MIAMI, Fla. – There was only a half day of testimony Friday in the civil case against Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo.
Entrepreneur Bill Fuller finished his third day of testimony in the lawsuit against Carollo. And with that, the plaintiffs rested their case.
Fuller and his business partner, Martin Pinilla, filed the suit against the controversial commissioner because they say Carollo violated their first amendment right to free speech by harassing them and their businesses after they supported his political opponent in 2017.
On Friday during his testimony, Fuller said that Carollo was trying to “destroy us financially, to destroy our character so we could not continue forward, to destroy us emotionally. It was an entire effort by Mr. Carollo and several people in the city of Miami who helped him to be able to destroy us.”
Before defense attorneys could start calling their own witnesses, the judge announced a ruling several weeks in the making.
At the end of April, Carollo’s attorneys sent an email to the plaintiffs’ saying they wanted to add 17 more people to the list of who they’d call to the stand, more than doubling the size of their original witness list.
But, on Friday, the judge said that the additional 17 people would not be allowed and told them to begin calling their initially listed witnesses.
The first called was Asael Marrero, city of Miami building director, who was brought in by Carollo’s lawyers to talk about violations at Fuller’s properties. Marrero’s testimony continues Monday.