Complaint Against Judge Puts Ex-Prosecutor Back on Hot Seat re Claimed Ex Parte Contacts
A prosecutor who was earlier exonerated in a legal ethics case concerning his possible personal relationship with a South Florida judge around the time he presented a death-penalty case in her court is now back on the hot seat.
Following news this week that the Judicial Qualifications Commission has opened an investigation against Broward Circuit Judge Ana Gardiner, based on some 1,420 claimed phone calls and texts with then-prosecutor Howard Scheinberg during the murder trial, the Florida Bar has reopened its probe of him, too, reports the Daily Business Review. The article is reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
Scheinberg told the Florida Bar during its earlier investigation that allegations of ex parte communications with Gardiner weren’t true, according to the article.
“You can have a million conversations, but if they don’t relate to the case, what’s the violation?” says his lawyer, Bruce Lyons.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge Accused, Prosecutor Cleared re 3,388 Calls & Texts During & After Death-Penalty Case”
