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Spence Jones Claims Defamation, Plans To Sue State Attorney

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Michelle Spence-Jones

Michelle Spence-Jones

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Having tried and failed twice to convict Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones on public corruption charges, the State Attorney’s Office in Miami-Dade may soon find itself in court, defending against charges of misconduct in pursuing Jones.

In a letter to the county’s top prosecutor Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez Rundle, attorneys for Spence-Jones said the commissioner plans to name Rundle and her employees in a suit claiming “prosecutorial and investigatory misconduct,” according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald.

By law, state agencies must be given six months notice before a suit against them is filed.

In the letter, Fernandez Rundle and her office are accused of defaming Spence-Jones “before, during and after the baseless criminal prosecutions” both in the media and in a close out memo.

Last March, Spence-Jones was acquitted by a jury of charges that she had solicited a $25,000 bribe from a prominent developer.

In August, the State Attorney’s Office dropped Grand Theft charges they had leveled against her. Spence-Jones was accused of illegally steering $50,000 in county grants to a family business in 2005, before her tenure as a commissioner began.

Initially, Carey-Shuler denied that she had authored an official 2005 letter that re-directed money from the county-affiliated Metro Miami Action Plan Trust to Karym Ventures, the Spence-Jones family company.

When investigators first questioned Carey-Shuler about the letter, which bore her letterhead and signature stamp, she said she never intended for the money to go to the company.

Prosecutors relied on Carey-Shuler’s testimony and cast the letter as a forgery. But Carey-Shuler’s story changed defense attorney Peter Raben uncovered an early draft of the letter, with revisions penned by Carey-Shuler herself. In a close out memo for this case, lead prosecutor Richard Scruggs suggested that Spence-Jones or a supporter planted the early draft letter.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.

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  • CITIZEN’S OPINION

    Katherine Fernandez Rundle has many other issues that she needs to deal with also . And she’s been voted “Lawyer of the Year” by lawyers! She’s the best they’ve got! Law Enforcement says that too! So that means they are saying that Pam Bondi Attorney General is worse than her. Just more proof of the State this State is in!

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