Category Archives: whaaaa?

Sped up death warrants producing bizarre farce in FL

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There’s something really strange going on in Florida right now. Apart from Gov. Rick Scott’s puzzling failure to sign the ‘Timely Justice Act’ which I’ve excoriated here and here, there’s an absolutely insane set of circumstances playing out in the imminent execution of William Van Poyck.

It seems that, rather than sign the bill, Gov. Scott signed some sped up death warrants for 3 inmates, one of whom is Poyck.(who has a blog). At the time, Van Poyck was represented by an attorney named Gerald Bettman who runs a two-lawyer office in FL, never having represented a death row client. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that the closer the execution gets, the more intense and hurried the work gets. Bettman was totally out of his league, recognized that and then asked the Court to let him out and appoint someone who was experienced in this area. Nope, said the lower court and nope said the Florida Supreme Court. So Van Poyck, facing the last month of his life was saddled with an inexperienced defense attorney who had no clue how to navigate the maze of Florida death penalty appeals work, who didn’t want to do it.

But that was last week. That’s when things started to get really fucking strange. After that ruling, the Florida Supreme Court reversed itself last Friday, stating that Bettman didn’t have to represent Van Poyck, but instead that every lawyer who ever had his name associated with Van Poyck was eligible to be appointed.

In a surprise move, the Florida Supreme Court reversed itself and said Jacksonville attorney Gerald Bettman should not have to represent Van Poyck alone in the high-pressure, high-stakes appeals that lead up to any execution. Possibly, he won’t have to represent him at all.

The high court ordered Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Charles Burton to review the qualifications of more than a dozen lawyers who have filed appeals on Van Poyck’s behalf since he was convicted of killing Glades Correctional Institution guard Fred Griffis in a failed attempt to free a buddy from prison.

The attorneys Burton ordered to attend a hearing on Monday include two of the top death penalty lawyers in the state. It includes out-of-state civil litigators who took on Van Poyck’s cause to win pro bono points and could now find themselves saddled with handling the complex, time-consuming and expensive appeals.

The problem is that half these attorneys don’t know shit about the case; some don’t even practice in Florida. Now these lawyers are on the hook for a mad, choatic, intense and intensely specialized death penalty process? Would you want to be in that position?

But that was last Friday. On Monday, Judge Burton had his hearing and appointed three lawyers to navigate this complex maze. They weren’t happy and had the same thing to say:

In a two-hour long hearing Monday that most involved described as bizarre, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Charles Burton appointed the three lawyers even though all said they have neither the time, resources nor expertise to represent Van Poyck as the clock ticks toward his scheduled June 12 execution.

…

[Jeffrey Davis, who practices civil appellate law in Milwaukee] and Jacksonville attorney Gerald Bettman were tapped because they have represented Van Poyck, 58, in appeals he has launched since his conviction for the 1987 murder of Glades Correctional Institution prison guard Fred Griffis outside a West Palm Beach doctor’s office.Therefore, Burton said, they have the most knowledge about the case. He appointed Tallahassee attorney Mark Olive to help them navigate the complex appeals that occur after a death warrant is signed.

As one of Florida’s top death-penalty defense attorney, Olive said he has the legal chops but knows nothing about Van Poyck’s case. “It’s just a farce, frankly,” he said.

A Friday deadline, three attorneys who either don’t have the time or the experience or the knowledge required to file appeals. A man who sits on death row. A system that weeps silently.

But. But then came Thursday. On Thursday all three filed separate motions with the Florida Supreme Court stating that they wanted off.

“With a mere four days to prepare Van Poyck’s final pleading, any attempt to mount a viable challenge on behalf of Van Poyck would be a farce,” attorney Jeffrey Davis, a civil litigator from Milwaukee, Wisc., wrote in his motion.  He suggested that the high court delay Van Poyck’s execution for 60 days to give him and other attorneys time to prepare. He asked the court to appoint an attorney who is skilled in death warrant appeals to assist him.

Mark Olive, a Tallahassee attorney who was also appointed Monday, has such expertise. But, in his motion, he said it would be a violation of professional standards to take on Van Poyck’s case on such short notice. Not only would he be unable to mount a thorough investigation of possible appeals but he would have to do so at the expense of other clients. Olive said he would be willing to help Davis represent Van Poyck if he was given more time to prepare.

