It’s official: No charges for Miami judge in window-bashing incident

A Miami-Dade judge accused of using a metal pipe to smash a man’s truck windshield in the Florida Keys won’t be charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief.

The decision by prosecutors was no surprise. Monroe County deputies last month had already asked a Key West judge to withdraw an arrest warrant signed in July after Brennan paid restitution to the truck’s owner.

Brennan was never arrested, although deputies briefly wanted her to surrender. The story escaped notice until the Miami Herald and the Keynoter broke the news last month.

The case was put in limbo after Key West’s top prosecutor recused her office from investigation. The governor’s office assigned Lee County prosecutors to the case, and they announced at a court hearing Thursday that they would not press charges.

“After a thorough investigation, Judge Brennan has been exonerated of any wrongdoing,” her attorney, Daniel Lurvey, said in a statement. “She was never arrested or charged and this matter is concluded.”

Brennan was temporarily moved from the criminal division after the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office asked that she be disqualified from their cases in her court. The reason: She never disclosed her legal woes to lawyers in her division.

It was unclear Thursday if and when she would return to the criminal bench.

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 7:10 PM with the headline "It’s official: No charges for Miami judge in window-bashing incident."