Miami-Dade State Attorney Fernandez Rundle Promises Reform

Amid a growing chorus of complaints that state prosecutors are cheating in court to “win at all costs,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Monday that her office is reviewing allegations of misconduct and reassigning some prosecutors and will create a forum to review “systemic” problems facing the county’s criminal justice system.

Fernandez Rundle’s comments to the Miami Herald came just hours after she met with representatives from the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Miami, who handed her a binder of misconduct allegations six weeks ago. Defense attorneys said prosecutors’ misconduct deprives defendants of a fair trial and can lead to an innocent person being framed.

Fernandez Rundle said the vast majority of employees in her office are “hard-working, underpaid, dedicated, dedicated people who work in the state’s attorney’s office every day, administering justice because they care about this community.” But, she said, “a handful” of allegations are worthy of attention. In some cases, judges have already ruled that prosecutors made mistakes or acted improperly.

Click to resize

“I’ve heard and discovered some things that concern me,” Fernandez Rundle said.

Defense attorneys began clamoring for her attention after Miami-Dade District Judge Andrea Wolfson removed two state attorneys, Michael Von Zamft and Stephen Mitchell, from the high-profile case to re-sentence mobster Corey Smith to death. Von Zamft was accused of misconduct, including trying to tamper with witnesses and making what some saw as veiled threats when a witness became uncomfortable testifying. Mitchell was removed for vigorously defending Von Zamft’s conduct.

Bolstered by Wolfson’s order, Miami defense attorneys have become united in their allegations of misconduct. At a meeting with Fernandez Rundle in May, Lauren Field Krasnoff, president of the Miami chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, presented a stack of what defense attorneys said were 15 recent instances of misconduct.

“If it weren’t for Corey Smith’s order, none of this would have happened,” Krasnoff told the Herald on Monday.

In recent weeks, two more judges have ruled that prosecutors violated rules in other pending criminal cases in Miami-Dade.

The cases mentioned

Krasnoff’s brief, dubbed a “corruption binder” on a Miami court blog, contained allegations that drew mixed reviews from the judges who ruled on it. The allegations range from a prosecutor addressing a female lawyer by name and interfering with witness testimony to allegations that prosecutors withheld evidence, intimidated a witness and engaged in selective prosecution of a mother whose son was shot by police.

Also in the pile is the case of Taja Pearson, who was sentenced to life in prison in January in connection with the murder. Defense attorney Michele Borchew argued that prosecution witnesses received secret pay, and a judge partially agreed with her in a recent ruling. The Miami Herald reported on prosecutors — in this case and others — using confessed murderer William “Little Bill” Brown to gather information from prison over the past decade. Experts told the Herald that using Brown was improper and likely unconstitutional.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers highlighted the allegations regarding inmate Brown in a June 17 statement, calling for reforms in Fernandez Rundle’s office.

“Until this serious problem is addressed, our legal system will continue to suffer and the public’s respect for it will continue to decline,” said Michael P. Heiskell, president of the organization.

Among the changes Fernandez Rundle announced Monday: She replaced Mitchell as prosecutor in the Pearson case. As with Corey Smith, Mitchell was co-prosecutor with Von Zamft in the Pearson case.

Both cases will be prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys Justin Funck and Rebecca DiMeglio. They and other senior attorneys in the office will comb through boxes of evidence from the trials in both cases to make sure it is turned over to defense attorneys. Failure to turn over important evidence was a key defense complaint.

Contacted on Monday, Krasnoff said the meeting was “productive and cordial.”

Rundle also agreed with a request from defense attorneys to create a committee where prosecutors and defense attorneys could meet to discuss issues. Fernandez Rundle said the committee would not address complaints related to specific cases but would focus on “systemic” problems. It would be led by Marie Mato, who is leaving the State’s Attorney’s Office in January to become a district judge.

“It’s a big system that has to work well together and be in sync,” the state attorney said.

Defense attorneys had hoped for a prosecutorial integrity unit, but that was not among the planned reforms. Krasnoff said her unit will review the planned changes at a special meeting scheduled for next week.

“I appreciate her time,” she said. “It was good to hear about the steps she took.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2024, 7:00 p.m.