A Times Editorial

Countering corruption

The best way to clean up the unseemly mess at the Hillsborough County courthouse is to combine the seven separate probes being conducted into a single investigation.

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 6, 2000

All three constitutional offices responsible for ensuring justice in the Hillsborough courts stand accused of unethical or illegal behavior, and the scandals are interrelated. The only good news for the public is that the state finally seems serious about cracking down on corruption in Tampa. It's time to get to the bottom of this cesspool, and the best way to move fairly and quickly is to combine the seven known probes being conducted by separate agencies into a single investigation.

Three developments in recent days show why the investigations deserve the focus of a single, outside prosecutor. First, the Judicial Qualifications Commission expanded its inquiry of several Hillsborough judges. Then, Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno worsened his problems by trying to rationalize getting caught in the locked office of another judge. Finally, Jack Rudy failed an early test as the interim state attorney.

The JQC broadened its inquiry after the forced retirement of Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ed Ward. In the course of investigating complaints by colleagues and subordinates that Ward sexually harassed them, the JQC began examining whether Chief Judge Dennis Alvarez interfered with the probe. Sources say the agency that oversees judicial conduct also is investigating allegations Circuit Judge Gasper Ficarrotta had an affair with a bailiff who feared for her job after the relationship ended.

Last week, Bonanno was caught by another bailiff in the locked, private office of Judge Greg Holder. Holder was rightly upset, for Bonanno is an old friend and ally of Alvarez, who accused Holder of sabotaging his bid to be appointed interim state attorney after Harry Lee Coe shot himself last month. The sheriff and state police are investigating why Bonanno entered Holder's office after-hours, while Holder was out of state. Bonanno's attorney, Ralph Fernandez, dug his client's hole even deeper Thursday, offering dubious reasons why Bonanno was loose in Holder's office. The state needs to examine whether Bonanno's conduct is excusable, whether his story is consistent with facts already established and whether his machinations since getting caught reflect well on the integrity of the bench.

Rudy missed a chance to set a proper standard as interim state attorney when he refused a request by the Tampa Tribune to release notes two of Coe's top staffers made when they accompanied Coe during interviews. Rudy's reasoning is wrong. If the notes are unrelated to Coe's "official business," what were Coe's aides doing in the meetings? Are Rudy and Coe's former aides acknowledging that Coe inappropriately mingled his public and private lives? Rudy is the highest-ranking courthouse official not the subject of ethics complaints. Why would he send such a dispiriting message to the public -- especially given all the turmoil -- that his office has something to hide?

Gov. Jeb Bush chose well by appointing Bernie McCabe, the capable state attorney for Pinellas and Pasco, to investigate what may have driven Coe to suicide. McCabe's scope should expand to include the totality of misconduct in the Hillsborough courts.

On top of everything else, the state Ethics Commission is reviewing three sworn complaints against Hillsborough Public Defender Julianne Holt. The courthouse's plague of patronage, nepotism, harassment and incompetence runs deep, and the people involved operate their political careers in tandem. Running here and there after individual symptoms of the courthouse's root problems won't suffice.

The brazenness we've seen in recent days is the measure of a court system incapable of righting itself on its own.

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