On December 9, 2022, the Finance Manager of COGGIN HONDA allegedly battered, beat, kicked, punched and strangled the mother of his recently-born child, tearing the lady's Caesarian section stitches, requiring medical attention.
The Finance Manager allegedly held her down on the floor, strangling her until she nearly passed out.
The alleged assailant, JOSEPH DONALD HOMANN allegedly threatened to "gut" his victim and also "gut" her dog.
The bond was set at only $6000 by COUNTY COURT JUDGE LAUREN BLOCKER.
Defendant HOMANN must wear a GPS ankle monitor and is ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Bond was set at $6000.
Are you kidding me?
Mr. Thomas Elijah Cushman, a local lawyer, was Division Chief of the State's Attorney's office 1989-1993. Upon learning of the $6000 bond, Mr. Cushman told me, "That's a little low. [Bail] should have been substantially higher."
It was Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS who appointed COUNTY COURT JUDGE LAUREN PATRICIA SHAFFAR BLOCKER, an unqualified County Court Judge, married to a recently defeated County Commissioner set a new low for judicial tolerance of domestic violence.
COUNTY COURT JUDGE LAUREN PATRICIA BLOCKER had no criminal trial experience when she was appointed by Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS in 2021.
A corporate lawyer with FIDELITY INFORMATION SERVICES, LLC, LAUREN BLOCKER only eleven (11) years out of now-defunct Florida Coastal School of Law, LAUREN BLOCKER had only one (1) civil jury trial, where she was second chair.
Nevertheless, due to political connections with State Senator TRAVIS JAMES HUTSON, she was named by Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS to be a County Court Judge. HUTSON sponsored legislation adding an additional judgeship. Was JUDGE BLOCKER rewarded for her husband's chauvinistic support for HUTSON's controversial projects, including SilverLeaf expansion, shortly after her being named a judge? You tell me.
In any event, Governor RONALD DeSANTIS appointed an unqualified judge to a newly created judgeship. JUDGE LAUREN BLOCKER had no criminal law trial experience. She incuriously and supinely ordered the $6000 bond, which appears to be, at best, de minimis if not de micromis.
JUDGE LAUREN BLOCKER's husband, JEREMIAH RAY BLOCKER, is now St Augustine Beach City Attorney; JEREMIAH BLOCKER was a pro-developer cat's paw on County Commission, whose overdevelopment votes were rewarded with political patronage for his wife, to wit, a judgeship.
JEREMIAH BLOCKER was defeated for re-election in the closed Republican Primary on August 23, 2022 by Krista Keating-Joseph.
Pray for JUDGE LAUREN PATRICIA SHAFFAR BLOCKER to find wisdom and experience.
Victims of domestic violence deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and consideration.
But we live in a corrupt County where JEREMY BANKS, the killer of Ms. Michelle O'Connell, was never charged with a crime and is still working as a Sheriff's Deputy, thanks to the coverup by our Sheriff and State's Attorney, who have delusions of adequacy.
Query: Is injustice in Southern courts still a defining feature of Jim Crow law here in northeast Florida? Do we really want more political patronage appointments to our courts? See Martin and Susan Tolchin's classic book, To The Victor -- Political Patronage from the Clubhouse to the White House (1971) about the "spoils system," which included judgeships used as coins of the realm for political patronage. (Martin Tolchin once spoke at the Flagler College Forum, circa 2001). The Tolchins were New York Times reporters, and friends with my mentor, USDOL Chief Judge Nahum Litt.
In the Tolchins' book, it is reported that to get a judgeship in New York, all a lawyer need do was raise $50,000 for the Democratic Party. Pay to play.
Now, 50 years later, here in corrupt St. Johns County, is it the case that the pay-to-play price is even higher under DeSANTIS's and HUTSON's Republican overdevelopers' one-party rule-- e.g., unctuous unswerving support for TRAVIS JAMES HUTSON's hare-brained overdevelopment schemes? Did it get get JEREMIAH BLOCKER's brilliant spouse a judgeship despite her inexperience?
You tell me.
(Updated: December 11, 2022, 1:10 pm).
TRAVIS JAMES HUTSON (left), CHRISTIAN WHITEHURST (middle) and BRAND J. PATTY on the night of the closed Republican Primary in August 2020,
Oh my God. They've slammed people here for a decade. Judge Wicked Wendy Berger tried to hand out a million years and Maltz not too long ago gave a dude 100 years for 20 pictures of naked kids... essentially the same punishment as raping a kid. Not to mention they've upgraded many crimes to the next highest level so what used to be 5 years behind bars is now 15 years and they've shot down the proposal to reduce sentences from 85% to 65%. It's a right wing incarceration state and here you are complaining about the guys bond? The prison system here is corrupt and the legislative, judicial, and executive branch are so fked up here that they ought to allow exile for Christ sakes...as in you pay bond and they allow you to flee the state! Kinda like you paying them to just go ahead and allow you to not have to face such a mess. And you saw how they acted like they would allow felons to vote and then went looking to arrest people. The government here in Florida has made it clear. If you get a felony then you will lose come kind of rights forever if they have anything to do with it. Even having a fake ID is a gd felony now! So imagine some 17 year old kid wants to drink at the bar, he gets himself a phoney ID, he gets caught and guess what? Now he's gonna be working in a bar for the rest of his life unless he moves out of Florida! This shit is crazy here.
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