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.
Sept. 1, 2010
LAWYER IN SCIENTOLOGY CASE IS STUCK BETWEEN STATE AND FEDERAL JUDGES-- St. Petersburg Times, http://www.tampabay.com, Sept. 1, 2010.
Six years ago, Tampa lawyer Ken Dandar settled a wrongful death case against the Church of Scientology on behalf of the family of a woman who died in the care of church members. Part of the settlement agreement, approved by a judge in state court, required Dandar to never again represent anyone suing Scientology. Last year, though, Dandar took on another wrongful death case against the church's Flag Service Organization — in federal court. The church's attorneys objected that Dandar violated his agreement. Senior Circuit Judge Robert Beach agreed and ordered Dandar to withdraw from the new case. Four months ago he filed a motion to withdraw from the federal lawsuit. On April 12, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday told him he cannot get out of it. The reason: No other attorney wants to take on Scientology. Two days later, records show, Beach found Dandar in willful contempt of court. So Dandar is stuck between a state judge telling him to leave Scientology alone and a federal judge telling him he can't.
--Judiciary--
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT REPRIMANDS SEMINOLE JUDGE ERIKSSON-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Sept. 1, 2010.
Showing no emotion and saying not a word, Seminole County Judge Ralph Eriksson Tuesday morning [Aug. 31] stood before the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee and was publicly reprimanded. The reprimand was delivered by Chief Justice Charles Canady. For four minutes, Canady calmly and without emotion read to Eriksson his list of failings.
It was a long list. Canady called Eriksson's throwing a lawyer's client in jail because the lawyer asked for a new judge an abuse of power. Canady also rebuked Eriksson for being mean and dismissive to several people who appeared before him one day in 2007 in back-to-back domestic violence injunction hearings, calling his behavior "intolerable." Eriksson, 63, has been a judge for 15 years and is set to retire at the end of the year, but his legal problems are not over. The Judicial Qualifications Commission has filed another set of charges against him.
--Lawyer Ethics/Legal Discipline--
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINES THREE TAMPA BAY AREA LAWYERS-- Tampa Bay Business Journal, http://tampabay.bizjournals.com, Sept. 1, 2010.
Three area lawyers are among 21 recently disciplined by the Florida Supreme Court. Charles Weaver Cope IV, who practices in Clearwater, was suspended for 91 days for failing to comply with terms of his probation, which was issued in 2008. Peter Steven Baranowicz, who practices in Venice, was suspended for 90 days, and the probation imposed in 2008 is extended for three years. David Noble Doss, a Gulfport lawyer, was disbarred following his pleading guilty in circuit court to grand theft.
PALATKA ATTORNEY AMONG 21 DISCIPLINED BY BAR-- Historic City News, http://www.historiccity.com, Aug. 31, 2010.
The Florida Bar, the state’s guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, in a release sent Tuesday [Aug. 31] announced that the Florida Supreme Court has recently disciplined 21 attorneys, disbarring seven and suspending 11. The list includes one attorney from Palatka. Cheryl L. Anderson was suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a July 21 court order. Anderson was held in contempt of court. In October 2009, Anderson was publicly reprimanded and placed on probation for three years. She failed to comply with the terms of the probation.
ARRESTED LONGWOOD LAWYER SUSPENDED BY FLORIDA SUPREME COURT-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Sept. 1, 2010.
A Longwood lawyer arrested in July on charges of burglarizing the home of a former client has been suspended by emergency petition by the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar announced Tuesday [Aug. 31]. Albert E. Ford II was arrested after police said he burglarized the home of Kasee Singh, a former client. Documents show Ford and Singh were locked in a dispute over fees. Ford's suspension will remain in effect until further order by the court.
--Civil Justice Issues--
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT STRIKES THREE AMENDMENTS FROM NOV. 2 BALLOT-- The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, Sept. 1, 2010. [Also: FLORIDA SUPREME COURT KEEPS THREE AMENDMENTS FROM BALLOT-- St. Petersburg Times, http://www.tampabay.com, Sept. 1, 2010].
From The Palm Beach Post: The Florida Supreme Court struck a blow to the Legislature Tuesday [Aug. 31] by stripping three proposed constitutional amendments off the November ballot, ruling they were confusing to voters. The decisions upheld lower-court rulings that had previously struck down proposals dealing with the new federal health care law, redistricting and property tax breaks for first-time home-buyers. The state's highest court was the last stop for three of the six amendments put on the Nov. 2 ballot by the Florida Legislature. Those three now have no chance of getting on the ballot. A challenge against a fourth that would water down class-size restriction is still pending in court.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
WOMAN HAD FEARED MAN, AND NOW BOTH ARE DEAD-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Aug. 31, 2010.
Loni Amber Turner was afraid. An ex-boyfriend she'd met online wouldn't leave her alone. On Monday [Aug. 30], Turner's body and that of her ex-boyfriend Erin Ross, 27, were found in a Port Orange motel room. They had been shot to death, police said. When 22-year-old Turner disappeared Sunday [Aug. 29], police knew immediately for whom to look: Eight days earlier, Turner went to the South Daytona Beach Police Department, saying that Ross was stalking her. Two days later, she went to the Volusia County Courthouse in Daytona Beach and asked a judge for an injunction, an order for Ross to leave her alone. Circuit Judge William A. Parsons said no. Turner had failed to prove she was in imminent danger, he wrote. He ordered Turner and Ross to come to court in two weeks and lay out their evidence. This fatal shooting, and others in recent years, highlight the limits of injunctions and their ability to keep victims safe. Injunctions — or restraining orders — depend on the compliance of a sometimes-angry boyfriend, ex or spouse- and in the end, they are just pieces of paper.
[Revised: 09-02-2010]
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