1 finally, in 2010, 'll, I started trying to get it published. 2 It was a big nightmare. I actually paid -- self-published --

Transcription

1 Filing # Electronically Filed 01/27/ :26:26 PM RECEIVED, 1/27/ :29:02, John A. Tomasino, Clerk, Supreme 570rt 1 finally, in 2010, 'll, I started trying to get it published. 2 It was a big nightmare. I actually paid -- self-published -- 3 I paid to have the publisher's editor to edit the book; good 4 money poorly spent. 5 So the book came out in October-ish of 2011, and, 6 of course, I was very excited about it. And I took it with 7 me -- in fact, I went to a woman's conference in Wisconsin, 8 and that's where the book was first sold. I was there with 9 my brother, who eventually died of cancer, also in And then, one of the reasons I know who bought the 11 book is because we were using a -- we were using a Square, to 12 take credit cards. And when people paid with credit cards, ( 13 you could send them receipts to their addresses. And 14 that's how I actually know who bought the book. Because when 15 I finally realized how many typos were in the book, it really 16 was embarrassing and humiliating. I could communicate with 17 those people and say when the book is revised I will send 18 you -- I will send you a new copy. 19 So in 2012, out of pocket, I paid to get the book 20 redone. And that's why, when they talked about the mailing 21 labels, those mailing labels, almost all of them, the 22 majority of themr are outside of Leon County. Because it was 23 kind of like I found out the book had mistakes and I ended up 24 trashing -- literally trashing, throwing into the trash can, 25 a good number of the books.

2 501 1 But it's a book where I took the lives of 13 women 2 of the Bible, and it's kind of like a devotional book. It's 3 written for 90 days, and you just read the passage, and then 4 I would apply something out of my life experience to the 5 story. And I'll be more than happy to give each of you the 6 book. 7 Q Now, did there come a time when you replaced all 8 these books by having a new set printed up -- 9 A Right. 10 Q -- that didn't have the typographical errors? 11 A Right. I have those. 12 Q Okay. Tell us now about selling these books at 13 the Leon County Courthouse. 14 A Of course I was excited about the book and I came 15 in and I talked about the book. And I've been here since I would like to think that I have more than just a there are some people here in this courthouse that I have 18 more than just a, hey, how are you relationship. 19 It's interesting -- I don't know if this is 20 appropriate to say or not, but -- let me try to put it this 21 way. My list of the folks that bought the books -- and there 22 were less than 40 books -- less than 40 books sold here at 23 the courthouse, less than 40. Judges bought the books Judges bought the books for their JAs. My records show that 25 maybe about four attorneys -- and actually three of them --

3 502 1 you heard from Eric Abrahamsen. 2 You didn't hear from Mr. Meadows, but I think his 3 transcript is in your -- I'm pretty sure it's been -- I 4 assume it was admitted into evidence, where Mr. Meadows comes 5 into the courtroom and he says to me, Judge, 'I heard you have 6 a book. 7 Q Now, by the way, was court in session at that 8 time? 9 A No, no, court was not in session, and Q Who was in the courtroom at that time? 11 A Just me and the PD and the State. And you know we 12 weren't, because the transcript shows I said I hope you're 13 bearing good news. And we talked about the plea and he 14 specifically said that his client wasn't there. And then he 15 asked me about the book. And I said, how did you know about 16 the book? And he said, the bailiffs told him. So I didn't 17 initiate that. 18 Ian Nesbeth is an attorney, and that's in the 19 record, and I'm not sure where I sold a book to -- I mean, 20 I'm sure it's probably here at the courthouse, but the record 21 shows I said something to him about have you given the book 22 to your mother. So I have Ian Nesbeth, Eric, and 23 Mr. Meadows as the three attorneys. 24 There's another attorney whose name is Cindy, ( 25 Cindy Brown. I have no idea where Cindy Brown is, and she

4 503 1 appeared in my courtroom maybe once. 2 So I have the JAs, I have the judges. On the 3 Court Admin, it looks like -- well, you talked to Karen. And 4 Danny was the Court Administrator back at that time, Danny 5 Davis. His desire was to have been a pastor, or a preacher, 6 so -- and he was a vegetarian, and I'm more vegetarian than 7 not, so we had an affinity, and we talked all the time. 8 Susan and Kendra are two people down there. 9 Q Now, the list that you gave to Mr. Beiner, where 10 was that list prepared and how and under what circumstances? 11 A It was on a yellow piece of paper, and I just made 12 notes as I sold the book to who I sold the book to. And it ( 13 was just a first name -- it was just a contemporaneously made 14 list. 15 Q Did he ever ask you to identify those people? 16 A No, but I understand that the order required me to 17 do a complete list, and I have to admit, I'm of the opinion 18 that I don't have to create things. I give you what I have. 19 And that's the list that I had. And I had typed up the list 20 because, when I redistributed the list -- in your folders, 21 one of your exhibits, you'll see that it's typed. Well, 22 those are labels. And I took those labels and I put it on a 23 little note, and I said, I'm sorry about the typos in the 24 first book, here's the revised book. And so I knew who to 25 give the book to because of the labels.

