The judge has issued his recommendation: Suspend former Broward chief criminal judge Ana Gardiner for a year for "dishonesty and deceit" involving her relationship with a prosecutor.
Now it's up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether or not to follow Palm Beach Circuit Judge David Crow's recommendation.
The news could have been much worse for Gardiner, who could be disbarred for her conduct in the case involving hundreds of calls and text messages with homicide prosecutor Howard Scheinberg during a trial over which she was presiding. The politically connected Gardiner had a Who's Who of legal heavyweights, including former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth and former Broward chief judge Dale Ross, take the stand as character witnesses.
-- The problem with the address of Corey Alston, the city manager charged with grand theft in South Bay, has been solved. It appears his arrest report had the wrong street number in Lauderhill where Alston lives and his correct address appears to be listed on the South Bay contract, which I just received. So that may boil down to a clerical error. The contract also includes Alston's personal phone number so I've left a message with him for an interview and will update.