A Miami judge has tossed out the second local case of illegal voting brought by the state of Florida’s new Office of Election Crimes and Security.
The office has been a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis. So far, the state’s prosecutor has had a mixed outcome but vows to appeal to a higher court.
Two cases in Miami-Dade County have been dismissed over jurisdiction by two separate judges.
One accused woman in central Florida pleaded no contest and will get time already served. The state dropped another case for a central Florida man because he already was on his way to prison.
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The latest case involved Ron Miller. Because he was convicted of murder 32 years ago, he was not legally allowed to vote. However, in the confusion after Amendment Four returned voting rights to many Florida felons, he thought he could. He was asked outside of a grocery store by a person registering voters.
His information was reviewed by the Florida Secretary of State’s office and the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections sent him a voter identification card. Since he received the card in the mail he believed he was approved to vote and casted a ballot in November 2020.
"Why did I receive the card, if I wasn’t supposed to have the card. When I received the card, I thought my rights were restored and I went and used the card,” said Miller.
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His attorneys argued the case should be tossed out because the state prosecutor only has the power to take cases involving two or more jurisdictions. Since Miller lives and voted in Miami-Dade County, they argued his case should’ve been handled by the local prosecutor, not the state.
“To me the whole thing was quite frankly ridiculous. I mean, we were looking forward to going to trial. There’s no doubt in my mind that he would be found not guilty because there’s no criminal intent,” said attorney Robert Barrar.
In a short ruling late Wednesday evening, Circuit Court Judge Laura Anne Stuzin sided with Miller, dismissing the case. She called state law on the matter "unambiguous" and added that the “OSP (Office of State Prosecutor) does not have the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute the defendant as part of a related transaction in two or more judicial courts."
“To me the whole thing has been a big waste of money and a big waste of time,” said Barrar, believing the state should never have brought the case.
Earlier this year, before the November election, DeSantis held a press conference announcing 20 arrests with his new office.
The state argued since voter information is reviewed in Tallahassee, that creates another jurisdiction. In a brief statement, the state prosecutor wrote NBC 6 that this legal fight is not over.
“We will appeal. As cases are ongoing, we cannot comment further,” said Nick Cox, the state prosecutor.
“We disagree with this jurisdictional ruling. Given that elections violations of this nature impact all Florida voters, elections officials, state government, and the integrity of our republic, we continue to view the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution as the appropriate agency to prosecute these crimes," DeSantis press secretary Brian Griffin said in a statement.
The state has already made the appeal for the previous Miami case dismissed. The statewide prosecutor and solicitor general’s office will take their case to the 3rd District Court of Appeal.
