Attorneys square off in county judge race
Criminal defense attorney Jessica Damoth is squaring off against assistant public defender Wayne Culver for a spot on the judicial bench in Seminole County Court.
Judicial races, which are nonpartisan, are open to all Seminole voters on the Aug. 18 primary election ballot.
County courts, known as “the people’s court,” have jurisdiction over civil disputes involving $30,000 or less, as well as traffic offenses, misdemeanors and small claims. County judges serve six-year terms. defense and dependency.
A fourth-generation Floridian, Culver is a University of Central Florida graduate and earned his law degree at Suffolk University.
“I enjoy helping people without charging them a fee,” he said. “Although the work is difficult at times, it can be very rewarding.”
Damoth, 46, has been running her own practice in Daytona Beach since 2007. She focuses on DUIs, drug charges and criminal traffic offenses.
A UCF graduate who worked as a juvenile probation officer before earning her law degree at the University of Florida, she said she worked as a prosecutor for a short period before entering private practice.
“Voters should know that I am a woman of faith and regard the role of judge as an incredible responsibility,” she said.
Culver said he was arrested twice as a teenager for “youthful indiscretions.”
The first time, he was out with a friend when he decided to take his friend’s car and drive it around the block as a joke.
He hit a mailbox and a parked car, so he hid behind some bushes, he said.
He was charged with vehicle theft but that charge was later dropped after his friend’s father told prosecutors he had permission to drive the car and he pleaded to careless driving, a civil infraction.
Culver was arrested a second time for shoplifting two packs of cigarettes from 24-hour grocery store and completed six months of probation after pleading to petty theft.
“I was later hired as an assistant state attorney by the same office that prosecuted me for both of those cases and my experiences in both cases made me a more understanding prosecutor,” he said.
Damoth said her judicial philosophy is to provide an opportunity for citizens to be heard without prejudice or bias.
“The majority of the the citizens who appear [at county court] are not represented and have never been involved in a court proceeding before, whether it is civil or criminal, and it is important for the sitting judge to be mindful of that,” she said.
Culver said his temperament would be “calm and patient” on the bench.
“A judge should know the law and follow the law thereby creating a predictable outcome in a case,” he said.
Damoth said her various work experiences in the criminal justice system set her apart from Culver.
”As a juvenile probation officer, I got to see the court and its working parts from the outside before going to law school,” she said. “… As a prosecutor, I handled thousands of serious cases and got to see justice from the other side of the aisle.”
Culver said his dedication to the legal profession makes him stand out.
“I have worked dockets with hundreds of cases at a time and never thought about doing anything else for my profession,” he said. “… The people of Seminole County deserve a judge that is dedicated to the legal profession and to the community.”