State Attorney Angela Corey and Public Defender Matt Shirk have taken public beatings the past couple of years.
Hers over how the office handled high-profile cases in the national spotlight, his over a scandal centered on inappropriate behavior with young women in his office.
An assistant professor of political science at the University of North Florida says those issues for Corey and Shirk’s problems are evident in a recent poll that tracked their approval ratings.
The poll, conducted Feb. 23-27 by the University of North Florida, shows Corey’s disapproval ratings at 51 percent, with her approval ratings at 35 percent.
Shirk’s disapproval ratings were 37 percent and his approval ratings were 24 percent. The highest percentage — 38 — came from voters who didn’t have an opinion about Shirk’s performance or refused to share it.
That is a blessing for the public defender, according to Michael Binder, the UNF professor who led the poll. Especially after a grand jury investigating Shirk’s conduct didn’t return indictments but highly criticized his behavior and called for his resignation.
“Typically speaking, elected officials and grand juries don’t go well together,” Binder said. “This is as good as you can hope for from his (Shirk’s) perspective.”
The news wasn’t as positive for Corey, the professor said.
“There’s much more hardened disapproval for Angela Corey,” he said, “and that’s going to be difficult to overcome for her election hopes.”
Corey declined to be interviewed for this story but said in a statement she was not concerned about the “unscientific” poll.
She said the true measure of how the office is doing is evident with feedback she receives each day from victims, law enforcement and residents in the 4th Judicial Circuit.
Shirk also declined to be interviewed for this story.
Binder said the poll numbers could open the door for opponents when Corey and Shirk seek re-election next year. Both already have them.
Wes White, a former Corey supporter and director in her office, filed this month to run against her.
Shirk’s challenger is Mike Weinstein, a former prosecutor, lawmaker and member of two mayoral administrations.
Both linked their decisions, in part, to the controversies tied to Corey and Shirk.
Why a former prosecutor is challenging Corey
For White, the pivotal moment came when Corey called George Zimmerman a “murderer” after she failed to get a conviction in his jury trial. Corey was appointed special prosecutor in the Seminole County case by Gov. Rick Scott.
“I thought that was outrageous,” White said. “Anyone who’s a minister of justice should never do anything that denigrates the constitutional rights of a trial by jury.”
He said he also believed Corey’s statement could incite violence and put Zimmerman in harm’s way.
Corey’s performance in the Zimmerman trial also drew the ire of famed attorney Alan Dershowitz. “She was among the most irresponsible prosecutors I’ve seen in 50 years of litigating cases and believe me I’ve seen good prosecutors, bad prosecutors,” he said on Mike Huckabee’s television show. “But rarely have I seen one as bad as this prosecutor.”
White is representing Ben Kruidbos, a former information technology employee of Corey’s who was fired after testifying he found evidence on the cellphone belonging to Trayvon Martin, the victim in the Zimmerman case.
Corey’s office said reasons for terminating Kruidbos included poor oversight of the office and violating public records laws. White and Kruidbos say the termination was in retaliation for his testimony.
He couldn’t comment on the case, which he said is still ongoing.
White cited a decision by Circuit Judge James Daniel that Corey’s office violated public records law and ordered it pay about $26,000 in attorney fees and other costs to Curtis Lee.
Corey’s office was criticized by another judge because it sent investigators to Lee’s home, telling him to stop contacting the office. The judge said that action could have a “chilling effect” on future requests.
White said he has always admired Corey’s reputation of being an aggressive prosecutor.
But, he said, “that aggressive nature has overtaken good sense and sound judgment.”
White said that started about the time of the Cristian Fernandez case, when Corey’s office charged the 12-year-old as an adult with first-degree murder in the March 2011 death of his 2-year-old brother.
A high-profile team of private lawyers eventually took the case, which led to Fernandez pleading guilty to manslaughter and aggravated battery in February 2013. He is scheduled to be released in January 2018.
A change in course for Weinstein’s career
Weinstein originally had planned to run for a City Council seat this year, but changed his mind.
He said after spending 20 years in the state attorney’s office, he knows how important it is to have a good public defender’s office. Weinstein said Shirk’s staff is doing as “well as it can having a distracted leader.”
Like the grand jury, Weinstein thinks Shirk should have resigned.
“Ed Austin used to tell us you hold the public position in trust for whoever comes next. It’s not yours,” he said. “Almost every public official would have left to protect the office.”
He said when Shirk was elected, he didn’t have the experience to manage a $10 million to $12 million budget and a staff of a couple hundred.
“I think he let the power of the office get to him,” Weinstein said.
He said the public defender’s office is a training ground for lawyers and there’s always an opportunity to bring in good employees. “That’s the most important thing I can do,” said Weinstein, a former legislator.
Weinstein left his job about a year ago to prepare for a hip replacement, which he underwent successfully six months ago. Now, he’s running for office full-time.
“I’m just looking to make sure the community can feel comfortable and confident that justice is being served,” he said.
Weinstein said the high percentage of voters who didn’t know how to evaluate Shirk’s job performance shows he’s not well known.
“The problem that he (Shirk) has if he runs is they’ll get to know him better and that’s a problem for him,” he said.
Weinstein said Shirk told him people would forget about his problems before the 2016 election. “I told him I might have to remind them,” Weinstein said.
He said people can be forgiven for making mistakes, but there are consequences. For Shirk, he said, the consequences should be not being re-elected.
Looking ahead to next year
Binder, the UNF professor, said the less Shirk says now, the better off he is.
“If I’m Matt Shirk, I put my head down and I keep quiet and I just go about my business and don’t say anything and don’t do anything,” he said. “I’d keep my head down for the next year, maybe well into 2016.”
As for Corey, Binder said she should start highlighting some of the things she’s done well.
“Don’t even talk about those cases (she was criticized for),” he said. “Talking about ‘here’s what happened under my watch.’”
Though Corey discounted the numbers in Binder’s poll, a poll conducted by St. Pete Polls a week after the UNF poll mirrored the 51 percent unfavorable rating for her job performance.
Shirk’s unfavorable was 43 percent, with the same percentage unsure about the public defender.
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