Judge denies former Lynn Haven mayor's call for dismissal of criminal case against her
TALLAHASSEE — District Court Judge Mark Walker has rejected motions by former Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson and co-defendant James Finch to have the federal government's criminal cases against them dismissed.
He did so, however, with a stern warning to the prosecution.
Walker noted that he had now granted "at least in part" four motions filed by attorneys for the accused, and strongly indicated he likely would not be receptive to the government seeking "another faulty indictment" in the case.
"The Government does not get unlimited bites at the apple," Walker's order of dismissal states. "Indeed, at a certain point, when the government cannot return a facially valid indictment despite having three opportunities to do so, one may begin to suspect that the issue is with the government’s case, not its draftsmanship."
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On Tuesday, Walker set a new trial date in the case for Nov. 28.
The judge's straightforward warning did not, however, dissuade prosecutors from on Thursday filing, "with the utmost respect," papers seeking to have Walker reconsider a decision he has made at least twice.
Walker was asked to consider re-evaluating his decision to toss out a charge that Anderson and Finch conspired to commit honest services fraud against the citizens of Lynn Haven.
In June, Walker ruled again that prosecutors could not proceed with the conspiracy charge. He said again that in two of the five examples the government laid out as proof of conspiracy it had failed to make a reasonable case.
The judge has consistently declined to throw out 25 additional criminal charges facing Anderson and Finch. Those include 17 counts of honest services wire fraud, five counts of theft or bribery, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of perjury.
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Anderson was initially indicted Aug. 18, 2020, along with then-Lynn Haven City Attorney Adam Albritton, on more than 60 federal charges. Finch's name was added to the Anderson/Albritton indictment in March of 2021 alongside that of Antonius Barnes, a former Lynn Haven city councilman.
Albritton and Barnes have pleaded guilty in the case.
In the motion to dismiss the case in its entirety, attorneys for Anderson and Finch argued that the indictment should be thrown out because the government had violated discovery orders and displayed misconduct before the grand jury that indicted the pair.
It also called for dismissal of the case in chief because, it said, prosecutors had violated the Sixth Amendment by intruding into their relationships with their attorneys. Government investigators have pointed out in court filings that Finch has paid his longtime lawyer at least a half-million dollars to represent Anderson.
Walker — who has presided over a lengthy hearing on the motions to dismiss, and has received hundreds of pages of briefing material in the case — said he found a dismissal of the case unwarranted despite his belief "the government’s conduct in this case falls well short of this court’s expectations."
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Former Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson's criminal case will proceed
