Bubba fears judge is too soft on swine

Pig earrings. Pig toys. Can she be impartial? The judge laughs and steps aside anyway.

By DONG-PHUONG NGUYEN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 24, 2001

TAMPA -- Hillsborough Circuit Judge Debra Behnke stands accused of wearing pig earrings, collecting pig trinkets and having a "strong affinity" for pigs.

It's why she shouldn't preside over the case of the slaughtered swine involving radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, said a motion filed by Clem's attorney this week in Hillsborough Circuit Court.

Behnke recused herself from the case Thursday, writing in an order that the allegations were legally sufficient for disqualification.

But Behnke said her decision had little to do with pigs. Judges are bound by law to grant a defendant's first request that a judge be disqualified -- whether the accusations are true or not.

The claims in the motion, she said, are hogwash.

She does eat pork. In fact, she loves it. "It's one of my favorite meats," Behnke said.

And she admits to owning a pair of pig earrings and a few pig toys; one that walks when you press a button.

But she has earrings in the shape of turtles, dolphins and whales, too.

"I have an affinity for lots of things," she said. "I love children, too, and nobody has asked me to disqualify myself from abuse and neglect cases."

Behnke said she laughed when she read the motion, filed by Norman Cannella, Clem's attorney.

"I thought it was hilarious," she said.

Clem, 35, a radio personality at WXTB-97.9 FM (98 Rock), his producer and two listeners face felony animal cruelty charges in the castration and slaughter of a wild boar in the radio station parking lot in February.

The motion accused Behnke of talking about the case at an office luncheon last month while pig earrings dangled from her ears.

Behnke said she doesn't recall whether she donned the pigs earrings that day. She said that while at the luncheon, "someone may have mentioned to someone else" that she was going to preside over the trial, but "it ended there."

Behnke said she likes the movie Babe, but "I've never bought a pig in my life. I'm not a collector," she said.

She owns a handful of pig items, including a key chain, all given as gifts by people who knew she liked the movie, she said. She has used them as toys for children who appeared before her during adoption proceedings.

Clem's attorney said his client didn't feel comfortable appearing before Behnke.

"We're not saying she would be not impartial," Cannella said. "But there's always a fear. A person that is facing felony charges should not be under that type of stress when they are going to trial."

The case is now in Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta's court.

-- Dong-Phuong Nguyen can be reached at 813-226-3403 or nguyen@sptimes.com.

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