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 …

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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

Elihu Smalls may have helped keep attorney John Couriel off the federal bench, but today Couriel landed on his feet, appointed by Ron DeSantis to the Florida Supreme Court.

Desantis also made Renatha Francis a Supreme Court justice, all the way from the Palm Beach Circuit Court. Francis was sworn in to the Florida Bar on 09/24/2010, making her eligible for the State’s top court by a hair …

WPTV – DeSantis news conference

The Broward County Bar Association is live streaming a judicial forum on June 11th.

Accordingly, Ruby Green, president of BACDL, sent the following email this evening requesting submissions for interview questions.

As stated in her message, queries specific to individual races will be considered, so anyone with concerns regarding any of the candidates, including the four with JQC experience, should email Ruby directly at ruby.l.green86@gmail.com.

From the BACDL email:

… Each organization has been asked to submit 5-10 questions to be asked to the candidates for consideration. Additionally, specific questions for a particular race can be submitted also, just be specific as to what race you are referring to when submitting that question.

I would like for us to be involved in asking questions so if you have any, please send them my way by close of business this Friday, May 29th. The Judicial races are listed below!

COUNTY COURT GROUP #22: Allison Gilman v. Casey Mills

COUNTY COURT GROUP #27: Phoebee R. Francois v. Jacob E Segal

COUNTY COURT GROUP #31: Roseanna Bronhard v. Sean William Conway v. Natasha DePrimo

CIRCUIT COURT GROUP #16: Dennis Daniel Bailey v. Abba Sheila Rifkin Logan v. George Odom Jr.

CIRCUIT COURT GROUP #18: Patti Englander Henning v. Kristin Weisberg Padowitz

CIRCUIT COURT GROUP #27: Meredith Chaiken-Weiss v. Matthew Isaac Destry v. Frank David Ledee

CIRCUIT COURT GROUP #30: Dale C. Cohen v. Ian Richards

CIRCUIT COURT GROUP #50: Linda A. Alley v. Vegina “Gina” Hawkins

Courts have been closed for more than two months already, but today marks the first time we’ve seen a confidential, mid-hearing communication between client and lawyer during an afternoon Broward ZOOM hearing.

It happened this afternoon, during Barbara Duffy’s docket. A need arose for an attorney/client conversation, and BSO provided a telephone number for the client to speak with his lawyer off-camera and confidentially mid-hearing. Duffy put the case on recall, and concluded it a short time later after the private consultation ended.

It’s a miracle of modern technology!

Whether it’s a coincidence that Dava Tunis, a Miami judge, was on Broward ZOOM last Tuesday afternoon handling an executive assignment asking to no avail for the attorney/client break-out room to expedite her proceedings, or it’s because of this letter asking again for contemporaneous communication sent by Howard Finkelstein to Jack Tuter the same day Tunis was presiding in Broward, we’re glad to see the 17th Circuit has finally taken the initiative to take one step further away from the dark ages, courtesy of one Alexander Graham Bell …

From a press release issued this morning:

Florida’s Chief Justice Charles Canady issued an order late on May 21, 2020, creating a new pilot program for civil jury trials … In other actions last night, Canady also took the following measures:

• Issued a separate new order establishing health & safety precautions to be used in Phase 2 of the expansion of court operations. These precautions are based on a report issued by a statewide advisory COVID-19 Workgroup.
• Amended an earlier order called SCAO20-23 that provides comprehensive emergency procedures for use in courts in the pandemic. The amendments incorporate the new Phase 2 safety procedures contained in the COVID-19 Workgroup report.

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WFMJ – Texas court holds first US jury trial via videoconferencing

From FTU re depos:

We are requesting that LEO depos not be scheduled before June 8 so the LEA have a chance to set up their own processes. They can’t use any equipment that can also be used to access criminal justice data bases according to FDLE and they cannot mandate that officers use their personal devices so they are all diligently working to set up equipment that can be used for this purpose and they need a bit of time.

The email below was also sent to SAO employees earlier this afternoon titled Courthouse and Office Update.

As follows:

Good afternoon everyone, hopefully you are staying safe and well.

As most of you have heard by now, effective June 1st, the Clerk of Court will be opening their offices to the public for floors 1 thru 4 of the West Wing.

ONLY THE CLERK’S OFFICE IS OPENNING TO THE PUBLIC.

The West Wing first floor entrance will have separate security lines for the public and employees. The East Wing 3rd floor rotunda entrance is open to courthouse employees only. I have been asked to remind you that ALL staff coming into the courthouse must be wearing a mask.

Although the West Wing floors 1 thru 4 are accessible by the escalators, for ADA purposes (and in case of breakdowns) the first two elevators will be set aside for the public. The other 6 elevators may be used by courthouse staff.

THE SAO, PD AND OTHER COURTHOUSE OFFICES WILL NOT BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Current SAO staffing and alternating work schedules will continue as is. Courts will continue operating remotely and there will be no ‘in person’ court attendance. Evidentiary hearings or witness notices must refer to remote platforms via Zoom and not have a courthouse address.

Assistant State Attorney’s and staff must continue the preparations needed to support these court Zoom hearings and remote platforms.

Chief Judge Tuter will schedule meeting sometime mid-June to discuss future opening options and jurors.

Again, it is so important to maintain your social distancing, wearing of masks and frequently washing your hands.

ASAIC’s and Support Supervisor’s please make sure everyone in your units receive a copy of this message.

We will keep you updated as things progress. Stay safe everyone.