5 504 1 Q Who are some of the judges that you sold books to? 2 A Judge Dodson bought one, Judge Shelfer, Judge 3 Francis, all the judges on my floor -- well, I actually gave 4 Judge Ashenafi Richardson a copy -- 5 Q Judge Francis, that's Judge Charlie Francis, the 6 Chief Judge of Leon County? 7 A Right. Judge Terry Lewis got one. 8 Q Terry Lewis is also an author? 9 A Right. And I bought his book here at the 10 courthouse. Okay? 11 Q Okay. 12 A All right. And then there were two bailiffs who ( 13 bought the book. One was my bailiff, and she must have told 14 the book -- told her friend about the book, and that bailiff 15 got one. There was one person in probation, Ms. Andrews. 16 Ms. Andrews is assigned to my division. I've been working 17 with Ms. Andrews -- I've been working with Ms. Andrews for a 18 long time. 19 The pretrial woman, Ashley, got a book. Now, 20 notice I'm not giving you last names, because I'm not even 21 sure myself what the last names are. But Ashley is pretrial, 22 and when I do first appearances, she was there. And then 23 there were about -- there were some clerks who bought the 24 book. But the clerks who bought the book were clerks that I ( 25 had relationships with.

6 505 1 For instance, Carmen, Carmen had invited me to her 2 church. I have spoken at her church. So -- Essie was on the 3 list. Essie is another person who I have had contact with at 4 her church, and I've provided gifts -- she had a family, a 5 single mother who didn't have Christmas gifts for her 6 children, and I provided my grandkids' Christmas gifts that 7 they wouldn't need -- that didn't make sense. 8 My grandkids came to see me, and like a great 9 Grandma, I bought a ton of toys for them. They didn't come 10 back the next Christmas, so I gave them to Essie. 11 THE COURT: Excuse me. I think it's appropriate 12 for us to take a little recess. 13 MR. KOGAN: Yes, Your Honor. 14 THE COURT: Just a comfort break. 15 MR. KOGAN: How long are we going to recess for, 16 Your Honor? 17 THE COURT: How much time do you need? Ten 18 minutes, maybe? 19 MR. KOGAN: Okay. 20 (Brief recess) 21 THE COURT: Please be seated. Your Honor, are you 22 comfortable? 23 THE WITNESS: Yeah. 24 THE COURT: Okay. ( 25 BY MR. KOGAN:

7 506 1 Q Okay, Your Honor, tell us, if you could, Judge 2 Hawkins, with the monies that.you obtained through Gaza Road 3 Industries (sic), what do you use those monies for? 4 A Gaza Ministry was designed specifically for the 5 purpose of giving me another source of income with which to 6 give. In your exhibits you have my tax returns for 2010, and You will see that my charitable deductions 8 are decent. I am a faithful returner of tithes; I give 9 offerings; I do charitable deductible giving. 10 However, I only have a judge's salary, and there 11 are many needs that come across my path that I want to help 12 with. And so when I speak, people often ask me, do you have 13 anything written. And so those sermons got turned into these 14 tracts, these books, these memos, that they're talking about. 15 Really, the memos. The book is kind of separate. The memos. 16 And I sold them. 17 And there's been a big deal about my not providing 18 the Quicken records, but I did. And the Quicken records, 19 when I look at them, I can tell you that money from Gaza Road 20 Ministry, I gave deductible money to Children's Hungary, I 21 gave money to the church, I faithfully support the Boys and 22 Girls Club, I pay tuition -- gave money to another Christian 23 academy, cancer, Divas and Gents, which is some other 24 organization. I gave money to the TBA Young Lawyers; that 25 would be Christmas in July. Walking by Faith is some other

8 507 1 religious organization, donations to a family that had 2 experienced a death, Capital Healthy Start. 3 Community service -- my church has an extremely 4 active community service program. It is -- serves as a food 5 bank for the people here in Leon County. I support that 6 above and separately from the contributions that I put in 7 church. 8 As an aside, I have gone over on Wednesdays when 9 the church is giving food and clothing and have taught 10 health -- I guess you would call it healthy living classes healthy living classes. I've given money to Young Actors. 12 I have paid when I take folks out for mentoring. 13 I have old ladies, an old lady -- she died just 14 before her 100th birthday. I routinely gave her money. I 15 paid for a young lady to go to a youth retreat. I paid for 16 other women to go to youth retreats who couldn't go. I've 17 given money to the Alzheimer's Project, the Woman's Club, the 18 Haiti Mission, the Tallahassee Barristers, the Big Bend. 19 So after I take out the expenses, after I take 20 out -- oh, wait, here's another list. My brother who died I guess I'm really glad I did this. He was with me before he 22 went to -- went back home, went to the University of Chicago 23 and I gave them money to help with their hotel bill. That 24 was the day that they got the prognosis. 25 I've got so many people coming into my space who

9 508 1 just need money, money for gas. I've met people -- the 2 homeless -- I paid a hotel bill for a woman that I just met 3 at Office Depot, and I took her to the hotel and I paid her 4 bill so that she could stay the night, and she was one of two 5 people I've done that for. 6 So basically -- Second Harvest has gotten money. 7 When you bring -- Stronger, they brought -- the Stronger 8 Program brought girls down here to the courthouse. And that 9 may be one of the pictures involved. I paid for the pizzas 10 for that. So the money from Gaza Road Ministry was designed 11 specifically, specifically, to do good, after the expenses. 12 And the expenses are the printing expenses. 13 Now, I don't know if you gentlemen know anything 14 about it but I'm sure women will understand. When you're 15 invited to speak at a church, particularly for a women's day, 16 they've got some weird colors sometimes, and I may not have 17 that color in my wardrobe. So I would buy the outfit for 18 that event, and maybe the pair of shoes. But except for 19 that -- and I had to get my hair done, got my nails done. 20 But except for that little personal expense that I derive 21 from that, all the rest of it was used to do good. 22 There's not one bill that I paid on my house with 23 this money, there's not one thing that I bought in my house 24 with the money from Gaza Road Ministry. It has been a source ( 25 for me to loan money to people. Maybe I got it back, and

