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STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE NEWSLETTER
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I sincerely hope that everyone is holding up as well as can be expected after Hurricane Irma passed through our state. We are undoubtedly very resilient and together we will recover and rebuild.
Some of our
satellite
offices in different locations did suffer some slight damage and so in an abundance of caution, we had to allow the County government entities that maintain our buildings the time necessary to do all they needed to do to get us up and running to serve our community in the safest and most efficient manner possible.
All of our community partners were also affected in some way. This includes
members of
our
judiciary
, defense
bar
,
Clerk's Office
,
Corrections Department
, victims, witnesses and everyone else
involved
in the criminal justice system.
We will work with all of our victims, witnesses, and child support customers to ensure we do all we can to get back on track
quickly
in our collaborative efforts to seek justice.
I would also like to thank so many of our SAO team
members
for their courage and tireless work. There are many stories of individual commitment and many of our SAO family members went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the safety and well-being of our community and of our employees and their families.
In the article blocks
below,
we share some of those "feel-good" stories.
Sincerely,
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ASA Heads to Keys to Assist After Hurricane Irma
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After Hurricane Irma had devastated certain parts of our state,
Assistant State Attorney (ASA)
Phil Harte felt the need to help out in whatever way he
could.
After
seeing news reports of all the first responders helping our neighbors in the Florida Keys, Phil decided to go down
there himself
and cook for first responders.
Unfortunately,
no commercial suppliers had any stock in the
area.
After finding no wood in the Miami-Dade area, Phil reached out to Southern Fuelwood in Newberry, Florida. The company suggested Phil reach out to one of their private clients,
The John Abell Corporation. After telling them what he wanted to do, this company donated 16 bags of wood for the relief effort.
Before heading out to the
Keys,
Phil realized that part of the mission was taking the 300 pounds of chicken to his friend's restaurant warehouse to clean,
break-down,
and season all the chicken. His friend, Brett Werner, owner of Kids Deli
in Pinecrest,
and his family, helped get all the chicken prepped.
On Saturday
morning,
Phil drove south to pick up his smoker and headed for the
Keys
. After making a few stops, he linked up with Army personnel.
There
, he cooked for all the troops at a local elementary school. Throughout the
day
, soldiers were taking food "to go" to other soldiers that were not
stationed at the elementary school.
After a few hours of cooking, ASA Nicole Mirmelli and her brother Sean came to the school to help Phil cook. Coincidently, Nicole was already in the Keys helping distribute a bunch of supplies she and her brother had purchased for the Keys community. Furthermore, in order to deal with the intense heat that the smoker and grill box was releasing, Nicole and her brother set up some
fan,
and helped Phil finish cooking and
serve
the troops.
When Phil, Nicole, and Sean were done for the day, they left two huge trays of drumsticks and breasts for the troops for dinner. The
Troop
Sergeant
told Phil not to worry about the curfew that was in place and that he would have a clear drive north back home.
The SAO Family is proud to have Phil back safe and sound!
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SAO Staff Pre and Post Hurricane Irma Highlights
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Like Phil, there were many other SAO team members whom we would like to highlight for their noble and selfless efforts and assistance after the hurricane so that we could become operational again as quickly as possible:
Hamilton Davies, Nino Chavez, Alexandre Schmidt Dearaujo, Harry Fisher, Dairon Jimenez, and Jonathan Salcedo from Information Systems all worked diligently to reconfigure our network so as to allow the Civic Park Plaza CPP) servers to operate on the Graham Building Network.
CPP, which houses our County Court Division, suffered some serious water damage and displaced our entire misdemeanor family.
Our Information Systems' team was able to install 44 PCs in our Graham Bldg. conference rooms and configure 15 of our Yealink phones for staff.
Many of our employees assisted in the retrieval of our files from the Civic Park Plaza building in order for our prosecutors to prep for the following week's trials. The following employees braved the tough conditions and helped get the job done:
County Court Division Chief Stephanie Silver, assisted by prosecutors, Certified Training Attorneys, Administrators, and staff members Mike Sartoian, Darrel Ambrosini, Mike Hellman, Grettel Zubiaur, Dara DeLucca, Joseph Feldman, Yaniv Nahon, Kevin Shohat, Justin Schneider, Annie Schneider, Mackenzie Morey, Kyrsten Melander, Alejandra Bernadet, Alison Pineiro, Matt Sulkin, Khalil Quinan, Manuel Centurion, Priscilla Perez, Gabriel Hawa, Erica Weintraub, Kevin Gerarde, Dan Vazquez, Nataly Gutierrez, Regina Johnson, Lizette Soubal, Lacinda Hodges, Timeka Williams, Greg Escalante, Ana Escalante, Kelly Saulsberry, Donna Wright, Will Estrada-Gonzalez, Antonio Drayton and Crystal Towns.
Stephanie opened her house to anyone that needed a shower and perhaps had lost power. Investigator Emiliano Tamayo made himself available at all times for our entire staff and drove ASA's back and forth who had to cover bond hearings (Yaniv, Grettel, Dan, and Kevin).
