Glenn Straub's lawyers ask appeals court to release Dave Aronberg's ex-wife's deposition

Insisting Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg wants to hide his ex-wife’s testimony to mask his own misdeeds, attorneys for a prominent Wellington developer  Friday asked an appeals court to reverse a ruling that keeps her deposition secret.

Claiming Glenn Straub’s right to a fair trial trumps Aronberg’s right to privacy, attorneys for Straub asked the 4th District Court of Appeal to make at least parts of Lynn Aronberg’s deposition public.

“Straub’s use of Lynn Aronberg’s deposition transcript is critical to his defense of the criminal charges against him,” attorney Michael Gottlieb and Larry Zink wrote in the 28-page appeal.

Both Dave and Lynn Aronberg were close friends with 38-year-old Jessica Nicodemo, who claimed Straub filed $77,380 in false liens against her homes in Wellington and Loxahatchee Groves to punish her for breaking up with him.

After an investigation that Straub’s attorneys say was orchestrated by Dave Aronberg, the 75-year-old Straub was charged with grand theft and two counts of filing false liens.

Aronberg, ex-wife once were close to Straub, girlfriend 

Contrary to Aronberg’s claims, he is not an “innocent third party,” who is being dragged into a case he knows nothing about, they said.

During a deposition, Nicodemo said she served as the Aronbergs "marital mediator" in 2017 before the couple divorced. While they were separated, Lynn Aronberg lived with Nicodemo for months. Dave Aronberg talked and texted with her regularly, Zink and Gottlieb said. He knew her personal problems and she knew his.

Not coincidentally, the attorneys said, the divorce coincided with the investigation of Straub. Aronberg built the case against Straub before turning it over to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office to prosecute, they claim.

Aronberg, a former state lawmaker and a regular TV commentator, went to court to keep Lynn Aronberg’s deposition secret because it would expose his involvement in the unusual case, the attorneys claim.

While a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office declined to comment on the appeal, Aronberg has maintained that he steadfastly refused to talk to Nicodemo about her claims against Straub, who he said he knew as an acquaintance and contributor to his political campaigns.

“I told Ms. Nicodemo that, if she believed a crime had occurred, she needed to speak to her local law enforcement agency who would then investigate," Aronberg said in an affidavit filed with the court. "If that agency believed probable cause existed, it would forward the matter to my office."

The affidavit was prepared by an attorney in his office. Aronberg has since hired two Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorneys to represent him in his efforts to keep the deposition sealed.

Judge only 'very small portions' need to be withheld

On Friday, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, Marc Freeman, reiterated Aronberg's insistence that he had nothing to do Straub's predicament.

“As we have previously stated, neither State Attorney Dave Aronberg nor this office has had any substantive involvement in the investigation or prosecution of this case,” Freeman said in a statement.

The appeal comes nearly a month after Broward County Circuit Judge Timothy Bailey refused to lift the seal he placed on Lynn Aronberg’s deposition last year.

Before doing so, he acknowledged there were parts of the deposition that were relevant to Straub’s defense. But, he said, there were “portions, very small portions” that were “confidential in nature.”

Aronberg’s attorney suggested removing “salacious” parts of Lynn Aronberg’s deposition. When Straub’s attorneys didn’t agree to the redaction, Bailey opted to keep the entire deposition sealed. His order also prevents attorneys and others who attended the deposition from revealing what she said.

Two weeks after Bailey's decision, Straub’s defense team filed papers, saying they would consider the suggested compromise. They asked Bailey to reconsider their request. He refused, setting the stage for the appeal.

Jane Musgrave covers federal and civil courts and occasionally ventures into criminal trials in state court. Contact her at jmusgrave@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Lawyers appeal ruling keeping state attorney's ex-wife's deposition secret