Judge Yvonne Colodny settles with JQC

The JQC has charged Judge Yvonne Colodny with taking loans from her parents, and reporting them on campaign finance reports as loans from the candidate herself. The Daily Business Review reports that the charges have been settled.

Yerrid to oversee State's claims against BP

Florida Trend examines the State's selection of Tampa attorney Steve Yerrid to oversee claims against BP.

The paper version of a transcript is the default

In a dispute over transcripts of criminal trials, the Second DCA has held that "the paper version of the transcripts is the default and that the electronic version is, for the time being at least, an extra." State v. Shore, case no. 2D10-1932.

Venue on attack on public adjusters bill is in Leon County

The Third DCA has held that a constitutional attack on a 2008 law on public adjusters must be litigated in Leon County, not Miami-Dade. Sink v. East Coast Public Adjusters, case no. 3D10-246.

Class decertified for lack of numerosity

In Canal Insurance Co. v. Gibralter Budget Plan, case no. 4D09-70, the Fourth District ordered that a class be decertified because the plaintiff had not established the numerosity requirement of the class action rule.

Policy cancellation effective even where insurer deposits check after accident

The Fourth DCA has held rejected an insured's claim of waiver/estoppel against an insurance company. Bristol West Insurance Co. v. Albertson, case no. 4D09-574.

The insurer told the insured that her policy would be cancelled if she didn't pay by February 10th. The insured mailed her premium check after that date, on February 19th. Three days later the insured was in an accident. A few days after that, the insurer deposited the insured's check, but later refunded the premium.

The Fourth DCA found that the cancellation was effective, since the insured did not rely on the insurer's post-accident deposit of the check.

Case of the week: The witness who got stoned with the juror

The Second DCA addressed a difficult case with extraordinary facts this week. Nicholas v. State, cse no 2D07-5400.

The case was a drug trafficking prosecution. One of the State's witnesses was the defendant's brother. While the witness was testifying against his brother, he recognized that he and his brother had attended high school with one of the jurors. The witness informed the court of this, and also told the court that the juror had been to his house, considered the the juror to be a friend of both the witness and the Defendant, and that in the 1990s he had sold marijuana and cocaine to the juror. The witness had even smoked marijuana with the juror in the 1990s.

After this was revealed, the State informed the court that the witness had made "extreme eye contact" with the Defendant's family, but had looked away when the State looked at the witness.

The juror, question about all of this, admitted without hesitation that he knew the witness and the Defendant. He claimed that he could be fair, and denied buying or using drugs.

The State moved for removal of the juror. The Defendant opposed this. The court ruled that the juror could not serve, but for some reason did not actually remove the juror until the panel was sent to deliberate. An alternate replaced the stricken juror.

The Defendant appealed, arguing that the State had not been adequately diligent, since it had not ask specific enough questions during voir dire.

The majority held found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in handling the situation. But Judge Wallace dissented. There are 42 pages between the majority and dissenting opinions. They are worth the read.

Coral Gables sued first by charter school, then by opponents of school

The news last week was that Judge Jennifer Bailey rejected Somerset Academy's claim that state law preempted Coral Gables' zoning regulation of schools. The charter school wants to operate a school at University Baptist Church, and not be limited to the zoning code's cap of 110 students at that site.

Now the Miami Herald reports that Coral Gables has been sued by neighbors opposed to the school. They claim that under the city's comprehensive plan, only a school operated by a religious institution can operate at the church.

Design fail: My web site in 1999

Testimony in China satisfies Confrontation Clause

Testimony by a witness in China, shown in a courtroom in Lake County, did not violate the Confrontation Clause, according to the Fifth DCA. Rogers v. State, case no. 5D09-1613.

A former Leesburg police officer was living in China, and his testimony was shown by satellite. The criminal defendant argued that the testimony was improper, because there was no possibility of a perjury prosecution, since there is no extradition treaty between China and the United States.

The Fifth DCA found that there was no Confrontation Clause violation, since "the witness was a United States citizen who intended to return to live in the United States once his wife, a Chinese national, got her visa. If the State decided to charge him with perjury, there would be consequences upon his return. In addition, the State offered sufficient evidence of the procedures in place for citizens of the United States who have been charged with crimes in this country, including the crime of perjury, but who are living in China."