Apr 24, 2008 6:09 pm US/Eastern
CBS4 Exclusive: State Ethics Mtg On Chief Timoney
Listen To The Entire State Ethics Panel Hearing On Timoney
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Florida's Commission on Ethics met behind closed doors last Friday, and found probable cause that Miami Police Chief John Timoney broke the law by accepting free use of a Lexus luxury car and failing to report it, and CBS4 Gary Nelson obtained an audio tape from the hearings, which can be heard in his report.
On the audio tape of the ethics commission's closed hearing, commissioners were heard laughing over Timoney's argument that accepting the Lexus didn't amount to accepting a gift.
In Tallahassee, Assistant Attorney General James Peterson, who is a prosecutor on the ethics commission, said at the meeting, "Clearly, the free use of a car for a year, plus insurance, is a 'gift' under our code, and that's the reason for my recommendation."
The ethics prosecutor wants the police chief to admit to violating the law, something Timoney refused to do when the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission took him to task earlier this year.
Judge Seymour Gelber, a member of the Miami-Dade Ethics Commission, on January 31st said, "He denies any wrongdoing whatsoever, and I think it's important for us to rebut that."
The county ethics commission issued a scathing letter of reprimand, saying Timoney's denial was "not only disingenuous, but illogical and without merit."
Now the state ethics commission - a much more powerful body - is being asked to insist that the police chief acknowledge wrong-doing.
Assistant Attorney General Peterson said in the closed hearing, "In his settlement with Dade County, he does not take responsibility. All he does is say these are hyper-technical things, or something to that extent. And I think that he needs to accept his responsibility and admit to a violation."
Today, Timoney's attorney, Miguel Diaz De La Portilla, wouldn't say if that's something the chief is willing to do.
"I'm representing my client, and we're in the process of talking to the ethics commission, and that's exactly where the conversations will take place," he told CBS4 Gary Nelson.
There is some good news out of Tallahassee for Miami's police chief, the ethics commission prosecutor said he does not intend to pursue a "big" fine against Timoney.
The commission has the authority, if it chooses, to impose fines up to $10,000 per violation.
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