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Lawyer wants remark noted
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE © St. Petersburg Times, published November 18, 1998 On March 20, though, a comment by Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Raymond Gross didn't get the expected chuckle from Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Lori Doganiero. Gross, now a finalist for a vacancy on the Florida Supreme Court, looked to Doganiero, who wore a bright green silk jacket three days after St. Patrick's Day. "You either think today is St. Patrick's Day or you haven't slept at home in a couple of days," Gross said, according to a lawyer present and the court reporter transcribing the hearing. Gross said he told her "you haven't been home or you've been partying since then." Doganiero was upset. So upset, she asked the court reporter, Michele Becker, for a transcript of the hearing, Becker said. Doganiero got her transcript -- only to find it didn't include the St. Patrick's Day comment. Becker says she left it out because the judge signaled that his remark should be off the record, something Gross says never happened. Doganiero then asked for the court reporter's tape recording of the hearing. The court reporter refused, calling it private work product. On Monday, Doganiero and the defense attorney in court when the comment was made asked another judge to sign an order forcing the court reporter to correct the official record of the proceeding. That judge later did so. Doganiero declined to comment and would not say why she filed the motion this week, eight months after the comment was made. She also would not say why she wanted a transcript with the judge's comments or what her plans were once she obtained it. Gross, who apologized to Doganiero earlier this year when he realized she was upset, said Tuesday he thought his comment harmless. "I do not understand for the life of me what motivates this or what's behind this," said Gross, who wasn't a candidate for the high court when his comments were made in March. "It was said in jest and was not offensive. I can't put myself in someone else's shoes. Someone was offended, and that saddens me." Why his comment is not in the official court transcript remains something of a mystery. Becker, the court reporter, said judges routinely gesture to her when they want things to be off the record. In this case, before Gross made the comment to Doganiero, Becker said, "The judge gave me a look that said this is off the record." In a second interview, she said Gross made a hand gesture. "I kind of made the assumption he wanted it off the record," Becker said. "I've worked for the judge for years. I know what he means." Gross said he never asked Becker to do so. "I have never instructed a court reporter on how to do their job," he said. "There's no super-secret hand signal. Normally, I can't even see the court reporter from where I'm sitting." The official transcript of the hearing notes that "excerpts (were) deleted at request of counsel." But the request to correct the record, filed this week by Doganiero and defense attorney Jeff Brown, said "that neither counsel for the state nor . . . for the defense had knowledge of or consented to an off-the-record exchange with the court." Brown declined to discuss the case except to confirm Gross' comment. Becker said the note about excerpts being deleted refers to other cases and lawyers before Gross that day. "Judge Gross is one of the sweetest judges in the whole world," Becker said. "He was just being nice to her. He wasn't trying to be mean or anything." She said Doganiero has sent her a letter warning her not to destroy the tape, which Becker refused to allow the St. Petersburg Times to hear. "I've got it in a safe place and nothing's going to happen to it," she said. "She's been trying to get it from me since April." Gross, meanwhile, said the episode has taught him to be more cautious with banter in court. "It's caused me to be more circumspect to make sure I don't slip over that little line," he said. "I'm beside myself over this."
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ARGO -- It's fairly common in criminal court to hear judges and lawyers trade jokes or friendly banter to break the routine.
