Suspended Boca mayor seeks dismissal of charges
Suspended Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie on Friday blasted the criminal charges against her as either too vague or too flawed to hold up in court.
Haynie, who was removed from office after her April 24 arrest on seven public corruption counts, also plans in the next few days to plead not guilty in writing rather than proceed with an arraignment hearing next week, attorney Bruce Zimet said.
The former federal prosecutor filed a motion asking Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley to dismiss the charges that shocked the city and at least temporarily halted Haynie’s political ambitions to become a county commissioner.
Haynie, 62, faces three felony counts of official misconduct, and four misdemeanor counts: perjury in an official proceeding; misuse of public office; corrupt misuse of public office; and failure to disclose a voting conflict.
These charges allege that she lied about money she took from developers and hid more than $335,000 in income.
Prosecutors say Haynie failed to disclose that money while conducting business through her husband Neil Haynie’s property management company, Community Reliance, and real estate they owned from 2014 to 2017.
An arrest report also contends Haynie voted favorably on issues that would benefit local developer James Batmasian through his Investment Lim-