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September 2, 2010 |
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| June 14, 2007 |
By: Forrest Norman |
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ne of Miami-Dade’s best known and longest serving judges quietly resigned amid allegations that he made inappropriate comments in court to a young female prosecutor.
Miami-Dade Senior Judge Gerald J. Klein, who was regularly seen on local TV reports setting bond for those accused of committing newsworthy crimes, stepped down in late May after the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office complained about his conduct.
In a letter to Chief Judge Joseph P. Farina Jr., chief assistant state attorney Don Horn protested Judge Klein’s conduct in his longtime post as bond hearing judge, according to Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.
“A female assistant state attorney has brought to my attention a problem with Senior Judge Gerald Klein,” Horn wrote in a letter dated April 25. “The information, which was only recently related to me, has been ongoing for an extended period of time and includes allegations of inappropriate comments and actions that could support a possible claim of sexual harassment.
“Due to the serious nature of these allegations I wanted to bring this to your attention as soon as possible in order that it could be dealt with appropriately.”
The letter did not identify the assistant state attorney or provide more specifics about Klein’s alleged conduct. Klein sent Farina a resignation letter May 22, officially stepping down and withdrawing his application to continue to serve as a senior judge.
There had been much speculation about Klein’s sudden departure from the bench, but judges and court officials refused to discuss it. A court spokeswoman would provide only limited information about Klein’s resignation after being pressed for several days.
Klein, who served for almost 48 years, is the latest South Florida judge to come under fire for alleged misconduct, but the first recently in Miami-Dade. Broward judges have faced a barrage of criticism that resulted from a number of high-profile incidents, including a judge caught smoking pot in a public park and another who made racially tinged comments from the bench.
Court spokeswoman Eunice Sigler, in written responses to questions from the Daily Business Review, said Klein was not asked to resign.
When asked about Horn’s letter to Farina, Sigler contended it was not a public record and refused to provide a copy of the document. Sigler would not comment further on the letter from Horn to Farina.
Farina referred questions about Klein to Sigler, and administrative Judge Stanford Blake did not return calls seeking comment.
Klein, through his judicial assistant, declined to comment. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1948 and first donned judicial robes in Miami on July 7, 1959.
He was a circuit court judge until December 1990 and became a senior judge in January 1991.
Klein’s sudden departure immediately drew comment on legal blogs. But follow-up calls from news reporters asking the court for basic biographical information and a short interview with the departing judge were met with silence, rather than the usual enthusiastic send-off retiring judges receive.
Sigler wrote in an e-mail that court employees don’t usually get involved in organizing receptions or send-offs for judges.
“Judges, whether active or senior, typically organize their own send-offs for colleagues,” Sigler wrote. “Neither the Court Administrator’s Office nor the Office of Government Liaison and Public Relations coordinates or publicizes these events. Last year, for example, Judge Fredricka Smith retired and my office did not issue a media release. Likewise with Judge David Young, who retired recently.”
But a well-attended reception was held to celebrate Young’s move from the bench to his own TV show. The gathering was held at La Loggia, a restaurant directly across the street from the Dade County Courthouse that is popular with lawyers and judges.
Klein, generally known as an amiable presence on the bench, held bond hearings Monday through Thursday. Criminal defense attorney Richard Sharpstein, of Jorden Burt in Miami, said Klein was among the most respected Miami-Dade judges.
“Judge Klein has been on the bench for as long as I’ve been practicing law in this town, or close to it,” Sharpstein said. “His job at the bond hearings was to separate the wheat from the chaff, and I think he did a great job.” Sharpstein said he was surprised to hear about Klein’s departure.
Barry Wax, president of the Miami chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, also said he was startled to hear of Klein’s resignation when he returned home from a conference last week. “I’m a great fan of Judge Klein, and I felt he did a good job dealing with bond hearings, which are an enormously important part of the judicial process,” Wax said.
As anonymous posters on legal blogs speculated about Klein’s sudden disappearance, it became clear that Wax’s sentiment wasn’t shared by everyone. Some blog posters and sources in the state attorney’s office said many prosecutors considered Klein too lenient, and that his courtroom was referred to by some as “the gravy train.”
When asked about whether or not Klein’s departure had anything to do with complaints about his perceived leniency, Sigler indicated there had been previous complaints about bond court.
“We will not comment on rumors,” she wrote. “However, the state attorney’s office did raise a general issue, and not related to any specific judge, relating to pleas being taken without an adequate plea colloquy. This has come up recently as a result of prosecutors requesting enhanced sentencing on misdemeanor offenders.”
Sigler said that beginning June 25, bond hearings would be held by Senior Judge Tom Peterson on Mondays and Tuesdays, and County Court Judge Fred Seraphin on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Senior judges will hold bond hearings on Fridays on a voluntary basis, and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays trial judges from circuit and county court will hold bond hearings on a rotating basis.
Criminal defense attorney H. Scott Fingerhut said Klein’s speedy plea colloquies were a fixture in Miami’s judicial process. “From his seat on the bench he has seen this town’s complete transformation,” Fingerhut said. “I don’t know the circumstances of his departure, I don’t know if he was ousted, but I do know he is worthy of our respect for all his years of service.”
Forrest Norman can be reached at fnorman@alm.com or at (305) 347-6649.
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