Ed Griffith

Debt Collectors and Prosecutors Terrorize Consumers

Carlos Bertonatti's Latest Trial Delay: House Arrest Extended Until January

Earlier this month, Carlos Bertonatti finally left his Key Biscayne house arrest and headed down to the Gerstein Justice Building to face charges that he drunkenly killed a cyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway in January 2010. His criminal trial, after nine delays, was at last scheduled to start las ... More >>

Katherine Fernandez Rundle To Host Absentee Ballot Fraud Seminar In Corrupt-As-Hell Opa-Locka

Say you're Miami-Dade's top prosecutor. On Aug. 14, you easily won reelection to your sixth term. But your campaign was embarrassed by the revelation that one of your trusted campaign consultants may have previously employed a woman criminally charged with absentee ballot fraud. As a result of your ... More >>

Driver Who Killed Biker In Car Crash Won't Face Vehicular Manslaughter Charges

Also read: Driver With Suspended License Who Killed Biker In Crash Hasn't Been Charged YetThe Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has concluded its investigation into the traffic accident that claimed the life of Luka Balenovic on August 6, and for the family and friends of Balenovic, the results are ... More >>

Pro Boxer Yathomas Riley: New Times Casts Doubt on an Attempted Murder Case Against Him

New Times Story Casts Doubt on Boxer Yathomas Riley's Attempted Murder Charge

Also read "Boxer Yathomas Riley: Beast or Victim?" and "Yathomas Riley Attempted Murder Case: Bloody Letter Bolsters Appeal."Two years ago, Yathomas Riley was an undefeated, up-and-coming boxer from Florida City. But when his girlfriend -- a prison guard named Koketia King -- was shot in the face Ju ... More >>

Miami-Dade Court Bailiff Juana Olga Durand Busted In Traffic Court Racket

Shortly before 9 a.m. this past February 15, Maciel Gonzalez waited for Juana Olga Durand on the steps of the Miami-Dade family court building at 175 NW First Ave. Gonzalez held a yellow manila envelope containing $3,122 in cash to pay off a string of parking tickets, his lawyer, as well as a $300 " ... More >>

Carlos Bertonatti Gets Ninth Delay In Trial For Killing Biker On Rickenbacker Causeway

​Someday, Carlos Bertonatti will have to face a jury to explain what happened in the early morning of Jan. 17, 2010 -- the day police say he drunkenly killed a cyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway, then sped away into Key Biscayne with the victim's bike still wedged underneath his car. But not tod ... More >>

Chris Brown's Arrest Warrant Not Likely To Come Today, Prosecutors Say

​After allegedly furiously swiping a fan's iPhone last weekend, Chris Brown may find himself behind bars sometime soon. Jose Lambiet at Gossip Extra says that Miami Beach Police and the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's prosecutors are in the process of planning on the best way to arrest Brown an ... More >>

Ayesha Niles, British Teen, Busted at MIA With 30 Pounds of Coke in Cake-Mix Boxes UPDATED

via Miami-Dade State Attorney's OfficeThat's not Rich 'n Moist cake mix inside.Last Friday, Miami International Airport officers inspecting the bags of a 17-year-old British girl headed back to London took a look at a couple dozen boxes of cake mix stuffed amid her clothes. They weren't full of red ... More >>

Charges Dropped Against Suspect Involved in Second Urban Beach Week Police Shooting

Charges have been dropped against Carlos King, the suspect involved in the second police shooting during the hectic Monday, May 20th Miami Beach morning during Urban Beach Week. King, a 45-year-old fire captain from South Carolina, was driving his car at a high speed, seemingly uncontrollably, at a ... More >>

Shaquille O'Neal wages war against a Miami computer geek

Richard Scruggs Goes From Public Corruption to Gang Busting

Richard Scruggs​The public corruption unit at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office is getting quite a makeover. Longtime unit chief Joe Centorino will soon depart to take on a new gig as executive director of the Miami-Dade ethics commission. And assistant state attorney Richard Scruggs is now w ... More >>

Santeria stalker

This Week in Politicians Taking Free Stuff: Frank Carollo's Trip to Spain, Kathy Rundle's $20K in Flowers and Tickets

via Gran Felix HotelThe lobby of Frank Carollo's free hotel in Madrid. Not too shabby!​Ever since Miami Beach officials were caught trying to strong-arm tickets from the New World Symphony, public patience has worn thin for politicos taking comped gifts. Last week, via crusading blogger Al Crespo ... More >>

North Miami Beach Official Martin King Does Perp Walk Over Misspent City Funds (Update)

via Miami-Dade State Attorney's OfficeMartin King​Former North Miami Beach public services director Martin King was arrested today and charged with 41 felony counts of money laundering for stealing millions in taxpayer dollars with fake work orders for sewer projects. After investigators looked in ... More >>

Ragheb and Nabil Sulaiman's First Day in Court Postponed Again Until January

via Miami-Dade Corrections​Ragheb and Nabil Sulaiman, the Perrine convenience store clerks accused to beating a customer to death last month in an argument over pocket change, will have to wait another couple weeks for their first day in court. Their arraignment, which was scheduled this morning, ... More >>

Carlos Bertonatti Released On Key Biscayne House Arrest After Posting Bond

via Miami-Dade CorrectionsCarlos Bertonatti is out of jail and awaiting a February court date.​Last we heard from Carlos Bertonatti -- the handsome, would-be pop singer accused of killing a biker on the Rickenbacker Causeway while drunkenly speeding home from Club Space -- his bond had been revoke ... More >>

Surfside Cop Maximo Moreno and Tremont Driver Busted For Towing Bribery Scam

​Surfside is one of those three-block hamlets that subsists entirely on the hundred-dollar fines slapped on drivers unlucky enough to crawl through a hair over the limit. Surfside PD doesn't exactly have a lot of CSI-worthy affairs to spend their time on (although they did fine work tracking that ... More >>

Katherine Fernandez Rundle Mum On Barbara Carey-Shuler's Reversal

​Miami-Dade's top cop is great at putting on a show for the local press corps. Flanked by her public corruption lieutenants and other law enforcers this past November 13, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle stood before a roomful of reporters to announce the arrest of then-Miami c ... More >>

For dozens of inmates, Miami-Dade County jail has become a permanent home

Labeling Michelle Spence-Jones a Shameless Crook Is the Easy Way Out

Even before she was arrested and suspended from office this past November 13, MichelleMichelle Spence-Jones does not need to be ashamed because she chooses to fight for her seat and her innocence.​ Spence-Jones let everyone know she would not go out without a fight. No one has forgotten how s ... More >>

Ex-Judge Phil Davis Convicted on Fraud Charges

Looks like Phil Davis is finally heading to the pen.​The ex-Miami judge, who wriggled out of jail time in a federal sting operation in the early '90s by admitting a raging cocaine habit, was found guilty of fraud today.Prosecutors built a case against Davis involving a non-profit he founded in 199 ... More >>

Faceless Blogger "Strawbuyer" Irks Prosecutor Kostrzewski

Alex Izaguirre​An anonymous Miami blogger dubbed the Strawbuyer has made an enemy out of a veteran state prosecutor.Since debuting on the web this past July, the author -- who writes with the acidic juvenile prose of a celebrity blogger -- has attacked the work of Bill Kostrzewski, a Miami-Da ... More >>

Ex-Judge Points a Finger at the State Attorney's Office in His Corruption Trial

If ever the Miami State Attorney's Office has prosecuted a lose-lose case, the ongoing trial of former judge Phil Davis is it. Getting a conviction might just make the prosecutor's office look negligent in its past dealings with the alleged fraud organizer.​If Davis' sname sounds familiar, it's be ... More >>

State Drops Charges Against Rev. Alberto Cutie's Romantic Rival

A.P. Photo/C.M. Guerrero Maxi Ratunuman will soon be a free man. The Indonesian ex-lover of Ruhama Canellis, wife of celebrity clergyman Rev. Alberto Cutie, was arrested this past June 6 by the Village of Biscayne Park Police Department. Ofcr. Raimundo Atesiano and Capt. Antonio Sanchez arrested Rat ... More >>

Renegade Road

A woman perishes in a collision with an Indian leader's kin. Her family cries coverup.

Presidential Election Could Spur Voter Fraud in Miami-Dade

If you believe Nilo Juri, the eye of Hurricane Ballot Cheat, it could get ugly.

Violent Jewelry Thieves Prowl South Florida

They give new meaning to the term blood diamond.

Sham Marriage Hell

Bigamy charges and dozens of people busted after fake weddings: It must be South Florida.

Kendall Car Dealership Keeps on Giving

Justice in Motion minivan comes to the State Attorney’s Office

Exposé Fray

A TV reporter says he lost his job for doing his job

Letters from the Issue of March 8, 2007

"We are swimming in a sea of pollution."

South Beach Menace

A scuffle minutes from the nation's sandy playground highlights its slimy underbelly

Hit and Run Hero

Not everyone’s charged with a crime — even if someone is killed.

In the Bag

An abortion gone bad opens up an unseemly world of low-end medicine

Valentine Sway

A Miami lawyer convinced clients he was on the level, then was disbarred

Free Bird?

New evidence may exonerate Luis Diaz, imprisoned for 26 years as the Bird Road Rapist

Caught on Tape, Part 2

Caught on Tape, Part 2

The Drowned and the Saved

An anti-abortion crusader faces manslaughter charges for the accidental death of a child

Messing With The Man

Three kids from suburban Miami found a clever way to relieve their boredom: They launched an attack on a police station

The Bitch

End Times

A Shot in the Dark, Part II

After firing his gun at a police officer, Mario Barcia's life has gone from bad to wretched

The Calvo Case

A recently released report suggests that investigators are trying to implicate Denise Calvo in the murder of her husband

Legal Indifference?

Cournisha DeMonick's killing in North Miami recalls the slow pace of justice for Haitians

Letters from the Issue of September 26, 2002

Filmmaking in Miami: There is a time to just say no

Threats, Lies & Videotape

Leroy Jones outslicks prosecutors on the Criminal Procedure Discovery Rule

A Man in Fool

Free cops for your next event? Dorrin Rolle says yes.

Roxanne, Sexually assaulted and beaten. Busted hundreds of times and chased off Biscayne Boulevard by cops and neighborhood activists. There's nothing glamorous about this working girl's life.