It looks like Monroe County may be off the hook in a two-year-old $10 million lawsuit— but outgoing County Attorney Jim Hendrick may not be out of the woods yet.
The original lawsuit, filed in October 2000, alleged that Hendrick improperly used his influence as County Attorney to help developer Pritam Singh to try to gain control of Sunshine Key RV Resort & Marina, located just south of the Seven Mile Bridge. The five-count lawsuit included allegations of defamation and libel, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, tortious interference with contractual and business relationships, along with civil rights violations.
Earlier this month, Judge Luis Garcia dismissed four of the five complaints against the County and two of the five complaints against Hendrick. Garcia has yet to rule on the civil rights charges.
But Key Largo Attorney David Hutchison, who filed the lawsuit for the former owners of Sunset Key, says the ruling probably shocked Hendrick because it left standing the complaints of abuse of process and tortious interference.
"This is a case about a pattern of behavior, a conspiracy between Hendrick, Singh and others to drive my clients out of business," Hutchison said.
Neither Hendrick nor Singh returned calls for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that Hendrick, as County Attorney, made false statements to the County Commission and to the press designed to undermine the ability of Sunshine Key's former owners to develop their property. Additionally, Hendrick is being charged with ordering former County Code Enforcement Director Marty Arnold to "get" the former owners of Sunshine Key by selectively enforcing county code.
The former property owners say that Arnold continued to do Hendrick's bidding by lodging "frivolous and unfounded" zoning complaints against the property.
The suit also alleges that Hendrick's client, Singh, then contacted Sunshine Key's owners to inquire about possible acquisition of the property. When given a price, however, Singh reportedly told Knorr that he would wait for the bank's foreclosure to get a better price.
Then, the suit alleges, Code Enforcement Director Arnold made an unsolicited call to Sunshine Key's mortgage holder, falsely reporting that the property owners had lost their appeal of code citations. The only purpose of that call, the lawsuit alleges, was to encourage foreclosure by the bank.
Lawyers on both sides say that a final judgment in this case may be years away.
The conflict between Hendrick and the former owners of the Sunshine Key property date back to 1993, when the partnership sued the County regarding questionable enforcement of zoning laws.
Judge Sandra Taylor heard the case. But five months later, she had yet to issue a ruling. When an anonymous letter-writer scolded her for taking so long, she shared the letter with lawyers on both sides. Hendrick fired a letter back, suggesting that Knorr had written the letter.
Taylor ruled against the partnership.
Subsequently, however, it was determined that Knorr had not written the letter, but the partners blamed Hendrick for contributing to Taylor's adverse ruling.
In any event, the Third District Court of Appeals reversed Judge Taylor's decision, stating that the interpretation of the County Code she used to decide the case was "arbitrary and capricious".
Hendrick has announced that he is resigning as County Attorney effective June 30. But a spokesman in his office told KWTN this week that he may stay until the end of the year to help the new appointee get up to speed.
The application deadline for attorneys who want the job is August 30.