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July 29, 2010 |
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| July 17, 2009 |
By: Review staff |
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ne knock against former Miami U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta was that he had little, if any, trial experience.
That criticism won’t be leveled against the three men selected last week by the Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission as finalists for the position.
Each has deep roots in the federal system and has clocked plenty of time in the courtroom.
After interviews, 20 members of the regional JNC selected David Buckner, a shareholder with Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton in Coral Gables; Wifredo “Willy” Ferrer, a Miami-Dade assistant county attorney; and Daryl Trawick, a Miami-Dade circuit judge.
The next step in the process is for the finalists to meet with U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, and they send the slate to President Obama if they have no reservations.
Acosta was appointed dean of Florida International University’s law school. Interim U.S. Attorney Jeff Sloman interviewed to replace him but did not get selected after being queried extensively about a prosecutorial misconduct investigation rocking the office.
Trawick thanked the commission for having confidence in him. Buckner and Ferrer did not return phone calls for comment. All three have served as federal prosecutors in Miami.
“I know all three of them,” said former U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis, a partner at Lewis Tein in Miami. “My hat’s off to the committee for recommending — and this applies to the judge candidates they selected as well — a diverse and just thoroughly solid and strong set of candidates.”
For the seat vacated by U.S. District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley, the JNC recommended Wednesday Miami-Dade Circuit Judges Jerald Bagley and Robert Scola Jr., and Federal Public Defender Kathleen Williams.
Ferrer had ties to the Clinton administration. He was a White House fellow while serving as an assistant to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and was the deputy chief of staff to Attorney General Janet Reno.
“It’s an honor to be among the finalists,” Ferrer said. He said he did not know when he will meet with the senators.
“As a Cuban-American, he makes my community proud,” said attorney Roland Sanchez-Medina, president of the Cuban American Bar Association. “He is just an extraordinary guy.”
Buckner talked in his interview about his love for public service and how as a prosecutor he cut a defendant some slack on a sentencing recommendation because she was 17 at the time of the crime and had done time in solitary confinement. The judge chastised him and made Buckner bring in his supervisor. “Sometimes you have to stand up for what is right,” he said.
Trawick, who is serving on the criminal bench in Miami-Dade, said he has spent his professional life in public service. He was a Miami federal prosecutor before being named to the county bench in 1997 by Gov. Lawton Chiles and was promoted to circuit court in 2000 by Gov. Jeb Bush.
Trawick was asked if he would fire a prosecutor who acted unethically in a case. He answered, “Absolutely.”
The question was an example of how the prosecution of Dr. Ali Shaygan of Miami Beach permeated the interviews of U.S. attorney candidates.
Sloman, who was Acosta’s top deputy, ended up defending his office when interviewers asked about sanctions imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Alan S. Gold for prosecutorial misconduct in the Shaygan case.
Sloman said the most pressing issue in the office is getting through the Shaygan matter. Prosecutors assigned to the case and their supervisor have been reassigned, and the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating.
“It’s been tough, tough on our prosecutors,” he said. “When their integrity is attacked, it hurts a lot.”
John Pacenti can be reached at (305) 347-6638.
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