Posted on 07/05/2011 7:27:58 AM PDT by freebird5850
Morning all, didn't see a thread for today so I created one.
For eight years after he graduated from law school, however, the board that screens prospective attorneys in Florida would not let him practice law. The Florida Supreme Court agreed with the decision, issuing an order in 2000 that cataloged unpaid bills, extravagant spending and other “financial irresponsibility” up to that time. Justices reserved their strongest condemnation for his failure to stay current on support payments for his only child.
His overall behavior, they wrote, showed “a total lack of respect for the rights of others and a total lack of respect for the legal system, which is absolutely inconsistent with the character and fitness qualities required of those seeking to be afforded the highest position of trust and confidence recognized by our system of law.”
He worked instead as a paralegal for the Miami-Dade public defender and then taught Internet research to lawyers and started four business ventures, including two bikini companies. Before Florida Bar officials admitted him in 2005, he had to demonstrate that he had rehabilitated himself.
The Supreme Court order, which the Sentinel found in public records, shows that nearly a decade ago, he could not satisfy the character and fitness standards Florida requires of prospective lawyers.
It identifies Baez by his initials, J.A.B. — standard procedure in cases in which prospective lawyers challenge their denial of a law license at the state’s highest court. Using other public records and interviews, the Sentinel matched many details in the document to Baez, however.
For instance, the lawyer listed as representing J.A.B. was Manuel Alvarez, an attorney with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office, where Baez worked at the time.
The office confirmed that Alvarez helped Baez with his Bar application. Supreme Court records show J.A.B.’s is the only case involving the Bar that Alvarez has handled in the state’s highest court.
Alvarez would not comment, but Executive Assistant Public Defender Rory S. Stein said that Alvarez wrote a legal brief on behalf of Baez in 1998, the year after he graduated from law school. Stein called it “a friendly gesture” to a staff member who needed help with his lawyer application.
In an interview last year, Baez described his eight years out of law as a personal choice, saying he could earn more money in other fields. He would not be interviewed for this story but commented on the court order in the statement issued through Marti Mackenzie, his office spokeswoman:
“The ruling you claim that was made about a lawyer with the initials J.A.B. has nothing to do with Mr. Baez’s current status as a member in good standing with The Florida Bar. Many people, including lawyers, have monetary misunderstandings, disputes and child support disagreements that have no effect on their ability to represent clients.”
From Navy to law school
Born in Puerto Rico in 1969, Baez told reporters he grew up in the Bronx and South Florida with his mother, a single parent. He dropped out of Homestead High School in ninth grade.
He married at 17, became a father, earned a GED diploma and joined the Navy in 1986.
According to his résumé, Baez spent three years assigned to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Norfolk, Va., trained as an intelligence analyst with what he described as a “Cosmic Top Secret” security clearance.
He left active duty in May 1989 as a yeoman seaman, a rank associated with administrative duties, and then served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, according to the National Archives and Records Administration.
In the next six years, Baez divorced, attended Miami-Dade Community College and graduated from Florida State University. A black belt in tae kwon do, Baez competed with the karate, pistol and crime-scene team from FSU’s chapter of Lambda Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity of criminology majors.
“We probably ranked first overall in every category in every national competition,” said Ken Koehler, the fraternity’s former sergeant-at-arms. “José was more or less the primary instructor. ... We did academic testing as well, and he did pretty good with that, too.”
After graduating in 1997 from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, Baez applied to become a lawyer. In April 1998, he was called before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, which screens prospective lawyers. The later Supreme Court order outlined how this review uncovered the debts and other problems that concerned the Bar examiners.
That order is the only public record of the review, which is designed to protect the public and safeguard the judicial system. The Bar examiners have responsibility for ensuring that all lawyer applicants meet Florida’s requirements for character and fitness, education and technical competence, according to Supreme Court rules.
The process is not open to the public, except when a candidate who is turned down asks the Supreme Court to review the decision. The court identifies the rejected applicant only by his or her initials when its findings are released.
Court critical of finances
According to the Supreme Court summary of the case, the Board of Bar Examiners filed formal allegations against J.A.B. in September 1998. In addition to unpaid child support, a personal bankruptcy and default on a student loan, the investigators said he left out parts of his history, including that he wrote a bad check and entered a pretrial program to avoid conviction.
