SFL Friday -- Love Is In The Air

So Willie Gary's son Kobe gets two and a half years.

Question --does this vindicate the seven-member "trial team" strategy?

How the hail should I know -- I do civil litigation, but hopefully David will weigh in.

Sheesh it's too darn nice outside, so I am out of here for some early afternoon windsurfing.

There are tons of civic/charitable things for you to do this weekend, and I've gotten emails from just about all of you on stair climbs, walks, runs, crawls you name it.

Pick one and do it, putzos -- or at least donate to someone who is.

Before I go please don't forget to be careful around your Wii, this is just plain weird, and Demi Moore is on a most excellent diet.

Oh yeah, one more thing -- happy birthday, Israel!

Have a great weekend.

WIllie Gary's Son Hires [Insert Sport Here] Team's Worth of Lawyers!

Hmm, are there any sports teams that consist of seven members, or six members and a coach?

Maybe team handball?

Anyways, if you can think of an appropriate sports analogy let me know:

A week before his sentencing, convicted pot grower Kobie Gary has hired a new lead attorney and added more lawyers to his team.

Miami attorney Jeffrey Weiner on Tuesday confirmed he’ll supervise a group of six defense lawyers when Gary appears April 7 before U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore in Miami.

Gary, 30, the son of Stuart attorney Willie Gary, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants. He was arrested in October as he left a Hobe Sound home that contained 237 pot plants, records show.

“I’ve been asked by Kobie and Willie Gary to lead the defense on this matter,” said Weiner, who noted local lawyer Richard Kibbey will remain as co-counsel.

I don't do this type of work, but can someone tell me what the strategy is behind hiring six lawyers and a supervising attorney for a sentencing hearing?

Are they planning a 2-2-2 defense for Judge Moore?

BTW, I love this description of Willie's new jet:

Willie E. Gary unveiled the newest member of his air fleet – “Wings of Justice II,” a custom-designed, 32-passenger Boeing 737 that will be used to conduct business throughout the United States and beyond.

The aircraft, which sports an interior renovation that cost more than $11 million, includes an 18-karat gold sink, plush leather seats, carpet, a $1.2 million sound system, and a full-service kitchen.

“Wings II” provides the Gary law firm with the ability to handle cases throughout the United States. Gary and his partners will continue using “Wings of Justice I” – the law firm’s Gulfstream II Jet, which has been flying since 1996.

“This aircraft allows us to better serve our clients,” Gary said. “We can meet with people in Atlanta, Chicago and Carolina the same day and still be home for dinner. The plane is equipped with a conference table, an office, a bedroom and a full-service kitchen.”

An 18-karat gold sink and million dollar sound system is nice, but come on -- no hot tub?

WIllie Gary -- The New Doctor Detroit??

The always-flamboyant Willie Gary spread his "Wings of Justice" far and wide and landed improbably in front of cameras in the beautiful city of Detroit:

Gary, a Florida lawyer whom the Miami Herald says has built a fortune by winning cases worth hundreds of millions of dollars, said he came to Detroit at Kilpatrick’s request. But he said he is still trying to determine if the ex-mayor has a case.

“What I’m doing is, we’re just kind of doing some due diligence to make sure that in the process of all of this that there were no violations of his rights,” Gary said. “He understands what he’s facing. He’s paid his dues. He’s done what the system has asked him to do. But along the way we are concerned that there may have been some violations of his rights. We think that the process has to work for everybody, regardless of who you are.”

Gary declined to say which of Kilpatrick’s rights may have been violated. Gary was asked if he might sue SkyTel, the company that leased the city text messaging devices on which Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff and lover sent incriminating messages.

All he would say about potential targets was that he was concerned with Kilpatrick’s rights “during the case, the rights with all of the evidence, the rights with respect to just how certain matters were handled, how certain matters were dealt with in terms of and specifically in terms of some of the records that were out, that got out.”

The Free Press reported last year about text messages that showed Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff and lover, Christine Beatty, lied during a police whistle-blower case when they denied having an affair and trying to fire a deputy police chief investigating the mayor’s inner circle. The pair’s attempts to cover up the lies cost taxpayers more than $9 million and prompted the Wayne County prosecutor to file 15 felony charges against them.

Gotta love Willie, smooth as silk, diligently diagnosing a case.

But a suit against Skytel? If they are city text messaging devices, what expectations of privacy are there when you send your lover messages using city property?

How would I know -- let's ask Al Carvalho!

Sex, Lies, and Willie Gary?

Once again I ask -- why can't I ever get a case like this? This time Michael Pike gets to have all the fun:

West Palm lawyer Michael Pike included in his filing two X-rated homemade DVDs of Gary's single adult son, Kenneth, having sex with Nedd. The second DVD, according to Pike, was filmed a week after Nedd and Gary met in a Stuart Best Western, where Nedd claims he sexually assaulted her.

"She claims she was assaulted by the father yet, a week later, she's making an amateur sex video with the son," said Pike.

Stuart police investigated both the rape and extortion claims but declined to seek charges in either case.

Earlier this year, Gary's attorneys accepted a settlement agreement that required the Nedds to pay $100 to resolve the extortion suit. A judge at one point dismissed Jillian Nedd's suit against the Gary firm, but her attorneys refiled it soon afterward with more information.

Nedd and Kenneth Gary met through the woman's husband, Kelvin Nedd. He was Kenneth's physical fitness trainer.

Exhibits accompanying the documents to be filed in Martin County court Monday afternoon also include: Allegations of heavy drug use by Nedd; allegations of assault by Nedd against Kelvin Nedd; witness accounts that, the day before Nedd and Gary met at the Best Western, she bragged to stranger at the bar at Stuart Ale House of being "Willie Gary's mistress" and that she would soon "celebrate" Gary's birthday in a hotel. There's also a police report in the Miami area that indicates Nedd may have accused someone else of sexual assault.

Let's see:

Stuart Ale House? Check.
Best Western? Check.
Meeting Gary's son through fitness coach husband? Check.

Stuff of Carl Hiaasen novel? Most definitely.