Sent by Andy Siegel to all circuit judges June 4th:

We are adding to the in-custody docket additional morning sessions. This will continue until the courthouse is reopened to the public and in-custody defendants are being transported to our courtrooms. A zoom link for the incusody sessions is at the end of this email.

Starting Monday June 8, 2020, the in-custody docket morning session will begin at 8:30a.m. and end around 12:00p.m. and then pick up for the afternoon session will begin at 1:30p.m.until 5:00p.m. Each of the divisions have been assigned specific days and time. (Note: because of time availability, in custody matters from other divisions may be added administratively from time to time as previously done, i.e. repeat offender, drug court, mental health court.)

On the dates and time assigned to each division, you will be responsible for setting in custody matters during your scheduled session. Both the State and defense attorneys will be directed to contact your JA to place matters on the docket. The in custody docket procedures and schedule attached will be posted on the 17th website. They will be applicable to all divisions.

Your JA must use the CMS to set the hearings. Your JA must use the applicable session assigned to your schedule and post on the division FK. This assures the Clerk’s office will be able to create a docket and BSO will receive the docket to have the defendants available.

Other out of custody matters remain the same and are scheduled using your individual assigned zoom link. if an interpreter is needed arrangements must be made in advance to assure attendance of the interpreters.

If you have any questions or scheduling issues please call my office .

ZOOM LINK – https://17thflcourts.zoom.us/j/95752631895

COMBINED MANDATORY PROCEDURES

NACDL Statement of Principles and Report COVID-19 (via SDFLA Blog)

Brenda v. Blog hopefully will be headed to a Grievance Committee (“GC”) soon, absent anything to do with IP Addresses. Those issues were disposed by Florida Bar letter at the end of May. Legal Warrior John Howes’ primer on the First Amendment must have been enough for them to forego further challenges to the United States Constitution, even if they won’t admit it. The voluminous Motion to Quash Subpoena John prepared was never addressed, and the letter they sent ignored every constitutional principle submitted.

Whatever.

Now, roughly 580 days after the Bar received Brenda’s initial complaint, which was mostly comprised of issues around her title and well settled areas of Bar precedent and law regarding photography, an “investigator” has been assigned from the GC, former Broward ASA Madeleine Mannelo, pictured below with Brenda and others.

In spite of the law, videos (here and here) and other evidence, in spite of Brenda’s bailing on her bogus “domestic violence” court complaint before her deposition or any court appearances, in spite of the now closed investigation regarding Brenda’s veracity by the Miami SAO, and in spite of a judge having once found Brenda acted in bad faith in circuit court proceedings, defined as “dishonesty of belief, purpose, or motive,” the Bar has now handed the case to yet another investigator, who also appears to be friendly with the complainant.

You can’t make this stuff up, dear readers, but you’d have to be blind to not see what’s underpinning the harassment.

The truth is the Bar hates this very American blog, and anyone with the courage to utilize it to hold their public officials accountable, no matter how unqualified or out of control they may be.

The truth is the Bar hates lawyers that won’t kowtow to their authority, no matter how ineptly, politically, or disingenuously applied.

The truth is the Bar has done nothing to stop the degradation of the justice system in the face of a phony and destructive War on Drugs that has caused so much pain, death, and suffering in our communities, up to and including the ongoing national mourning of Mr. George Floyd and so many others like him. In fact, with their relentless attacks on the Constitution, honest criticism and other guiding principles of our forefathers, the Bar has in fact encouraged it. For while Brenda v. Blog is nothing more than one small example of the Bar’s actions and activities, it is symbolic of the greater whole of their mission to make sure everything stays exactly the same, no matter the cost, consequences or will of the people.

In any event, it should soon be up to the members of Grievance Committee 17(C) whether or not Brenda’s claims finally see the glare of a courtroom, with Broward’s Clerk of Courts under oath. In the meantime, we’ll be sure to update with any further developments, so stay safe from misguided government action and virus until then …

Mark Speiser, who as Judge Speiser found Brenda Forman acted in bad faith in circuit court proceedings against her then husband Howard Forman, is now running for Clerk of Courts.

When asked if his candidacy had anything to do with his prior history with Brenda, Mark responded as follows:

“I’m simply running because the current Clerk isn’t qualified.”

