Joe Carollo Lawsuit Defense Has Cost Miami Taxpayers Nearly $500K in Fees So Far

What are the most common costs for a municipal government? Road maintenance, water and sewer, city projects and programs?

What about legal fees for defending elected officials in the highest courts of the land?

For the past four years, the City of Miami and City Commissioner Joe Carollo have been embroiled in a lawsuit filed against the commissioner by two Little Havana business owners, William Fuller and Martin Pinilla. The plaintiffs allege that Carollo retaliated against them for supporting his political opponent and used city resources to harass their businesses. For this one lawsuit alone, the City of Miami has paid Carollo's personal attorney nearly half a million dollars.

In July, New Times submitted a request to the City of Miami for records of all payments made to attorney Benedict Kuehne on behalf of Carollo from September 2018 to the present. According to the recently provided records, the city has paid a grand total of $432,618.92 in fees and costs to Kuehne's law firm for this case to date. The city has yet to mail checks for an additional $26,334.70 invoiced by Kuehne this year, according to a spreadsheet provided to New Times and attached to the end of this article.

Reached by New Times by the phone this week, Kuehne says his invoices to the city have actually come at a "significantly discounted rate," which he offered to the city as a public service.

"I'd say it's a fair price for excellent representation," Kuehne says. "I'm proud to represent the City of Miami in its efforts to promote justice."

Fuller and Pinilla sued Carollo in federal court in October of 2018, claiming Carollo violated their First Amendment rights by weaponizing city offices such as code enforcement against their various properties in a "campaign of harassment" after they publicly supported Carollo's opponent, Alfie Leon, in a 2017 runoff election.

Carollo was infamously accused of stalking around the parking lot of the Ball & Chain bar in Little Havana (which Fuller co-owns in a separate partnership that does not involve Pinilla) and yelling, "I am the law!" at an employee when confronted about his presence.

Carollo's attorneys have repeatedly appealed the federal lawsuit without success, claiming that as a city commissioner he is protected by so-called qualified immunity for actions taken in his official capacity. His appeals have been shot down each time. Carollo's recent petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue is pending.

The appeals have delayed the case for nearly four years, as taxpayers foot the bill. The case itself remains in its discovery phase; a jury trial is scheduled for April 2023 in Miami federal court.

Reached by New Times by phone, Fuller declined to comment for this story. Carollo did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.