MIAMI – Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo discussed what he’s calling a big win Monday: a recommendation from United States Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis, which means he may not lose his Coconut Grove home after all.
“The big win here was not just for me,” Carollo told South Florida media outlets on Monday. “It was a win — a big, huge win — for every homeowner in Florida to have peace of mind that their homes are sacred.”
In June 2023, a federal jury awarded more than $63 million to two Little Havana businessmen, Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who sued Carollo for violating their First Amendment rights.
His home in Coconut Grove became the focus of a battle about whether or not the property could be used to partially pay that judgment — a home Carollo had once moved out of to run in District 3.
Carollo on Monday called it a move by the plaintiffs to “create a circus atmosphere and try to intimidate.”
The judge ruled, “The court concludes that plaintiffs did not meet their burden to prove that defendant (Carollo) left the Morris Lane property with no intention of returning or that defendant established a new permanent residence at another place.”
It goes on to say, “Plaintiffs have failed to show the connection between any funds from the alleged egregious conduct that are directly traceable to the Morris Lane property.”
“I never established a homestead anywhere else and it was always mine and my wife’s intention to return to that property,” Carollo said.
Jeff Gutchess, Fuller and Pinilla’s attorney, responded to the ruling in a statement Monday, saying that his clients “do not believe that a Miami City Commissioner should abuse his power to fraudulently manipulate district voting maps for the sole purpose of claiming homestead protection by moving into a house he had famously abandoned to run for commissioner in Little Havana. All of this, on the eve of a $63 million verdict against him.”
“Rather than commenting on the court’s recommendation, we prefer to await a final order from the district court judge,” Gutchess continued. “In any event, Commissioner Carollo should be held liable for the blatant civil rights violations he committed against my clients.”
The plaintiffs have two weeks to submit an objection and Gutchess says they will.
As for Carollo, he’s now looking ahead to the appeal of the civil suit verdict.
“We will prevail in that appeal,” the commissioner said.