Judge denies Damien Gilliams' bid to remove 'no-contact' restrictions of his appeals bond

VERO BEACH — Damien Herman Gilliams may be back on the Sebastian ballot two years after a recall vote ousted him, but he must campaign under the restrictions of an appeals bond granted him last year, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Gilliams, 62 and his son, Damien Lee Fey Gilliams, are vying with five other candidates who also qualified to run for two open seats on the council during the Nov. 8 election.

During a hearing Tuesday, the elder Gilliams lost a bid to modify the terms of a no-contact order that requires he remain 100 feet away from certain Sebastian officials, including City Manager Paul Carlisle, City Clerk Jeanette Williams, and Councilman Ed Dodd and outgoing Mayor Jim Hill, who is not seeking reelection.

Specifically, except for legal proceedings, Gilliams must not “knowingly” come within 100 feet of the officials named in the bond order, which includes at Sebastian City Hall, their vehicles or within 500 feet of their homes, court records show.

The city officials he must stay clear of all testified on behalf of the state during his May 2021 trial.

Gilliams, who was a perennial candidate until he was elected in 2019, was found guilty of three counts of Sunshine Law violations and one count of perjury. He was removed from office by a recall vote Sept. 15, 2020.

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He had been charged for holding an illegal City Council meeting during which he and council members Charles Mauti and Pamela Parris voted to remove Mayor Ed Dodd and fire the city manager, city clerk and city attorney. Gilliams is appealing his convictions.

'No-contact' appeals bond

Assistant State Attorney Felicia Holloman Tuesday said the state had objected to easing any of the no-contact terms ordered last year by Circuit Judge Michael Linn.

“The state's position was that (Gilliams) and his attorney had agreed to these conditions of bond — to have no contact with the state's witnesses at the time of the sentencing when they requested the bond,” Holloman said.

After Gilliams was ordered to serve a total of about six months in jail and pay fines of $2,500, he was granted an appeals bond as he challenges his convictions and sentence before the 4th District Court of Appeal seated in West Palm Beach.

State law allows certain defendants after conviction to be freed on bond while an appeal is pending, which Linn permitted over the objection of state prosecutors.

After Tuesday’s hearing, lawyer Jeffrey Garland said while Gilliams was disappointed “because it limits his ability to campaign,” they won’t appeal Circuit Judge Robert Meadows’ order.

“Fortunately, the electors will get to decide,” Garland said via text. “Too bad that the state has made a very unequal playing field.”

In court papers, Garland noted this was the 10th time Gilliams has been a candidate for the Sebastian City Council. The terms of his appeals bond, Garland argued, make it impossible for his client to run for city council.

“In effect, the election would be rigged in favor of Ed Dodd,” Garland wrote in a motion to modify the bond terms.

The motion had asked Meadows to eliminate or remove the contact restrictions that “violate the defendant’s constitutional right to attend public meetings, violate the defendant’s constitutional rights to association and speech … and distort the electoral process by effectively rigging the election in favor of the incumbent.”

Dodd, who testified for the state during Tuesday’s hearing, could not be reached for comment.

Holloman though, said Meadows made the right call by not modifying the terms of Gilliams’ no-contact order.

“It's always the state's concern that our witnesses be protected. And all of these individuals are state witnesses … in the event that an appeal is granted and the case comes back for retrial,” she said. “We want to make sure that our witnesses are not being harassed by this defendant in the meantime.”

It’s unclear when the 4th DCA will rule on Gilliams’ appeal but Garland said it’s not expected before the election.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalmn.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Damien Gilliams case: Judge upholds no-contact bond order