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This publication is designed to inform the public of our office’s
functions and services, to identify innovative ideas we instituted to improve the
criminal justice system, and to highlight some of the many accomplishments our office
made from 1993-2003.
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If you are just graduating from law school, returning to the workforce, or looking to start a career then the Miami Dade State Attorney's office is the place to look. Bookmark our human resource pages to find that perfect job for you.OPENINGS ASA's General Staffers |
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2010 Releases
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office is dedicated to providing accurate information to the public and media. If you are a member of the working media and would like an interview with the State Attorney, or you need information on a case, would like to talk to a specific assistant state attorney or are looking for an expert in a certain area of prosecution, please contact our public information officers Ed Griffith or Terry Chavez. Below you'll find recent news releases issued by this office.
7/22/10 - Statement from State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Regarding the Conviction and Sentencing of Christopher Sutton
7/14/10 - Former FHP Officer Charged in False Ticket Scam Heading to Jail 6/01/10 - State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle Offers Tips on Hurricane Fraud 5/27/10 - State Attorney Launches Mortgage Fraud Unit 5/21/10 - Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office Partners with Miami-Dade County Schools to Combat Violence in Schools 5/13/10 - Press Conference Regarding Insurance Fraud Arrests 5/5/10 - Press Conference Regarding Arrest of Miami Shores Comptroller 4/5/10 - The Plaza Health Network Hebrew Homes Foundation to Honor Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle 3/3/10 - Grand Jury Indicts Michelle Spence-Jones Suspended Commissioner Charged with Bribery 2/26/10 - Assistant State Attorney Susan Dechovitz Selected for "Prosecutor of the Year" Award 2/4/10 - Jury Recommends Death Penalty in Liberty City Execution Style Murders 2/2/10 - FHP Trooper Paul C. Lawrence charged in false ticket scam (click here for more information) 1/14/10 - Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to be Recognized at the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Breackfast and Will Join the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Festival 1/8/10 - Miami State Attorney to join the Three Kings Parade - Annual event on Calle Ocho this Sunday ED GRIFFITH Public Information Officer PHONE: 305-547-0535TERRY CHAVEZ Hispanic Media Relations Public Information Officer PHONE: 305-547-0535 PRESS RELEASE ARCHIEVE If you cannot view PDF's, click on Acrobat Reader or the image below to download the free software.  |
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Mr. Sutton survived the incident, but has been blinded and permanently disfigured. The Sutton family adopted the accused when he was but a few days old, and according to his father, always received and enjoyed nothing but love and support. The jury delivered its guilty verdict last night against Christopher Sutton for the planning, killing and maiming of his loving parents. Justifiably, the court has sentenced this cruel individual to the most severe penalty permissible for his participation in this brutal crime - life imprisonment.” ###
On February 2, 2010, 12 year veteran trooper Lawrence had been arrested after an investigation revealed that numerous tickets he submitted to the Miami-Dade court system were for offenses that never occurred. Trooper Lawrence had been a member of Troop E in Miami-Dade County. "The lying and falsification ended today for former Trooper Paul C. Lawrence," said Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. "When he created these false tickets, he hurt the very people he had previously sworn to protect. He also damaged the reputation of his department and every one of his fellow officers. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle is available for further comments to the media. Please call 305-547-0535 to schedule your visit.
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Information on contractor licensing, price gouging, insurance fraud and required building permits, as well as methods to protect oneself from criminal activity, are all available in this informative program. The material is bilingual and interested persons can access samples of documents mentioned in the video directly from the website. As with all hurricane advice, advance preparation always makes a person safer. "Now that we are officially into another hurricane season, I invite all of you to view on my office website a video presentation, in both English and Spanish, entitled “How to Avoid Becoming a Victim After The Storm", commented State Attorney Fernandez Rundle. "As a resident of this great community, I know only too well the impact that a major hurricane can have on all of us. While we recognize the need to prepare for the possibility of a storm hitting our community, we must also be prepared to protect ourselves from the aftermath. It is my sincere hope that the contents of this program will continue to help provide you with the guidance and knowledge needed to ensure that no individual in our great community becomes a victim in the aftermath of a storm. I urge everyone to review the contents of this program as a part of their pre-hurricane planning."
