Anthony Moscatiello, top, Anthony Ferrari, left, and James Fiorillo
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
It was Fort Lauderdale’s murder of the decade: the 2001 gangland-style slaying of day-cruise casino cruise ship kingpin Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis.
On Oct. 1, it’s coming to a movie theater near you.
The three men charged in 2005 with conspiring to kill Boulis have yet to [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
As Broward’s courthouse task force steamrolls ahead with its $328 million building plan for a new downtown government high-rise, it will have to do so without Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein.
Finkelstein has resigned, claiming the task force established to assess the need for a new courthouse has morphed into a body that’s [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
Flagged by Broward officials for a conflict of interest, county lobbyist Ron Book has agreed to stop pushing for a new state law that county officials say would seriously undermine Broward’s pretrial intervention program and cost local taxpayers millions.
The new law is being sought by another of Book’s clients, the Florida bail [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
Following up on a decision three years ago that barred judges and court clerks from hiding civil court cases from public view, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the same ban on secrecy also applies to criminal cases.
Also on Thursday, the justices wrote new rules forbidding the falsification of official court [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
The smoke has cleared in the recent public dustup between State Attorney Michael Satz and Public Defender Howard Finkelstein over the quality of justice in Broward County.
Neither man has changed his mind.
Finkelstein still contends Satz favors the influential and the police over the average citizen when it comes to charging decisions. Satz [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
Broward prosecutors said this week that they have cleared a Florida convict of involvement in one of the county’s most notorious crimes – the 1994 video-taped murders of a Miramar club owner and two models.
For nearly a year, the quiet investigation of inmate William Ortiz had caused the postponement of the Supreme [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
Tough-talking Broward Property Appraiser Lori Parrish called it a “tax dodge” four years ago when Pastor Frederick “Sonny” Irons asked her to grant his $1.9 million Fort Lauderdale waterfront estate tax-exemption as a church.
“Everyone knows what a real church is, and this isn’t it,” Parrish told the Sun-Sentinel after she rejected Irons’ request.
But Parrish [...]
By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org
Daniel M. Zavadil no longer carries a badge. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department fired him last fall after he admitted to signing someone else’s name on an official document.
Zavadil lost his job after authorities concluded he was unfit to serve as a city police officer because of a “lack of integrity and [...]
By Dan Christensen, browardbulldog.org
In what’s shaping up as an extraordinary clash of legal titans, Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein has accused Broward State Attorney Michael Satz of routinely violating defendants’ rights and applying a double standard of justice in the county.
For years, the state attorney has given favorable treatment to police officers and “influential or [...]
By Dan Christensen, browardbulldog.org
A 78-year-old Hallandale Beach grandmother ticketed for driving on a suspended driver’s license spent 15 days in jail before authorities announced her license wasn’t suspended and an outraged judge set her free.
County Court Judge Lee J. Seidman ordered Gabrielle Shaink Trudeau’s release in December at her arraignment.
“She’s handcuffed like Houdini, for the record. [...]