10 509 1 maybe I didn't. But that's the purpose of Gaza Road Ministry 2 money. It's just another source. 3 And then there's the implication thirteen-five is 4 a significant amount of money. Well, the judges' salary is 5 over $130,000, so we're talking about maybe a tenth of that. 6 And my charitable giving is in the neighborhood of 20 7 percent. And that's been my history. That's been my history 8 since I've been employed. 9 So if you look at my tax returns -- you know, 10 Jim and I were married for 40 years, and if you look at our 11 taxes, our charitable giving has been significantly 12 consistent, because I have always given not less than percent to my church. And I have always tried to do close to percent of other deductible giving. So it's in the 15 neighborhood of 20 percent, and it is off the gross, not the 16 net. Okay? 17 So all about -- and then, that's what Gaza Road 18 Ministry was for. It was just for me to be able to have more 19 money to do good. People just -- people somehow think judges 20 have got a lot of money. 21 Q Okay, here's what I'd like to do, if we can. I'm 22 going to take'this notice of the amended formal charges and 23 go down basically sentence by sentence and read the charge to 24 you and ask you to comment upon it, explain it, whatever you 25 want to do, answer it, et cetera. Okay?

11 510 1 All right, let's do that. I'm going to start at 2 page one where it says a judge shall not lend the prestige of 3 judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge 4 or others. Now, A, under that is that you took the resources 5 provided to you for the support of your judicial duties and 6 used them instead to operate a private business from which 7 you derived substantial income. That business, Gaza Road 8 Ministries, was operated in large part from your judicial 9 chambers where you used your official time, office space, 10 utilities and the equipment provided to you for your judicial 11 duties as well as the services of your Judicial Assistant to 12 further your private business. ( 13 A That is a mouthful. First of all Q If I'm saying too much at one time, tell me, and 15 I'll cut it off. 16 A No, I'm just saying it is a mouthful. There are 17 no restrictions that I'm aware of which limit our access to 18 the Internet. As long as you're not doing anything downloading or looking at something that's illegal or 20 improper, we have free use of the Internet. 21 I'm not aware of anything that says you can't 22 bring in your personal computer and printer and plug it into 23 the wall here at the courthouse. 24 Keep breaking it down to where I can answer it. ( 25 You've got the list of the s. It said that I did like

12 s on the work computer over 25 to 30 months of 2 coverage. Okay, that's not a whole lot of s at all, 3 when you do the division, at all. And if the person 4 contacted me first -- you have to understand that Gaza Road 5 Ministry wasn't formed until I mean, it didn't exist. 6 So if people were trying to contact me, the easiest place to 7 contact me would be here at the courthouse. 8 And so that would come in; I would receive 9 it. The very first thing I'd have to do is check the date to 10 see if I'm available. I only have one calendar. I only keep 11 one calendar. Why? Because with a five-week rotation, I 12 have no idea where I'm going to be at any point in time. 13 The old schedule, when there was one division, 14 I knew that I was in the criminal division and I knew exactly 15 where I was going to be every day, and that's why I could 16 keep volunteering in the schools. I can't volunteer in the 17 schools now because I don't have one day every week that's 18 available. So the date has to be cleared, and I only have 19 one calendar, and my JA keeps that calendar. 20 What else were they saying? 21 THE COURT: Excuse me. Would you approach, please? 22 Mr. Miller? 23 (Whereupon, a Bench conference was held as follows:) 24 THE COURT: I'm not trying to tell you how to try 25 your case. She's giving us a lot of narrative responses

13 512 1 to your questions that boil down to really not 2 responsive. I thought it was a great idea when you 3 asked her about the allegations. 4 I think maybe if you ask more simplified questions 5 and go point by point it would really help us as 6 panelists to try to figure out, you know, what her 7 position is. But you asked a perfect question, but 8 she's all over the place. Does that make sense? 9 MR. KOGAN: Yeah. 10 THE COURT: Okay, so if you want to just narrow start over with the allegations and ask her MR. KOGAN: Every couple of words stop and ask her. 13 THE COURT: Okay, that will help us a lot. 14 MR. MILLER: She does add a whole lot that I'm 15 enjoying. 16 THE COURT: If you want us to appreciate her 17 testimony, we've got to keep her in line. 18 (Whereupon, the bench conference was concluded.) 19 BY MR. KOGAN: 20 Q Okay, the Judge has made a suggestion, and I'm 21 going to follow his suggestion. We're going to go back, and 22 instead of giving you -- as you said, that's an awful lot to 23 chew on -- that's my words, not yours. I'll just give you a 24 line or two and let you tell us, you know, about that 25 particular aspect.

14 513 1 All right, back to 1 A, they said you took the 2 resources provided to you for the support of your judicial 3 duties and used them instead to operate a private business 4 from which you derived substantial income. Did you derive 5 substantial income from that? 6 A I absolutely don't think that $13,000 is 7 substantial income. 8 Q Over the three-year period of time or four years 9 maybe now that Gaza Road Industries -- Ministries, rather has been in existence, how much money have you actually made 11 from that? 12 A Not much, because in was a good year. 13 I spoke -- in your notebooks you have a copy of the year. I was speaking once or twice a month. 2012, that 15 money went -- I paid out of pocket to reprint the books and I 16 didn't have that many speaking appointments. And you've got 17 my tax returns, so I'll defer to whatever the tax return says 18 for In I don't get great honorariums. The 20 selling of materials is where I guess I make some money, but 21 first of all you have to take out of that the printing 22 expenses. I went -- this year I went to St. Croix, after my 23 husband died. I'm glad that I went; that was a healing 24 thing. I just got back from Wisconsin; that was a healing 25 thing.

