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Lawyer may help bolster the case for accused judge
By SUE CARLTON © St. Petersburg Times, published October 3, 2000 TAMPA -- A prominent Tampa lawyer has become an inadvertent witness in the case of one judge accused of mysteriously lurking in the darkened office of another last July. A Hillsborough grand jury convenes today in the case involving Hillsborough Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno, who was found in the office of Circuit Judge Greg Holder after hours by Holder's bailiff while Holder was out of town. The bailiff said Bonanno did not answer at first when she called out to him and appeared to be concealing himself. Holder called for an investigation, saying Bonanno's intentions could be "hostile and nefarious." Now, it appears civil lawyer T. Michael Foster may have been an unwitting witness. Foster said he was in the courthouse just after 5 p.m. that day to drop off an order for Circuit Judge Jim Moody. But he found the doors to Moody's office closed, and no one answered when he knocked. Foster said Bonanno came by and offered to get him into Moody's offices so Foster could leave the order. Bonanno let him in through a copy room into Moody's offices and may have used a keypad lock on the door, Foster said. A few minutes later, the bailiff found Bonanno in Holder's office. Bonanno's attorney, Ralph Fernandez, has said Bonanno's motives were innocent and that judges routinely enter each other's offices. If he is called before the grand jury, Foster's testimony could bolster that contention. "Foster's very good for us," Fernandez said. "But he's not the only thing or the only one." He declined to comment further. Foster has been interviewed by agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Jerry Hill, state attorney from Polk County who was specially appointed to the case, is expected to convene the grand jury this morning. Pinellas-Pasco Chief Circuit Judge Susan Schaeffer has been appointed to oversee the matter, which may last several weeks.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times |
