Juror Bribery Claim Fails in Fight Over Jet Shared By Miami Developers
Miami Design District pioneer Craig Robins lost a lawsuit alleging a juror was bribed in a trial he lost to another real estate giant, Ugo Colombo.
December 05, 2019 at 10:49 AM
3 minute read
A well-known Miami developer who lost a trial to another real estate giant five years ago lost again on his claim that a juror was bribed in their trial.
Craig Robins, a force behind Miami's high-end Design District, and Ugo Colombo, whose latest luxury condominium to grace the city skyline is Brickell Flatiron, have been locked in a decade-long legal fight over a jet they co-owned.
Among the many accusations they have hurled at each other was Robins' Dacra Development Corp.'s claim that Colombo or an associate bribed a juror in a 2014 trial that ended in Colombo's favor. Dacra sued Colombo over the corrupt jury claim in Miami-Dade Circuit Court last December.
Judge Michael Hanzman concluded no "shred of evidence" was provided that Colombo and the juror or their representatives communicated during or after the trial.
"The bottom line is that plaintiff's claim is not only bereft of evidence but also completely implausible," Hanzman wrote in his Nov. 21 final judgment entered after a three-day bench trial.
"Over the years this court has struggled with many challenging and difficult cases. This is not one of them, as plaintiffs have abjectly failed to present any credible evidence supporting this bankrupt claim, let alone the type of 'clear and convincing proof' needed to 'convince' the court, 'without hesitation,' that Colombo bribed (or attempted to bribe) this juror," Hanzman wrote in his judgment.
Dacra's suit claimed Colombo's side bribed juror Roderick Brooks with cash and a $1 million unit in one of Colombo's luxury condo towers.
Hanzman denied Dacra's request in the suit to vacate two judgments issued after the 2014 trial requiring Dacra to pay about $3 million to Colombo and his affiliated companies.
In response to the latest judgment, Dacra's attorney Dennis Richard noted the court found "credible evidence" Brooks talked with his sister about a bribe. But the court determined Brooks fabricated the story.
"The court found that there was credible evidence, which the court believed, that the juror, a twice convicted felon, had admitted that he traded his verdict for a promised condominium. However, the court also found that the juror made up the bribery scheme," said Richard of Richard and Richard in Miami.
In unrelated cases, Brooks pleaded guilty to obtaining a bank loan with an inflated income statement and conspiring to commit theft against the U.S., according to the judgment.
Attempts to reach Brooks at were unsuccessful.
Hanzman's judgment was welcomed by Colombo's attorneys.
"Obviously the court fully recognized that Mr. Robins' complaint was baseless and malicious," said Jesse Dean-Kluger, a Miami solo practitioner.
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