Prosecutor Fleur Lobree helped prepare responses to a massive filing from the PD's office and in response to looting during and after the storm, ASA Santiago Aroca assisted with the drafting of search warrants.
Other SAO team members who were indispensable after the storm are Jonathan Gonzalez, Jaron Jackson, Administrators Yvonne O'Cana and Tangela Slater, Tara Jones, Jesus Alvarez, Mary Clifford, Cindy Grainger, Shon Scott, Laurie Smith, Jasmine James, Natasha Leveille, Mauzuluwa Stephen, Terry Borrego, Carol Combs, Aileen Godoy, Nedia Nelson, Mary Perez, Jeancy Politesse, Domingo Ramirez, Sujey Rosales, Charlotte Taylor, Bielka Chavez, Tangela Wiley, and Roberto Sasturrias.
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New Assistant State Attorney's Sworn In
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| Miami-Dade County Court Judge Samuel Slom, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, and United States District Court Judge Beth Bloom |
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State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle was joined by the Honorable Judge Samuel J. Slom, Administrative Judge of the County Court Criminal Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, the Honorable Beth Bloom, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and Chief Assistant State Attorney for Administration Don L. Horn, for the swearing-in ceremony of the newest class of Assistant State Attorneys.
The new prosecutors were sworn in at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building joined by many notables in our legal community, their families, friends and loved ones. It was a momentous occasion for all in attendance.
We wish them good luck as they join our juvenile, domestic violence, and County Court divisions embarking on their careers as prosecutors!
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Women of Tomorrow Celebrates 20 Year Anniversary
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 Twenty years ago, Jennifer Valoppi, Don Browne & State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle had a vision. They had the courage to turn that vision of helping young women into reality. Their remarkable mentors have led the way in the nationally renowned organization Women of Tomorrow (WOT).
To date, 15,000 girls have participated in the program, 6 million dollars have been awarded in college scholarships, and the graduation rate for mentees stands at over ninety-four percent. WOT is undoubtedly making the impossible possible.
Over the next 12 months, WOT will be showcasing their alumnae, fellow mentors and more. The incredible stories of their amazing alumnae are the focus of WOT's 20th Anniversary celebration.
Women of Tomorrow has been funded to implement a violence prevention education in Miami-Dade's top crime zip codes. This represents 19 schools in the County. They will be offering guest speakers for mentoring sessions to educate their girls on dating violence, cyber safety, gang prevention and human trafficking. At two upcoming workshops, WOT will also be offering trauma-informed training for their mentors and school coordinators to raise awareness and education about the impacts of trauma and toxic stress and what mentors can do when they see signs of either in their girls.
"Women of Tomorrow mentors commit to changing the world, one young woman at a time. We not only help lead these young women through their high school graduation, but we guide them toward a new outlook in life
," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "The scholarships provided by Women of Tomorrow allow them the opportunity to have a new and brighter future. I am extremely fortunate to have shared Jennifer and Don's vision to create this dedicated group. The girls we have mentored make me proud every day that I am a part of the Women of Tomorrow."
Alumnae are encouraged to keep in touch with WOT so they may be celebrated during the 20th anniversary celebratory year. Please contact
c.lockwood@womenoftomorrow.org
or for more information, please visit WOT's website at
www.womenoftomorrow.org
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First Revenge Porn Conviction Obtained
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 Domestic Violence Unit ASAs Gabriela Phillingane, Yaneth Beaz, and Assistant Chief Tierrel "TJ" Mathis obtained a very difficult victory against a defendant charged with Cyber Harassment. It was the first time in misdemeanor Domestic Violence court that a Cyber Harassment Charge, pursuant to a law enacted October 1, 2015 and often referred to as the Revenge Porn Statute, went to trial.
Upon learning of this victory, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle commented: "Revenge Porn is a tool for a spurned former partner, spouse or lover to gain power and control over someone. It is a means of breaking the victim's will and destroying the reputation and self-image of someone the criminal claims to have loved. I am very proud of my three prosecutors for their hard work, the assistance of their fellow division mates, as well as the support staff throughout the DV Unit."
The defendant, Richard Munroe, had been charged with Stalking and Cyber Harassment and was found guilty of the latter charge. Judge Diana Vizcaino will sentence the defendant on October 17, 2017.
This victory is due to the great teamwork demonstrated by the entire DV Unit and a job super well done by ASAs Phillingane, Beaz, and Mathis!
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State Attorney's Office Alumni Profile
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| Amanda Wall, Administrative Magistrate for the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida |
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"The long and winding road which led Magistrate Amanda Wall to the halls of Leon and Wakulla Counties family court clearly started with Amanda's commitment to making people's lives better," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "I'm proud that her time at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office gave her a deep, personal view into the lives of the victims of crime and those violating the law. Such a perspective and insight has to assist in making the tough decisions involved in family court."
Administrative Magistrate Amanda P. Wall is also the Director of Unified Family Court for the Second Judicial Circuit. She was born and raised in the Village of Barrington, a suburb of Chicago. "As a child I wanted to be a veterinarian. Later I majored in philosophy and political science at Loyola University of Chicago where I was also a member of the debate team. That is when I realized my interest in law."