15 514 1 When he died, I had to cancel an appointment in 2 Miami. And I don't know, I may have had one or two before, 3 before May. So it won't be a whole lot again this year. 4 This year I might break even, I might break even. 5 Q Okay -- 6 A But, now, resources -- I think the only -- if 7 they're talking about sitting in my chair and being in my 8 office, okay. And they're talking about using the laptop, 9 the desktop. I guess that's okay, but Q That's really the next question. So just follow 11 me through. 12 A Okay. But resources, I'm just trying to figure 13 out what Q Well, the next one is, it says that business, Gaza 15 Road Ministries, was operated in large part from your 16 judicial chambers where you used your official time, office 17 space, utilities, and equipment provided to you for your 18 judicial duties as well as the services of your Judicial 19 Assistant to further your private business. 20 Let's break that down into two separate parts. 21 Now, was it operated in large part from your judicial 22 chambers? 23 A Absolutely not. I think the closest you can come 24 to that would be the schedule, the scheduling. All 25 scheduling comes through my office. I wrote the materials --

16 515 1 I wrote the materials on my own laptop and primarily on my 2 own time. 3 Q All right, now -- 4 A And if it was during the work hours, I was at 5 home. That's why I gave you the schedule. 6 Q Okay. The next one -- I'll go back and say, did 7 you use your official time, office space, utilities and the 8 equipment provided to you for your judicial duties as well 9 as the services of your Judicial Assistant to further your 10 private business? Did you use your official time, office 11 space, utilities and equipment that were provided to you in 12 your particular business? ( 13 A This is one of those yes-no answers. Yes, I may 14 have been sitting in my office and opened up my and I 15 had an that came in to me that was a Gaza Road 16 Ministry's . I open it up, I look at it, I probably 17 responded to it or forwarded it -- or forwarded it to the 18 Gaza Road -- it would have -- or answered it, you know. 19 But how much time does it take to open up an 20 and look at it? You open up s and look at them all the 21 time. There was nothing that said I couldn't do that. There 22 was no significant time spent doing it. 23 And I can't respond to the issue about utilities. 24 I mean, am I not supposed to plug up my phone or laptop at 25 the courthouse?

17 516 1 Q Now, the next one is, did you use the services of 2 your Judicial Assistant to further your private business? 3 A The answer is, yes, I did, but not in a JA 4 capacity. She created her own business, Omni Business. She 5 created that business. And I wasn't her only client. 6 What she did for me was to check the calendar. I 7 needed to have the calendar cleared. After that, whatever 8 she did for me was on Omni Business, and I paid for it 9 separately and apart. 10 Q All right. The next one says you used your 11 position as a Judge to promote your private business by, 12 among other things, selling and offering to sell Gaza Road ( 13 Ministries' products in your courtroom to lawyers who 14 regularly appeared before you. Did you? 15 A Well, we have Mr. Meadows who came into the 16 courtroom telling me that I sold (sic) a book. You've heard 17 that the other ones came into -- it sounds like you've got 18 three of them who came into my chambers right when I received 19 the book, and they came into my chambers for official 20 business, and as part of the conversation I was excited about 21 my book and I talked about my book. 22 Q Number two is selling and offering to sell Gaza 23 Road Ministries' products in the courthouse to persons over 24 whom you had disparate influence and authority, including 25 lawyers who appeared before you and various courthouse

18 517 1 employees. Did you do that? 2 A That's another yes and no. The list shows that I 3 sold a book to Mr. Meadows. The transcript shows that I sold 4 one to Ian Nesbeth, and I also -- and Eric, okay? So we have S those three that are clearly identified. Cindy Brown is a 6 lawyer that I know, and she must have been at the courthouse 7 when I mentioned it to her. So there's no great number of 8 lawyers that bought the book. 9 Even when you look at the clerks, there's no great 10 number of clerks who bought the book. And those who did buy 11 the book are clerks that I work with. I work with Carmen. 12 I've been to Carmen's church. 13 And I think you got Cathy -- Cathy was the clerk 14 out at Thomasville Road, the only one out there. I work with 15 her. Anna is in the Clerk's office. I've been working with 16 her for forever. So it's almost as if this question says 17 that somehow or another that I am supposed to not share any 18 humanity with the people with whom I work, so that when they 19 have issues and problems and concerns and they talk to me 20 about their issues and their problems and concerns -- as Eric 21 said, I'm friendly. I'm approachable. The other ones said 22 that. So Q Okay, let me ask you the next one. And some of 24 these questions are very repetitious, but remember, I didn't 25 write this. The next one says, offering to sell Gaza Road

19 518 1 Ministries' products to attorneys appearing before you in 2 your chambers on court business, which is very similar to the 3 other question. 4 A And I think we've already answered that. We've 5 heard testimony to that. 6 Q Okay. And the next one is, promoting the sale of 7 Gaza Road Ministries' products in a website in which you 8 offered those products for sale by including photographs of 9 yourself in your judicial robes. 10 A Yes, I do have a website. There were three 11 pictures on that website. One is a picture of me on the 12 bench. The other two -- one was -- and those two I put in 13 specifically to show my community involvement. And the 14 caption under them talked about my community involvement. 15 One was here in the courthouse and there were 16 students who had come to the courthouse and we had a mock 17 trial or something like that. And the second one was a 18 picture that was of me at the school, in the classroom. 19 Q Let me ask you the next one. Are those pictures 20 on there anymore, on your website? 21 A Of course not. 22 Q How long have they been down? 23 A Since you've been my lawyer. You told me to take 24 them down. ( 25 Q At least I like to know, Your Honor, that somebody

