A Brevard County circuit judge on Tuesday found State Rep. Randy Fine in contempt of court after Fine was caught on camera allegedly giving the middle finger during an August virtual court hearing.
Judge Scott Blaue held Fine in civil contempt, citing the T-shirt Fine wore during the Aug. 19 hearing, which was outside the court decorum policy, and saying he'd seen one of the gestures Fine made.
A witness to the hearing testified she saw Fine raising his middle finger at the camera and mouthing expletives with his microphone turned off while court was in session.
"For at least 33 minutes during the hearing, Mr. Fine was making those gestures and mouthing those words, which included 'Eff You,'" Blaue said during his ruling. "The court is convinced those gestures and those comments were directed at (plaintiff Robert Burns) and not the court. If the court believed it was directed to the court, it would be a criminal contempt proceeding, not a civil contempt proceeding."
Fine was ordered by the judge to complete eight hours of in-person anger management courses through the Florida Safety Council. He was given 45 days to complete the courses.
Fine appeared Tuesday in a suit and tie, and sat stoically throughout the three-hour hearing.
The gestures and t-shirt that landed him in court were captured in screenshots during an Aug. 19 virtual hearing in a lawsuit against Brevard County Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic.
Burns, a political consultant and longtime critic of Fine, sought to have the state legislator and another candidate removed from the ballot for a local GOP leadership race over incomplete candidate paperwork. The case was ultimately dismissed.
Fine and Burns have shared a vicious political feud since at least 2020, when Burns ran a campaign for Fine's opponent in a GOP primary race for State House. Burns, who was representing himself in the case, said in an emailed complaint that the gestures came while he was making his argument to the court.
"It may be too prevalent in society today that this conduct is acceptable. But outside the doors of this courtroom, I could care less. My job is inside of these doors, to ensure the authority of this court is substantiated and respected. That didn't happen," Blaue said from the bench.
Fine has denied making the gestures, claiming without evidence that the images may have been "doctored" in court filings. The judge dismissed those arguments Tuesday.
Fine remained defiant after the hearing, telling reporters that he planned to appeal the ruling.
"I think it's fascinating that three of the five pages of so-called evidence were screenshots that no one was willing to admit who took them or where they came from," Fine said, referring to Blaue's ban on recording for the Aug. 19 session. "The entire hearing was a clown show, executed in bad faith by this judge and his state prosecutor."
Tuesday's hearing comes after weeks of legal wrangling, with Fine and his lawyer, Orlando attorney Ryan Christopher Rodems, filing multiple unsuccessful motions to delay the hearing or remove Blaue from the case .
Fine has also gone after Blaue, accusing him of a litany of misconduct in complaints to the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission. Blaue dismissed many of the claims in his orders denying the motions throughout the case.
Fine called on State House leaders last week to open impeachment proceedings against the circuit judge for what he said was the misuse of Fine's legislative title in court filings.
"There will be new things added based on today. I filed the JQC complaint against this judge," Fine said, suggesting he may also file a complaint against an independent attorney appointed by Blaue to gather evidence in the case.
"There was serious misconduct that happened here today. If people in this county have learned anything at this point, when someone throws a punch, I don't back down," Fine said.
Burns said in a statement to reporters: "The judge made it clear that courtroom is an 'island of sanity where we civilly resolve disputes,' where the kind of middle-school bullying Randy Fine engages in on social media and elsewhere has no place. I'm glad to see him finally being held accountable for his behaviors far beneath his office."
Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com.
2 comments:
Republicans don't care. Look who they put in the Whitehouse. By the way, comments are running into the text on this post. The text covers the comments. Seek help for your ADHD and incompetence Slavin.
I can just feel the love, sweetheart. Get your own blog and show the world how superior you are. .
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