Dishonorable Migna Sanchez-Llorens Disregards Jury's decision to release person who served 25 years

It is rare for a judge to override a jury. It happens but it is very, very rare. Apparently in Florida, this is so rare, it is actually the first time a judge overridden a decision by a jury in a civil commitment hearing. This unethical judge should be investigated by the ethics commission. But it is FloriDUH, Miami-Dade no less.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/03/3264705/judges-decision-in-sexual-predator.html


Judge’s decision in sexual predator case sparks controversy

3-3-2013 Florida:

After ******* completed 25 years in prison for a series of violent rapes and kidnappings, Miami-Dade jurors were asked to decide whether he posed a danger to society if released.

Their decision surprised courthouse observers: Let him go, they said earlier this month. V*** should not be confined to a locked-down therapy center for sexual predators.

What happened next was equally surprising: Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Migna Sanchez-Llorens disregarded their decision and ordered V*** into indefinite civil confinement anyway, drawing howls of protest from defense attorneys.

Sanchez-Llorens’ decision is believed to be the first time in Florida that a judge had sent a convicted sex predator into civil confinement over a jury’s verdict. The unique legal battle, bound to be settled at a higher court, has rekindled debate over the Florida law that allows sexual predators to be detained indefinitely after their prison terms.

“To consider overturning the finding of this verdict just to keep ***** in is an insult,” defense lawyer Andrew Rier told the judge, adding later: “Are we really going to say that our desire to keep V*** in is more important than following the rights of the jury in Dade County?”

But after listening to psychologists who deemed him a risk to re-offend if released, the judge said, “There is no reasonable evidence upon which a jury could rule in favor” of V***.

The evidence “points to but one possible conclusion: that [V***] is a sexually violent predator,” Sanchez-Llorens wrote in her order.

For now, Vega remains at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, as lawyers meet Monday for another hearing.