Calle Ocho businessmen want Miami taxpayers to pay part of Carollo’s legal judgment
Two Little Havana businessmen who won a federal civil lawsuit against Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo are arguing the city should be on the hook for part of a $63.5 million judgment handed down after a jury found the businessmen were victims of a political retaliation campaign pushed by Carollo.
In a court filing Thursday, the attorney for William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla asked a federal judge to clarify the verdict in the case, which did not specifically state if the judgment applies to Carollo in his official capacity as a city commissioner. If the judge were to agree with Fuller and Pinilla, the city could be responsible for paying $16 million to the businessmen in compensation for lost business.
If the judge agrees, Miami taxpayers could foot the bill for millions owed to Fuller and Pinilla in the case, but it could be some time before the case is resolved. On the same day as Fuller’s motion for a clarification was filed, Carollo appealed the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Fuller, co-owner of the Ball & Chain nightclub, and business partner Pinilla sued Carollo in 2018 accusing the commissioner of pushing city police and code inspectors to harass the club and other businesses as payback for Fuller’s support of one of Carollo’s political opponents in the 2017 city election. After numerous appeals over the years and a six-week trial earlier this summer, a jury ruled against Carollo.
In addition to the appeal, Carollo’s attorneys filed a sealed motion for a new trial and renewed judgment. Federal court records show the document will remain sealed until further notice. Carollo has denied wrongdoing, questioned the large damages awarded to his opponents and insisted the appellate court will side with him.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith is not expected to rule on the flurry of post-trial motions until August at the earliest. Lawyers from both sides have asked to have until Aug. 7 to file responses to each other’s filings because of summer vacations and other scheduling conflicts.
Read more: After civil-court spanking, could Joe Carollo face a criminal case? There’s an open probe
Fuller and Pinilla’s attorney, Jeff Gutchess, wrote in his filing that testimony throughout the trial indicates Carollo was not only personally liable in the case, but that he acted in his role as a commissioner.
“While the Court’s Final Judgment reflects a verdict rendered against Carollo in his individual capacity (including an award of punitive damages), it is necessary to clarify that the Final Judgment also pertains to Carollo in his official capacity as well (including its award of compensatory damages), consistent with the parties’ pleadings and the course of proceedings through trial,” reads the motion.
Gutchess also notes that City Attorney Victoria Méndez sent city staff attorneys to sit in the courtroom during the trial, and that the city’s legal department coordinated Carollo’s defense with multiple outside attorneys hired by the city.
Méndez pushed back in a statement to the Miami Herald on Monday.
“The Plaintiffs dismissed the City of Miami from the case and as such the City was not a party,” Méndez wrote. “The Plaintiff’s current motion to add the City, after the case has been tried to conclusion, in an attempt to subject it to the verdict, has no basis in fact or law anywhere in the United States.”
A separate lawsuit also looms. A corporation run by Fuller and his business partners called The Mad Room sued the city in 2021 alleging the city administration was complicit in harassment of multiple businesses associated with Fuller. That case, which has not been set for trial, is against the city itself — not Carollo individually — meaning taxpayers could end up covering a judgment against the city.
The city has already paid millions to fund Carollo’s legal defense, with most of it coming from an insurance policy, according to internal city emails from early June, following the verdict. The emails showed that the legal bills for both cases before the Carollo trial had been mostly covered by a $5 million insurance policy, but billings since the trial began had not been totaled, and the insurance policy had been maxed out.
Méndez wrote to city staffers that the city was trying to secure more insurance coverage. On Monday, she did not immediately respond to the Herald’s question on whether the city had obtained additional insurance.
Read more: After Carollo verdict, Calle Ocho businesses set legal sights on city. And a bigger payout
Herald staff writer Sarah Blaskey contributed to this report.
