Suspended Miami-Dade Commissioner’s Corruption Trial Hits Roadblock Amid Judge’s Actions Review
DEBARYLIFE – The much-awaited public corruption trial of a distinguished police officer who leveraged 17 years of law enforcement experience into decades of public service at the highest echelons of the Miami-Dade County government was postponed for at least a week while an appeals court considered the exchanges between the suspended commissioner and the trial judge.
Judge Lody Jean of Miami-Dade Circuit Court interrupted a motion argument late last week by state prosecutors and Joe Martinez’s attorneys, asking Martinez to take the stand. She used most of the following minute to caution Martinez against making any motions since they would hurt his chances of being found not guilty in front of the jury.
Concerned that the judge displayed bias, lawyers Ben Kuehne and Neil Taylor begged Jean to step down. Martinez’s lawyers filed a lawsuit after their request was turned down, requesting the 3rd District Court of Appeal to take a look.
After learning from the appeals court that a decision would be made by the end of next week, the judge put an end to jury selection early on Wednesday afternoon.
She informed the prospective jurors on Wednesday and Thursday morning—many of whom had already been questioned by the attorneys—that the trial had been put on hold and that they would receive further information by the end of the following week.
“We must halt these actions for a legal cause. I am unable to have meaningful conversations with you any longer,” Jean said to the jury. “It’s possible we won’t need you.”
Kuehne stated outside the courtroom that the judge “seemed to create a legal bias” and that Martinez and Judge Jean’s conversation “should not have happened.”
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The rescheduling of witness testimony plus the fact that lead state prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen has other trials planned for the end of the month and in May may make resuming the trial difficult.
Martinez Faces Allegations of Receiving Payment for Playing
Martinez, 66, is accused of obtaining $15,000 from a shopkeeper in his West Kendall neighborhood in exchange for supporting legislation that would have benefited the shopping center’s owner.
Martinez is charged with one count of illicit remuneration and one count of conspiring to commit unlawful pay. Martinez might spend up to 20 years in prison as a result of the charges.
Nevertheless, the commissioner hinted at a potential November campaign for Miami-Dade County sheriff in the event that he was found not guilty. He was suspended from office by Governor Ron DeSantis following his arrest in August 2022 on felony charges. He would not discuss his case or the allegations of public corruption against him.
Martinez declared this week that he was “definitely considering running once this is over.” “I believe I have all the qualifications needed to be sheriff.”
Martinez is accused of receiving compensation for sponsoring a county bill that would have expanded the number of shipping containers used for inventory storage at the strip mall, according to prosecutors at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. For the owner of the mall, it was a serious problem because county code inspectors had penalized him thousands of dollars.
Even though the bill was never reviewed by the commission and did not pass, as long as the intent behind it can be demonstrated, it is legally irrelevant. After serving as a security consultant for the previous four years, Martinez was re-elected in 2016, which is when the crime was purportedly committed. Martinez described the accusations as “false” and said that they were made for political purposes.
During his fifth term in office, Martinez faced suspension. Commencing in 2000, he was elected to three successive four-year terms as a commissioner. After being out of government for four years, starting in 2012, he was able to reclaim his commission position in 2016 and was elected again in 2020.
Martinez was driven by a “fiscal emergency,” according to the state. State prosecutors think that Martinez’s financial hardship, along with that of one of his employers outside of County Hall, is what motivated Martinez to perpetrate the alleged crimes. They assert that this was a major factor in the suspended commissioner’s decision to allegedly engage in pay-for-play with the proprietor of Extra Supermarket, located at 12890 SW Eighth St.
Martinez’s arrest warrant states that the owner of Centurion Security, his job, received an email from Martinez claiming to be handling a “financial emergency” and that it was time to collect unpaid debts. The business had delayed paying its employees.
Then, Martinez is said to have gotten in touch with someone connected to Ocean Bank and asked him to “put in a good word” with bank management to facilitate Centurion’s loan application.
Martinez received three $5,000 payments, according to the state
Two weeks after Martinez’s election victory on August 30, 2016, state authorities claim Martinez got the first of three $5,000 payments from grocery owner Jorge Negrin. The grocery is situated in a plaza owned by Sergio Delgado, a businessman Martinez is said to have urged to speak favorably at the bank.
Martinez’s arrest warrant states that Delgado was fined multiple times by Miami-Dade code inspectors for having more freight containers behind the stores than were allowed. According to the warrant, Martinez got his second $5,000 check from Negrin in December 2016.
Two months later, investigators claimed to have found an email stating, “I need help on this,” from Delgado to Martinez’s private account, confirming that he had already paid thousands of dollars in fines.
The state claims that Martinez replied, “Rest assured, we are working on it.” On March 17, one month later, Martinez’s chief of staff introduced legislation that would have expanded the number of containers allowed on specific properties, supported by her boss.
Martinez got the last $5,000 check from Negrin eight days later, per the warrant. On August 23, 2017, the matter was added to the county commission’s agenda following a furious email from Martinez to his employees. It was inexplicably shelved four days later.
After learning of the exchanges, the county’s Office of Inspector General launched an investigation. According to his arrest warrant, by October, Martinez had consented to talk with agents, but he said he couldn’t remember how he obtained the checks and referred to them as loans. In addition, he asserted that he was unaware of Delgado or the reason behind the removal of the agenda item.
According to the warrant, Martinez disappeared for two years before turning up again and agreeing to an interview in 2019. He had acknowledged knowing Delgado by then. Furthermore, he claimed that Negrin owed him money after Martinez introduced him to an investor in 2013.
Another man who had no link to Negrin or Delgado but was connected to Martinez was also arrested as a result of the county’s inspector general’s probe into Martinez. Inspectors discovered that Mario Ferro, a businessman from Hialeah, had improperly contributed to Martinez’s 2016 campaign using straw donors. Ferro agreed to pay $10,000 to a charity in 2019 as part of a plea agreement for two felonies and probation.