Lawyer Charged With Forging Signatures Of 7 Judges On Over 100 Court Documents

A Florida lawyer faces charges that he systematically forged the signatures of judges on court orders.

Gold Pen with Signature Line of DocumentThe only word for this story is “awesome.” Not in its standard, colloquial meaning of approval, but in its more literal meaning of filling one with sheer awe. Not just the “awe” that any lawyer would allegedly forge judges’ signatures — not once, not twice, but 114 times! — incredible though that is, but “awe” that no one in the clerk’s office bothered to notice and “awe” that, but for the attentiveness of only TWO of the seven judges involved, this could still be going on. Pardon me while I put a certain AC/DC song on a loop.

Attorney Jose Manuel Camacho, a graduate of the University of Miami Law School, reportedly admitted (though he has since pleaded not guilty) to forging the signatures of a gaggle of judges on court orders approving structured settlement deals for his clients. In Florida, judges have to approve this type of arrangement to guarantee it’s not a bum deal for the poor schmuck signing away their income stream for a lump sum of quick cash. Assuming we believe his admission, Camacho apparently didn’t think the bench was going to see things his clients’ way. Now he faces 14 counts of forgery.

The real losers in this story are the clerk’s office, which just kept taking in these documents without question, applying no effort to match up these orders — coming directly from the interested party, mind you — with the records of the judges themselves. F**king Kim Davis is a more diligent clerk.

[Broward Chief Administrative Judge Peter] Weinstein said the allegations raised in the case resulted in a change in the way judicial orders are filed.

I’d certainly hope so!

Lawyers are no longer trusted as officers of the court to deliver signed orders to the clerk’s office, Weinstein said. “A deputy of the clerk now has to go to the judges’ offices to pick up the orders,” he said.

Such an imposition.

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Amazingly, only two of the judges involved — Judges Marina Garcia-Wood and Carlos Rodriguez — noticed something amiss. It sounds crazy that five judges would never notice orders being entered in their names, but it’s still Broward County, where judges are drunk all the time — with multiple Broward County judges racking up DUI arrests, including one judge arrested in the courthouse parking lot — when they aren’t acting like unprofessional jerks. So maybe we should just be glad anyone noticed the problem.

Because the Broward County courthouse is probably incompetent keen to avoid the appearance of impropriety, Camacho’s case is in the hands of Judge Ellen Sue Venzer of Miami-Dade County. Each count of forgery carries a five-year maximum. Given the apparent admission at the time of his arrest, things don’t look good for Camacho.

But, hey, all I’m saying is “Venzer” isn’t such a hard name to sign.

Lawyer is accused of forging judges’ signatures on more than 100 documents [ABA Journal]
Lawyer accused of forging signatures of seven Broward judges [Sun-Sentinel]

Earlier: Three Judges From Same Court Busted For DWI
Unprofessional Judge Calls Public Defender Unprofessional
Tosh.0 Gives a Rather ‘Cocky’ Defendant a Web Redemption

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