Carollo federal trial shifts to Miami as Fort Lauderdale recovers from record rainfall
The trial of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo, accused in a federal civil lawsuit of abusing his authority to target Little Havana businesses, is moving south to Miami — at least temporarily.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Smith told attorneys representing Carollo and businessmen William Fuller and Martin Pinilla that the trial will be moved to Miami’s federal courthouse until further notice because of the clean-up following the historic downpour that flooded much of downtown Fort Lauderdale, where the trial began early last week.
The Broward County jury already chosen to hear the case, the judge said, would be accommodated with transportation to Miami. It was unclear if the move would last the duration of the trial.
Last Wednesday, a rain system unexpectedly stalled over Fort Lauderdale, leaving almost 26 inches of rain in its wake, flooding homes and businesses and causing the shutdown of Broward County schools and Hollywood-Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Though most of the flooding had subsided by this week, the cleanup continued. Schools and the airport reopened. It wasn’t immediately clear how badly the rainfall damaged the Broward County Federal Courthouse on Broward Boulevard, where the first week of the trial took place.
Carollo’s civil trial was originally to take place at Miami’s Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse before Judge Federico Moreno. At some point it was transferred to Federal Judge Rodney Smith — such transfers are not particularly unusual — who was in Miami at the time. But before the trial began Smith transferred courts to Broward County, where the trial began two weeks ago. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2018.
Carollo, Miami’s most controversial and longest-tenured commissioner, has denied claims by Fuller and Pinilla that he abused his elected position and pressured managers in Miami to send code enforcement officers to investigate several of the men’s businesses. The duo say Carollo began his attacks almost as soon as they began to publicly support Alfonso “Alfie” Leon, whom Carollo defeated in a runoff in 2017.
They’re seeking damages of $2.4 million and punitive costs.
