …

Even without the capias, whether the Sheriff’s Office should have known to hold Vail remains in dispute. The April indictment contains an explicit court order to hold Vail without bond. Coleman-Wright said it was the clerk’s responsibility to notify the jail about that order with the capias.

But both the clerk’s office and the Broward State Attorney’s Office say they let the Sheriff’s Office know about the first-degree murder case. That information never got to the jail. Once the second-degree case was dropped, jail officials searched for warrants, a capias or some other court order with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement …

“If their query does not have them check their local database to see if the defendant has another case then the query is stupid,” (Howard Finkelstein) said. “The sheriff’s office and the clerk’s office need to stop focusing on blaming each other and start taking measures to make sure this never happens again.”

(Read the full story here)

So, who is to blame? 

Brenda Forman or Greg Tony?

YOU MAKE THE CALL!

YouTube: There’s a killer on the road …

BrowardBeat – The Next Election: Good Ol’ Boys Last Stand

 … Once in office it quickly became apparently that Ms. Forman was over her head. She was drowning in documents that her office regularly misplaced, we hear.

Now after bungling her job, Ms. Forman is under investigation for lying under oath and other wrongdoing …

SAO update – Teresa Williams has confirmed she is running again for State Attorney.

-Jim Lewis has filed:

– Gina Faulk has responded:

– Sarahnell Murphy has not yet responded to a text and email sent earlier today asking if she’s also running …

Termed out – the Bar confirmed that IP Address subpoena signer Sean Collin has concluded his term as a member of the JAABLOG focused GC …