State v. Flansbaum-Talabisco

121 So. 3d 568, 2013 WL 3811759, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 11602
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 24, 2013
DocketNo. 4D12-946
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 121 So. 3d 568 (State v. Flansbaum-Talabisco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Flansbaum-Talabisco, 121 So. 3d 568, 2013 WL 3811759, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 11602 (Fla. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

CIKLIN, J.

The state appeals the trial court’s dismissal of all charges against the defendant, Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco (hereinafter “Talabisco”). We find that the undisputed facts upon which the state will rely in an attempt to prove Talabisco guilty establish a prima facie ease and thus dismissal was improper. Likewise, the determination of intent is a question for the trier of fact that is generally not appropriate for resolution on a motion to dismiss. We therefore reverse the order of dismissal and remand with instructions that the charges be reinstated. We caution that our decision should not be construed as a comment on whether Talabisco is guilty or not guilty of the crimes charged by the state attorney. We also take this opportunity to construe and discuss Florida’s anti-corruption statutes.

In 2011, the state charged Talabisco, the mayor of Tamarac, Florida, with four counts: unlawful compensation (count I), bribery (count II), official misconduct (count III), and conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation (count IV). The state alleged that Talabisco received financial assistance in her mayoral campaign from two developers in exchange for her favorable vote to approve their highly controversial development project after the election. The development encompassed the conversion of a golf course into a residential community and drew vocal advocates both for and against the plan. Talabisco responded by filing a sworn motion to dismiss, pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.190(c)(4), arguing that the undisputed facts did not establish a prima facie case of guilt.

The Motion to Dismiss

In her sworn motion, Talabisco asserted the undisputed facts to be as follows. In 2006, Talabisco was running for the office of mayor of the City of Tamarac, with the election being held on March 14, 2006. Bruce Chait and his son, Shawn Chait, owned a company, Prestige Homes of Ta-marac, Inc., which sought government approval to build a residential housing development (the “project”) within the City of Tamarac. Accordingly, the project required the approval of the Tamarac City Commission. Prior to the election and before providing assistance to the Talabis-co campaign, the Chaits believed that Tala-bisco was in favor of the project and would vote in favor of it. Bruce Chait knew Talabisco was “on board” for the project and would support it when it came before [571]*571the commission. Shawn Chait recognized that Talabisco’s support for the project was clear from the beginning of his involvement in her campaign but both Chaits wanted to be part of the effort to ensure Talabisco’s election and show support.

According to the motion to dismiss, in February of 2006, Shawn Chait met with lawyer/lobbyist Alex Heckler, political operative Russell Oster, and another individual to discuss ways in which Shawn Chait could get involved in the Tamarac mayoral race to influence the outcome. Heckler specialized in establishing electioneering communications organizations (“ECOs”).1 Oster suggested conducting a poll, which Shawn Chait agreed to pay for, to assist in determining if Talabisco was doing well in the campaign and “get the lay of the land.” The poll would determine what campaign strategies would be necessary to support Talabisco’s election. Oster conducted the poll and the results showed that Talabisco was tied with her opponents.

As a result of the poll’s findings, the Chaits decided to create and fund an ECO to campaign for Talabisco. Heckler received a phone call from a friend of Tala-bisco’s instructing him to create the ECO and alerting Heckler that he would receive a phone call from Shawn Chait. Heckler created the ECO, named “Tamarac Residents for Good Government,” and the Chaits financially contributed to it via two “conduit entities,” which the Chaits later reimbursed, to create political advertisements including campaign flyers.

Talabisco claimed that her vote for the project was never contingent upon the Chaits’ financial support of her mayoral campaign. Talabisco further claimed that she “received no payment, financial benefit, or anything of value from the Chaits.” Talabisco asserted that only her campaign and the ECO received benefits.

In her motion to dismiss, Talabisco argued:

The legal and factual linchpin underlying the State’s case is that the Defendant obtained an illegal benefit from the Chaits. Simply put, without proof of an illegal benefit, the State’s case fails as a matter of law. Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, the Defendant received no benefit or any other thing of value as required by law.

The State’s Traverse and Response

The state filed a traverse and response to Talabisco’s motion to dismiss, arguing both that material facts were in dispute and that the facts established a prima facie case for each of the four counts. The state contended that whether Talabisco’s vote for the Chaits’ project was in exchange for financial support for her campaign was a question of intent, which should be decided by a jury. The state urged that Talabisco received the benefits of a campaign poll (valued at more than $7,000) and campaign mailers (worth over $19,000) which were primarily negative attack ads coordinated against Talabisco’s opponents.

The state provided its own additional facts. According to the state, Talabisco’s support for the project was not a foregone conclusion, as she had previously met with [572]*572and ■ convinced a Tamarac resident who opposed the project that Talabisco opposed the project as well. Because the resident believed Talabisco’s opposition to the project to be genuine, the resident assembled a group of volunteers to hand out 1500 flyers (that the Talabisco campaign supplied) which claimed Talabisco would not “bow to developers” as mayor. The flyers were distributed within the project’s neighboring Mainlands community and contained language which assured Mainlands’ residents that Talabisco would stand up against Prestige Homes. The state further alleged that at some point Talabis-co was worried about the perception created by the Chaits’ support for her campaign and she therefore returned contributions that had been made in the Chaits’ names. The flyer distributed within the Mainlands community extolled that Talabisco was the “FIRST AND ONLY Mayoral Candidate to offer to refund campaign contributions to the Developer! [sic]”

Talabisco was elected to the office of mayor of Tamarac on March 14, 2006. At her first meeting as mayor — on March 22, 2006 — the Tamarac City Commission was scheduled to take its first vote on the Chaits’ project. Talabisco wanted to delay the vote but Bruce Chait told her not to delay it. On the day of the vote, Talabis-co’s support for the project appeared to be wavering. During a break in the meeting, Bruce Chait sent Talabisco’s former campaign manager to speak to Talabisco to make sure she voted for the project. The vote on the project was not delayed and Talabisco voted to approve the development.

The Order of Dismissal

After holding a hearing on the motion, the trial court entered an order dismissing all four charges against Talabisco. The court held that “the undisputed facts do not establish a prima facie case of guilt against the Defendant as to the crimes charged in the Information.” The court further held that the facts did not demonstrate that Talabisco received any “pecuniary or other benefit not authorized by law.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
121 So. 3d 568, 2013 WL 3811759, 2013 Fla. App. LEXIS 11602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-flansbaum-talabisco-fladistctapp-2013.