Texting Ex-Broward Judge Ana Gardiner Faces Bar Inquiry

Day One of former Broward Judge Ana Gardiner's two-day endeavor to minimize a torrent of telecommunications with a homicide prosecutor during a 2007 death-penalty trial largely played out as a cheerleading session rather than a misconduct inquiry Tuesday.

The Florida Bar referee tasked with meting out Gardiner's disciplinary action heard from two Bar witnesses who offered less than an hour of combined testimony compared to the nearly four hours of defense testimony characterizing Gardiner as a hard-working jurist and caring mentor with an impeccable reputation for honesty and integrity.

Gardiner's character witness list is a "Who's Who" of high-powered attorneys, prosecutors and judges. One by one they took to the witness stand to tell Palm Beach County Circuit Judge David Crow of Gardiner's stellar standing in the legal community.

"She was one of the finest trial judges we've ever been privileged to have in our county," said Brian Cavanagh, Broward's chief homicide prosecutor, who retried the Omar Loureiro murder case after the death sentence Gardiner imposed was overturned and Loureiro was granted a new trial.

"As a lawyer, judge and a person, she has made a difference in so many lives and our community," said Kelly Hancock, a civil attorney, who championed Gardiner's pro bono work. "She would never mislead anyone."

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Texting Ex-Broward Judge Faces Bar Inquiry