by Cristóbal Reyes, Orlando Sentinel
The trial for suspended Orlando city Commissioner Regina Hill was pushed back again Tuesday as her legal team finishes preparing to defend her against charges of exploiting and defrauding an elderly woman in her care.
In a two-minute hearing with Judge Michael Kraynick, Hill’s lawyers requested a new appearance be set for Aug. 13. A new trial date, initially set for May 12, has not been scheduled as they finalize depositions with key witnesses and subpoena records crucial to her defense.
On April 16, Hill’s lawyers filed a motion seeking communications between the alleged victim’s caretaker following Hill, lawyers working with the elderly woman and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who they said circled the wagons to go after the former commissioner. It further seeks communications with federal housing authorities and local real estate agents regarding renovation and sale of two homes prosecutors said are part of the fraud charges.
A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Monday morning.
After Tuesday’s hearing, Fritz Scheller, one of Hill’s lawyers, briefly spoke with reporters outside the courthouse, saying the new delay is part of the process to clear the former commissioner, who sat in the gallery as the proceeding took place.
“I expect the commissioner to be fully vindicated,” said Scheller, who represents her pro bono along with attorney John Notari. “She’s a champion of the people, she always has been. One of the best parts of representing her in this case is the countless lives she’s changed and touched.”
Last month, a motion seeking the medical records of the alleged victim, a 96-year-old woman whose finances prosecutors said Hill dubiously acquired and lavishly spent for personal gain, offered a glimpse of her defense: that the woman — whose name the Orlando Sentinel is not publishing — was of sound mind when she gave the commissioner power of attorney over her affairs and approved of the transactions at the center of the case.
That filing further claimed FDLE went after Hill despite a previous investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families clearing her of wrongdoing. Details of that investigation have not been made public, while the alleged victim’s medical records have yet to be reviewed by the court.
Hill’s lawyers said the evidence also points to a different perpetrator: the victim’s caretaker, who they claim pulled round-the-clock caregivers, sold the woman’s home and trashed her belongings — among them her family Bible and her late husband’s flag commemorating his military service with the Tuskegee Airmen.
Hill has maintained her innocence from the beginning, saying she met the alleged victim in 2021 after stepping in to repair her house and has been friends with her since. She was suspended from office following her arrest and replaced by Shan Rose, who took the seat on the City Commission after a special election.
Inside the courtroom, Hill expressed frustration at the decision to further delay the trial since it creeps closer to November’s election, for which she filed to take back her seat from Rose.
Though
she didn’t speak much outside the courthouse, she made it clear to
reporters when she hopes her case is resolved in light of the election:
“Before,” she said as she walked away.
Full Article & Source:
Suspended Orlando commissioner Hill’s elder abuse trial delayed as defense subpoenas records
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