Plagiarism tip scrutinized

A prosecutor who said he received the claim against Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder faced heavy questioning on the first day before the Judicial Qualifications Commission.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published June 7, 2005

	[Times photo: Ken Helle]
	Hillsborough Circuit Judge Greg Holder, left, and his attorneys listen to an examination of a witness during proceedings before the Judicial Qualifications Commission on Monday. Holder's attorneys are Steven T. Cottreau, top center, Juan P. Morillo, bottom center, and David B. Weinstein, right.

TAMPA - Depending on which side of the courtroom you're sitting, the allegations of plagiarism against Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gregory Holder are either paper thin or razor sharp.

But testimony from a federal prosecutor Monday raised more questions than answers.

In three hours of testimony, veteran prosecutor Jeffrey Del Fuoco told the six-member Judicial Qualifications Commission he first learned in January 2002 about allegations that Holder, an Air Force reservist, had plagiarized a 1998 research paper for a course at MacDill Air Force Base.

The first clue arrived with an anonymous tip in a manila envelope on the doorstep at Del Fuoco's Army reserve office in St. Petersburg, he told the JQC, the state panel that oversees judges.

Dropped early one winter morning, the envelope contained a purported copy of Holder's research paper; a similar paper from another student, E. David Hoard, on the same topic; and a typed note addressed to Del Fuoco from an unknown tipster.

"At that point, I didn't view them as pieces of evidence," Del Fuoco said. "I viewed them as tips or leads that might become evidence."

But Del Fuoco, 52, acknowledged that he opened an official file on Holder at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa and alerted state, federal and Air Force investigators to the tip shortly after receiving the package.

He said he gave the envelope to fellow federal prosecutor Jeff Downing around the same time, but admitted after questioning from Holder's defense attorneys that the documents went missing several months later.

"I don't know what happened to the note and the envelope," Del Fuoco said. "I don't know if some third party did something to it."

Flanked by his three defense attorneys, Holder, 51, calmly took notes as Jacksonville lawyer Charles Pillans, special counsel to the commission, laid out the case against the veteran jurist.

With his parents just a few feet away from the defense table and a small coterie of supporters in the courtroom, Holder, in a charcoal gray suit and military brush cut, seemed unruffled by accusations laid out against him during nearly nine hours of proceedings Monday.

Pillans acknowledged that the commission's case against Holder appears to be largely circumstantial.

But he called "highly contrived" Holder's contention that the plagiarism charges are part of an elaborate frame-up. He pointedly questioned the defense team's contention that the case is retribution for Holder's role in a federal investigation into corruption in Hillsborough courts.

"If someone were out to get Judge Holder, does all this make sense? Would someone do all this?" Pillans asked the panel.

Holder's attorney David Weinstein countered with a barrage of questions that appeared to substantially weaken Del Fuoco's credibility as a witness.

Del Fuoco, an Army reservist, struggled to explain how a copy of E. David Hoard's research paper on the Anglo-American bombing campaign in World War II wound up in his private Pasco County storage shed amongst other personal documents.

He said it likely came from a former prosecutor and Marine reservist Ken Lawson, who gave the paper to Del Fuoco after a discussion about course work for attaining higher rank in the armed services in 1997 or 1998.

But Del Fuoco offered few clues about the origins of the tip he received at his office.

Holder's defense team also appeared to score points after raising questions about Del Fuoco's knowledge of a federal probe into corruption in Hillsborough courts.

In August 2003, Del Fuoco filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Responsibility, alleging corruption in the U.S. Attorney's Tampa office.

Weinstein, one of Holder's attorneys, wondered aloud if Del Fuoco's knowledge of the probe and his prosecution of other corruption cases might also be behind the anonymous tip he received about Holder three years ago.

Del Fuoco also faced tough questioning from the judicial panel Monday. Panel members seemed especially perplexed by the federal prosecutor's handling of the envelope and note that landed on his doorstep three years ago. Del Fuoco acknowledged that he did not call for fingerprint or DNA tests on the note that accompanied the anonymous tip, despite questions about its origins.

Pillans promised to present compelling testimony from a document examiner that will prove Holder plagiarized the paper, a charge that could cost the judge his job.

Attorneys for both sides said they expect the hearing on Holder's case to continue for a week to 10 days.

[Last modified June 7, 2005, 06:33:56]