MIAMI – Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo was on the stand for a third day on Wednesday in federal civil court and is scheduled to continue his testimony on Friday morning.
When he wasn’t professing his innocence or alleging witnesses lied, as two Miami businessmen seek damages, Carollo was struggling to stay on topic.
Attorneys representing Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, have accused Carollo, a former Miami mayor, of misusing his power as a public servant to harass their businesses in Miami’s Little Havana.
Carollo said that since he lives a few blocks away from Calle Ocho, and he represents the residents of District 3, which includes the area, he walks around Little Havana all of the time.
Attorneys representing Carollo showed the jury a 2018 e-mail from Emilio Gonzalez, the former city manager, alleging Carollo did not “order, instruct, direct, or otherwise ask” him to “perform any action” that would violate the city charter.
The e-mail was meant to discredit Gonzalez, who left the city in 2020 and is a witness for the attorneys who represent Fuller and Pinilla.
Carollo’s attorneys will be able to ask him questions for two more hours before the attorneys who represent the businessmen get their time.