Judge Cohen, once again, sided with Team Braman.
Sarah Talalay fills us in.
File this under: Nothing is ever simple when it comes to the ballpark. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Jeri Beth Cohen was all ready to slam the door on auto dealer Norman Braman’s case this afternoon, but we’ll have to wait until Oct. 2 for her final ruling. That’s because the re-hearing period for the Florida Supreme Court ruling issued last week (the one Cohen was waiting for before deciding in Braman’s case if a referendum is needed on a portion of the financing for the $3 billion in Miami projects) doesn’t expire until then. Braman’s attorney Bob Martinez convinced Cohen to wait, saying he wants time to study the ruling and protect his client’s interest. But that wasn’t before Marlins attorney Sandy Bohrer raised a fuss about any more delays. “The time for the final ruling has come,” Bohrer told the court. “It’s over. The Supreme Court has ruled.” But Cohen wasn’t having any of Bohrer’s arguments. She clearly wants to follow the Supreme Court, which after a re-hearing reversed its own opinion from a year ago and said referendums are not required to issue bonds for large public projects. --- After the hearing, Martinez said since the Supreme Court opinion isn’t final until the re-hearing period has expired, he wants time to review it. “The fact of the matter is we are going to be appealing,” Martinez said. “The fact that the defendants think we’re going to lose, they’ve articulated that. They’ve said as recently as two weeks ago, they’re going to move forward. Let them move forward. They have to deal with the reality we’re going to appeal.”
And the delays just keep coming. Have I mention that there is no way on this planet that either Braman, Martinez or Cohen will make my this year's Christmas card list. I'm sure they are devastated.