Domestic-violence charge against John Horan dropped
The State Attorney’s Office has dropped a domestic-violence charge against Seminole County Commission Chairman John Horan and closed the case, according to a document filed with the Clerk of Courts office late Wednesday.
Horan, elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014, was arrested April 25 on a charge that he hit his 30-yearold son, according to court records and a Winter Springs Police report. A day later, his son filed a signed statement in court stating that he doesn’t want to press charges against his father and asked that the case be dismissed. James Francis Horan added that he was not in “any further danger of injury or harm of any kind by the dropping of or dismissal of the above-noted prosecution.”
In a written statement posted on the State Attorney’s website, spokesman Todd Brown said there was a lack of evidence to prosecute the case because of conflicting accounts from both parties, along with minor injuries.
“Every criminal complaint that our office receives undergoes a careful and thorough review by experienced prosecutors to determine if they reasonably believe the alleged crimes can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,” he said in the statement. “When that process finds the required evidence is not sufficient, prosecutors are ethically and legally obligated not to pursue prosecution of the defendant.”
In a 911 call, James Francis Horan is heard saying that he and his father were in a verbal dispute that turned physical over a motor vehicle accident the younger Horan was involved in two days earlier.
A court hearing was scheduled for Friday at the Criminal Justice Center in Sanford. Assistant State Attorney David Whateley wrote that his office does not intend to file any more information with the court on the charges, according to the court document.