A Miami judge dealt a victory Friday for the law, decency and common sense by dismissing a fraud case brought by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his new elections police force. The ruling was a high-profile rebuke as early voting began Monday for the November general election, and it should send the governor a strong message about playing politics with the voting booth.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch tossed out the criminal case against Robert Lee Wood, one of 19 people the governor accused in August of voting illegally in the 2020 election. In the first legal challenge to DeSantis’ arrests, the judge rejected the idea that Florida’s Office of Statewide Prosecution could charge Wood, 56, with registering to vote and casting a ballot, ruling that it was the government — not Wood — who took the extra steps to get him registered.
Hirsch did not consider the substance of the charge, instead ruling narrowly on whether the statewide prosecutor had the authority to bring a case. The statewide prosecutor is restricted by law to prosecuting crimes involving two or more judicial circuits. In the case of Wood and at least 18 other people DeSantis has accused of voting illegally, the statewide prosecutor said they committed crimes in multiple jurisdictions when they registered and cast a ballot, each third-degree felonies carrying up to five years in prison.
