Judge recuses himself from final Joe Carollo-related lawsuit at explosive hearing
The federal judge overseeing the last remaining lawsuit accusing former Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo of using city resources to punish political opponents has stepped away from the case after he learned his daughter is representing a key witness in another lawsuit against the city.
U.S. Judge Federico Moreno recused himself on Monday from the lawsuit filed in November 2023 by businessmen Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who have alleged that Carollo mobilized a “government machine” against them and a slew of their businesses that caused a loss of over $60 million. Fuller and Pinilla have said Carollo retaliated against them because they supported his opponent in the 2017 election.
Moreno’s recusal throws the case into limbo, with the trial set for later this month and the parties nearing a settlement agreement, according to multiple sources. His decision to step away occurred during a heated hearing Monday when multiple witnesses showed up for in-court depositions, including former Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Acevedo, a key witness for the plaintiffs, was ousted by the City Commission in 2021. He subsequently sued the city, alleging that three city commissioners — including Carollo — violated his First Amendment rights and illegally retaliated against him for “speaking out against corruption and abuse of power by the City of Miami Commission.” That lawsuit is ongoing. Moreno’s daughter, an attorney, is involved in that case.
Moreno had recently barred Acevedo and five other witnesses from testifying at trial because they failed to show up for in-court depositions scheduled for March 2. Neither the plaintiffs nor the city had subpoenaed those witnesses due to an apparent breakdown in communication. The parties pointed fingers at each other as having been responsible for sending out the subpoenas.
But with more in-court depositions scheduled for March 9, Acevedo flew in from Texas, where he now resides, and showed up to court Monday morning prepared to be deposed.
Angel Cortiñas, an attorney for the city, argued that Moreno had already stricken Acevedo as a witness and ruled that he wasn’t permitted to testify at trial.
Moreno appeared inclined to side with the city. But then Attorney Jeff Gutchess, who represents Fuller and Pinilla, pointed out that Moreno’s daughter is part of a small team of attorneys representing Acevedo in his ongoing lawsuit against the city.
Moreno had previously disclosed that his daughter worked for the law firm where Acevedo’s attorney, Marcos Daniel Jiménez, is a partner. He asked the parties to inform him by Feb. 17 whether Jiménez’s “involvement in this case presents a conflict of interest for this Court.”
But on Monday, Moreno learned it went a step further than he initially thought: Jiménez confirmed in court that the judge’s daughter has direct involvement in the Acevedo case.
Cortiñas argued that it doesn’t create a basis for Moreno’s removal, reiterating that Acevedo has already been stricken as a witness.
“You have spent well over a year on this case,” Cortiñas told Moreno, adding that it will take a new judge months to get up to speed.
Cortiñas cautioned that if Moreno recuses himself, “This case won’t go to trial for another year or two years or three years.”
Moreno agreed on that point, but said the situation is “kind of messy now.”
After returning from lunch, Moreno said he was officially recusing himself, stepping off the bench as the parties proceeded with a final deposition for the day, sans judge. Moreno did not rule on whether Acevedo could be deposed, who informed the court he was available to return to Miami for a deposition as early as next week.
Speaking to reporters outside the downtown Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. federal courthouse, Acevedo said he has a “moral obligation to hold the corrupt city government accountable.”
“I think it’s clear they don’t want me to testify,” Acevedo said of the city. He added that revealing truth about the ways in which the city government is corrupt is “something that doesn’t play well to the public, and I don’t think it’ll play well to the jury.”
In a sworn declaration signed last month, Acevedo said he “personally witnessed” city employees, including former City Manager Art Noriega and former City Attorney Victoria Méndez, “execute a well-known and, in my view, notorious unconstitutional custom and policy of political retaliation on behalf of Commissioner Joe Carollo against Mr. Bill Fuller.”
Acevedo also wrote that he witnessed Noriega and the assistant police chief — now current Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales — “personally supervising the targeting operation against Mr. Fuller, which involved numerous police officers and code enforcement officers who were knowingly carrying out political retribution against him.”
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