Investigators also found fault with J.A.B.’s participation in a foreign-studies program in summer 1995 and his leasing of a Mazda Miata in Miami — unnecessary expenses when he owed money to others, they said.
After a formal hearing, the board found the allegations proven and recommended that he not be admitted to the Bar.
“Additionally, the Board found that J.A.B.’s misrepresentations and lack of candor in his answers to the specifications and during his formal hearing testimony were further grounds for disqualification,” the Supreme Court wrote.
Many details in the order can be confirmed in public records for José Baez:
•Miami-Dade Circuit Court records show that Baez failed repeatedly to pay his $200-a-month child support after his 1993 divorce. The sum owed reached $12,000 by 2004. Asked recently about this, Baez said through his spokeswoman that he and his ex-wife have resolved their child-support issues. Like J.A.B., Baez’s only child is a daughter.
•Baez declared bankruptcy in September 1990, the same month and year cited for J.A.B. The records on Baez are filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he lived during and after his service in the Navy.
•The Virginia Education Loan Authority filed liens against Baez for $4,336 in unpaid loans in 1995, the same year the Supreme Court says J.A.B defaulted on his student loan.
•Baez leased a Mazda Miata in 1998, just as J.A.B did. The Sentinel obtained a copy of his Progressive Express insurance card for the vehicle, which Baez had submitted to the Public Defender’s Office in Miami. Files from the State Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles show the car was leased.
In April 1998 — the same month that the Bar examiners held their investigative hearing into J.A.B.’s qualifications as a lawyer — the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office reassigned José Ángel Baez to tasks that did not require a law degree.
Baez spent the next 16 months interviewing witnesses and investigating cases to compensate the office for its investment in his preparation to be a lawyer, records show. He resigned in September 1999.
The following year, in June 2000, the Supreme Court issued its findings in case No. SC95855, Florida Board of Bar Examiners RE: J.A.B.: “Accordingly, we approve the Board’s recommendation that J.A.B. not be admitted to the Florida Bar at this time.”
Much more...
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/may/03/casey-anthonys-lawyer-jose-baez-rejected-florida-b/
Sorry for error, Freudian slip.
Maybe you remember the question “Hose” asked Detective Melich” Did you ever ask Casey if she committed suicide?”. His answer was “No!”.
Still a bright spot for me.
I believe that both issues are important, and it is every bit as important when jurors ignore the evidence as these jurors did, as when people like me herald what the mood out here is, and explain that there may be blow-back.
I don’t see you evidencing any concern at all that these jurors may have subverted their juro’sr duties in the process here.
Why is that? You’re going postal, okay (semi) postal with regard to the public taking the law into their own hands, but don’t seem to express any concern whatsoever if the jury system itself is subverted.
Isn’t that a threat to our rule of law? Seemingly not IYO.
OMG, I’m sorry if you thought that I made that up with some evil intent (about the “child porn ring”). I was stunned when I heard Murphy suggest that Sat. night because I had never heard that allegation anywhere else. But she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. I’m glad that I read to the end of your post before I reacted. My fingers were poised over the keyboard! LOL
Watch and Learn.
Are you in Dairyland or Fantasyland?
Then there was the “note” the detective jotted down about Casey being upset about Joses wifes pregnancy,
it was released in a batch of discovery
CASEY’S CRUSH ON JOSE
But for Casey, a simple hug or showing compassion and caring may have been misinterpreted as sexuality. Since Casey has demonstrated in the past, she mainly relates to with men in terms of sexuality, it was no wonder that Casey may have translated Jose’s attention n terms of her having a major crush on him.
Casey Anthony, who only appeared to know how to relate to men through coquettishness, flirtatiousness, manipulation, and sexuality was now apparently thrilled to now have all of the undivided attention of good looking, well groomed, well dressed attorney.
So it was no wonder that Casey lit up whenever she had the chance to be in Jose’s presence. You can see how thrilled she is in the above photo with her genuine smile as she peers directly into Jose’s eyes.
