Trial of suspended Miami-Dade commissioner set for April, lawyers vow to reject deals

A judge on Thursday set an April trial for suspended Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez as his lawyers press for a quick court date that could help put the veteran politician back in office.

Defense lawyers asked for no delays in setting a trial date, attorneys on both sides said, at the brief hearing before Circuit Court Judge Lody Jean, as the Martinez camp described a defendant eager to get before a jury.

“Commissioner Martinez is not guilty. He pleaded not guilty,” Martinez lawyer Benedict Kuehne said after the hearing. “He intends to hear a jury say those words: ‘not guilty.’ ”

READ MORE: A pugnacious former police officer, Miami-Dade’s Joe Martinez now fighting the law

Jean set the trial to start April 17.

Ed Griffith, a spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on the potential for a plea agreement in the Martinez case or whether one had been offered.

In August, prosecutors charged Martinez, 65, with two felony counts: receiving unlawful compensation and conspiracy to receive unlawful compensation.

He’s alleged to have received $15,000 five years ago from the owner of a supermarket in a commercial center facing county fines for illegal use of cargo containers for storage.

The owner of the center asked Martinez for help in 2017, and Martinez’s office drafted legislation that would have allowed the containers to remain. Martinez pulled the legislation from the approval pipeline before it received a vote.

Martinez called the charges politically motivated and said the payments were from work he did before taking office in 2016.

A former Miami-Dade police lieutenant, Martinez is weighing a potential candidacy for county sheriff, an office that is being reinstated in 2024. He held the District 11 commission seat representing a large swath of West Miami-Dade between 2000 and 2012 and was elected again in August 2016.

Aside from the 15 years in prison Martinez could face if convicted of receiving unlawful compensation, the timing of his trial carries political stakes, too. Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended the fellow Republican on Sept. 20, using his power to temporarily remove from office an elected official facing felony charges.

An acquittal wouldn’t automatically lift the suspension but would put pressure on DeSantis or the Florida Senate to reinstate Martinez. Facing term limits, Martinez would be forced to give up his commission seat permanently in November 2024, no matter the outcome of the criminal case.

For now, the District 11 seat is occupied by a DeSantis appointee who would be free to run for the seat for a full four-year term in 2024, even if Martinez gets his old position back. Roberto Gonzalez, a Republican lawyer who ran for the Florida House this year, took office on Nov. 23 after an appointment from DeSantis placed him in the District 11 seat.

This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 5:42 PM.