Prosecutors in Runcie case blast his lawyers’ dismissal argument

Defense attorneys for Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie argued earlier this month that the statewide grand jury that indicted him on a perjury charge in April strayed from its scope when it charged him since its jurisdiction is limited to crimes that happen in more than one county, and his alleged offense occurred only in Broward, they said.

The prosecution responded Thursday, calling the language in the May 11 motion “next-level sophistry.” And, regardless of the interpretation of the statewide grand jury’s jurisdiction, the crime in which Runcie is charged did happen in more than one county, the prosecutors said.

Runcie is accused of lying to the grand jury while testifying under oath about whether he contacted at least one person on the witness list of another case the grand jury was investigating. Grand jury proceedings are conducted in secret.

Prosecutor Richard Mantei, who works for Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, said in Thursday’s filing the conversation happened while Runcie was in Broward County and the person with whom he allegedly spoke was in another county.

And since the jurors listened to his testimony between March 31 and April 1 remotely from three different counties, that, too, meets the criteria of the statewide probe, Mantei said.

As a statewide grand jury, its investigation has to pertain to more than one county.

Prosecutors: Grand jury has jurisdiction in Runcie case

“Lying to that body occurred in the context of its investigative efforts ‘throughout the state of Florida.’ The Statewide Grand Jury was drawn from three separate Circuits,” Mantei wrote. “Moreover, when [Runcie] contacted at least one of the witnesses he lied about speaking with — certainly a ‘related transaction’ — the two were in different Circuits at the time.”

“Most significantly, when [Runcie] lied to the Statewide Grand Jurors, although he may have been physically located in Broward County, they were not — the Court had convened the session virtually, and the jurors attended from their home sites (in three Circuits) in secured fashion,” Mantei said.

Runcie’s three criminal defense attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Mantei’s filing.

In their May 11 motion to dismiss, however, they maintained that neither the April 15 indictment nor any subsequent filings specify what prosecutors contend Runcie said that was untrue.

Mantei responded Thursday that the prosecution is not obligated to divulge before a trial the specific statement the jurors deemed to be a lie.

“The Statewide Grand Jury concluded that [Runcie] had testified falsely before them; while at the same time at least one false statement is required to be proven at trial, there is no requirements that the indictment itself recite the lie(s) verbatim,” Mantei wrote.

Gov. Ron DeSantis authorized the statewide grand jury in February 2019. It was tasked with investigating whether fraud was committed when school districts accepted millions of dollars from a state bond issue that were contingent on implementing school safety measures. The grand jury, which wrapped up its proceedings on April 17, also investigated whether on-campus crime was under-reported by the school district.

The Legislature mandated the school safety measures in the wake of the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Seventeen people were killed and 17 others were wounded by gunman Nikolas Cruz that day.

Days after Runcie’s indictment, he and the district’s general counsel, Barbara Myrick, offered to resign. The School Board approved a nearly $755,000 separation agreement for Runcie on May 11. A week earlier, the School Board approved Myrick’s $226,000 exit agreement.

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The district is in the process of finding interim replacements for both. Runcie will stay on until mid-August as his contract called for the district to give him 90 days’ termination notice. He will help in the transition process with a new interim superintendent. Myrick’s last day is June 30.

Mantei said he has phone records that show Runcie contacted someone on the grand jury witness list on March 30, the night before he gave his testimony to the grand jury on March 31 and April 1. Runcie, 59, pleaded not guilty. Myrick, charged with disclosing grand jury proceedings, is also fighting the charge.

Both administrators are accused of contacting at least one witness in a case the grand jury investigated that resulted in the January indictment of the school district’s former technology chief Tony Hunter. He’s charged with one count of bid tampering and one count of unlawful compensation. The case is pending, and Hunter has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say Hunter circumvented the district’s bidding process when he bought $17 million worth of flat screen monitors for the district from his friend’s company in Georgia.