County clerk's response to Palm Beach Post's summary judgment motion, May 2021

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA¶

CA FLORIDA HOLDINGS, LLC, Publisher of THE PALM BEACH POST,¶

Case No.: 50-2019-CA-014681-XXXX-MB¶

Plaintiff,¶

Division: AG¶

v.¶

DAVE ARONBERG, as State Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida; SHARON It BOCK, as Clerk and Comptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida,¶

Defendants.¶

DEFENDANT, COIUNTY’S, CLERIC RESPONSE AND COMPTROL TO PLAT SCHEDULE A ONE HO FOR ITS MOTION FOR S -QALM TION BEACH TO JUDGMENT¶

Defendant, Abruzzo, as CI d ptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida (“Clerk Abruzzo”), by counsel, respon Palm Beach Post’s (“PBP”), Mo Judgment, and states as follow lain ff CA Florida Holdings, LLC, publisher of the tile a One Hour Hearing for Its Motion for Summary¶

• 1. On January, 9p2I, Clerk Abruzzo was sworn into office as Palm Beach County’s Clerk and Comppmc As PBP is aware, Clerk Abruzzo recently began the process of retaining litigation colthis matter and anticipated cooperating to schedule the hearing PBP is requesting as soon as that process was completed.
• 2. Clerk Abruzzo inherited this case because his office is charged with the ministerial duty of being the custodian of the grand jury records PBP seeks to obtain.
• 3. In the performance of that duty, Clerk Abruzzo’s allegiance is necessarily to the Constitution and laws he swore to uphold.

4. Irrespective of any desire he may have to release the materials PBP seeks, Clerk Abruzzo is bound by law to maintain the secrecy of any grand jury proceedings and records unless and until the Court orders their release. See § 905.17(1), Fla. Stat (“The stenographic records, notes, and transcriptions made by the court reporter or stenographer shall be filed with the clerk who shall keep them in a sealed container not subject to public inspection. The notes, records, and transcriptions are confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) an a), Art. 1 of the State Constitution and shall be released by the clerk only on request a 10 id jury for use by the grand jury or on order of the court pursuant to s. 905.27.”)

5. Florida’s legislature emphasized the importan c f t Clerk’s confidentiality t obligations by making it “unlawful” and “criminal cont o rt” to “disclose, divulge, or s, communicate to any other person…in any ‘S in is ver, any testimony of a witness As examined before the grand jury, or the confer ( t se , port thereof…” See § 905.27, Fla. Stat

6. Regardless of public and S na ntiment toward the subject of the grand jury proceedings for which disclosure i lerk Abruzzo has no discretion to decide whether the records PBP seeks can be rele Am. World Airways, Inc. v. Gregory, 96 So.2d 669, 671 (Fla. 3d DCA 1957); Fe tate, 380 So.2d 1118, 1119 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); Overholser v. Overstreet, 383 S 953, 54 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980).

7.%. and until ordered to do otherwise, Clerk Abruzzo is required by law to main recy of all grand jury proceedings and records.¶

8. Be that as it may, Clerk Abruzzo is eager to bring this matter to a close and has no objection to PBP’s request to schedule its motion for summary judgment for a one-hour hearing at the Court’s earliest convenience, and on a day and time mutually convenient to the parties and their counsel.

/s/ Kenneth G. Turkel¶

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Kenneth G. Turkel – FBN 867233¶

E-mail: kturkel@bajocuva.com¶

Shane B. Vogt – FBN 257620¶

E-mail: svogt@bajocuva.com¶

James C. Mooney – FBN 111668¶

E-mail : jmooney@bajocuva.com¶

BAJO | CUVA | [REDACTED] | TURKEL¶

100 North Tampa Street, Suite 1900¶

Tampa, Florida 33602¶

Telephone: (813) 443-2199¶

Facsimile: (813) 443-2193¶

Attorneys for Defendant, Joseph Abruzzo, as Clerk and Comptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida¶

NOT A CERTIFIED COPY¶

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE¶

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on this 25th day of May, 2021, I caused a true and correct copy of the foregoing to be served via the Florida Court’s E-Filing Portal upon the following counsel of record:¶

Stephen A. Mendelsohn Greenberg Traurig, P.A. 401 East Las Olas Blvd., Ste. 2000 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 E-mails: mendelsohns®gtlaw.com smithl©gtlaw.com FLService®gtlaw.com¶

Michael J. Grygiel Greenberg Traurig, P.A. 54 State St., 6th Floor Albany, NY 12207 E-mail: grvaielmOgtlaw.com¶

Nina D. Boyajian Greenberg Traurig, P.A. 1840 Century Park East, Ste. 1900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 E-mails: bovaiiann®gtlaw.com riveraalAztlaw.com¶

Attorneys for Plaintiff C¶

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/s/ Kenneth G. Turkel Attorney¶