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### The press conference will be held at the Office of the State Attorney at 2:00 p.m. in room S-418. The Office of the State Attorney is in the E. R. Graham building located at 1350 NW 12th Avenue, Miami. Please arrive early enough to obtain security clearance through the building's security review process.
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Contact: Terry Chavez 305-547-0535 5/13/010 Press Conference Regarding Insurance Fraud Arrests - 5 Public Insurance Adjusters Charged Miami (May 13, 2010) - On Thursday afternoon, May 13, 2010, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the Miami-Dade Police Department, Florida's Division of State Fire Marshal and the Division of Insurance Fraud will hold a joint press conference to announce the arrests in a long term investigation of insurance fraud committed and facilitated by 5 public insurance adjusters. The press conference will be held at the Office of the State Attorney at 3:00 p.m. in room S-418. The Office of the State Attorney is in the E. R. Graham building located at 1350 NW 12th Avenue, Miami. Please arrive early enough to obtain security clearance through the building's security review process. ### The press conference will be held at the Office of the State Attorney at 2:00 p.m. in room S-418. The Office of the State Attorney is in the E. R. Graham building located at 1350 NW 12th Avenue, Miami. Please arrive early enough to obtain security clearance through the building’s security review process.
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“The Plaza Health Network knows how important our seniors are to our community. Their programs are dedicated to provide quality care with dignity and respect”, commented State Attorney Fernandez Rundle. “It truly humbles me to be recognized for my commitment to our seniors by a group so well-versed and dedicated to providing the highest quality of long-term care to our elderly.” ###
Contact: Ed Griffith 305-547-0535 03/03/10 Grand Jury Indicts Michelle Spence-Jones - Suspended Commissioner Charged with Bribery Miami (March 3, 2010) - Today, the Miami-Dade County Grand Jury indicted suspended City of Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones for soliciting money from involved parties in the 2006 attempt to extend the name of Brickell Avenue further north along SE 2nd Avenue in downtown Miami. MDM Hotel Group, Inc., the developers of the Metropolitan Miami office and residential complex in the affected area and the Codina Group Inc., were solicited by then sitting Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones to donate funds to a particular entity after a contentious March 23, 2006 City Commission meeting wherein the issue was deferred to the next Commission meeting for a final vote. In the interim, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones solicited the sum of $25,000 and ultimately deposited those funds into an account accessible to Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones. She was indicted on the charge of Bribery, a 2nd degree felony. Additionally, Michelle Spence-Jones was also indicted today on the pending charge of Grand Theft 2nd degree, for which she had been previously charged via information on November 13, 2009. There will be no formal press conference relating to these actions of the Grand Jury. However, State Attorney Fernandez Rundle will be available for comment between the hours of 4:30 to 6:00 PM this afternoon. ###
Contact: Ed Griffith 305-547-0535 02/26/10 Assistant State Attorney Susan Dechovitz Selected for "Prosecutor of the Year" Award Miami (February 26, 2010)  - Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney andSenior Trial Counsel Susan Dechovitz has been selected by the Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) Charitable Foundation and the Miami-Dade Chiefs of Police for their prestigious “Prosecutor of the Year” Award.
