Jesse Scheckner
Broward Circuit Judge Gary Farmer is demanding a trial over charges that he acted so inappropriately from the bench that he should be suspended — and he wants to keep presiding over cases until his trial concludes.
In a pair of filings with the Florida Supreme Court, Farmer’s lawyer, Michael Dutko, said there are “no urgent grounds or genuine exigent circumstances” that necessitate he be suspended before a final decision in the case is made.
To advance things, Farmer is seeking discovery on all evidence pertinent to the case and for a trial to be held in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in Broward County.
The filings Tuesday mark the first development in weeks in a case the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) is pursuing against Farmer, whose lewd and unbecoming comments earned him a reassignment from the court’s criminal division to its civil court in September.
That included references to ejaculate, suggesting a defendant would impregnate his defense lawyer, reciting homoerotic quotes from an “In Living Color” sketch and several instances where the JQC said he unduly exceeded his judicial role.
The JQC filed notice of formal charges and recommended Farmer’s suspension on April 10, saying he “demonstrated a present unfitness to serve.” Farmer successfully sought an extension to reply until May 6.
He contended that he’s changed his ways, should be allowed to continue serving from the bench and is only truly guilty of trying to alleviate tensions that frequently arise during criminal trials.
Dutko said that since the case opened last year, Farmer has “consciously refrained from the conduct and the sort of ‘bad joke’ comments that are the primary basis” of complaints against him. He pointed out that while Farmer’s comments were ill-advised and in poor taste, only “anonymous prosecutors” — not any defense attorney or victim — complained about him, and he isn’t being accused of acting illegally.
Until he won his seat on the criminal court bench in 2022 after serving for six years in the Senate, including a brief stint as Senate Democratic Leader, Farmer had never handled a criminal case during his preceding legal career. The jokes he made, Dutko said, were just him trying to “emulate” other Judges’ behavior “to relieve some of the anxiety” defendants felt, “which in turn enhanced the likelihood of case resolution.”
Farmer acknowledged he “went too far” in that endeavor. He also claimed that the “In Living Color” incident was meant to be a “side-conversation” with the court clerk, but he forgot to turn his microphone off.
The JQC also said Farmer “prejudged cases not yet before him,” dismissed a case by striking a witness “despite valid objections” and “conducted an impromptu evaluation” of a defendant’s competency by asking “random questions.” Dutko said those comments were either “taken out of context” or “not accurately or completely reflected” in the JQC’s portrayal of the events.
Farmer’s attendance, or lack thereof, is also a matter of contention for the JQC. The panel said Farmer skipped out on an inordinate number of days he should have been at work, including 13 absences without noticed leave between October and December 2023 and “approximately 32 days” without leave between January and September 2024. That included many Fridays.
Dutko said Farmer worked from home “on many of the days in question” and was told doing so was permitted. The Friday absences, he said, often came after docket cancellations when Farmer “would suddenly find himself with no hearings.”
Furthermore, Dutko said, the JQC’s “missed work count” could be inaccurate if it’s based on swipe card records, since it takes only two card swipes to make it into the building and Judges frequently walk in together and “take turns swiping cards.”
The JQC recommended that Farmer be suspended after he no-showed a March 28 hearing on his case, blaming an “unspecified emergency situation.” According to Dutko’s filings, it was a “family matter” in Broward that drew his attention away.
Dutko argued that the urgency with which the JQC has asked the Supreme Court to suspend Farmer doesn’t comport with slowness by which it acted after opening a case into his conduct. The case opened Oct. 7, Dutko said, and a probable cause hearing didn’t happen until more than two months later.
Farmer is requesting that if the court does decide to suspend him that he still be paid, citing costs associated with JQC cases.
“If Respondent is suspended without pay, he will be denied the ability to engage in a rigorous defense of himself,” Dutko said, adding that even if suspended, Farmer will still hold the status of Judge and couldn’t seek other law-related employment.
“Suspending him without pay would be tantamount to denial of due process, and suspension without pay is not necessary if the Court believes Respondent should not preside over cases pending the outcome of this case.”
Farmer’s penchant for indecorous remarks also got him in trouble with his Democratic Senate peers seven years ago, when suggested future Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book would be ill-suited for the role because she had two young children.
Farmer later apologized.
