Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - July 1, 2006
Amy Sherman, asherman@MiamiHerald.com
Broward Circuit Judge Cheryl Aleman -- who has drawn wrath in recent years for throwing an attorney in jail and refusing to show leniency for an inmate dying of AIDS -- is under investigation by the Judicial Qualifications Commission, several lawyers have told The Miami Herald.
An investigator for the commission, which polices judges, interviewed several Broward lawyers in recent weeks about Aleman.
Aleman, 48, a former state prosecutor, could not be reached for comment at her office Friday afternoon.
''She needs to be off the bench,'' said public defender Sandra Perlman, who claims the judge started the process of finding the attorney in contempt when she was 15 minutes late to a hearing. Perlman confirmed that she was interviewed by the JQC investigator.
Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein and assistant public defender Bruce Raticoff also said they had been interviewed by a JQC investigator.
The three public defenders said they did not file a complaint about Aleman. One private defense attorney also said he had been interviewed but did not want to be named.
''She, more than any judge of the last 30 years, is out of proportion to any other judge in Broward County by both sentences, ruling of evidence and treatment of lawyers,'' Finkelstein said.
The JQC panel, which consists of judges, lawyers and lay people, investigates claims of judicial wrongdoing and makes recommendations to the Florida Supreme Court.
The high court can issue penalties ranging from a public reprimand to removal.
The commission's investigative process isn't made public -- although it becomes public if the commission finds probable cause to recommend a penalty.
APPOINTED BY BUSH
Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Aleman to the bench in 2001. She has had a controversial history in Broward.
In 2003, she came under fire for refusing to release an inmate in jail for violating probation who was dying of AIDS -- despite the OK from prosecutors.
She also was criticized for discussing her religious views at her swearing-in ceremony. She is a past president of the Broward chapter of the anti-abortion Christian Legal Society.
Earlier this year, Aleman threw lawyer Adam Katz in jail after she found him in contempt for failing to show up at a hearing in a felony case.
Aleman sentenced Katz to 60 days, saying he was a no-show in her court for the second time in a month.
Katz's lawyer, Richard Rosenbaum, said at the time that Katz had been at an out-of-town seminar.
RECUSAL REQUEST
Perlman said she actively campaigned for Aleman's opponent, Robert Malove, in 2004.
Aleman won, and Perlman said she asked Aleman to recuse herself from a capital murder case she has before the judge.
Aleman refused, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal sided with the judge.
''My client still doesn't believe he can receive a fair and impartial trial in front of her. Now -- especially that I've been questioned and interviewed by the JQC -- he especially feels he is not going to get a fair and impartial trial,'' Perlman said.
Some lawyers who had heard about the investigation were reluctant to discuss their complaints about Aleman, fearing repercussions.
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