IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA¶
CIRCUIT CIVIL DIVISION: AG CASE NO.: 50-2019-CA-014681-XXXX-MB¶
CA FLORIDA HOLDINGS, LLC, Publisher of THE PALM BEACH POST,¶
Plaintiff,¶
v.¶
DAVE ARONBERG, as State Attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida; SHARON R. BOCK, as Clerk and Comptroller of Palm Beach County, Florida,¶
Defendants.¶
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT C MOTION TO AME 4OMPTROLLER’S JUDGMENT¶
Defendant, Abruzzo, in Comptroller, Palm Beach County Florida Rule of Civil Proced with respect to the refere the grand jury states: capacity as Clerk of the Circuit Court and y and through undersigned counsel and pursuant to ), hereby moves to amend the Final Judgment [DE 78] the Clerk “zealously advocated the position against disclosure of upon grand jury secrecy and confidentiality” and in support thereof¶
S SA¶
lorida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.530(g) permits a party to file a motion to amend a final judgment within fifteen (15) days from the issuance of the judgment. Soldatich v. 290 So. 3d 497, 500 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020) (“A motion to alter or amend the judgment shall be served not later than 15 days after entry of the judgment…”) (citing Fla. R. Civ. P. 2.530(g)); see also PLCA Condo. Ass ‘n v. AmTrust-NP SFR Venture, LLC, 182 So. 3d 668, 670 (Fla. 4th DCA¶
- (same); Commonwealth Land Title Ins. Co. v. Freeman, 884 So. 2d 164, 168 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (“As a result, the Trustees’ time for filing the motion pursuant to rule 1.530(g) ran from the date of original final judgment.”). The Final Judgment was entered on December 20, 2021, and this motion is therefore timely filed.
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The Clerk seeks to amend the Final Judgment - specifically page 3 — to reflect that the arguments made, and the defenses taken, were not done to shield the release d jury materials but rather to ensure that (1) the law was followed with regard ure used to seek such records and that (2) any confidential record(s) be released of the court.
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As the Court noted in the Final Judgment, the CI ’ p on is that he is “merely the custodian of the Materials and as such he has no real • t the issues before the court as identified.” Final Judgment [DE 78], p. 3. The C i inht, stated that the “clerk’s role in this proceeding has been complicated, or expand e Newspaper filed this action as a civil declaratory judgement action and haste fol’ motion for summary judgment under Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510” rather thaoQiltlta.8fittotion under Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420(j). See i
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The Clerk tinuously maintained, notwithstanding his personal belief that in this particular c e c jury records should be released, that under Rule of General Practice and Procedu and Florida law, that he is required to maintain the confidentiality of grand jury a court order. See, e.g., Clerk’s Response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 75], p. 2 (“Several statutes enforceable through criminal penalties…forbid clerks of Florida’s circuit courts from releasing grand jury materials except…on order of the court pursuant to s. 905.27.”) (internal quotes omitted).
real interest. Allowing such a tactic could expose a cl hearing as - a floodgate of unnecessary litigation at “C’t11 Clerk to advocate for the proper procedure its , owed when confidential records in the possession of a clerk are sought. 5. As was stated in the Order, “[t]he clerk’s role in this proceeding has been complicated, or expanded, because the Newspaper filed this action as a civil declaratory judgment action and has moved for summary judgment … [while] the proper procedure for obtaining disclosure of confidential court records is set forth in Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial administration 2.420(j), which only requires the filing of a `motion’ seeking disclosure”. See Final Judgment [DE 78], p. 3. Because the Clerk was forced to take on a more coinylicated and “expanded” role, the office had to retain counsel to defend this action. B 0owing a seeker of grand jury records to file a lawsuit against a clerk, rather than simp 2.420(j), a clerk would be required to expend funds defendingc) otion under Rule rs which he or she has no what was referred to at the Thus, it was necessary for the¶
t 6. Clerk Abruzzo a ’ e Plaintiff to the extent that releasing the records would be of public interest gred w d further justice especially because the records were previously released to th ’ States Government prior to him taking office in January 2021. See id. at p. 4, n. y p ition that could be perceived to be against the release, however, was simply due nstraints of a clerk’s role as the custodian of the materials and the existing confid uirements of the Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration as well as Florida law.¶
- Based upon the above, the Clerk seeks to have page three of the Final Judgment amended for the narrow purpose of clarifying that the Clerk did not advocate against disclosure of the grand jury records, but that he was merely without authority to release the records absent a court order. To have the Final Judgment include language that implies that the Clerk was zealously advocating against the release of records — rather than simply that he was required to maintain the confidentiality absent a court order — would be a mischaracterization of his position.
WHEREFORE, based upon the foregoing, Abruzzo, in his official capacity as Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, Palm Beach County, respectfully moves this Court to amend page three of the Final Judgment to reflect that the Clerk advocated that a er would be necessary to release the confidential records under Rule of General 0 and Judicial Administration 2.420. c¶
Dated: January 3, 2022¶
+6s¶
c Respect itted,¶
O THE CIRCUIT COURT & OLLER, PALM BACH COUNTY¶
ollin D. Esq. (FL Bar No. 1018081)¶
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County¶
P.O. Box 229¶
West Palm Beach, FL¶
Tel.: (561) 355-2983¶
E-mail: eservice@mypalmbeachclerk.com¶
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE¶
I hereby certify that on January 3, 2022 the foregoing document was furnished upon the following via the Florida ePortal System:¶
Stephen A. Mendelsohn Greenberg Traurig, P.A. 401 East Las Olas Blvd., Ste. 2000 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 E-mails: mendelsoluts®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: wygielm®gtlaw.com¶
Nina D. Boyajian Greenberg Traurig, P.A. 1840 Century Park East, Ste. 1900 Los Angeles, CA 90067 E-mails: boyajiann®gtlaw.com; * riveraal@gtlaw.com¶
Attorneys for Plaintiff CA Florida Holdings, 1,1,C¶
By: s/ Collin D. Collin D. Esq.
¶
Kenneth G. Turkel Shane B. Vogt James C. Moon Bajo Cuva & Turkel, P 100 North Tampa Street, Su Tampa, Florida 33602 E-mails: lcturkel®baj svogt@bajocuva. jmooney@bajocuv¶
Attorneys Clerk Co, dam, Alma, as oller of Palm Beach¶
N¶