MIAMI – Attorneys for Joe Carollo unsuccessfully asked for a mistrial Tuesday in the federal civil case against the Miami city commissioner, claiming a business partner of the men suing him followed and spoke to a juror.
The defense motion claims that Zack Bush, a business partner of Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who are suing Carollo, followed a juror into a parking deck elevator Thursday and attempted to persuade him to do research on Carollo.
According to a court filing, the juror identified Bush by his clothing and association with the plaintiffs. Bush, a part-owner of Little Havana’s Ball & Chain, had been in court throughout the trial, but wasn’t present Tuesday.
Carollo’s attorneys claimed Bush told the juror: “You need to go on social media, on the Internet, and see that people have been followed and you need to see what this defendant (Carollo) is capable of.”
The juror didn’t engage, according to the filing.
Fuller and Pinilla accuse Carollo of abusing his power as a commissioner to limit their free speech by harassing them and hurting their companies — all because they supported his political opponent in 2017.
The judge denied the defense team’s request for a mistrial, but instructed jurors to disregard the incident and abide by court rules about independently researching the case.
BREAKING: Commissioner @JoeCarolloNow’s legal team has moved for a mistrial after they say one of the plaintiffs’ business partners, Zack Bush, followed a juror into a parking deck elevator and attempted to persuade him to do research on Carollo. @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/WTHiAKIVKF
— Ian Margol (@IanMargolWPLG) April 25, 2023
Jurors also heard from employees at Ball & Chain who, again, described repeated raids and unwarranted scrutiny.
Former Miami city manager Emilio Gonzalez was also back on the stand, saying Carollo had a “unbridled fixation” on Fuller’s properties.
Carollo was supposed to testify Tuesday, but his attorneys said he was having issues with his asthma and was at the doctor’s office instead.