Defendant’s attacks against Broward state attorney are wrong
Editor’s note: Because state attorneys do not try cases in the “court of public opinion,” as State attorney Jack Campbell writes, he will not identify in this essay the two key people who are defendants in a major criminal case. Miami-Dade State attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle declared a potential conflict with prosecuting one of the defendants, which resulted in the case being transferred to Broward prosecutor Harold Pryor by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Our code of ethics requires that we identify the defendants as necessary context. They are former Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and lawyer-lobbyist William “Bill” Riley Jr., who had a relationship with Fernandez Rundle’s office.
We are the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association. Founded in 1969, our board consists of 19 of the 20 elected state attorneys in Florida. Our association represents the nearly 2,000 assistant state attorneys who serve the citizens of this great state, from Key West to Pensacola. We are constitutional officers, duty bound to follow the law. We are driven neither by money, nor celebrity, but a desire to serve. Today, we speak with one voice, honoring our commitment to defend the Constitution on behalf of the citizens who elected us.
It is the duty of the state attorney in the judicial circuit where a state crime occurs to prosecute defendants on behalf of the public. If there is ever a question whether a state attorney or any of his or her assistants cannot be fair and impartial for whatever reason, be it the defendant is a family member or close friend of a prosecutor in the circuit, or the defendant holds some public role in the community that has perceived influence over the state attorney’s office, the state attorney can request that the governor transfer the defendant’s case to another state attorney in another circuit. This transfer process is called “executive assignment” and happens regularly; in 2023 alone, Gov. Ron DeSantis reassigned the prosecution of 90 defendants to other circuits.
attorney for the 2nd Judicial Circuit. (Courtesy)” width=”250″ data-sizes=”auto” src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TFL-L-JackCampbell-01.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1″ data-attachment-id=”10124707″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TFL-L-JackCampbell-01.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1 620w,https://i0.wp.com/www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TFL-L-JackCampbell-01.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&ssl=1 780w,https://i0.wp.com/www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TFL-L-JackCampbell-01.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&ssl=1 810w,https://i0.wp.com/www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TFL-L-JackCampbell-01.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&ssl=1 1280w,https://i0.wp.com/www.sun-sentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TFL-L-JackCampbell-01.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&ssl=1 1860w”/>Jack Campbell is state attorney for the 2nd Judicial Circuit. (Courtesy)
Recently, a defendant who is alleged to have committed public corruption crimes in Miami-Dade County has mischaracterized the executive assignment process after his case was transferred by the governor to State attorney Harold Pryor’s office in Broward County. Specifically, this defendant launched a series of personal attacks against Pryor, and campaign-style flyers making similar claims have been mailed to Broward County voters. These flyers state they were paid for by a political action committee that lists the defendant as the chairperson. Pryor has responded to these attacks by simply saying, “Like every other case our office is assigned to handle, our assistant state attorneys will prosecute the case in the courtroom and the justice system.”
The truth is the governor assigned this defendant’s case to Broward County after Miami-Dade State attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle disqualified herself to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest since a witness in the case is related to an employee of her office. Like the other 90 reassignments this year, the governor properly transferred this case from Miami-Dade to Broward to assure the public and the defendant that the case will be fairly prosecuted.
Prosecutions of high-profile defendants are treated like all other prosecutions, but sometimes, defendants attack the motives of prosecutors rather than the facts of their alleged crimes. Nevertheless, we try our cases in the courtroom, based on the evidence and the law, and not in the court of public opinion. We neither have, nor want, that luxury. We operate in a world where facts do matter, and whatever we allege, we are expected to prove. Here, since the process for prosecution reassignment has been raised in public through the defendant’s statements and flyers produced on his behalf, we feel it important to explain why the governor will assign an outside state attorney to handle the prosecution of a case.
Jack Campbell of Tallahassee is president of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association and serves as state attorney for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties.
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