MIAMI — A U.S. Court of Appeals made a ruling on Thursday regarding an appeal made by Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo in his case against two Miami businessmen.
The court affirmed a decision made in district court to deny Carollo’s motion for a mistrial. Additionally, it also dismissed the rest of Carollo’s appeal for “lack of appellate jurisdiction.”
This comes in the wake of a $63.5 million ruling for businessmen William Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who own Ball & Chain in Little Havana.
In that case, a federal jury found that Carollo violated Fuller and Pinilla’s rights by weaponizing city resources in order to retaliate against them for supporting a political opponent of Carollo’s.
Fuller and Pinilla released a joint statement following Thursday’s ruling, which read, in part:
“We are encouraged but not surprised by the U.S. Court of Appeals’ clear rejection of Joe Carollo’s baseless appeal. The court’s sharp questioning and the overwhelming evidence presented at trial reaffirm what we have maintained from day one: Carollo abused his public office to wage a relentless campaign of political retaliation against us simply because we supported his opponent.”
Currently, both men are suing Carollo in federal court again. This time its for $2.4 million in damages.
Local 10 News also reached out to Carollo and the city for comment, but did not hear back by the time of this story’s publication.
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