Carollo ‘thrilled’ after judge’s ruling protects his Coconut Grove house

MIAMI – Joe Carollo’s defense attorney released a statement saying a federal judge’s ruling Saturday gave the Miami commissioner and his family a reason to feel “thrilled” amid his battle against two Little Havana businessmen.

Attorney Benedict Kuehne referred to a federal ruling by U.S. Magistrate Lauren F. Louis on Saturday siding with the Miami commissioner who wanted his house on Coconut Grove’s Morris Lane protected.

“The federal court flatly rejected the Plaintiffs’ attempt to rewrite new and unfounded exceptions to Florida’s Constitutional Homestead Protection, the very bedrock of Florida’s guarantee of home ownership,” Kuehne wrote.

Last year, William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla, II, of the Barlington Group, won a $63.5 million judgment against Carollo in civil court and objected to Carollo’s homestead exemption claim, after the U.S. Marshalls Service set the sale of the house at 3230 Morris Lane.

In her ruling, Louis wrote that without a “connection between the asserted egregious conduct and the funds” Fuller and Pinilla had failed to prove that they were entitled to an equitable lien on the Florida homestead.

“Carollo looks forward to prevailing in the federal Court of Appeals as he demonstrates the Plaintiffs’ claims are without merit,” Kuehne wrote.

Fuller and Pinilla have 14 days after receiving the ruling to file objections.

This is a developing story.