Here is the ACLU petition-complaint regarding the BSO pandemic jail conditions …

SS – Suspects should go free unless cops have bodycam footage, prosecutor says

KNOW YOUR OFFICE!

florida bulldog – Amid nationwide racial unrest, renewed interest in Broward’s most horrific miscarriage of justice

… For more than a decade it’s been publicly apparent that Townsend, a black man, was framed by Broward Sheriff’s Office, Fort Lauderdale and Miami police detectives who coerced him into confessing to nearly two dozen sex murders of African-American women and children that he didn’t do. Townsend is a grown man with the mind of a child, and they used that weakness against him in their reports and testimony.

Still, authorities including longtime Broward State Attorney Michael Satz, whose office prosecuted Townsend on skimpy evidence, would not investigate the disturbing actions of the white police detectives who obtained Townsend’s false confession, fabricated evidence and concealed exculpatory evidence.

No investigation was made even though Florida has no statute of limitations on perjury in an official proceeding relating to the prosecution of a capital felony …

SS – South Florida Serial Killer Mosley Dies (5/29)

Frontline/PBS – Requiem For Frank Lee Smith

Sonia Jacobs “In The Blink of an Eye”

Bob Norman – Strike Four for Broward SAO

ASA’S – ASK SATZ TO FINALLY APOLOGIZE BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE!

ASA Jeff Chukwuma is back in the courthouse news, following the firing of ASA Amy Bloom for inappropriate social media activity …

(click images to enlarge)

iamcaez

COMING SOON – Are all ASA’s created equal?

Chris Pole is heading to the Civil Division for the remainder of his term, starting in July.

No word on any replacement in Criminal yet, or whether the JNC will be filling the slot, or if the move is designed to make him more marketable as a returning senior judge …

*UPDATE* – SS: Prosecutor Fired Over Facebook Post

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The following is from the SAO’s PIO:

“Following our review of the Facebook posting by Ms. Amy Bloom, we have made the decision to terminate her effective immediately. The views expressed in that posting are entirely inconsistent with the ideals and principles of the Broward State Attorney’s Office and the duties and responsibilities of an assistant state attorney.”

Here is the May 28th AO officially closing the 17th Circuit for face to face hearings through July 2nd.

Remarkably, more than two and a half months into the pandemic, Broward still has only one remote courtroom operational for in-custody Defendants to see and interact with their assigned division or duty judges. It’s only available in the afternoon, after First Appearances, and the lone Zoom room is shared by all the Criminal Division judges, meaning inmates can participate in court once or possibly twice a month.

There are currently more than 2700 inmates in the Broward County Jail, on lockdown up to 22 hours a day in small cells with other inmates to control the spread of virus. They have been that way almost since the start of the closures back in March.

The ACLU has been looking at the unique and unprecedented jail conditions in Broward for some time now, and have been made aware of the compounding effect on inmates’ stays caused by restrictions on access to courts. Neighboring counties are, as usual, way ahead of the 17th, with Palm Beach remaining open for easy access to judges for essential and other types of hearings, and Miami-Dade Zooming along all day long in multiple courtrooms, as reported here on JAABLOG and by The Miami Herald’s David Ovalle. Broward’s reputation as a draconian backwater has once again been firmly reinforced by its criminal justice response to the pandemic, where due to a stunning lack of leadership, the vast majority of circuit judges and government lawyers have basically been deemed non-essential personnel.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel. We’re told a second Zoom in-custody courtroom should become available shortly. It will be running both for morning and afternoon sessions. Jack Tuter is set to meet with BACDL today at noon to update everyone, so hopefully he can also be asked some of the tough questions that needed to be posed and answered a long time ago. The link to join the meeting today is here.

In closing, many have seen some of the State Attorney candidates’ activism in the ongoing nationwide protests in the comments section and elsewhere. They are to be commended for their positions, and immediately enlisted to address current jail conditions and access to courts issues in the Circuit they hope to lead. While all are suffering, it’s no secret that the largest racial group currently incarcerated in Broward is African-American, receiving a pandemic double-dose of Broward “justice” while the nation mourns Mr. Floyd and so many others like him …

Video: Krista Marx on Palm Beach jury duty social distancing