News and Events
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.
July 26, 2010
--Legal Profession--
WOMEN OF ACTION: LEADERS OPEN DOORS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS-- The Miami Herald, column, http://www.miamiherald.com, July 26, 2010.
The column by Miami Herald columnist Cindy Krischer Goodman states: "It's nearly impossible to imagine a time when there were no female lawyers, accountants or newscasters. The women who forged into those professions fought for credibility and broke the glass ceiling. . . . Patricia Seitz remembers walking into the law offices of Miami's Steel Hector and Davis and discovering she was the only female attorney. . . . Seitz, now a federal judge for the U.S. District Court in Miami, made history when she took the helm of The Florida Bar in 1993. She became the first woman president, almost 40 years after the organization was founded. . . . Since Seitz's term, three more women have held the position including the current president, Mayanne Downs from Orlando. She takes pride in the fact that today at least half of The Florida Bar's Board of Governors are women, compared with two when she joined."
--Judiciary--
JUDGES HEAR CASE ON DUI TESTING-- Daytona Beach News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com, July 24, 2010.
An argument over the legality of alcohol-breath-test machines was compelling enough to fill a courtroom with lawyers -- and a panel of judges -- Friday [July 23] as the outcomes of, perhaps, dozens of DUI cases hang in the balance. At issue in what could set a precedent locally is whether the sheriff's deputy in charge of certifying alcohol-breath-testing machines for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office completed required training after he retired for five years and returned. Prosecutor Marty White agreed the key issue is which set of rules apply, but the agreement stopped there. A 2006 rule that required Bowman to take a refresher course on breath-testing machines was followed, he said. Because of the number of defendants, and number of judges presiding over affected cases, the hearing was held before a panel of six county judges. Volusia County Judge Belle Schumann presided over the 90-minute hearing. Such hearings are relatively rare.
NEW FLORIDA COMMISSION AIMS TO PREVENT WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS-- The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com, July 24, 2010.
The 12 people wrongly convicted and later freed by DNA in Florida have much in common beyond their lost years in prison. Most were pointed to as the criminal by eyewitnesses who were mistaken or misled. Some never saw the evidence that should've cast serious doubts on their involvement. All had to ask — sometimes repeatedly — for the DNA testing that would eventually prove their innocence. A new commission will examine these mistakes in the hopes that wrongful convictions can become a thing of the past. Jacksonville lawyers-- and former Bar presidents-- Hank Coxe and Howard Coker have been named to the 23-member Florida Innocence Commission, created this month for a two-year term by the Florida Supreme Court. The panel begins work this fall.
JUDICIAL QUESTIONNAIRES BETTER THAN BAR POLLS-- Daily Business Review, letter-to-editor, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, July 26, 2010.
The letter by Coral Gables attorney Ainslee R. Ferdie states: "In over 50 years of active practice with substantial trial work, I have observed that the bar polls are substantially misleading. That is particularly true of the July 22 lead article on [Miami-Dade Circuit] Judge [Peter] Adrien. Judge Adrien is a judge that I have observed. . . .A better yardstick. . . would be a jury exit poll or a questionnaire answered at the courthouse."
WHY NO BLACK WOMEN LAWYERS ON FEDERAL JNC?-- Daily Business Review, guest column, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, July 26, 2010.
The guest commentary by Miami solo practitioner Marva L. Wiley states: "Federal Judge Alan Gold recently announced his imminent transition to senior status, renewing a fervent dialogue that is just over a year old — the failure of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and then U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez to appoint even one black woman lawyer to serve on Florida's Federal Judicial Nominating Commission. The JNC will soon begin the process of selecting Gold’s replacement on the bench. But black women lawyers will have no say in that process."
--Lawyer Ethics/Legal Discipline--
OFFICIALS ARREST FORMER LAWYER-- Citrus County Chronicle, http://www.chronicleonline.com, July 26, 2010.
A former Inverness attorney was arrested Wednesday [July 21] on a theft charge just one day after he was disbarred for allegedly misappropriating funds and mismanaging the trust account of an Inverness woman. Steven Hill Lee Bowman, 51, was taken into custody on an active Citrus County warrant for an original charge of grand theft ($20,000 or more, but less than $100,000). His bond was set at $5,000. According to Gail Tierney, spokeswoman for the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, the sheriff’s office opened a criminal case against Bowman on March 12. Detectives eventually turned the file over to the state attorney’s office, which issued a warrant for his arrest. The arrest stems from a complaint The Florida Bar filed against Bowman in April following his emergency suspension in March.
MIAMI ACCOUNTANT, ATTORNEY GETS 8 1/2 YEARS IN PRISON FOR 'PONZI-LIKE' SCHEME-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, July 24, 2010.
In the end, the federal judge who sentenced Lewis Freeman to about 8 ½ years in prison Friday [July 23] concluded that the once-prominent Miami accountant who stole millions from clients but also gave back to the community conjured up comparisons to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck grabbed on to the idea of a split personality after Freeman's defense lawyers strived to show that while his theft of $2.6 million was clearly bad, his charitable deeds were genuinely good. In addition to the prison time, Freeman was also ordered to serve an additional 21 months of house arrest and 1,700 hours of community service after his release. Freeman was disbarred in April.
--Civil Justice Issues--
PROGRAM TO HELP EASE FORECLOSURES IN THE 5TH CIRCUIT-- Ocala Star Banner, http://www.ocala.com, July 25, 2010.
On July 1, the 5th Judicial Circuit put into effect a program that gives homeowners facing foreclosure the option to enter into mediation with a third party. Modeled after an administrative order issued by the Florida Supreme Court late last year, the program applies to cases targeting residential homestead property. In the 5th Circuit - an area that encompasses Marion, Lake, Sumter, Citrus and Hernando counties - clerks recorded a total of nearly 17,000 foreclosure cases in 2009, compared with just more than 7,300 foreclosure cases two years earlier. Those figures include all types of foreclosure cases, since clerks have only begun this year to categorize foreclosures based on whether they are commercial, residential homestead or residential non-homestead.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
CONVICT KEEPS UP CHALLENGE-- Florida Today, http://www.floridatoday.com, July 24, 2010.
Attorneys representing a North Brevard man who once sat on Death Row will have to wait for a ruling from an appeals court before they're allowed to petition for a new trial. Crosley Green, 52, has claimed his innocence for the past two decades in the 1989 slaying of Chip Flynn in Mims. Last year, he was sentenced to life in prison after the Florida Supreme Court overturned the death penalty because it said that the jury in his trial shouldn't have known about his juvenile record in New York. The current appeal in the 5th District Court of Appeal asks for Green to be sentenced concurrently on his charges and not consecutively.
PALM BEACH COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY CREATES TEAM TO INVESTIGATE CORRUPTION-- Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, July 24, 2010. [Also: HONEST LOOK AT FRAUD LAW: PALM BEACH COUNTY'S FELONS DESERVE REVIEW-- The Palm Beach Post, column, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, July 24, 2010].
From the Sun-Sentinel: Palm Beach County has an Ethics Commission, an inspector general and reformed measures on public corruption after three former county commissioners and two West Palm Beach city commissioners went to prison amid federal corruption probes. Now there's more: Palm Beach County State Attorney Michael McAuliffe announced on Friday [July 23] the formation of a Public Corruption Task Force that would investigate elected officials suspected of fraud and other criminal activities.
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[Revised:
07-01-2005
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