Case could affect future of foreclosures

Kendall Coffey

Even though the lawsuit is already settled, Roman Pino v. Bank of New York Mellon could affect how foreclosures are filed across the entire United States. 

Right now, banks aren’t precisely as careful about the foreclosures they file because they don’t have to be.  If something ever goes wrong, say- if they filed the foreclosure with fraudulent documents- all they have to do is dismiss the mortgage and re-file correctly. 

In case you thought that fraudulent documents reference was an excessive one, the very lawsuit at hand deals with that issue.  Roman Pino’s mortgage assignment, the legal document that binds a loan to a lender, had been signed by a low-wage worker hired to simply sign the document without the due diligence of checking the document for accuracy- as is usually required.

Pino owns his house now, as the case was settled out of court, but the Florida Supreme Court is still hearing the case.  Many foreclosures in Florida have had similar fraudulent paperwork, and the voluntary dismissal strategy might be at fault.   Essentially, there is little incentive not to lie. 

As Amanda Lundergan, an associate with the law firm that represented Pino, explained, “It sets up a system where every litigant is condoned and encouraged to lie, cheat and steal, knowing that if they are caught, they can simply voluntarily dismiss and absolve themselves from that fraud."

There could be wide backlash if the court rules against voluntary dismissal.  There were more than 104,000 cases voluntarily dismissed from Florida’s courts last year.  In fact, if the court rules against the banks, "a broad universe of mortgages could be rendered unenforceable," said former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, author of the book, "Foreclosures in Florida."

Will Zimmerman have to take the stand at his trial?

Read more at Kendall Coffey Celebrity Cases

 In the current climate it might make more sense if he didn’t.  After all, the public is following every bit of information with bated breath, see-sawing from one opinion to another, and him taking the stand will only feed the rumor mill- which is something that his attorney’s office seems determined to avoid.

“The O'Mara Law group stresses that while the George Zimmerman case will be explored deeply in the media and by the public, the only proper place to determine the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman is in court,” a posting on Zimmerman’s legal defense website posted recently.  “And indeed only the jury will have all the evidence required to make such a determination.

But one of the prosecutors, Bernie De La Rionda, has hinted that Zimmerman’s story to the police varied, bringing up the possibility that he gave false testimony. And according to Miami attorney Kendall Coffey, this means that Zimmerman might very well have to take the stand.

“The most critical information in the trial could be his believability," Coffey says. "This defendant is asserting self-defense and it would be very difficult to assert self-defense without taking the stand to explain how it happened. All the more difficult if the police are holding in their hands contradictory accounts."

Mudslinging and attack ads in the sunshine state

We all know about attack ads. In fact, in an election cycle a certain amount of misleading mudslinging is expected.  But in Florida, at least, some candidates are fighting back.

Back when the recent health care bill was passed Republicans saw a chance to label the Democrats as anti-Medicare.  How?  Well, while the bill actually increases Medicare spending from $560 billion this year to $1.04 trillion in ten years, the health care bill does assume that during that time the program will result in savings of about $500 billion- mostly through increased efficiency.

But rather than explaining all of this, Republicans are just labeling the savings as cuts and telling the public that the Democrats are cutting Medicare by $500 billion.  And they’re using those numbers in a recent set of attack ads.

Not everyone is content to simply get angry at the misinformation, however.  Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat, has embarked upon a quest to get those ads off the air.  In a letter written by his attorney, former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, he explains that these letters are blatantly untrue.

And stations have “a duty to protect the public from the spread of false information and deliberate deception,” writes Coffey.

Not that such letters will have made much a difference so far.  Several stations have rejected the letter from Coffey and will continue showing the messages.  But it’s nice to have someone who is willing to fight back.

Zimmerman's former attorneys' actions baffling

The Atlantic Wire has an interesting piece analyzing the actions of George Zimmerman's former attorneys, an piece that comes to the conclusion that perhaps they were the ones that went rogue, not their client.  Some of the reasons include:

They gave a press conference.  Dropping a client isn't unusual, lawyers do it every day.  But quitting via press conference is highly unusual.

Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. Attorney in Miami and author of Spinning the Law, said Uhrig and Sonner's decision to hold a news conference was baffling. "The lawyers have every right to withdraw, but it's highly unusual," he said. "In the court of public opinion, the press conference was not helpful for George Zimmerman."

They discussed George Zimmerman's mental state: Describing Zimmerman as "emotionally crippled" and posssibly suffering from PTSD is not only in bad taste, it's unethical.

"It's unbelievable that you would get on television and talk about your client's mental state," Jose Baez, a criminal defense attorney told CNN last night. "What you have here, as an attorney, you have an ethical obligation to not only not post attorney-client communication but attorney-client confidence. Things you learn in the process of representing a client are considered confidential so any conversations they have are completely protected and the holder of this privilege is George Zimmerman ... It's reprehensible."

Other concerns include the fact that they only waited three days after not hearing from Zimmerman before having a press conference and that, through explaining this, they implied that Zimmerman might be a flight risk, therefore damaging his reputation. 

George Zimmerman arraignment is set for May 29

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, is scheduled for an arraignment on May 29th.  So far, he has not entered a plea.

His lawyer has requested that any future records in the case, including witness statements and identifying information, be completely sealed in order to prevent the case from being tried in the media.  The prosecution agreed, but will release a two-page affidavit supporting the state's second degree murder charge.

Of course, that's assuming that the charge sticks.  According to the Miami Herald, former Miami U.S. Attorney and author of Spinning the Law Kendall Coffey suggested the prosecution might not stay with the charge through trial. Mostly because a jury could, under some circumstances, toss the second-degree murder charge and convict of a lesser charge, such as manslaughter.  This is because in order to prove Zimmerman guilty of second-degree murder they will have to show that he acted with a depraved mind when he shot Trayvon.

“This is an aggressive charge,” Coffey said. “And there are times when an aggressive charge gives more incentive for the defendant to seek a plea. The vast majority of cases don’t go to trial and end in a plea.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/12/v-fullstory/2744193/george-zimmerman-charged-with.html#storylink=cpy

Zimmerman Bond Not Unusual

Kendall Coffey, partner with Coffey Burlington and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, was featured in theGrio recently discussing the Trayvon Martin case and George Zimmerman-  especially the bail recently set by the judge in the case.  The amount of the bond was much lower than teh $1 million requested by the prosecution, and many are calling it a travesty.

"It shows you the worth of a 17-year-old black boy in America, who's been unjustly murdered and whose life is taken for granted," said Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, an MSNBC contributor and Georgetown University professor.

However, Kendall Coffey explained that the cost of a bail is based on the presumption  that defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

"Obviously, if this were Donald trump or Bill Gates accused of a crime, that would be grossly inadequate, but you cannot set a bond that a person could not possibly come up with," Coffey told theGrio. "From everything we saw, George Zimmerman is broke. His wife doesn't work, they don't own a home [they were renting the townhome in the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community where Martin was killed.] There's no reason to believe that he could even bond out with $150,000."

 He also corrects the common misconception that Zimmerman would only have to come up with 10 percent of the $150,000 in order to be released.  While that 10% is the premium you pay the surety company most defendants still have to "fully collateralize that $150,000, meaning that either George Zimmerman or his parents have to come up with a $150,000 second mortgage on their house or from a bank. The bonding company is not a charity. They stand to lose the money. They have more than just fugitive hunters [to track down a defendant who flees.] They get collateral up front."

 Despite all the criticism, Kendall Coffey believes that the prosecution did the right thing.  "The prosecutor knew exactly wheat he was doing," Coffey explained.