20 519 1 listens to me. All right. The next one is, knowingly using 2 your Judicial Assistant to promote the sale of Gaza Road 3 Ministries' products and to help produce those products 4 during working hours. 5 A This is a question that you all really need to 6 talk to Wakeelah about. But let me try putting it this way. 7 With all due respect to the State of Florida, its equipment 8 is not the most current. And if you look at the memos that 9 are already in as exhibits, you'll be able to look at them 10 and tell that the font -- that the fonts don't match anything 11 that's available on State equipment. 12 So Wakeelah had to do this work outside -- outside ( 13 of using State equipment. I even had to update my computer 14 so that I could review the work as she sent it to me. 15 So Wakeelah was responsible for formatting the 16 material that I wrote, formatting it and adding the pictures 17 to it, okay? And she charged me for it. You've got the 18 bills and the 1099 in your exhibits, and I paid her for it 19 out of Gaza Road Ministries' money. 20 Q Okay, let me ask you the next one. This is the 21 second section -- I guess I'd have to call it 2A, because 22 that's the way it's sort of labeled here. You attempted 23 to maintain an idiosyncratic system of justice in your 24 courtroom -- now, I've got to add a little bit to tell 25 you what they're describing that as -- that was often

21 520 1 inconsistent with generally accepted law and legal procedure. 2 Now, did you maintain an idiosyncratic system -- 3 and I'm not really sure exactly what that means -- maybe you 4 do. Did you do that? 5 A I have no idea what they mean. Do I have my own 6 flair for who I am and how I run my courtroom? The answer to 7 that would be yes. Have you ever heard of a judge who would 8 line up the petit theft defendants shoulder to shoulder so 9 that the pleas could be compared at one time? The answer to 10 that would be probably no. If that's an idiosyncrasy, I'm 11 guilty. 12 If you have a judge who bothers to look at the ( 13 pleas and to pay attention to them and to ask questions about 14 the pleas, if that's an idiosyncrasy, I'm guilty. If you're 15 talking about a judge who wants to make sure that defendants 16 are treated fairly and justly and that justice is impartial, 17 if that's an idiosyncrasy, yes, I would say, yes, I am. 18 Q Okay. Now, if questioned or challenged by 19 attorneys appearing in your court, you took measures to 20 coerce their compliance with Hawkins Law. First of all, what 21 is Hawkins Law, if you know? 22 A I haven't the foggiest idea what Hawkins Law is, 23 but they said that I -- there are two rules in my courtroom 24 and the two people -- when new people come: Know your judge 25 and don't aggravate Judge Hawkins. Well, know your judge is

22 521 1 just good common sense, okay? 2 If you're going to be a successful lawyer, you 3 ought to know your judge. Judges are humans; they have 4 quirks -- you ought to know your judge, and that's just -- 5 that's just good sense. That's just good legal sense. 6 And don't aggravate Judge Hawkins, I guess -- I'm 7 not quite sure how they would put that, but it's like -- I'll 8 give you a good example. I probably am not the most patient 9 person when people come into the courtroom unprepared, 10 particularly after we have tried to help you to be prepared. 11 Let's talk about these subpoenas in these cases. 12 When we began to realize that the State was not sending out ( 13 its subpoenas in a timely manner, my office took the 14 initiative of sending to the State the list of the docket and 15 we put them in time order for them so that when they prepared 16 for their cases they would know which cases were most likely 17 to go first, because Hawkins' organization of her courtroom 18 is we do old cases first, to keep moving the docket. 19 Q Let's try the next one. 20 A Okay. 21 Q Now, these are numbered peculiarly in here. As 22 I say, I didn't number them. They say these measures 23 include, number one, going off the record to avoid having 24 your coercive discussions recorded. 25 Now, did you go off the record so that your,

23 522 1 quote, coercive discussions, unquote, cannot be recorded? 2 A This falls into the category of if you live in a 3 glass house, you ought not to throw stones. The Public 4 Defender would often ask to go off the record because they 5 wanted to tell me things about their client like their client 6 was incompetent or their client didn't want to take this 7 plea, or whatever; things that they did not want their client 8 to hear. So they would ask if they could come up and have a 9 side bar on it. 10 The State Attorney would tell me things like we 11 don't have our subpoenas out because our office is not 12 organized to get the subpoenas out. Now, if they want ( 13 everything on the record, I'll be happy to do it, but the 14 State Attorney's office's newest attorneys didn't even file 15 their pleadings correctly. I'll be more than happy to put 16 all this stuff on the record, but it implies that I'm going 17 off the record just because I have nothing better to do than 18 go off the record. 19 I would assume -- and I might be wrong -- that 20 some things ought not to be put on the record. But if they 21 want everything on the record -- and, in fact, that was part 22 of this investigation. They started asking me to put 23 everything on the record, and I started putting everything on 24 the record. And now they're telling me -- because I now ask ( 25 them, do you want this on the record or don't you want this

24 523 1 on the record. And they're now making the call on it. 2 Q Let me ask you, number one, that follows up -- the 3 same sentence -- and it says here that you also do it to 4 prevent the preparation of a full and complete record of case 5 proceedings. 6 A When they want -- okay, as you now know, we only 7 have digital recording. Let me give you a good example. And 8 I have lots of them. When we're doing jury selection, this 9 is how I conduct it. It might be an idiosyn -- whatever that 10 word is. Okay, I bring the jurors in, I put them in the box, 11 and before we go any further, I ask the question, is there 12 anyone here who is not going to be available on the day of 13 the trial, and hands go up. 14 We call the person out, we go side bar, we ask the 15 person what's the conflict. If it's a conflict that's legit, 16 over at side bar we dismiss the person and we just tell the 17 clerk, this juror has been dismissed. 18 In domestic battery cases, in particular, and DUI 19 cases, in particular, I will always -- I also say to the jury 20 is there anyone in the panel, just knowing that the defendant 21 has been charged with a DUI or domestic battery, that knows 22 you would be not the most appropriate juror in this case? 23 Hands go up. 24 We bring those jurors out one at a time, we take 25 them side bar, we let them tell us what their reason is, and

