Daily News Summary
An electronic digest of media coverage of interest to members of The Florida Bar compiled each workday by the Public Information and Bar Services Department. Electronic links are only active in today's edition. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.
Nov. 5, 2009
FBI, IRS SEARCH ROTHSTEIN'S LAW FIRM-- Sun-Sentinel, http:/www.sun-sentinel.com, Nov. 5, 2009. [Also: FBI, IRS DESCEND ON ROTHSTEIN LAW FIRM-- The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, Nov. 5, 2009; ROSENFELDT CONSIDERS REINCARNATION, BANKRUPTCY-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Nov. 5, 2009; FEDERAL AGENTS RAID SCOTT ROTHSTEIN'S LAW OFFICES-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Nov. 5, 2009; WHISTLEBLOWER TALKS IN SCOTT ROTHSTEIN CASE-- CBS4 Miami, http://www.cbs4.com, Nov. 5, 2009; SURPRISE FROM ROTHSTEIN'S SCHEME UNLIKELY-- The Miami Herald, column, http://www.miamiherald.com, Nov. 5, 2009; LAWYER SUSPECTED OF FRAUD SENT OVERSEAS TEXT-- The Bradenton Herald, http://www.bradenton.com, Nov. 5, 2009; ANGRY ROTHSTEIN INVESTORS LINE UP AT THE COURTHOUSE-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Nov. 5, 2009; ROTHSTEIN: 'I AM A FOOL'-- WPLG-TV Miami, http://www.local10.com, Nov. 5, 2009].
From the Sun-Sentinel: Dozens of FBI and IRS agents seized documents and computer records Wednesday night [Nov. 4] from Scott Rothstein's law firm, a day after the Fort Lauderdale attorney's dramatic return from Morocco and his lengthy meeting with federal prosecutors. Federal agents are investigating what investors describe as a Ponzi scheme running into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Rothstein was staying out of the public eye as agents combed through the downtown Fort Lauderdale firm he founded seven years ago. The Florida Bar opened a file against Rothstein following a complaint filed Tuesday [Nov. 3].
--Civil Justice Issues--
FORECLOSURE PREVENTION WORKSHOP SET-- Venice Gondolier Sun, http://www.sunnewspapers.net, Nov. 5, 2009.
Residents of North Port and surrounding communities can learn how to protect against foreclosure by attending a free workshop designed to teach the very latest strategies and possible solutions for saving their homes. The "Save Your Home - Foreclosure Prevention Workshop" will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 12 at North Port City Hall. The free event, sponsored by the AmStar Foundation and the city, is designed to enable homeowners with knowledge and resources that may help them in preventing their own foreclosure. During the workshop, foreclosure defense attorney Richard Ruhl will teach homeowners about the Florida foreclosure process and inform them of lender violations commonly found in eight out of 10 reviewed loan documents.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
LATE SURGE VS. FRAUD-- Sarasota Herald-Tribune, editorial, http://www.heraldtribune.com, Nov. 5, 2009. [Also: MORE FRAUD RESOURCES ESSENTIAL-- The News-Press, editorial, http://www.news-press.com, Nov. 5, 2009].
From the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: When federal authorities announced this week that a nine-month crackdown had led to dozens of prosecutions for mortgage fraud in Florida, the news raised a question: How many more scams could have been prevented if someone had looked more conscientiously for them during the heyday of the housing bubble? The announcements -- in Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers and Jacksonville -- highlighted the results of an enforcement 'surge' led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. . . . The federal enforcement actions are a welcome toughening of attitudes compared with the height of the housing boom. . . . Mortgage scams can take numerous forms, complicating efforts to detect illegal activity. But many of these crimes could have been deterred by more rigorous lending practices and oversight."
JUDD: 'NO ILLUSION' ABOUT EXECUTION-- The Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Nov. 5, 2009.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd expressed frustration Wednesday [Nov. 4] that triple murderer Paul Beasley Johnson is still breathing. For more than 20 years, Johnson has been sitting on Florida's Death Row for a drug-addled killing rampage that left a sheriff's deputy and two others dead. Last month, Gov. Charlie Crist signed a death warrant, scheduling Johnson's execution for Wednesday. The Florida Supreme Court last week granted a stay of execution to consider Johnson's pending appeal. Judd held a press conference, during which he said he had urged the governor to sign the death warrant to spur along the court. Judd said he had "no illusion" that Paul Beasley Johnson would be executed on Wednesday, but said he knew when the governor signed the warrant it would force the court's hands "to get started and get moving." He added the Florida Supreme Court should set time tables for the state's death-case appeals process.
EX-MIAMI-DADE JUDGE PHILLIP DAVIS CONVICTED OF FRAUD-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Nov. 5, 2009.
Sixteen years after former Miami-Dade judge Phillip Davis was acquitted in a notorious bribery and extortion case, Miami-Dade jurors on Tuesday convicted him of looting public grant money paid to his inner-city social services agency. Six jurors convicted him of nine felony counts, including money laundering, organized fraud and grand theft. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beatrice Butchko will sentence him Jan. 8. Davis and administrative assistant Joan Headley were arrested in October 2005 and charged with stealing more than $80,000 in county and state grants when he served as executive director of the social service agency Miami-Dade Resident College. The jury also convicted Headley of all counts.
--Other--
PIONEER IN LAW SCHOOL, ON BENCH-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Nov. 5, 2009.
Judge Dixie Chastain, the first female University of Miami law school graduate and a Miami-Dade County juvenile judge for two decades, died Oct. 25 at 100. Chastain was Florida's sixth female judge, appointed in 1965 to a newly created third seat on the county's Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. She became a circuit court judge by constitutional revision in 1976, retired in 1978, then served until 1995 as a special-appointment senior judge.
PUSH BEGINS FOR TOUGHER PSC RULES-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Nov. 5, 2009.
Consensus is building in the Florida Legislature to make the Public Service Commission operate more like judges by banning commissioners and their staff from communicating directly with the utilities they regulate. Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, the lawyer who represents the public before the PSC, told the House Energy and Utilities Committee Wednesday [Nov. 4] that he believes it's time to revamp state law "to take a very strong look at commissioners acting like the judiciary.'' State Sen. Mike Fasano on Wednesday received a draft of legislation to adopt a similar communication ban, patterned after recommendations from a 1993 grand jury report that were rejected by the PSC. His bill has the support of Senate President Jeff Atwater
[Revised: 11-06-2009]
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