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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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A Florida judge is in hot water after text messages were revealed that appear to show her pressuring the district attorney's office in a capital murder case, according to a report.
Judge Bronwyn Miller is accused of pressuring Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle about how to handle the resentencing of Corey Smith, leader of the violent John Doe gang who was convicted of capital murder in four killings in 2004 and sentenced to death in 2005 in a case prosecuted by Miller.
The case was reopened this month after Smith's attorneys pushed for a retrial, citing the prosecution's alleged mishandling of the case over "favors" being extended to possible witnesses.
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A memo written by Miller included in the discovery process two months before Smith's original trial said that "civilian witnesses" were offered drinks, food and Black and Mild cigars, according to a report by the Miami Herald.
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The U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 ordered Smith's retrial after it deemed Florida's capital punishment law unconstitutional because it allows non-unanimous juries to sentence defendants to death. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last year signed into law a rule that allows a two-thirds majority of jurors to send a convict to death row but that resentencing is still necessary.
The State Attorney's Office announced Sunday that it will attempt to negotiate a lesser sentence in the Smith case and waive the death penalty, according to the Herald.
But Miller could now face further scrutiny after text messages obtained by the Miami Herald appear to show she urged Fernandez Rundle to have Circuit Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson replaced by a different judge. Wolfson has removed a pair of prosecutors from the case in March due to misconduct, according to the report.
"I think you should disqualify her," Miller wrote to Fernandez Rundle on April 6, appearing to refer to Wolfson. "Then all rulings can be reconsidered."
Newsweek has contacted Miller and Fernandez Rundle for comment.
In a separate message, Miller appeared to tell Fernandez Rundle that the main source of her concerns was Michael Von Zamft, one of the prosecutors that had been dismissed by Wolfson. She highlighted that Von Zamft is a former defense attorney and criticized Fernandez Rundle for using him to train junior prosecutors.
"They operate by different standards," Miller wrote, according to the Herald. "No defense attorney should be training [assistant state attorneys]. It should be someone who understands that prosecutors are held to a higher ethical standard."
In addition to reportedly harassing Fernandez Rundle about how the Smith case was being managed, Miller also criticized the district attorney over the personnel that had been allowed to work on the case.
Miller specifically questioned the decision to involve Steve Gosney, a private attorney who authored a "sadomasochistic sex novel" titled Death Penalty Desired: Passion and Murder. Miller appeared to express disbelief over his involvement, saying, "I just don't know what's going on in the office anymore. It's outlandish. I'm sorry," to Fernandez Rundle, according to the report.
"Whoever is advising you has lost the big picture," she added.
Soon after that exchange, Gosney was told his role in the case was "operationally impossible." He was then given two months to leave the job, according to emails reviewed by the Miami Herald.
In response to the messages between Miller and Fernandez Rundle, Gosney told the Herald that "even lawyers sometimes get fooled by the leftist, fake media."
Miller declined to comment to the Herald, saying her decision was based on the advice of Anthony V. Alfieri, founding director of the University of Miami's Center for Ethics and Public Service.
"He has recommended that I do not make any public comment at this time, as it might affect the pending proceedings," she said, referring to the Smith case. "I strive always to adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct."
In a statement on Sunday, the State Attorney's Office told the Herald that Miller spoke to prosecutors and sent "occasional and brief texts" to the state attorney "in pursuit of the truth" as she prepared to give testimony. Fernandez Rundle "as a matter of course" is "personally briefed and engaged in the decision making on all major cases prosecuted by her office, and specifically those involving the death penalty," the statement added.
The next hearing in Smith's case is scheduled for Wednesday.
Smith's attorneys, Allison Miller and Craig Whisenhunt, told the Herald that Miller "simultaneously played the parts of judge, prosecutor, witness, and quite literally attempted to subvert justice to see Corey Smith executed."
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