Property Owner's Association of the Villages.

There are two (that I've heard of) the POA & the VHA Villages Homeowner's Advocates

Some contend that the VHA is controlled by the developer (another shorthand) & some contend that the POA is independent. Opinions can get heated. :duck:

If the Appellate judges reversed the lower court conviction, what does that say about the FBI, local district attorney and lower court judge who didn't know what the Florida law is dealing with the issue. Looks like a conspiracy to convict and get an innocent person out of a position. Pathetic!

My understanding is that it was in dispute whether that was an intentional lie or an inaccurate memory of the timeline of events. To me, having remembered things incorrectly myself, there is a significant difference.

Legally, the conviction was overturned which I believe means it is treated as if it never happened. I would call this exoneration. And nowhere, other than poster's declarations, did I see any confirmation of dishonesty.

For a third time, I strongly disagree with your assertion. I believe the investigation and prosecution was motivated by politics, not the eventual outcome. (Since discussing politics is not allowed on this board I cannot explain or give examples)

I do not know the individual personally nor have I had any interaction with him. I was around when he was the only local voice providing information on Covid vaccination sites in the area. It seems there was something else he was providing information on but I cannot remember what it was. I would welcome him as a commissioner again though I highly doubt that will be allowed to happen.

I understand you might be grasping at straws, but you certainly would understand that people cannot be removed from office because somebody wanted an investigation done. Florida law does provide for a suspension but not a removal. And I cited the law for you. Neither commissioner was charged with violation of the Sunshine law, they were investigated and not charged with that violation for a simple reason. There was no convincing evidence of such a violation available.

Neither Miller nor Search was ever charged with Sunshine violations. Your post is wrong. They were both charged with perjury for allegedly lying about the details of phone calls to investigators. Specifically in regard to Miller he was charged with lying when he agreed with a statement about when the phone calls between Miller and Search ended. Even though, as pointed out in a very strongly worded reversal, he during the same interview said he was not sure when the calls ended.

Imagine this scenario. The cops ask me what model was the getaway car. I say a Ford. They have picture of the car and say they have evidence it was a Kia. I say, if you say so then I will accept your evidence. Should I be charged with perjury for lying about the model of the car? That is what they did to Miller.

And yes, if the law requires that Miller be paid for the time he should have been serving, then he should be paid. If taxpayer money were the only issue to be considered, he should have been left on the council until the legal system finished with adjudication.

See below for the exact wording from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

OREN MILLER vs STATE OF FLORIDA :: 2023 :: Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal Decisions :: Florida Case Law :: Florida Law :: US Law :: Justia

The appeals court excoriates the prosecution of the case for not understanding Florida law citing exactly what is required to support a charge and conviction for perjury.

Further:
The court took a highly unusual step. Typically a court finds a trial error and sends it back for a retrial, correcting the error. But in this case the Court declared

Judge J Soud wrote the opinion. He was appointed by DeSantis in 2023. Both other judges agreed with the opinion, no dissent. Those judges are Kilbane, appointed by DeSantis and Jay appointed by DeSantis.

You got that right. But to clarify, the FBI .. Federal Bureau of Investigation was NOT involved in this state matter. It was the Florida State Attorney's office headed by our Attorney General, Ashley Moody, doing the investigation.

I didn't follow this case, primarily because I couldn't care less what happens to them.

My reason: Whenever any candidate is a lifelong member of party "A", but just prior to an election switches to party "B" so he is electable, I consider that dishonest and unethical. Not illegal, but highly disingenuous.

Does it speak worse of the candidate that recognizes the only way to get elected is to run as party "B" or does it speak worse of the voters who will only vote for candidates from party "B" and will vote for anyone as long as they are party "B"?

Acquitted
 

He was acquitted. So no harm done. The move to cut wages, replace or anything else has to be reversed by law. I hope nothing like this happens in Lake county. We are new to Florida, hopefully the good ole boys days are over?

No, the system speaks for the founding principle of American elections, which is "majority rules". We have strayed way too far from that principle in so many ways......

Interesting viewpoint. You don't care about someone sent to jail and wrong convicted, likely spearheaded by powerful figures if those who are harmed don't share your political party affiliation as lifetime members. A person with empathy would very much care what happens to anyone regardless of politics if their freedom is ended by a political prosecution that members of the same party as the prosecutors found to be an unjustified application of power.

Do you feel all those lifelong Democrats in the south who after the Civil Rights Act in 1964 switched to being Republicans so they could run in the changed political status of Alabama, Mississippi, etc. are dishonest and unethical? Or did they just accept the reality of the community in which they sought office and that the voters were no longer willing to vote for a Democrat.
But given the choice in Sumter county of two Republicans, one who supported the Developer in all the issues of the day and one who was willing to stand up against him when it benefited the public good, the voters here chose people with guts. It wouldn't have happened if Miller was a Democrat as so many only look at a letter. But once they looked at the platform of the person, not the party, he was overwhelmingly elected.

Recall that Oren Miller ran for the Florida statehouse and lost as a Democrat. His opponent... wait for it... was Bret Hage who later sponsored the Morse bill to deny counties the ability to set fees when it hurt Morse and who later was sent packing when it turned out he was seemingly a Morse bought official.

By the way, Gary Search was also charged with perjury for the same phone calls. He AFAIK has never switched parties and was forced to resign his office and accept a series of fines and restrictions on his freedoms pending the outcome of Miller's trial. He chose not to fight the powers and get on with his retirement. It turned out people with guts could easily be degutted if you were in power and willing to use that power. Everyone should care about that.

Thanks for the posts on the appeals court's decision, statutes, and the Florida constitution.

IANAL, as well, but unless the court ordered the restitution, I think Miller still might need to sue to get it, in which case law supporting arguments might need to be made as well. Access to case law is typically controlled by publishers and is not available for free. Law firms pay Lexis/Nexis or other sources for access to published judgments.

Thank you for naming the judges. At election time, I have found it impossible to find information about how the judges have performed.

What is the name of the judge at the original trial?

Judy!:a040: