Attorneys for City of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo are trying to invalidate the federal case brought against the commissioner by two Miami entrepreneurs by calling for a mistrial.
In a motion filed on Tuesday morning, Carollo’s attorneys called for Judge Rodney Smith to declare a mistrial after a juror reported that they were approached in a parking garage by one of the plaintiffs’ business partners and told to research Carollo on social media.
“At that time, the male approached Juror 3 and stated, ‘You need to go on social media, on the internet, and see that people have been followed and you need to see what this defendant is capable of,’” the motion states. It goes on to say that Juror 3 informed other jurors about the interaction, and they encouraged the person to report it to the judge.
According to the motion, Juror 3 allegedly identified the individual who approached them as Zack Bush, co-owner of the Ball & Chain bar in Little Havana, and a business associate of William Fuller.
Fuller, along with his business partner Martin Pinilla, sued Carollo in federal court, alleging the commissioner abused his city post to harass and target their properties — including the popular Little Havana bar Ball & Chain— after they had supported a political opponent.
Carollo has denied any unscrupulous behavior, while his attorneys have argued that any actions he took were under his purview as a city commissioner.
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Jurors were instructed at the beginning of the trial not to speak to anyone about the case outside the courtroom, and not to look at any media pertaining to Commissioner Carollo or the plaintiffs.
In the motion, Carollo’s attorneys accuse Bush of juror tampering. Attempting to influence a juror during a court proceeding may in some cases be considered juror tampering, which is a third degree felony in Florida.
Jeffrey Gutchess, one of Fuller and Pinilla’s attorneys, raised concerns with the judge over the mistrial motion during the proceedings on Tuesday. Gutchess said that the defense had already brought up the issue on Monday and spoken with the judge privately about it, and Judge Smith allowed the trial to proceed.
By bringing up the matter in a motion filed in a publicly accessible court docket, Gutchess alleged that the defense had jeopardized the case by opening the issue up to the media.
Judge Smith said he would deal with the grievance at a later time, but said the trial would continue on Wednesday. He instructed jurors to continue avoiding any media related to the case, commenting “you’ve all assured me that you’ve done so up to this point.”
Bush, who had been attending the trial proceedings previously as an audience member, was not present in the courtroom on Tuesday. Bush did not respond to calls, texts and a voicemail from WLRN seeking comment for this story.