"I attended DePaul Law School and loved the international law and human rights classes," she said. "I interned at both the Public Defender and the District Attorney's offices in Cook County."
Magistrate Wall had applied to positions all over the country, but it was an interview in Chicago with a very important member of the SAO that changed her life. "I remember going to the interview and the interviewer from the SAO was a very tall woman. It was a great experience but I really didn't know who she was until later when I realized that she was Janet Reno, the State Attorney," she recalls with a chuckle. "She offered me the job so in 1989 I moved to Miami and joined the SAO."
"I was excited about being in Miami and having the big city experience. It was a place where I could handle the types of cases that I was interested in like Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Environmental crimes."
One of the things that most stood out for Wall was that sense of camaraderie she felt with her 'New Hire' Class of 33 young prosecutors. "We basically lived and played together. Many of us lived in the same apartment building so it felt like being in college again."
"We all grew up together at the SAO and we all kind of dated and married each other. My husband was in the 1991 class," she explained.
Magistrate Wall began her Miami legal career in County Court followed by a stint in the felony crimes division as a "C" and then "B" prosecutor before becoming Division Chief in Juvenile. She later became an "A" prosecutor before going on to Domestic Crimes.
In 1995, Magistrate Wall moved to Tallahassee to work for then Attorney General Bob Butterworth. A year later she had her first of four children.
For the next eight years, she served part time as the Florida Bar Counsel. In 2004, she went into a part time family law practice which eventually became a full time position.
In 2014, Magistrate Wall became the Administrative Family Law Magistrate for the six counties of the Second Judicial Circuit and its main governmental center, the City of Tallahassee. "Of all of the judicial positions, family law is my kind of law. It is a way of giving back and it is healing for you. Helping pro se litigants in family cases or victims, especially those with mental illness, is cathartic and therapeutic."
"As a lawyer, you win and lose cases all the time, but the ones that I remember the most are the ones where I was able to help the victims. Personally, it was an accomplishment."
For Magistrate Wall, one of the essential qualities of a good prosecutor is the ability to appreciate the humanity of the individuals that they come across. "To return the call of a victim's mother and talk to her in a way that heals is a gift to that person and also to you."
"As a prosecutor you are not only a person who litigates facts. It is important to let people be heard. Being an attorney...a counselor at law...you bring your life and wisdom and skills to the table."
When asked what the main difference is between practicing in Leon County as opposed to Miami Dade, Magistrate Wall was quick to answer: "The volume of cases down South is amazing! With the density of the cases, it is harder to have personal contact or relationships. Up here, there are less cases and everyone knows each other."
She has been in her post as Administrative Magistrate for the six county circuits for three years and loves her job. She always has the lessons that she learned at the SAO present in every case she handles.
"One of the great things that we learned from Janet Reno is that the appearance of impropriety should be the standard for anything that you do. I keep that in the back of my mind and thus I always hold myself up to that higher standard."
Magistrate Wall also has some advice for current ASA's: "The one thing that you graduate with is legal knowledge, but you also need wisdom and life experiences in your decision making process to be truly effective. These are the tools that along with legal knowledge, help you become the best prosecutor that you can be and result in the best possible outcomes."
"It is also important to take advice from older and more experienced prosecutors. Watching people who are very good is very important to learning and growing as an attorney."
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Don't Allow the Public's Trust to be Jeopardized.
Hotline:
305-547-3300
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| Our Community Outreach Events |
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October 2 - Miami Gardens Police Department Peace in the Gardens, Betty Ferguson Recreational Complex, 3000 NW 199 Street, Miami Gardens, FL, 33056, 4:00PM - 8:00PM
October 4 - Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade County Meeting, 1515 NW 79 Avenue, Doral, FL, 33126, 10:00AM - 12:00PM
October 6 - Post Hurricane Irma Shoe Give Away, Lummus Park, 404 NW 3 Street, Miami, FL, 33128, 10:00AM - 2:00PM
October 7 - Community Meeting with Church Leaders & Ministerial Alliance, Greater St. Paul AME Church, 3680 Thomas Avenue, Miami, FL, 33133, 8:00AM - 11:00AM
October 12 - Domestic Violence & Dating Violence Rally, Florida National University, 4425 West 20 Avenue, Hialeah, FL, 33012, 9:00AM - 1:00PM
October 12 - Coconut Grove Crime Watch Meeting, Greater St. Paul AME Church, 3680 Thomas Avenue, Miami, FL, 33133, 6:00PM - 8:00PM
October 14 - 10th Annual NMB Domestic Violence Walk, North Miami Beach Police Department, 16901 NE 19 Avenue, North Miami Beach, FL, 33162, 7:00AM - 12:00PM
October 19 - Sealing and Expungement Event, St John AME Church, 6461 SW 59 Place, South Miami, FL, 33143, 4:00PM - 7:00PM
October 21 - Community Resource Fair & Farm Share, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 1881 NW 103 Street, Miami, FL, 33147, 10:00AM - 2:00PM
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