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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2001
Robert Bonanno is good at embarrassing himself. It's all that practice. He is the circuit judge in Hillsborough County who was caught after-hours in the darkened office of a fellow judge -- a political enemy -- who was away at the time on military duty. We still have gotten no good explanation for what Bonanno was doing there. Now the judge might accept for free the six-figure's worth of legal work his attorney spent defending him.
Let's get this straight: A sitting judge will accept a gift in a case in which he was accused of unethical conduct? That's like thanking the plumber for causing a leak. If the judge wants to clear his name instead of muddying it further, how could he even consider accepting free legal work from a lawyer who practices in his circuit?
Here's an idea: Bonanno should pay the bill and publicly release a canceled check as his receipt. The scandal that enveloped Bonanno and other judges damaged public confidence in the courthouse. He has already cost this community enough without turning the judiciary into a charity case.
His attorney, Ralph Fernandez, may have innocent reasons for wanting to cut Bonanno a break. But no one should want such a favor hanging over a judge's head.
If Bonanno pays up, he'll show he's beginning to get this ethics thing. And all we'll have left to worry about is why Bonanno got caught in the dark in the first place.