As she spent more and more time with Jose, her crush on him grew stronger. Even though Jose is no doubt trying to share information with her about what s going on in the courtroom, Casey manages to eek out a smile to show how happy she is being around Jose. She clearly had a major crush on Jose.
As indicated in the detective’s notes which has been released as evidence, it was revealed that Casey had a “crush” on Jose.He visited her around 11 PM because that was when he probably when he had the chance to see his client after working on her case all day . But no doubt, she misinterpreted it as their “special night time get togethers.”
CASEY’S ANGER AT JOSE’S WIFE BEING PREGNANT
The documents which were released show just how much she misinterpreted their meeting and interactions. The dectective’s notes say that Casey was upset when she found out Jose’s wife was pregnant.
Obviously Casey manufactured in her disturbed mind that she and Jose were in a relationship. So she reacted like a jealous girlfriend who found out her boyfriend impregnated another woman. This was Jose’s wife. Her narcissism would not allow her to see that he had any other life outside of her. It is disturbing to see how proprietary she became over Jose.
There are other implications here as well, with Jose creating life while she allegedly took away a life . She even may have even fantasized about having a baby with Jose. Now that his wife was having his baby, she got upset and jealous that it was not her who was having the baby with Jose.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=63445888416&topic=16921
I hadn’t heard any of what Murphy asserts. It’s too stunning for words.
Who would retain a lawyer with such poor financial judgement? Nine percent down on a house like that. Beyond stupid.
All I heard of the trial was the defense closing, and a few minutes of the prosecution closing.
One thing I noticed was the defense persistently mistated the reasonable doubt standard, and nobody objected. He kept saying it had to be proven beyond “any and all reasonable doubt” and such similar construtions. That’s not right. It sounded like he was saying they couldn’t have doubt about any bit of evidence, which I’m sure is exactly what he wanted them to think. But in reality they only need to believe beyond a reasonable doubt in their conclusion. Not about every single bit of evidence.
I couldn’t understand why they let him keep doing it. Didn’t they understand the potential consequence?
I guess we could loosely term this ‘icing on the cake’.
We don’t own our home. My wife and I make a reasonable income, but we have focused on paying down debt rather than try to pull a quick-one, and get into a home.
I see others liquidating debt. I see others getting their home loans reduced to what they can afford. This while we try to be responsible and do the right thing.
Are we being saps, trying to do the right thing? There are days when it would be very hard for you to convince me otherwise.
I (who cannot stand Wendy Murphy) find that theory plausible. Dr. Lillian Glass (one of those people who study people’s reactions and speech) has a blog and on it she had 3 video’s CASEY took of Caylee and she analyzed them. Very sad and negligent stuff there but the supposition was made that perhaps Casey was planning to use Caylee for child porn $$$. This was because in one video Casey took the camera UNDER Caylee’s high chair and filmed her daughter’s diapered crotch and legs for at least 2 minutes. Why would a mother do that?
Yes, that capitalizing on it thing is going to rub me the wrong way. And you’ll have some of these talking heads expressing so much sympathy for her and her loss.
Gag me to the X.
I wouldn't be too sure about a book deal. Remember what happened to Judith Regan for giving OJ a book deal.
That is almost standard in any state for a capital murder case. The flight risk, suicide risk, and vigilante risk is just too high.
Thanks for posting that info on Baez. Very interesting. wonder when he’ll get his loan modification? /s
Caylee’s father is said to be a Massachusetts man who was killed in a car accident a couple of years ago.
Norm, you are awful! How funny! We needed the break! Nancy in a helmet! Absolutely Hilarious!
I see and have NO TV lawyer 'heroes'. I see the skeletal remains of a 2 + year old dumped like common garbage in a swamp dump. And a lying stealing devil mother as the cause. Whatever happens to adult 'lawyers' is NOT my concern.
I remember when the alert was called out for FINDING a missing for per the mommy's own words MISSING for 31 days, taken by Zanny the Nanny... and mommy dearest was using her own resources to cough cough find her.... Mommy did not need to tell family or the police the child was missing...
After reading some of your posts fixated upon irrelevant 'facts' and people wonder if you are not Casey with a computer.
Said to be is correct. I don’t believe this Donna McLean is looking for anything other than $$$. Certainly it isn’t a meeting with her alleged grandchild, is it?
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