Judge Cohen once again took the cowards way out.

A judge delayed another ruling in a Marlins stadium lawsuit Wednesday, adding to the team's concerns about being able to break ground for its new ballpark in November.

Car dealer Norman Braman is fighting in court to stop the stadium project, which is part of a $3 billion public-works megaplan in Miami.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jeri Beth Cohen indicated it could be next week or later before she rules on whether the stadium serves a "paramount public purpose," as required to receive tax support. 

Who knows, maybe she will stretch this ruling out too until after the late August election.  I don't know how many Marlins fans vote, but she is not helping her reelection campaign.

I normally don't put a lot of stock in what Samson says, but this time, I think he is right.

"It's caused delays," Samson said. "We haven't quantified them yet. We're not sure what it all means yet. This case continues to be ongoing and we will see what happens in the next couple of weeks up and through early September."

Oh, please quantify it.  And if the county gets a favorable ruling, sue Braman for the monetary value of the delay.  It will have to be Miami-Dade to sue him since the Marlins aren't liable for this type of delay in construction

Then there is this:

Both sides have said they would appeal an unfavorable decision.

Fantastic </sarcasm>.  This on top of the already imposed delays by the judge, it just keeps getting better and better.

Samson went on to say:

"From our standpoint, there's nothing in this complaint that would lead to a referendum for the baseball stadium," Samson said.

While he is correct in that the ballpark could possibly be spun off since it doesn't fit the criteria of the suit, it would leave the county a decision.  Assuming an unfavorable ruling and the referendum didn't pass, whether to cancel the baseball agreement and pay the city and the Marlins back for their expenses up until this point and continue to fund the Center for Performing Arts with tourist taxes.  Or find another way to payoff the bonds for the CPA which doesn't include property taxes.

The little bit of shining news is this:

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who did not attend the trial, said the team, city and county plan to proceed with ballpark plans.

"I'm committed to keeping baseball in Miami, creating jobs and revitalizing Little Havana," Diaz said.

Of course the city and the Marlins have nothing to lose (monetarily) by continuing on as planned.  But the problem is that it is the county's stadium and they are funding the major portion of the stadium and they are the ones in the lawsuit with judge "I can't make a decision".

Good times.