The long legal saga surrounding former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez took another turn when a judge denied his request for a new trial following a conviction on political corruption charges. Martinez, a former commissioner with a substantial tenure and two-time chair of the 13-member board, was convicted in November of unlawful compensation and conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation, as reported by The Miami Herald.
At the center of the case, Martinez was found guilty of accepting $15,000 from a supermarket owner in exchange for pushing legislation beneficial to the business. In a recent development, the judge dismissed Martinez's argument for retrial, which claimed a lack of evidence and asserted that a single commissioner does not have the power to create legislation—a responsibility that falls to the entire board. WSVN highlighted that the judge found this reasoning insufficient for granting a new trial.
Defense attorney Ben Kuehne, expressing disappointment regarding the judge's decision, maintained confidence in the prospects of an appeal. "We are confident that, when measured against his decades of honorable unblemished public service, the appellate court will find the prosecution’s speculative evidence does not prove any crime or wrongdoing," Kuehne told The Miami Herald. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M. de la O had acknowledged the circumstantial nature of the evidence but upheld the conviction in his 22-page opinion delivered last Saturday.
Martinez's arrest in August 2022 followed an extensive five-year investigation. According to the charges, he received three $5,000 payments from Jorge Negrin, owner of Extra Supermarket, for his role in attempting to pass legislation in the latter's favor. The fact that the legislation never came to a vote was irrelevant, as the intent to conspire for unlawful compensation sufficed for the conviction. Lead state prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen had also pointed to Martinez's financial desperation as a possible motive but chose not to comment on the recent ruling. Martinez is expected to be sentenced on June 20, as per The Miami Herald.
