When Broward Circuit Judge George Odom dismissed the state’s case against a convicted felon accused of illegally voting in the 2020 election, he said the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor lacks the authority to bring the case to court.
The ruling put a dent in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ stated effort to shine a spotlight on incidents of election fraud in Florida, and now lawyers for the state are asking an appeals court to reinstate the case against Terry Hubbard.
Odom was wrong to toss the case, said Alison Preston, a state deputy solicitor general, because the crime was committed in more than one jurisdiction, usually a trigger for the statewide prosecutor’s intervention.
Hubbard, 55, was one of 20 convicted felons accused of violating election laws by registering to vote and casting ballots in 2020.
“His aim was to vote in the 2020 election,” Preston said. “He knew that he couldn’t vote and yet he registered and did anyway.” Preston said the statewide prosecutor’s office should have the right to bring the case forward because Hubbard’s voter registration was processed in Tallahassee, which means it involved more than one county’s jurisdiction.
But Craig Trocino, an attorney for Hubbard, argued that the only actions taken by Hubbard, signing the registration form and voting, took place in Broward, and only the Broward State Attorney had the legal authority to prosecute.
“The Florida Constitution is very, very clear that local states’ attorneys have exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute single-circuit crimes in their jurisdiction,” Trocino said. “Only when it branches out does the OSP (the Office of Statewide Prosecution) get involved.”
The arguments were held in front of a three-judge appellate panel comprised of Judges Melanie May, Dorian Damoorgian and Jeffrey Kuntz, who asked a series of questions challenging both lawyers, leaving no strong indication how — or when — they will rule.
Florida voters in 2018 approved a constitutional amendment aimed at restoring the rights of convicted felons who have completed terms of their sentences. The amendment did not apply to people with convictions for murder or sex offenses. Hubbard served 12 years of a 30-year sentence for sexual battery in the late 1980s and through the 1990s.
Trocino said his client genuinely thought his rights had been restored and that he would not have received a voter registration card otherwise.
Odom’s ruling said Hubbard initially completed a voter-registration application in July 2019 in Broward County. The county supervisor of elections submitted the application to the Department of State, and Hubbard was issued a voter-identification card in August 2019.
Hubbard submitted a second application to Broward County in February 2020, and he voted by mail in the November 2020 election, according to Odom’s ruling.
DeSantis and other Republican leaders in recent years have made a major issue of trying to stop what they say is voter fraud. Those efforts included creating a controversial state Office of Elections Crimes and Security, which critics have derided as the “election police.”
The charges against Hubbard and the other 19 convicted felons were announced in August 2022, less than three months before a general election that included DeSantis winning another term.
Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and the Brennan Center for Justice signed on to friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Hubbard in the appellate fight.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.