Not ‘frivolous’: Appeals court strikes down sanctions against J.C. Planas after first-of-its-kind ethics fine

Juan-Carlos "J.C." Planas' campaign leaned heavily on his deep knowledge of ethics and elections law. Image via J.C. Planas.

A Miami-Dade appeals court has thrown out an unprecedented fine the county’s ethics panel levied last year against lawyer Juan-Carlos “J.C.” Planas, ruling that his 2023 complaint against a Miami Beach mayoral candidate was lawful.

The three-Judge panel ruled that the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) acted improperly when it ordered Planas to compensate former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora for his legal costs.

Judges Ramiro Areces, Miguel de la O and Daryl Trawick of the 11th Judicial Circuit unanimously agreed that Planas’ complaint against Góngora, while unsuccessful, was based on a plausible interpretation of disclosure rules under state law.

Accordingly, they quashed the COE’s order and a subsequent Miami-Dade Judge’s decision to enforce a $5,675 fine against Planas — the first ever such fine imposed for filing a so-called “frivolous” complaint.

They also remanded the case, sending it back to the COE for “further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

“I am grateful to the court for seeing that this complaint was not filed in bad faith and providing a ruling that will ensure that complaints can continue to be filed with ethics commissions without fear,” Planas said.

“This is actually more important for our community than it is for me.”

It remains to be seen whether the COE addresses the now-renewed questions of whether it was indeed protecting public figures from baseless attacks or chilling legitimate oversight, as Planas has long contended.

The case dates back to September 2023, when Planas filed a complaint on behalf of his client, former state Representative and then-mayoral candidate Mike Grieco, alleging that Góngora violated ethics strictures by failing to disclose as campaign gifts three tickets he received for an upscale restaurant event that year.

The COE dismissed the complaint two months later, concluding county disclosure rules did not cover mayoral candidates. Góngora then sought attorney’s fees, and in July 2024, the Commission voted to award him the $5,675.

That sanction, the first of its kind in the COE’s nearly 30-year history, gained teeth this past May, when Miami-Dade Judge Michael Barket concurred with the order.

Planas, at the time, called the ruling “a complete and utter farce, petty and vindictive.” Góngora’s lawyer, Adam Cervera, a fellow shareholder at the law firm Becker & Poliakoff, said he hoped it would “send a chilling effect on those who want to use the Ethics Commission for improper means.”

On Tuesday, Areces, de la O and Trawick found the COE’s ruling unsupported by evidence and inconsistent with Florida law. They determined that although Planas’ complaint didn’t succeed, it rested on a reasonable reading of state disclosure requirements.

Further, the Judges deemed that his failure to disclose a related dismissal by the COE was problematic, but not proof of bad faith. And they agreed the $5,675 award for attorney’s fees lacked affidavits or testimony to justify the charge.

“Even though the Commission may have disagreed with the interpretation of the provision made by Planas in the complaint, that did not render the argument frivolous,” Trawick wrote in his opinion, to which Areces and de la O concurred. “Planas did what attorneys do every day — argue interpretations of law. His arguments were not outside the realm of reasonableness.”

The new ruling reins in the COE’s authority to sanction complainants under Section 57.105 of Florida Statutes, which allows fee awards only when claims are wholly devoid of factual or legal support.

Planas, who ran unsuccessfully for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections last year, has long maintained his complaint against Góngora was a good-faith effort to hold candidates accountable.

He told Florida Politics he sent a check for $5,675 to Becker & Poliakoff’s trust account, but that it hadn’t yet been cashed.

Now with the appellate ruling in hand, he said he will next move to set aside the county court case “that should never have been ruled on to begin with.” He’ll also be moving for a reimbursement of his appellate filing fees in both cases and asking that they be levied against Cervera, not Góngora.

“Góngora was not driving this train,” he said. “This was all his attorney.”

Florida Politics contacted Góngora for comment, but he declined to speak on the matter until he thoroughly reviewed Tuesday’s ruling.

He deferred to Cervera, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the Broward County School Board in April.

Cervera, who was participating in a school district budget meeting at the time, did not immediately respond to a call and text.