25 524 1 we excuse them or put them back in. 2 Now, I'm looking at the State and the defense, who 3 have agreed to either this dismissal or excusal or not. And 4 if they want to put it on the record, we do it, but they 5 usually don't. So that's on the jury selection part, all 6 right? 7 Q Okay. 8 A Now -- what was the rest of the question? 9 Q I'm going to ask you the rest of the question 10 here. And that is, avoiding inappropriate comments or 11 preventing the recording of the sound of your turning pages 12 of magazines during the trial. 13 A Okay, wait, that's two things. The other thing 14 is, the attorneys always have the option -- now you 15 understand that -- you know, it's popcorn, you send the 16 jurors up and out, up and out, up and out. 17 So if there's an issue that requires developing a 18 record on it, we send the jury out so that it is on the 19 record. If it's just -- and we only do -- we don't do 20 speaking objections, we just do objection, objection. And if 21 I know what the objection is -- and I hope that, after 15, 22 16, 17 years here, I pretty much know what the objection is, 23 I can -- and she's talking about waving of the hand, that's 24 kind of like let's keep moving. 25 Because the new. attorneys -- and don't lose sight

26 525 1 of the fact that misdemeanor gets a bunch of brand new 2 attorneys, brand new attorneys. And so many times, their 3 objections -- you know, it's great to make a record for it, 4 but they're going to get a string of denials -- deny, deny, 5 deny, deny. 6 I'm not sure that looks really good to the jury 7 when I'm just going deny, deny, deny. And so maybe what's 8 happening is I'm trying to be helpful and my helpfulness 9 is -- they don't want me to be helpful. And trust me, after 10 this, if you want to stay on the record, if you want it 11 denied on the record, you can get a sustained and you can get 12 a denied. 13 But if it's something a record needs to be made 14 for, we either -- we send out the jury and do it right then 15 and there or the attorneys agree that when the jury is out 16 for something else, we will then put it on the record. Okay? 17 Q All right, now, let me ask the next question. 18 Actually, it's part of what I just asked -- preventing the 19 recording of the sound of your turning pages of magazines 20 during the trial. 21 A Well, as you can tell, these mics are very 22 sensitive. Not only do I read magazines -- my favorites were 23 the Florida Law Weekly and the Defender and the Florida Bar 24 magazine. But I also flip through files and I also sign 25 files. The mic picks up all of that. So, of course, I would

27 526 1 push it away. 2 I also sign on the bench orders and I also give to 3 the jurors a packet, which is a certificate of thank you for 4 serving today, a letter of appreciation and a questionnaire 5 form. I'm flipping through papers when I do that. Of course 6 I turn the mic away. 7 Q Now, they add onto that in that same paragraph, 8 this has occurred on many occasions, including but not 9 limited to the case of State versus Augustino (sic). I 10 believe that's under -- I think it's number 28 in the books 11 that you have there. And that's the transcript of the trial 12 where I think they said there was something like 46 times 13 that they couldn't hear what the conversation was when 14 objections were made. 15 A And my comment to that is, they may be correct, 16 but if you read the transcript and you read what happened, 17 it's pretty clear what the objection was and what the answer 18 was. 19 Q All right, let's go to number two. Telling 20 attorneys that you will make findings of fact designed to 21 defeat appellate review, including making findings of fact 22 that call into question the credibility of law enforcement 23 witnesses. 24 A This is a really interesting issue because every 25 time I read jury instructions to the jury, it goes: You may

28 527 1 believe any, all, or none of any witness' testimony. So 2 unless there's a different standard for judges and jurors, 3 the fact finder -- the fact finder has the exclusive review 4 of deciding whether or not they believe or disbelieve the 5 testimony of a witness. 6 Q So what you're saying is that, in your opinion, 7 the Chief Judge was wrong when he reversed you in the case 8 that Mr. Massey -- is that his name -- 9 A Marsey. 10 Q -- Marsey testified to this morning? 11 A Not only that, I've got case law that clearly says 12 that this is credibility. Now, here's where it becomes 13 sticky. And I'll do this if they want. I don't have a 14 burden, I just don't have a need to write orders where I 15 simply say that the Court finds the officer's testimony not 16 believable. 17 The few orders that I have actually done it in the few orders that I have done it in have been orders where 19 I use the words, the Court finds the law enforcement 20 officer's testimony incredulous, or I've used the words that 21 it has been inconsistent with other evidence. All right? 22 And they -- the cases that they've made a big deal 23 out of -- let me just use, for example, the one with the 24 hunch. The officer said -- this is not a credibility issue. 25 The officer said point blank he had a hunch. The issue that

29 528 1 I had was if you say you have a hunch, are you delaying, 2 holding the defendant there specifically so you can get the 3 dogs out? When an officer tells you that he had a hunch, 4 that's about as truthful and clear as the officer can be, 5 which now, in my mind, brings into question the officer's 6 motives for how long it took to get the dogs out. 7 Now, that's how I saw it, that's how I ruled on 8 it. If you just look at the clock, you can say 18 minutes or 9 20 minutes is not unreasonable. But when you look at what 10 happened in those 18 minutes -- and the officer was very 11 truthful and candid with the Court, and it says so in the 12 order. So I'm not quite sure what the issue is with that one 13 on the credibility. 14 Q Let me go on to the next portion of that. 15 A Okay. 16 ' Q This happens even in instances where such 17 findings, based upon testimony and evidence of record, did 18 not support any concern with the credibility of an officer, 19 and appeared designed only to defeat any appellate effort to 20 appeal your rulings. 21 A I absolutely categorically deny that. I have no 22 vested interest one way or the other on which side prevails. 23 My job is to listen to the evidence, determine what the fact 24 may be, and apply the law to it. 25 Q It also says that you further make known that

30 529 1 those who challenge you will be punished. 2 A Exactly how do you punish? I have no idea what 3 they're talking about, and I don't punish. I don't -- 4 there's nothing to punish. These allegations make it sound 5 as if I have some personal interest in the outcome of a case. 6 Q All right, now, let me ask you the next one. 7 Section C says you failed to comply with Florida tax laws 8 when selling Gaza Road Ministries' products. I think that 9 refers to the sales tax. 10 A It does. 11 Q Okay, now, first of all, is Gaza Road now 12 incorporated? ( 13 A It is now, thanks to the JQC investigation, but 14 before it was not. And I reported it on my income tax. I 15 didn't realize that the State of Florida cared as much or 16 more than the income tax people do, the Federal government 17 does. And Mr. Beiner tried to say that that money was from 18 the sale of my books. That is not correct. That money comes 19 from -- in fact, the book wasn't even ready until the end of Q We're not talking about A I'm just saying Q On this we're talking about the income from the 24 books and the pamphlets. 25 A Books and pamphlets, right. And then I went and

31 530 1 I filed income taxes and I wrote a check to pay -- not income 2 tax, sales tax. And that's an interesting process, because 3 you have to identify which county the materials -- the 4 product was sold in, and each county has its own taxing rate, 5 and you have to calculate it county by county. So I had to 6 go back and see where I was, what I sold -- not what, but how 7 much I sold -- and pay the appropriate taxes for that 8 jurisdiction. 9 Q Now, you paid your taxes that you paid on the 10 sales? 11 A Uh-huh. 12 Q That goes not only to the books, but does it also 13 go to the pamphlets that you produce? 14 A It goes to whatever I sold. 15 Q Okay. Now, the next one says that A For the State of Florida. For the State of 17 Florida. 18 Q Right. You paid your Judicial Assistant to assist 19 in the operation of your private business but failed to 20 properly report to the appropriate taxing authorities and 21 this Commission the full amount of these payments. You 22 understand what they're talking about there, the appropriate 23 taxing authorities? 24 A I have no idea, but I think they're trying to make 25 a distinction between the money that I gave -- I didn't --

32 531 1 one of the uses of Gaza Road Ministry was to reimburse 2 Wakeelah Falden, my JA, for the Deferred Comp that comes out 3 of her paycheck. That's what I use it for. That's a gift. 4 It doesn't come anywhere near any requirement to be reported 5 anywhere. The Federal gift tax is like 13 or $14, I'm not aware -- I'm not aware and I've not had 7 anyone to tell me that I need to do anything with that any 8 differently than all the gifts that I have given out of Gaza 9 Road Ministry. And that, as I testified on my deposition and they're making a big deal about this, but I came right 11 back in on the same day of the deposition and said that 12 Ms. Falden didn't want it disclosed; I realized it was going 13 to be a problem, so let me tell you about it. 14 But the bottom line of it is, I know the 15 importance of savings for retirement and I know that the JAs' 16 salaries have not been raised for a few years. And when I 17 asked Ms. Falden about participating in Deferred Comp and she 18 said to me, Judge Hawkins, I cannot afford $50, in the scheme 19 of life, what's $50 to me? And if it allows me to help 20 someone else, it is my pleasure and my joy to do it. And 21 Gaza Road Ministry, that 43, whatever that is, comes out of 22 Gaza Road Ministry. And the check is written every month, 23 and every month, from whenever we started doing it, it has 24 been paid. ( 25 Q Now, let's go to the next allegation here.

33 532 1 Failure to act in a manner that promotes public confidence. 2 Then they go into what Canon 2A says. And then really the 3 first allegation there, when they say your misconduct has 4 been manifested in several different ways, A is: In 5 presiding over the case of State versus Martin, you 6 instructed the defendant to contact one of three lawyers and 7 stated, "Tell them Judge Hawkins. sent you." Do you remember 8 that? 9 A I do. 10 Q All right, tell us about that. 11 A This woman -- you've got the transcript. She 12 didn't qualify for the PD and the State Attorney wanted to ( 13 adjudicate her guilty, and that's the plea offer they made. 14 I know the consequences of her being adjudicated guilty. And 15 it can have -- as he read earlier -- it can have serious 16 consequences with her j-o-b, her job. 17 If she's going to take a plea that adjudicates her 18 guilty, with those kinds of ramifications, I think it's my 19 duty as a judge to make sure she understands it before I 20 accept the plea. Because if she comes back and she wants to 21 set aside the plea, that's going to be a problem. 22 The attorneys that I recommended to her were 23 attorneys that are on the conflict list -- and I hate to play 24 the race card, but let me just go ahead and play it Q Wait, what conflict list are you talking about?

34 533 1 A The county conflict -- the circuit conflict list. 2 Ms. Martin was a black woman, and the name that she read to 3 me of an attorney, I don't think it was a minority attorney. 4 And so the three names I gave to her were minority attorneys 5 who I knew would at least give her an office consultation, to 6 at least discuss the case with her. And -- 7 Q Did you expect -- did you expect to get any money 8 from these attorneys for referring this? 9 A Absolutely not. Absolutely not. In fact, one of 10 them is a hearing officer, is the traffic hearing officer. 11 And when I said to her tell them Judge Hawkins sent you, it 12 was a way for the attorney to know please do -- if you have 13 to do a pro bono consultation, do so, but at least give this 14 woman an opportunity to know and to understand what her 15 options are. And oh, by the way, the plea that was 16 eventually entered was without adjudication of guilt. 17 Q Let's go to the next one, and that is number four, 18 Roman Numeral IV, failure to devote full attention to the 19 judicial office. And it starts out, the Florida Constitution 20 requires judges to devote full time to their judicial office. 21 Canon 3B, Subsection 8, states that judges should dispose of 22 all cases promptly, efficiently and fairly. Do you dispose 23 of your cases promptly, efficiently and fairly? 24 A One of the things they say about Judge Hawkins is 25 that she moves her docket. My cases are moved timely and

35 534 1 efficiently. It's -- Mr. Marsey commented on he didn't know 2 that the order had been written. It wasn't because I didn't 3 write it. I don't know what the problem was in his office, 4 but the order was written in a timely manner. 5 Q Then under Section A, under Roman Numeral IV, it 6 says your involvement with Gaza Road Ministries has caused 7 you to devote less than your full time and full attention to 8 your judicial duties. Has it? 9 A Absolutely not. I don't even know what they're 10 trying to say. Some judges like to hunt, some judges like 11 to fish, some judges like to do crafts, some judges like 12 motorcycles. Judges have hobbies. Judges have other things. (. 13 Hopefully judges have lives. The interests in my life is I 14 like to do workshops, I like to travel, I like to preach, I 15 like to do seminars. 16 You see the schedule. When I do my mission trips, 17 I look at the schedule and I pick a time that works with the 18 schedule that I am assigned to. I know that I have to be 19 here for my criminal week. I know that. And if you look at , when I went to Guyana, I left after my criminal week 21 and got back in time for my criminal week. 22 Q Now, are there times when you have other judges 23 cover for you? 24 A We cover for each other all of the time, all of 25 the time. That's why the administrative two week is so

36 535 1 important. If you're going to be out, all you have to do is 2 look at the calendar and see who the administrative two judge 3 is and just go down the hall and say, are you planning to be 4 in town -- no, are you available to cover for me. 5 It doesn't require any more energy than a walk 6 down the hall and find whoever your administrative two judge 7 is. And we cover for each other all of the time. 8 Q You have explained -- and this is in the document, 9 again -- that as a judge you and your Judicial Assistant have 10 a great deal of free time so you feel free to use your 11 judicial chambers and out-of-court free time to conduct your 12 for-profit business and schedule business appointments. ( 13 A That is another one of those questions that has so 14 many assumptions in it. First of all, I am not an hourly 15 employee. I am a duly elected constitutional official. I 16 serve 24/7. Okay? So my job is to be available to deal with 17 the judicial work as it comes to me. 18 I may be here in the office, or I may be home, or 19 I may be in the hospital with my mother, or out of state, and 20 get phone calls where there's a request for my judicial 21 signature, all right? I am not an hourly employee. So I may 22 or may not be in the office when I don't have anything on my 23 docket to be done. 24 Like I told you, for the trial week, if I have no 25 trials, I don't come in all day. My JA handles the office.

37 536 1 If there are files to be signed, I come in and I -- there's a 2 good possibility -- I'm known for coming in after hours and 3 taking care of work. I just -- I like doing stuff at that 4 time. It's quiet, there are no interruptions. So let's 5 divest ourselves of this thought that I work an 8:00 to 5:00 6 day. I don't. I don't. 7 Q What did you do when you got that call at 3:00 in 8 the morning? Where were you located at that time? 9 A That was back -- I'm glad that I made a note of 10 it. I was in the hospital at my mother's bedside and TPD 11 called me to sign a warrant. And I was really surprised that 12 when I told the officer that I was at the hospital, he didn't 13 say, that's okay, Judge, I'll find another judge. He said, 14 like, okay. And I went, well, okay, I'll meet you down in 15 the emergency room. 16 I have on my cell phone a TPD investigator's cell 17 phone number because I live close to the TPD's office, the 18 police office -- we call it the station -- and I'm routinely 19 called to sign these warrants. 20 Q Where else have you been contacted after hours, 21 away from the office, to perform official duties? 22 A In 2012, when I was at my brother's funeral in 23 Michigan, I got a call needing me to sign a warrant. This 24 year, after Jim died, I was in Maryland with my son, and I 25 got a call to sign a warrant.

38 537 1 Q All right, it says you often take time away from 2 your judicial duties to promote your business, to the 3 detriment of the prompt and efficient administration of 4 justice. 5 A I have no idea what they're talking about, because 6 if there's one thing I do, it is, I do my work and I do my 7 job. 8 Q Are you behind in your case load? 9 A Absolutely not. 10 Q Section B says A And let me just -- let me just put this here. 12 When you look at the Gaza Road schedule that they have here, ( 13 you'll notice that most of the work is done on the weekends. 14 It is on the weekends. I do very little -- I may -- it may 15 start on a Friday, sometimes it may start on a Friday. But 16 if you also look at the schedule I gave you, you'll see, if 17 I'm not the duty judge, the only thing on Friday that I would 18 have to do is assist with jury selections. If there are no 19 jury selections to do, and I'm on top of my work, then I can 20 leave early. And it's Q The fact that you frequently do not inform the 22 attorneys or parties in advance of your absences in a timely 23 and reasonable fashion exacerbates the harmful and disruptive 24 effect of your actions upon those who appear before you. 25 A I have no -- I have no idea what they're talking