Public defender's motion to remove judge over texts with Miami-Dade state attorney denied

Charles Rabin, Miami Herald on Jan 10, 2025

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MIAMI — A woman convicted of domestic battery three years ago was denied in her attempt to disqualify an appeals court judge who, she argued in a court filing, is too close with the Miami-Dade State Attorney who prosecuted her.

Melissa Quintanilla, 28, was found guilty of battering her former boyfriend during a squabble at her West Kendall home over the custody of their young daughter in February 2021, according to court records. She was ordered to serve 12 months’ probation and partake in 50 hours of community service. She was taken into custody again in late 2023 after a judge determined she was not following the conditions of her release.

Quintanilla appealed the case. Last week, Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos Martinez filed a 21-page motion to disqualify 3rd District Court of Appeal Judge Bronwyn Miller, should she have been assigned to hear the appeal.

In the motion, Martinez argues that Miller has been acting as a “de facto senior advisor” to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

“The Court’s impartiality is therefore reasonably questioned in this case,” Martinez wrote in the motion.

Monday, in a brief, one-sentence statement, the appeals court denied the motion without explanation.

Miami-Dade’s top public defender filed the motion after a November Miami Herald story revealed a string of texts between Miller and her former boss, Fernandez Rundle, in which Miller appeared to be advising the state attorney on how to handle the re-sentencing of convicted murderer Corey Smith. The texts were released by the state attorney’s office as part of discovery in the case.

Smith’s defense team uncovered a memo written by Miller decades earlier that told of witnesses in his murder trial being interviewed at Miami Police headquarters and being rewarded with cigars and food. Miller was subpoenaed to testify about the memo at the re-sentencing.

Smith was sentenced to death in 2005, but got a new hearing after the state of Florida changed its death penalty laws in 2023 and mandated re-sentencing trials for Death Row inmates.

Martinez in the motion says there seems to be “a deep and ongoing relationship between this court and the state attorney” and mentions heart emojis in the correspondence, “the equivalent of electronic hugs.”

Before she became a judge, Miller was the lead prosecutor in the original 2004 Smith case and testified at the start of Smith’s re-sentencing early last year.

In the texts, Miller urged Fernandez Rundle to try to have Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Wolfson removed from Smith’s re-sentencing after the judge removed the two lead state prosecutors in the case, citing misconduct. In November, the state announced it was no longer seeking the death penalty in Smith’s case.

Martinez, the public defender, declined to comment on the motion to disqualify Miller, saying he had nothing to add other than what was filed with the appeals court. The public defender’s general counsel, Guy Robinson, also did not respond to queries from the Herald about the case.

Miller’s attorney Brian Tannebaum chose not to respond to the Herald’s questions about the motion but called motions to recuse appellate judges “rare.”

Tampa attorney Scott Tozian, an ethics expert whose firm often counsels attorneys and judges, expressed surprise when he heard the appeals court had denied the motion to disqualify so quickly.

“It certainly suggests a bias that I would think would make the defense more uncomfortable,” he said of the public defender’s legal filing. “It raises issues of impartiality, that’s for sure.”