MIAMI – Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo touted a win Thursday in his battle against Little Havana businessmen Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, after federal judge dismissed an updated lawsuit filed by the two against Carollo and other city officials.
The lawsuit, filed in the fall, was separate from one that Ball & Chain owners Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla won in a $63.5 million verdict against Carollo last summer. That came after a federal jury found that the commissioner violated their civil rights by weaponizing city resources to retaliate against them for supporting a political opponent.
Federal Judge Federico Moreno did not admit the amended complaint by the men, which argued that the city and a handful of city employees also violated their rights.
Moreno, ruling Wednesday, took issue with the tone and contents of the latest complaint.
That complaint argued that city employees operated as a “cabal” with Carollo as their leader - singling out City Attorney Victoria Mendez, who the plaintiffs said acted as Carollo’s “Black Widow,” in much the same manner that Griselda Blanco Restrepo operated as the “Black Widow” for the Medellin cartel.
“The complaint has 671 numbered paragraphs that appeared to be intended for the media rather than for disposition in a court of law,” Moreno wrote.
Moreno also chided the plaintiffs’ for making a “sloppy presentation” that included misspellings. He ordered that Fuller and Pinilla’s attorneys have until April 19 to file an amended complaint.
“The residents of Miami had a big victory yesterday,” Carollo said during a news conference Thursday. “I guess they think they can keep suing the city for the same thing, one more time, one more time and get different results.”
Fuller and Pinilla’s attorneys released a statement Thursday.
“It is common in trial practice to have multiple amended complaints. Judge Moreno’s order simply asks us to provide additional information in a different format, a task that we are glad to accept.” attorney Jeff Gutchess said. “Commissioner Carollo is not in a position to claim a temporary delay as a victory as he has already been held liable by a Federal Court for his retaliation against the plaintiffs.”
Carollo has said he also plans to fight to get the original $63.5 million verdict tossed.
He predicted, “We’re going to be back here and we’re going to be discussing how the 11th (Circuit) Court of Appeals threw out their whole lawsuit against me.”
Read the judge’s order: