New judge charged with misconduct

New Palm Beach County Judge Dana Santino was charged Monday with several misconduct violations concerning her campaign before the November election, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission announced.

Assigned in January to preside over civil cases, Santino is now in a struggle to remain on the bench because of her campaign’s allegedly improper attacks against opponent Gregg Lerman’s criminal defense practice.

The charges accuse Santino of employing a “win-atall-costs and pay-the-finelater strategy” to get elected. The alleged violations call into question the Santino campaign’s use of emails and a Facebook page condemning Lerman’s defense of “Palm Beach County’s worst criminals.”

The same material included a photo of Lerman surrounded by the words “child pornography,” “murder,” “rape” and more, in boldface and all capital letters.

The attacks on Lerman “undeservedly impugns the integrity of the entire judicial system by demeaning the work of private attorneys who represent accused persons,” wrote Alexander John Williams, assistant general counsel for the JQC.

In outlining the alleged violations, Williams noted Santino’s “inability to understand and comply” with Florida’s Code of Judicial Conduct represents “a clear and present unfitness for office.”

Santino, 48, has 20 days to respond in writing to the charges. She is accused of violating the judicial conduct code and Florida Bar rules.

Jeremy Kroll, a Fort Lauderdale-based criminal defense attorney and former Broward prosecutor who is representing Santino, told the Sun Sentinel he has no comment “at this time.”

The commission, based in Tallahassee and operating under the authority of the Florida Supreme Court, can recommend sanctions ranging from a public reprimand to a suspension to removal from office. The Supreme Court makes the final determination.

After the charges were made public Monday, Lerman said he felt a “sense of justice.” Lerman had filed a complaint with the JQC after the election.

Santino won the seat with 248,765 votes, while Lerman picked up 233,949 votes in the nonpartisan race.

“You shouldn’t be allowed to cheat and violate the rules and sit as a judge,” said Lerman, who would not automatically replace Santino were she to be removed.

That would be up to Gov. Rick Scott to appoint someone to the seat if it becomes vacant.

Last year, Lerman sued the governor over the right to hold an election for the seat. Scott had wanted to make an appointment for a then-expected vacancy.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled Lerman was correct that an election was warranted. Ultimately it came down to him and Santino, who specialized in probate and guardianship cases.

Santino last month appeared before the JQC’s investigative panel and was “remorseful and apologetic.”

The JQC’s attorney, in his notice to Santino, wrote the judge accepted “full responsibility” for the campaign’s conduct; she recognized that the language used by the campaign was “not appropriate and was inconsistent” with a judicial rule requiring candidates to refrain from inappropriate political activity.

Santino also acknowledged the statements about Lerman were “disparaging,” and “could lead a reasonable person to question” her impartiality, attorney Williams wrote.

The JQC’s attorney wrote the actions by Santino and her campaign consultants were “antithetical to the conduct expected of judicial candidates.”

Santino’s campaign paid more than $143,000 to the consulting firm Patriot Games, according to the notice of the charges. The firm created a “political organization” for Santino called “Taxpayers for Public Integrity,” which set up the Facebook page attacking Lerman, according to the JQC.