Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Bar can't confirm leak of high court decision

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 24, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Six months after the Florida Supreme Court launched an internal investigation into rumors of an information leak about a pending case, a Florida Bar review has found no verifiable evidence a leak occurred.

The findings end one of the more unusual recent episodes involving the state's top court, a panel of seven justices appointed by the governor.

In July, the court acknowledged it had conducted its own investigation into a possible leak, finding it "suspicious" that a hard-fought, 6-year-old worker's compensation case was abruptly settled eight days before the court ruled in the worker's favor.

The court's inspector general, Ken Chambers, found no evidence of a leak. And the two attorneys involved with reaching the settlement said they were unaware of any leaks.

On Thursday, a followup investigation by the Florida Bar, which the court requested, found no evidence. The Bar's review, conducted by its Miami grievance committee, included interviews and reviews of e-mail and correspondence between court personnel and at the law firm representing the insurance firm.

The case involved Rodrigo Aguilera, a Miami warehouse worker who suffered severe back, leg and internal injuries in a forklift accident. His settlement has not been disclosed. In the final opinion in the case in his favor, a Supreme Court majority called his treatment by the insurer "outrageous."

It is illegal for a government employee to disclose a pending official action that is of financial benefit to another. A lawyer who released such information would face disciplinary action in addition to criminal prosecution.

[Last modified December 24, 2005, 01:09:13]