Two Miami businessmen who last year won a damages award of more than $63 million against Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo for free-speech violations are now suing in state court to have Carollo removed from his elective office.
William Fuller, Martin Pinilla II and a third plaintiff, businesswoman Denise Galvez Turros, filed the latest lawsuit in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court on Jan 18, arguing that the Miami City Charter requires public officials who have violated residents’ individual rights to forfeit their offices.
In June of last year, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida ordered Carollo to pay $34.3 million to Fuller for violations of his rights to free speech or assembly. And the same jury ordered Carollo to pay Pinilla $29.2 million for free-speech violations.
During the trial, the two businessmen alleged that the commissioner infringed on their free-speech rights by using his office to damage their reputations because they endorsed Carollo’s political challenger in 2017.
An attorney for Carollo said the commissioner would fight the latest lawsuit.
“Mr. Fuller’s and Mr. Pinilla’s latest filing is nothing more than hyperbolic headline chasing designed to intimidate, harass and prevent Commissioner Carollo, the elected representative of District 3, from representing his constituents,” attorney Benedict Kuehne said in an email to the Florida Record. “On its face, the complaint appears to be wholly without merit and unsupported by law. Commissioner Carollo intends to vigorously defend against this frivolous bad-faith filing.”
Carollo remains focused on representing the citizens of Miami even while he appeals the previous federal court judgment, Kuehne said.
“Commissioner Carollo is hopeful that he will receive due process and that his long-pending motions for new trial and to stay execution of the judgment will be resolved soon,” he said. “Commissioner Carollo strongly believes that the judgment will be overturned.”
The state court filing contends that Carollo’s actions were not just intended to hurt Fuller and Pinilla but also aimed to curb political activities and speech by people associated with the two businessmen, including plaintiff Galvez Turros.
“Accordingly, (the) plaintiffs hereby file this action against the city of Miami and Joe Carollo demanding a declaration, pursuant to the Miami City Charter, that Joe Carollo, as a ‘public official’ who has been found ‘by the court to have willfully violated’ the Citizens’ Bill of Rights, must immediately ‘forfeit his or her office or employment.’”
Galvez Turros, who owns Go To Marketing LLC, is alleged in the latest lawsuit to have been defamed by Carollo and City Attorney Victoria Mendez after Galvez Turros exposed “corruption of the city attorney” in the news media, according to the lawsuit.
Mendez has said that the litigation represents an attempt to force Miami to continue spending public funds unnecessarily to defend itself against serial lawsuits.
The plaintiffs are seeking a speedy court hearing – by Feb. 18 – since no discovery period is needed given that the allegations are established by the federal jury verdict and related court actions, the complaint says.
A writ of garnishment has also been issued against Carollo by the federal court so that up to 25% of his earnings can be withheld and go toward the jury’s judgment