Attorney in terrorism case faces voyeurism charges
The lawyer who won the acquittal for Sameeh Hammoudeh is accused of being a peeping Tom by a Gainesville neighbor.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published February 6, 2006
GAINESVILLE - Defense attorney Stephen Bernstein made a name for himself in Tampa two months ago by winning the acquittal of Sameeh Hammoudeh, who stood trial with Sami Al-Arian on terrorism charges.
But now Bernstein, 58, has his own defense attorney.
A Gainesville woman says he's a peeping Tom.
Bernstein has hired a retired circuit judge to defend him on three voyeurism and three trespassing charges, all misdemeanors. He's accused of peering into next-door neighbor Teresa Cato's windows on four separate occasions, all while representing Hammoudeh in a case that drew international attention.
Cato, who declined to talk about the charges, told Gainesville police officers that she walks around her house with the lights off and checks her windows in the morning to be sure Bernstein is not outside them, according to court affidavits.
Bernstein did not return calls for comment. His attorney, Larry Turner, declined to discuss the accusations.
"I don't think that I will dignify your story with comments," Turner said. "I don't think that it serves anyone's interest for me to make a public comment. The only interest it serves is the prurient interest to you and your readers."
Cato's attorney, Robert Fields of Palatka, also declined to comment.
Cato has turned over recordings of Bernstein on Cato's security camera walking on the family's property. Cato and her husband bought the camera specifically to record such incidents, according to court records.
"Steve has made me very uncomfortable in my own home," Cato wrote in a court record seeking an injunction against Bernstein. "I am continually looking out the window if he is home. If it's dark outside and he is home, I feel like I have to have my guard up and be very aware of what's going on outside ... I find myself changing clothes and going to the bathroom in the dark."
Cato and her husband have accused Bernstein of looking in their windows between 6:45 and 7 a.m. on several mornings in August, September, October and November. Most of the mornings in question coincided with days that Bernstein did not have to be in federal court in Tampa before 9 a.m. for the Al-Arian trial.
Gainesville police Sgt. Ray Barber said Cato also alleged earlier incidents of voyeurism by Bernstein that were too old to prosecute because of statutory limitations.
The Florida Bar says that Bernstein is in good standing and has not had a disciplinary action.
Bernstein has never been convicted of a crime but he has previously been accused.
In 1991, he was accused of sexual assault, but prosecutors dropped that charge at the victim's request, according to reports in th e Gainesville Sun . Turner, who was Bernstein's attorney on that charge, too, told the Sun in 1991 the woman was lying and that the accusation originated from a mutual flirtation.
In 1982, Bernstein was charged with indecent exposure. The charge was dropped by prosecutors and the file was eventually purged because of its age, according to court and Alachua County Sheriff's Office records.
The current voyeurism case was referred to the State Attorney's Office in Volusia County, after Gainesville prosecutors told the governor's office that Bernstein, as a practicing lawyer, posed a potential conflict of interest for them.
Bernstein was not booked in a jail on the charges, because the accusations are considered "non-arrest" complaints, according to the State Attorney's Office in Volusia County.
Bernstein is due in court in Gainesville on Feb. 14 to respond to the protective order that Cato is seeking against him.
--Jennifer Liberto can be reached at 813 226-3403 or liberto@sptimes.com