Another disturbing fact: there was no attorney to represent Van Poyck in his appeals because his first appellate attorney:

was arrested for possession of cocaine, claimed insanity as a defense, disappeared from the case and let his Florida Bar membership lapse.

And all this because we want to “speed up” the appeals process. The Florida Supreme Court apparently hasn’t ruled yet. Stay tuned. This could get worse.

 

Compare and contrast

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Compare Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC, writing about the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, who despite everything else, is an American citizen:

Lindsey-Graham-tweet-2

 

with:

The term “person,” used in the Fifth Amendment, is broad enough to include any and every human being within the jurisdiction of the republic. A resident, alien born, is entitled to the same protection under the laws that a citizen is entitled to. He owes obedience to the laws of the country in which he is domiciled, and, as a consequence, he is entitled to the equal protection of those laws. This has been decided so often that the point does not require argument. Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 369; Ho Ah Kow v. Nunan, 5 Sawyer, 552; Carlisle v. United States, 16 Wall. 147; In re Lee Tong, 18 Fed. Rep. 253; In re Wong Yung Quy, 6 Sawyer, 237; In re Chow Goo Pooi, 25 Fed. Rep. 77.

Wong Wing v. United States. And:

More than one student of society has expressed the view that not the least significant test of the quality of civilization is its treatment of those charged with crime, particularly with offenses which arouse the passions of a community. One of the rightful boasts of Western civilization is that the State has the burden of establishing guilt solely on the basis of evidence produced in court and under circumstances assuring an accused all the safeguards of a fair procedure. These rudimentary conditions for determining guilt are inevitably wanting if the jury which is to sit in judgment on a fellow human being comes to its task with its mind ineradicably poisoned against him. How can fallible men and women reach a disinterested verdict based exclusively on what they heard in court when, before they entered the jury box, their minds were saturated by press and radio for months preceding by matter designed to establish the guilt of the accused. A conviction so secured obviously constitutes a denial of due process of law in its most rudimentary conception.

Mr. Justice Frankfurter in Irwin v. Dowd, And finally:

The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. No doctrine, involving more pernicious consequences, was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despotism, but the theory of necessity on which it is based is false; for the government, within the Constitution, has all the powers granted to it, which are necessary to preserve its existence; as has been happily proved by the result of the great effort to throw off its just authority.

Mr. Justice David Davis, in Ex Parte Milligan, 4 Wall 2 (1866).

What you should do when interacting with law enforcement

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  1. Go read this article on Slate’s “crime” “blog”.
  2. Do the exact opposite.
  3. Slap yourself on the back of the head for relying on an internet article written by a non-lawyer for legal advice.
  4. Learn these phrases: “am I free to go?”; “I do not consent”; “I want a lawyer”.
  5. Pretend not to know or speak any other words in the English language.
  6. Download and install my iPhone/iPad app.
  7. Thank me later.

Corporations are people, my friend

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Everybody knows that. They’re born in Maryland, incorporated in Delaware and then are given free reign to spread their wings nationwide, collecting all the money they can to fulfill their life’s only purpose: to contribute unholy amounts to presidential campaigns and then have meltdowns on national television when their guy gets beaten by the other guy. Duh.

But this is Socialist ObaMerica and apparently no one told this to hoity-toity Officer Troy Dorn of the California Highway Patrol, who presumably driving his fancy hybrid motorcycle pulled over God-fearing Real American Jonathan Frieman “a 56-year-old San Rafael resident and self-described social entrepreneur”, which, for those of you who only watch the liberal media, is what a Real American is, and gave him a ticket for driving in the carpool lane without another passenger.

Now, my friends, will someone please sit Officer Troy Dorn (what kind of name is that? He sounds foreign. He’s a European lazy hipster I bet.) down and explain to him that here, in Ammurrica, corporations are people, my friend. And what that means in American English is that they are free to overeat, underexercise and mooch off of welfare just like all Americans are.

So let’s sign a petition to send Officer Dorn and his socialist comrade in cahoots Traffic Jurist Frank Drago back to Russianistan or wherever they came from and let all Freedom Loving Americans like Frieman – can we spell his name Freeman? I’m just going to go ahead and do that now – Freeman drive around in their Mississippi built Kia’s with their Fair and Balanced Real American Friend, Mr. Paper O. Incorporation.

Now that’s a real American name if I ever heard one. Now everyone get up off your lazy 47% asses and stand up and salute the Great First American RoboPresidentWhoWasBeforeHisTime: