Florida Supreme Court disbars former Broward Judge Ana Gardiner
Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel
Ana Gardiner was a judge, so she should have known better than to begin a "personal and emotional relationship" with a prosecutor who was trying a death penalty case in front of her in 2007, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The court accepted the Florida Bar's recommendation to kick Gardiner, 52, out of the legal profession permanently.
"Considering Gardiner's dishonest conduct and the harm that her actions have caused to the administration of justice in a capital first-degree murder case, we conclude that disbarment is the appropriate sanction," the state's Supreme Court justices wrote in a unanimous decision.
Gardiner, who resigned from the Broward Circuit Court bench in 2010 after serving for 11 years, has 30 days to close out her Fort Lauderdale law practice. Her resignation came while the Judicial Qualifications Commission was reviewing the misconduct allegations, and she agreed never to run for another judgeship.
Last year, the court handed down a two-year suspension to the prosecutor, Howard Scheinberg, who is now working as a paralegal in a private firm in Fort Lauderdale.
Their relationship, which was not romantic, took place while Scheinberg was prosecuting Omar Loureiro, who was accused of fatally stabbing James Lentry, 57, in Lighthouse Point. It was the first murder of 2001 in Broward County.
The Florida Bar, Gardiner and Scheinberg agree on the history of the relationship: The prosecutor and the judge bumped into each other at a restaurant as the Loureiro trial was drawing to a close in March 2007. In the five months that followed, the two exchanged 949 cell phone calls and 471 text messages. Their growing friendship was not disclosed to the defense.
Gardiner sentenced Loureiro to death on Aug. 24, 2007. After news of her relationship with Scheinberg became public, Loureiro, now 51, was granted a new trial. He was convicted again in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison. Last year, an appeals court granted him another new trial. Prosecutors have challenged that ruling to the Florida Supreme Court.
Gardiner appeared before the Judicial Qualifications Commission in November 2008. A Florida Bar referee later determined that her testimony had failed to disclose the nature of her relationship with Scheinberg.
She was back on the stand in November 2012, this time before a Florida Bar panel. She explained that she had been dealing with the loss of her grandmother and father in 2007, and that she and Scheinberg never discussed the Loureiro case in their interactions.
The referee recommended that she be suspended from the practice of law for one year, but the Florida Bar wanted a harsher penalty.
While Scheinberg will be allowed to return to the practice of law in 2015, the court sided with the Bar and determined that Gardiner will never be a lawyer in Florida again.
"Because Gardiner was the presiding judge at the time of her conduct, she had a greater responsibility to preserve the integrity of the judicial process and to ensure that the Loureiro trial was fair," the court ruled.
Neither Gardiner nor her attorney, David Bogenschutz, could be reached for comment Thursday, despite messages left on their cell phones. Bogenschutz and Gardiner were married in 2013.
Gardiner's disbarment is the latest in a string of disciplinary and criminal cases involving Broward judges.
In April, a panel of the Judicial Qualifications Commission recommended the removal from office of Broward Circuit Judge Laura Marie Watson, who is accused of professional misconduct stemming from the settlement of multiple civil lawsuits in 2004.
Last month, Broward County Judge Gisele Pollack and Broward Circuit Judge Lynn Rosenthal were arrested on DUI charges. In November, Broward Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato was arrested in Palm Beach County, also on DUI charges.
Staff writer Tonya Alanez contributed to this report.
raolmeda@tribune.com, 954-356-4457 or Twitter @SSCourts
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