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Curmudgeon in the courtroom
© St. Petersburg Times, At the center of the misconduct trial against Circuit Judge Cynthia Holloway this week was another judge: James Jorgenson. Jorgenson, a member of the Judicial Qualifications Commission and chairman of the judicial ethics panel reviewing the charges against Holloway, essentially judges the behavior of other judges in Florida. With such a weighty job, everyone involved in the case was watching him. The judge, who sits on the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami, turned out be a real curmudgeon. When JQC attorneys announced they were dropping one of the seven charges against Holloway, Jorgenson replied, "Bless you." When a defense lawyer objected to a question, Jorgenson shrugged, "I was hoping someone would object." Often, he became impatient with the JQC special counsel, Beatrice Butchko, an attorney with a Miami law firm. "Let's move this case," Jorgenson told her. "This is crazy." At the end of the two-day trial, Jorgenson thanked the lawyers for tolerating him. "Thank you for putting up with a crotchety old judge," he said. Jorgenson and the five other members of the panel will recommend to the Supreme Court what punishment Holloway should face. CHARGE DIDN'T STICK: Speaking of the JQC, it didn't look good when attorneys dropped one of the charges against Holloway in the middle of the trial. The JQC had charged Holloway with using her post to help a friend who objected to workers cutting down old oaks trees near a law firm. The man who wanted the trees cut down testified a city official had given him permission to cut the trees. But the city official had not -- and the JQC should have known about this. Why were they caught off guard? The JQC attorney spoke to the city's urban forester, Steven Graham, twice on the phone, each for a few minutes, Graham said. He said he never told the JQC attorney he hadn't given permission to trim the trees. "I don't think they asked," Graham said. CHOOSING A CHARITY: With its bottom line in red, the appeal of New York's Silver Shield Foundation for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is, shall we say, tarnished. Sheriff's officials considered donating charity proceeds from their current poster sale to the nonprofit until the Times outlined the Silver Shield's high administrative costs, such as the $125,000 salary its director collected in recent years. Now, the Sheriff's Office plans to send its donations to the World Trade Center Police Disaster Relief Fund, operated by the fraternal order of police. "They assured us all funds go to the effort," said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder. Sheriff's officials are selling a $25 poster with drawings of emergency workers. It was drawn by former homicide detective and forensic artist Ernie Walter. Sales are going well, with half the proceeds going to New York and the other half going to the Lynn Sowers Memorial Fund. That fund, which benefits Sheriff's Office employees, offers financial help in the event of a catastrophic event. If you would like to buy a poster, call Lt. Reder at (813) 247-8058. -- Got a tip? Call Amy Herdy at (813) 226-3386 or David Karp at (813) 226-3376.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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