Opening salvo fired in Rivera v. Llorente

Miami political consultant David Custin last night sent out a scorching attack on Rep. David Rivera, calling him "unfit to serve the people of District 38 in the State Senate" and pledging an all-out campaign to defeat him in favor of Rep. Marcello Llorente, also a Miami Republican.

"Whatever you do, I urge you NOT to commit to help or support David Rivera in any way, shape or form," Custin wrote to lobbyists. "By the time the Republican primary takes place in 2010, the electorate in SD-38 will be made clearly aware of Rivera's horrible record of using his political positions to put his own personal interests over that of this community. They will learn of Rivera's horrible voting record of putting the agenda of special interests above that of the people he was elected to represent.  And worst of all, the electorate will learn of his bad moral character and why he is unfit to serve the people of District 38 in the State Senate. All of this information will be documented and factual, and it will educate the public." (full text here.)

The official special session call is out

We told you it was going to happen, and here is the official procedural special session call. Read it here It starts at 11 a.m. next Monday, Jan. 5 and ends (gulp) at midnight on Jan. 16th.

Read the memo that accompanied the letter on the jump.

Interesting, the call mentions fees but specifically excludes fees related to alcohol and tobacco.

Rivera to run for Florida Senate

This isn't the biggest surprise, but Rep. David Rivera filed today to run for Senate District 38, the seat now occupied by Sen. Alex Villalobos. The Times-Herald also hears that Rep. Marcelo Llorente and Rep. Anitere Flores are also considering running for that seat.

Greer courts RNC members

Check out the letter the RPOF chairman Jim Greer wrote to RNC members on the jump. He's sort of coy about running for RNC chair but says he'll have a decision soon.

Supeme Court overturns death penalty case

The Florida Supreme Court made an unusual decision on Monday and agreed to overturn the death sentence of Willie H. Nowell who was convicted for first-degree murder. They remanded the case back to the trial court with new directions for a new trial.

The Florida high court rarely overturns death penalty cases. In this Brevard County case, judges agreed that the trial court judge made a mistake by not not ruling that the prosecutor had made improper comments during his closing arguments in the trial's penalty phase, by arguing that Nowell didn't deserve "mercy." They also ruled that the prosecution made the mistake of trying to rule out a juror based on his race, Hispanic. Check it out here.

Attorneys defend the JNC

A group of 25 attorneys has written a letter to JNC Supreme Court chairman Robert Hackleman supporting their work. The Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, which met via a phone conference two weeks ago, at Gov. Charlie Crist's request, to consider submitting more Supreme Court finalists.

They attacked a letter written last week by a group of 17 high-powered attorneys criticizing the JNC selection process, saying, "their lawyerly cloak is a thinly-veiled attack on the underlying substance, namely the most recent nominee added to the list sent to the Governor for consideration."

The pro-JNC letter was signed by a group that included Rep. Darryl Rouson, Mac Stipanovich, Chuck Hobbs, legal adviser to Florida NAACP, Raquel Rodriquez,former legal counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush, and lobbyists/attorneys Wilber Brewton, Fred Karlinsky,  Adam Babington and Mark Delegal, among others.

Tallahassee paper: 'Give it up, Mr. Sansom'

The Tallahassee Democrat has joined the chorus of Florida editorial boards demanding that House Speaker Ray Sansom choose either his legislative job or the one at Northwest Florida State College paying $110,000 a year.

An editorial in today's paper chastises Gov. Charlie Crist, saying he has "practically ignored the situation," adding that State Attorney Willie Meggs has "enough jurisdiction over chicanery in the capital district to at least begin an investigation" of Sansom.

"Mr. Sansom has already created a terrible legacy for himself, further contaminated legislative credibility with the public and stained his party's honor. What more can he possibly have in mind?" the Democrat asks. The editorial is here: "Speaking of subterfuge: Give it up, Mr. Sansom," Dec. 30.

Sansom's boss feared 'populist' Crist

The man who brought House Speaker Ray Sansom to Northwest Florida State College does not appear to be a big fan of Gov. Charlie Crist.

In several e-mails before Sansom took the $110,000 a year job, college president Bob Richburg is critical of the governor and worries he may veto some of the projects Sansom helped fund.

"He is such a populous (sic) that I could see him stepping in at the last minute and vetoing the work that you and others have done," Richburg to Sansom wrote last December. "I guess that goes for our projects as well." We previously reported a similar effort by Richburg and others to counter Crist's veto power.

Sansom hires attorney

House Speaker Ray Sansom had retained ethics lawyer Richard Coates to handle the complaint a Clearwater man filed after Sansom got a $110,000 job at Northwest Florida State College.

Coates is a well-known lawyer in Tallahassee and has appeared numerous times before the Florida Commission on Ethics. Among others, Coates has defended former state CFO Tom Gallagher in a stock trading case that was dropped after Gallagher lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Charlie Crist.

"He welcomes an independent review of this matter and he's going to fully cooperate," Coates said, adding that Sansom has retained him, not the Republican Party of Florida, the Florida House or another entity.

Joe Theismann: Florida, don't party too hard

Legendary quarterback Joe Theismann is headed to Tallahassee next week to urge safe and responsible tailgating as Tampa prepares to host the Super Bowl.

TURF -– Tailgaters Urging Responsibility and Fun -- includes the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America and other groups and preaches the virtue of designated drivers and having plenty of food to go along with alcohol.

Theismann will appear at the Capitol next Tuesday from 1 to 2 p.m., according to a news release.