Manatee County

Jim Slater sat in on my first felony trial, a Sale of Cocaine case
before Judge Smith. I remember him telling me to stand up and object, which I did, and was then promptly overruled. The point Jim was making was that we all need to stand up and fight to protect our rights. We will lose some battles, but we should never surrender, and he never did. Anyway, we got a ten minute Not Guilty verdict on that Good Friday, March 24th, 1989, and I will never forget what he taught me.
David Ehlers

Many days have passed since your death and it is still hard to believe that you'll never walk through the Public Defender's doors again. I will miss you yelling for Schaefer and walking on "Jim Patrol" but mostly I'll miss your voice. It's hard to believe you can work in one place for 17 years and become so accustom to your co-workers comings and goings that sometimes you just forget to listen. You will truly be missed by all and will never be replaced by none. See you in the world to come.
Vicki Woehle

We are all still in such shock. Reading the thoughts shared here about Jim just echo my feelings. We have lost a dedicated legal champion, an excellent teacher and mentor, a great gentleman and a true friend. Our pain and sense of loss is beyond belief.
I first met Jim when assigned to go to the Bradenton office to assist both him and Elliott on the Heather Ciambrone case. Since that first case, Jim and I struggled to keep each other sane as we grappled with thousands of details, facts, witnesses and pieces of evidence from that and other huge cases like Joey DelToro and Larry Parks. His faith in my ability to be his “detail person” truly inspired me to succeed and work ever harder to do a good job for him. For years I’ve worked with attorneys from all across the country and never before, have I met someone with the amazing ability to keep so many balls juggling in the air at one time and keep so many people not just busy, but productive. And he did it the whole time never once forgetting that we are all individuals with our own feelings, problems, and ideas and he always made time to talk and share a laugh and encourage each member of his staff.
I’ve learned so much from working with Jim in these last few years and feel truly honored to have been a part of his defense team. He and I both shared a love of gadgets and he was always so excited to show me his new and latest toy. In fact, the last time we spoke he had finally decided to buy that little blue Lexus convertible he's had his eye on for so long now...
Rest in peace Jim, you’ve been a good friend and will be loved and missed always.
Nancy Smith (aka - Slater’s redhead)


Tom Beach wrote:
In memory of Jim:I'll forever remember my first months in felonies. Jim assigned me to take over a case load from Schaefer. Specifically, I had the rare opportunity of one on one training from Steven. One day, we were in Schaefer's office, perhaps, working on our golf swing, arguing with Eger about any and every conceivable topic, and/or the law. Be that as it may. Jim came into the office, threw a few barbs in Schaefer's direction (completely unrelated to anything we were doing), to which Schaefer, not to be out done, criticized Jim's shirt and ability to use an iron (how Schaeferesk), finally Jim said, "I can see putting Beach in Schaefer's hands is going to be a huge mistake." Everyone laughed. Jim, I will truly miss you!

Jennifer Fury said...
I worked with Jim for the first time on the Heather Ciambrone case. His faith in me, this new felony attorney from Virginia, was an honor. He never worried about me, or asked if I could handle it. He just assumed I was up to the task and gave me work to do. But that was Jim. Class act. Always. I was standing in his office this morning and it was almost too much to bear. He was so "there", in the room still. His presence, his endless energy, his creative view of cases and life. And as I sit here now, I can almost hear his distinctive laugh down the hallway, laughing at Schaefer or something Larry said.This profession has lost a scholar,this community has lost a true advocate,this office has lost a damn fine lawyer,and we all have lost an incredibly fine and honorable human being.

I am so sorry about the loss of Jim. He was a great boss and a wonderful friend. He meant so much to me. I am deeply hurt. I will never forget him. My deepest sympathy to the family and to the public defenders office. God bless everybody.
Agnes Owen, Public Defenders office in Manatee County.

Katie Trefrey wrote:
I sit at my desk in disbelief regarding the news of Jim. The stunning sensation of his loss has overwhelmed this office leaving behind a tremendous void . His high energy, enthusiasm and compassion will be sorely missed. Most often throughout the day Jim monitored the hallway and could be heard from afar joking and laughing! I truly hope he knows that his PD family will forever miss him.


Cheryl Odle-Speed said...
In memory of Jim:
Jim's passing has devastated so many people and is such a great loss. The last couple of days have been been extremely hard for all of us @ the Public Defender's Office.
I have so many good memories of Jim. He was a great person to be around and he and I were always harassing each other. I felt very comfortable around Jim. He would listen to me and at least consider what I had to say.
Jim was not only my boss but a very good friend. Woodie and I boated with Jim in the Keys for 18 days last summer and it was the best time we have ever had there. We toasted to good friends from the back of our boat and that is truly what he was.
Jim trusted me with some projects that I was not sure I could accomplish but, he had faith in me and that faith helped me to succeed.
I can't even begin to express what Jim meant to me and oh! How I will miss him. I have known him for 16 years and I feel extremely blessed to have been his friend.
The office will never be the same and the void will be great.
The candy fund will for sure suffer, ha!
Hats off to you, Jim
Cheryl Odle-Speed

Cyndi Smith said...
Jim - I truly loved working with you. I learned so much working with such a great leader that you were. You were like a father figure to me also, showing me so much compassion at times when I had problems of my own. You were a true friend. This office will never be the same without you. I will always miss you calling me "Cyn" in your sweet way and your cute little sing-song-ey voice when you were being funny or wanted to ask a special favor. Don't think for one minute that we won't be thinking about you on a daily basis and saying to ourselves "how would Jim want us to do this - ?" As my tears are flowing now trying to write this, I will close by saying you will be forever loved and missed. I love you, Cyndi, your Legal Assistant.

Terry Remijio said...
Jim, I've had the pleasure of working alongside you for so many years, yet now as it has abruptly ended it wasn't long enough.
I thank you for your kindness, your generosity. I thank you for your compassion during my own bout of cancer. I thank you for your levity getting me through those difficult depositions. I thank you for your patience during the times I couldn't hold it in.
You will be missed by many for a very long time. I can only hope your stay in Heaven is surrounded by chocolate, because only then will I know for sure you are well taken care of.
I will miss you more than you will ever know.


Jim, it is so difficult for me to speak of you in the past tense. You have been my mentor, leader, and friend. I have worked closely with Jim for well over a decade investigating our death penalty cases. Jim was an excellent trial lawyer and master strategist. Jimm sincerely cared about the overall welfare of our clients and made sure we did too. What will be do without you Jim?
We'll miss you monitoring the halls every morning and afternoon. We called it the "Jim Patrol". Jim would literally peek his head into every office, making sure the troops were at their work stations ready to man their posts for the day. I'll miss the magical ring in your voice when you slowly pronounced every syllable of my name. I won't forget how you ended up with the Cheetah Head and Steven's Thor hat at last years Christmas Round Robin - funny sight! I will never forget how you stretched us and prodded us to becoming bonafide professionals of our crafts. You have left behind a legacy of excellence.
In between winning the Parks sexual battery case and trying the murder case, those in the criminal justice labled us the "Dream Team". We have been a good and cohesive defense team but only because you were at the helm. There is now an empty seat at the table. Who will bring the roasted almonds and cashews - Steven?
We are all falling apart now, deeply grieved over our loss. It's a devastating blow but we shall recover. Davis is still taking very good care of us, like always. Enjoy the journey my friend and rest assured that we'll keep your legacy alive. We will be mindful of the things for which you had a passion. Thank you Jim for making us all feel that we were a viable, necessary, and important part of the greater work. I love you Jim and we'll see you later!
Beverly Powell