Ms. Dechovitz, a prosecutor with the State Attorney’s Office for over 30 years, was nominated for the national award by Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Susan has held a number of positions in the office, including in the Juvenile and Felony Divisions, the Organized Crime Unit, the Public Corruption Unit and the Sexual Battery Unit. She was a Felony Division Chief and also served as a Division Chief of the Career Criminal/Robbery Unit. For many years, Susan was a member of the Major Crimes Division, is currently a Senior Trial Counsel, and serves as the Training Director for the office Over the years, Susan has successfully prosecuted numerous cases, including significant prosecutions of serial killers, serial child rapists, and notably one of the killers of Miami-Dade Police Officer Cheryl Seiden. Overall, she has tried over 100 jury trials and approximately one third of those cases have been homicides tried to jury verdict. In her three decades of practice, she has never had an acquittal in a homicide trial. In 2009, Susan successfully prosecuted the three month long trial of State of Florida v. Tavares Calloway, accused in the execution-style and gruesome murders of five victims, each of whom was partially undressed, bound with duct tape, gagged, and blindfolded before being shot and killed. Calloway was convicted on all 5 counts of first degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary and armed kidnapping; and he now faces the death penalty. Prior to Mr. Calloway’s trial, Susan had already successfully convicted Antonio Clark, a non-shooting defendant in the same quintuple homicide, after a month and one half trial. Clark has already been sentenced to eight life terms in state prison. State Attorney Fernandez Rundle was extremely honored and proud to learn of Susan’s selection for the award, commenting: “There is no question that Susan Dechovitz represents all that the “Prosecutor of the Year” Award symbolizes. She has given over three decades of exemplary service to the people of Miami-Dade County. Her courtroom skills and successes are enviable, and she has earned immense respect from crime victims and their families whose lives she has touched. She is all that a prosecutor should be.” Ms. Dechovitz will be recognized by the LEO Foundation, the Miami-Dade Chiefs of Police, and her peers at a black-tie gala during the LEO Foundation’s tenth annual event on Saturday evening, March 6, 2010, at the Fountainbleau Hotel located at 4441 Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, Florida. The affair begins at 5:00 p.m. ###
Contact: Ed Griffith 305-547-0535 02/04/10 Jury Recommends Death Penalty in Liberty City Execution Style Murders Miami (February 4, 2010) - A Miami-Dade County criminal court jury has recommended that Tavares Calloway, 31, receive the death penalty for each of the five victims murdered execution style in January 1997. Calloway and his crime partner Antonio Clark, had stormed the Liberty City apartment, hogtied each of the five men and duct-taped their mouths close. Calloway’s co-defendant, Antonio Clark, was sentenced to 8 life terms for his actions during this crime. “The jury agreed with prosecutors that Calloway’s methodical act of going from individual to individual and shooting each one in the head was a heinous act meriting the death penalty,” said State Attorney Fernandez Rundle. “The families of the murdered victims have waited since 1997 to begin to put some closure to this awful incident. Throughout this lengthy trial process, after long appeal delays, they have never lost faith that this day would come. The faith that each family member had in Assistant State Attorney Susan Dechovitz’s ability to bring this matter to an appropriate close is only superseded by my own.” This Jury recommendation now goes to the presiding Criminal Court Judge, Judge Dava Tunis for the final sentence. ###
Contact: Terry Chavez 305-547-0535 1/14/01
Senator Wilson is the founder and executive director of the 5000 Role Models Project, a drop-out prevention program for minority boys "at risk" of dropping out of school and/or choosing a life of crime. The program operates in Miami-Dade County and Pinellas County Public School. Graduating seniors receive scholarships to the next level of education. Later in the day, State Attorney Fernandez Rundle will participate in the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and Festival in Liberty City. The MLK parade is held annually and draws thousands of spectators. It begins at Noon at NW 10th Avenue and proceeds west on NW 54th Street to NW 32nd Avenue, where the festival will be held at the Dr. MLK Jr. Memorial Park from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The State Attorney’s Office “Justice in Motion” (JIM) Mobile, a 37 foot “office on wheels”, will also take part in the parade alongside State Attorney Fernandez Rundle, who participates in the event every year. ### Contact: Terry Chavez 305-547-0535 1/08/01 Miami State Attorney to join the Three Kings Parade - Annual event on Calle Ocho this Sunday Miami (January 8, 2010) -Miami State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle will participate in the Three Kings Day (Tres Reyes Magos) parade and festival this Sunday, January 10th, on Calle Ocho. The event, which is held annually and draws thousands of spectators, begins at 12 Noon at SW 8th Street and 4th Avenue and caravans up Calle Ocho to SW 17th Avenue. The State Attorney’s Office “Justice in Motion” (JIM) Mobile, a 37 foot “office on wheels”, will also take part in the parade alongside State Attorney Fernandez Rundle, who participates in the event every year. ### |
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