MIAMI – Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo won a victory in court Friday as he seeks to save his Coconut Grove home from the auction block after losing a $63.5 million civil judgment to two Little Havana businessmen.
Carollo has maintained that he has homestead rights to the property, precluding it from a forced auction to satisfy a portion of a judgment owed to Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla. A federal jury found that Carollo violated their rights by using city resources to retaliate against them for supporting a political opponent.
After a federal judge indicated she was inclined to issue a stay during a court hearing Friday, attorney Jeff Gutchess, representing the businessmen, said he would inform the U.S. Marshals not to proceed with the scheduled March 19 auction.
“I don’t think the sale can go forward while the exemption is pending and undecided,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis said.
Earlier in the hearing, Carollo’s attorney, Mason Portnoy, argued that “a man’s home is his castle and we are here to protect it, because it is entitled to that protection.”
Legal experts say the homestead question isn’t clear-cut.
Louis told Gutchess that the plaintiffs’ response to Carollo’s motion to stay the auction, “was not a response to the stay. It was its own thing,” saying that while the response tells a story, “it was not enough to help me identify the facts and legal basis for your objection.”
After Friday’s hearing, both sides tried to claim victory.
“The key decision for us today is that the judge determined that the federal court has jurisdiction to make the determination of whether the home is protected by the homestead protection and so that was a key victory for us today, because we think the federal court is the right court to make this determination,” Gutchess told reporters.
Meanwhile, Portnoy rebutted, saying, “That is not a victory.”
“That is showing that they need to follow the rules and if and when they do and the procedures play out, Florida law will show that the Carollos have constitutionally-protected homestead,” he said.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 5.
“We were ready to go today, we had our witnesses lined up, but that is OK; we will do it in a month or so,” Gutchess said. “We will work with the U.S. Marshals to find a new date.”
The judge’s eventual ruling will determine whether Carollo gets to keep his home.
“It is a good day, but more to come,” Carollo told reporters after Friday’s hearing.
The commissioner has steadfastly insisted he committed no wrongdoing and hopes to overturn the $63.5 million verdict entirely.
“As I was coming to court today, I am seeing all these poor people in tents on the sidewalk and more than ever, I just had to wonder what their lives are like, could that be me in the future?” Carollo asked. “I live off of the salary that I make as a commissioner.”
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