Lawyer who wrote sadomasochistic novel is cutting ties with Miami State Attorney’s Office
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Two months after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office hired a lawyer to train new prosecutors, he is leaving the job amid controversy over his recently self-published novel rife with sexual violence and misogyny.
Steve Gosney, a Daytona Beach public defender, moved his family to Miami to start a job training new prosecutors and helping shore up some of the ethical issues that have encircled the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office this year.
But Gosney’s hiring became a controversy all its own when the Miami Herald reported on his recently self-published sex novel, Death Penalty Desires. The fictional book is full of crude sexual violence, including descriptions of a transgender person as a “man beast” with a “mutilated crotch,” and depicts female characters as having an intrinsic need to submit to a masculine man. Prosecutors in the book are craven and corrupt. A homeless person is a “grubby bum,” and an “Arab looking” doctor is referred to as a “camel jockey.”
The terms of Gosney’s departure are unclear. Spokesman Ed Griffith said in an email that “Mr. Gosney will be separating from our office in the upcoming weeks.”
Gosney, 56, was hired at a $105,000 salary — increasing to $110,000 after six months of probation — to bring a defense lawyer’s perspective at a time when the office is beset with accusations of cheating in trials, including by withholding evidence. Gosney was hired to train incoming classes of prosecutors, and to be involved with ethics, evidence issues and conviction integrity.
The local defense lawyers’ group that has been agitating for reforms reiterated Friday their desire for a prosecutorial integrity unit that addresses past misconduct and current ethical concerns.
“We sincerely hope that she will take seriously the search for the next person hired to address ethical concerns within the office,” said attorney Lauren Field Krasnoff, president of the Miami chapter of the Florida Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers. “There are countless well-qualified attorneys from outside of her office who could contribute to changing the culture at the office in a way that benefits the entire community.”
Gosney could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon. But he’d expressed frustration in recent social media posts, and told the Herald he didn’t understand why female readers would take offense.
“We live in a time when intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended,” says a meme posted on his Facebook page two days after the Herald article published.
In an interview with the Herald for that report, Gosney said he used salacious material to make his topic interesting. The book’s theme was that an innocent person can be sentenced to death.
His sex novel contained few positive depictions of women.
“Try not to psychoanalyze the author,” said Gosney, who has been married 25 years. “My wife if you wanna know the truth, she’s quite the tough cookie and she’s professional and working.”
In a series of X posts in July, Gosney called it “a ridiculous leap” to suggest he endorses the actions of his fictional characters.
“One of my favorite authors is Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein. Does this imply Ms. Shelley endorsed re-animation of the dead?” his post says.
He also posted a Biblical scripture, the Parable of the Sower from the New Testament. The parable, told by Jesus, describes seed falling on rocky or thorny ground and bearing no fruit, versus seed falling on “rich soil” where it can produce fruit.
How the State Attorney’s Office could be surprised by Gosney’s book is unclear. Hiring records obtained by the Herald show that Gosney was upfront about it — a little too upfront for some.
“Very self promoting about the books he has written and encouraged us repeatedly to purchase,” wrote Christine Zahralban, though still recommending he move forward in the interview process.
“Has blog and livestreams re cases,” she wrote after the March 29 interview. And he is “very Catholic” and opposed to the death penalty.
Interviewer Reid Rubin, a prosecutor, wrote that Gosney “tends to go off on tangents and was self promoting of his books.”
Both gave him high marks on legal knowledge, honesty, judgment and communication.
It does not appear that anyone advised Gosney that he might have to give up his activity as a “media personality,” the label he gives himself in a social media bio. But after his hire, Gosney indicated on social media that he was awaiting a ruling about it.
Besides selling his books from a personal website, Gosney participates in podcasts, and hosts live-streams that feature him drinking cocktails while discussing his books and legal issues with online friends. The office does not have a social media policy, but it does not allow prosecutors to “communicate with the press regarding any case” without permission, a written policy says.
A month after his initial interviews, Gosney was brought in to the office for interviews with the top echelon in Fernandez Rundle’s office: Howard Rosen, Nilo Cuervo, Steve Talpins, Kathleen Hogue and Deisy Hernandez, records show.
All were enthusiastic about him, giving him high marks and effusive compliments in their interview notes. Gosney had spent time as a prosecutor in Daytona Beach, until a new state attorney was hired and required that Gosney leave, records show. He immediately was hired as a public defender, where he was working when he applied in Miami. Gosney and his wife wanted to relocate to follow their son, who had decided to attend college in Miami.
“Affable, entertaining, yet humble. Let’s get him onboard,” Rosen wrote. “We need this guy!!”
With the thumbs-up from her closest advisers, the state attorney interviewed Gosney a week later.
On May 6, Fernandez Rundle noted that he “does YouTube” and Rumble, a conservative video-based social media platform.
“I really like him. He’s dynamic, mature and experienced,” her handwritten notes say.
Later, she was contacted directly by the local chapter of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers.
Miami Chapter President Angela Benjamin issued a brief statement to the Herald last week saying Fernandez Rundle is a longtime supporter of their organization and a recipient of the organization’s Mattie Belle Davis award, named for the first female Bar-admitted lawyer in Florida.
“Ms. Rundle graciously took our call,” Benjamin’s written statement said, “and assured us that she is appropriately addressing the issue in a manner that will be satisfactory to MDFAWL and its members.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 7:06 PM.
