THE BREAKDOWN: The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal has overturned and vacated a civil contempt order against Randy Fine. The case stemmed from a political dispute where Fine was accused of making offensive hand gestures toward an opponent. The appellate court ruled that the trial judge committed a reversible error by denying Fine’s attorney a brief recess to prepare a written motion to disqualify the judge.
The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court’s order on Friday, completely erasing a civil contempt ruling against Randy Fine. The decision ends a legal battle that began as a local political feud and escalated into allegations of inappropriate courtroom behavior and procedural missteps by a circuit judge.
The legal fight traces back to a dispute over the election of a Republican State Committeeman. Robert Burns filed a petition in Brevard County Circuit Court aiming to disqualify Fine and Wayne Twiddy as candidates for the political post. Tim Bobanic, the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, moved to dismiss the action. Circuit Judge Scott A. Blaue ultimately dismissed Burns’s petition with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled.
However, the conflict moved from the ballot to the bench the very next day. Burns sent an email directly to Judge Blaue, accusing Fine of disruptive and unbecoming behavior. The email included screenshots that allegedly showed Fine “flipping a bird” to Burns and forming the letter “L” with his thumb and index finger to imply Burns was a loser. Fine openly contested the authenticity of those screenshots.
Based on the email and images, Judge Blaue issued an order for Fine to show cause why he should not be held in civil contempt of court. A formal hearing was scheduled for October 1, 2024.
During that hearing, Fine’s defense attorney, Ryan Christopher Rodems of Morgan & Morgan, initially asked for a continuance, pointing out multiple procedural concerns and irregularities. When Judge Blaue denied that request, Rodems asked for a brief recess. He explained that events during the hearing gave him grounds to draft a formal, written motion to disqualify the judge from the case entirely. Judge Blaue denied the recess and subsequently found Fine in both direct and indirect civil contempt.
Fine appealed the ruling, presenting multiple arguments against the contempt finding. The three-judge appellate panel focused on just one key procedural rule: the right of an attorney to pause a proceeding to formally request a new judge if they believe bias has occurred.
Writing for the appellate court, Judge Soud noted that Florida law is explicit on this matter. “A party may seek disqualification when ‘the party reasonably fears that he or she will not receive a fair trial or hearing because of specifically described prejudice or bias of the judge,'” Soud wrote, quoting established judicial rules.
The court emphasized that while motions to disqualify a judge must be in writing, Florida rules allow an attorney to state the motion on the record during a live hearing, provided they reduce it to writing and file it promptly afterward. To make this possible, state law protects the right of the attorney to ask for a pause in the action. The moving party “may request a brief recess—which must be granted—in order to prepare the appropriate documents,” the ruling states, citing the 1993 Florida Supreme Court case Rogers v. State.
Because Judge Blaue refused to grant that mandatory break, the Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled that a reversible error had been committed, rendering the rest of Fine’s arguments academic. “Under long-established Florida law, denial of the requested recess was error that requires reversal,” the opinion states.
Instead of sending the case back to the Brevard County lower court for a do-over, the appellate panel chose to terminate the matter altogether. Citing the “unique facts of the record,” the court declined to remand the case and simply vacated the contempt order. Judges Lambert and Edwards concurred with the decision.
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