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Morrison, Bundy and now Couey

Many infamous defendants have heard their fate decided in Miami’s Courtroom 4-1.

By ELENA LESLEY
Published February 12, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Stephen J. Coddington] Courtroom 4-1, which will host John Couey today, "has the feeling of real-life drama," says Judge Kevin Emas, who tried tennis star Martina Hingis' stalker there. A bailiff says the courtroom has a "weird karma."

MIAMI — Within the dark wood interior of courtroom 4-1, a judge sent Ted Bundy to the electric chair, O.J. Simpson disputed battery and auto burglary charges, and Jim Morrison denied exposing himself to a Miami audience.

Today the room will host another infamous defendant: John Couey.

The registered sex offender is charged with crimes that horrified Citrus County and beyond —the kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford.

But in Miami, violent and deranged criminals are almost routine. And many of them are tried in the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building’s courtroom 4-1.

It makes sense, locals say, that Couey ended up here. Courtroom 4-1 is a strange place.

“It has a weird karma because of the crazy people that have been tried there,” said Arthur Arnau, a bailiff in the 11th Judicial Circuit. “And now this guy. Why did they pick that courtroom?”

The court’s answer isn’t all that mystical.

***

After jury selection went awry in Lake County, court officials needed to find a part of the state where “Jessica Lunsford” hadn’t become a household name. Miami, with its diverse population and distanced media market, seemed the best shot.

Courtroom ambience was not the driving factor. But people who have worked in 4-1 say it will no doubt become a memorable backdrop for the Couey trial.

“I always felt like more of a lawyer in that courtroom,” said Judge Kevin Emas, who tried tennis star Martina Hingis’ stalker in 4-1. “It has the feeling of real-life drama.”

Arnau said 4-1 is an intimidating space. “I wouldn’t want to be a defendant in there,” he said. “It’s menacing.”

***

The courtroom, like the rest of the Gerstein center, was built to impress. Space limitations and constant escapes from the downtown Dade County Courthouse prompted construction of a new judicial complex in the early 1960s.

“Like a fabulous flower, Metro’s new Justice Building at the Civic Center is opening floor by floor,” a journalist from the Miami Herald reported in 1962. Employees who had started their careers “before air conditioning, when employee and boss rubbed uncovered elbows in hot, grimy little cubicles,” were eagerly awaiting their move to the lavish building.

The new center showcased imported wood paneling and delicate lighting that cast “shadows of pink and gold,” according to the article. Judges’ chambers had their own bathrooms, some with silk wallpaper and wall-to-wall carpeting.

But no decorative garnishes rivaled those of the fourth floor, where 4-1 sits.

“Here eight Criminal Courtrooms to be used by three Criminal Court judges, display the best of modern imagination and materials,” the Herald article reads. “In front of delicate Japanese wood panels illuminated by white fluorescent background, the Criminal Court judges will dispense justice to persons accused of intoxication, burglary, assault.”

***

Not all members of the court, though, were this enthusiastic about the new building .

Quirky Judge Ben Willard, who refused to wear a robe and treasured a bullet hole a prosecutor left in his old courtroom’s ceiling, hated the pretense of the new building.

Willard had “refused to look at the ornate quarters that awaited him there, paneled walls and stained glass windows,” a Herald obituary reads. “ 'I’ll look at it when I have to move in,’ he said grimly.”

Even though his portrait now hangs in 4-1, he never tried a case in the courtroom. Willard died shortly before moving chambers.

***

More than 40 years after its construction, the Gerstein building has lost some polish.

Court personnel complain of leaky toilets, cramped quarters and the robust rat population.

Even in 1979, Bob Dekle, a former assistant state attorney who prosecuted Bundy, remembered the Gerstein building as “a gigantic, huge cinder block piece of so-called architecture.”

While the retro aesthetic may not be for every taste, even the critics admit the quarters are striking.

“It looks like something out of Star Trek,” Arnau said. “You’ve got those crazy little lights coming down and the surreal backdrop.”

***

Many appreciate 4-1, rodents and all, for its rich past.

Emas chose 4-1 as his home courtroom for several years, even though that meant he had to move chambers whenever a high-profile case came to the Gerstein building.

When he finally moved, because of the logistical hassles, he missed 4-1 immediately.

“It’s unique in the building,” he said. “It’s majestic. There’s a real sense of history in there.”

Starting today, Couey will become part of it.

Elena Lesley can be reached at 564-3627 or elesley@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 11, 2007, 20:00:07]