A judge had a heated exchange with a prosecutor in a Seminole County courtroom over the dismissal of a guilty verdict in a DUI case. Now the judge is moving off the criminal court division.
The incident happened on March 11.
The defendant, Licette Gonzalez, was arrested in January for driving on a suspended license, two months after her November DUI arrest Seminole County Judge Fred Schott became angry when said he realized the license should have never been suspended in the first place. The Sanford police officer that arrested Gonzales never administered a breath or blood alcohol test on her, but the officer had checked marked that she was over the legal limit of point zero eight on her DUI citation.
Officer Michael Wagner testified at Gonzalez’s trial that he made a mistake. But the judge didn’t see it that way.
In the heated exchange between Judge Schott and Assistant State Attorney Diana Miers, Judge Schott at one point asked Miers to charge Officer Wagner with perjury.
“He admitted it was a mistake your honor,” said Miers.
“But he lied, he lied on a sworn citation,” said Schott.
“Absolutely not your honor, and that is, that is not true,” said Miers.
“I am dismissing -- I am dismissing this charge!” said Schott.
Officer Wagner testified during the DUI trial that a breath test wasn’t available at the jail when he booked Gonzales. But Seminole County Public Defender Blaise Trettis said that’s simply not the case.
“The defense, my attorney, called a breath-test operator of the Sheriff’s Office, who testified that never in his experience has there ever been an instance where a breath-test operator has not been available within minutes to administer the test. That’s the evidence the judge heard and that’s the evidence that upset him,” said Trettis.
A spokesperson for Judge Schott said he would not be making further comment. But 18th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge John Harris released a statement Wednesday.
"Managing a full-time criminal docket, whether felony or misdemeanor, can be very stressful and Judge Schott has done a great job in that division for many years. Judge Schott has admitted that he has recently become frustrated in dealing with certain aspects of a criminal caseload. Because of this, and because he had previously expressed an interest in transferring to the civil division anyway, I made arrangements to allow him to make the move at this time.”
The state attorneys office is appealing Judge Schott’s judgment of acquittal in Gonzalez’s DUI case. Schott is scheduled to switch from Seminole County’s criminal division to the civil division April 13.