Florida lawyer Stephen Diaco has been permanently disbarred for his role in setting up an opposing lawyer for a drunken driving arrest during a 2013 trial. The Florida Bar had accused Diaco. The Florida Bar, the state’s guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, announces that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 13 attorneys — disbarring four, suspending five, and publicly reprimanding four. Three attorneys received more than one form of discipline.
Three Tampa, FL attorneys have been permanently disbarred for enlisting a paralegal and a police officer to set up opposing counsel for a drunk-driving arrest during a prominent civil trial.BackgroundIn a feud between Todd “MJ” Schnitt and Bubba “The Love Sponge” Clem, Charles Phillip Campbell represented Schnitt in a multi-million dol-lar defamation suit that alleged that Clem had broadcast disparaging remarks about Schnitt’s wife and children. Clem was represented by Stephen Diaco and Adam Filthaut of Adams & Diaco. The case was covered extensively by local media.According to, on November, 29, 2012, Filthaut contacted his friend, Sgt. Ray Fernandez, Commander of the Tampa Police Department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, a/k/a/ The DUI Squad, and told him that Campbell “gets drunk all the time.
He goes to Malio’s (Steakhouse) and drinks it up and then he drives home drunk.”Fernandez assigned an officer to stake out Malio’s, but he didn’t see Campbell, and left after about 45 minutes.On January 23, 2013, during the trial in Schnitt v. Clem, Adams & Diaco paralegal Mel-issa Personius went to Malio’s, and saw Campbell at the bar as she was leaving. She called attorney Robert Adams to let him know. Adams told his partner, Diaco, and then called Personius, who returned to Malio’s. Adams also told attorney Filthaut that Camp-bell was at Malio’s, and he in turn told Sgt. Fernandez, who sent a patrol car to wait outside of Malio’s for Cambell to drive away.During the next few hours, from roughly 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM, Personius “openly and ob-viously flirted with Mr. Campbell, encouraged him to drink, and bought him drinks her-self.” She also exchanged nearly 50 text messages and phone calls with Adams, Diaco, and Filthaut, who in turn exchanged texts and phone calls. Further, Filthaut sent texts to Sgt.
Fernandez, who texted the officer who was outside of Malio’s.However, during the evening, Personius found out that Campbell had walked to Malio’s, and was going to walk home.As they left Malio’s at around 9:30 PM, Campbell offered to call Personius a cab, be-cause he thought she was intoxicated, but Personius said she needed her car, which was in valet parking. Campbell walked her there, and after confirming with the attendant that she could leave her car overnight, urged her to do so. However, Personius insisted that her car had to be left in a secure public lot where she could easily access it. Camp-bell agreed to park it in a lot near his home, and call her a cab, but “almost immediately” after driving Personius’ car away from Malio’s, Fernandez pulled him over, and he was arrested and jailed for a possible DUI.Campbell was released from jail at 6:30 the next morning, January 24 th, several hours before testimony was due to resume in Schnitt v. He had left his trial bag in Per-sonius’ car, and thus called the firm that Personius had told him she worked for, Trenan Kemker. When that firm denied employing her, he went to court without it, and was granted a one-day recess by the judge. Diaco then addressed the media, complaining about Campbell’s behavior.Later that day, Ellis, Campbell’s co-counsel in Schnitt v.
Clem, called Diaco and said they had discovered that Personius worked for Adams & Diaco, and demanded that Campbell’s trial bag be returned immediately.Ellis and Campbell also moved for a mistrial in Schnitt v. Clem, based on Diaco’s “in-flammatory” comments to the media about Campbell’s arrest, and his firm’s possession of Campbell’s trial bag after the arrest. However, the judge wanted to complete the trial, and once he was satisfied that none of the jurors had been prejudiced by the publicity surrounding Campbell’s arrest, didn’t rule on the Motion for Mistrial.He did question Diaco about his involvement in Campbell’s arrest at a continuation hearing for the motion the next day, but Diaco, who had ignored a subpoena Ellis had served on him to appear at a hearing that morning, with his cell phone, variously refused to answer, claimed he didn’t know or remember, and denied any active participation.
However, a few weeks later, Diaco filed an affidavit in which he stated that his only involvement in the events that led to Campbell’s arrest was “responding to requests for information made by the Tampa Police Department.”The Judge froze discovery pertaining to the Motion for Mistrial in order to complete the trial, which prevented Campbell, Ellis, and their firm from obtaining phone records and other information from Diaco, Adams, and the others about their involvement in Camp-bell’s arrest.Schnitt v. Clem was tried, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Adams & Diaco’s client, Bubbba Clem. Campbell and Ellis then converted their motion for a mistrial into a motion for a new trial, and the judge lifted the stay on discovery.A mediation was held, and the case was settled, “before an evidentiary hearing was held on the alleged misconduct of Defendant’s counsel.”After the settlement, Schnitt fired Campbell and his firm, and the parties engaged in a fee dispute.Sgt. Fernandez, who was unaware that Campbell was opposing counsel to Adams & Di-aco in the ongoing trial, was fired by the Tampa Police Department.Campbell wasn’t prosecuted for DUI, and his arrest was later expunged.Adams & Diaco attempted to itself as an insurance defense firm, under the leadership of its other partner, Joseph Diaco, Jr., brother of Stephen Diaco, however, he appears to be currently operating.Bar Investigation and TrialThe Florida Bar the incident, and filed separate Complaints against Adams, Filthaut, and Diaco, in June, 2014.
What is a DUI in Florida?Because drinking and driving is so dangerous, the penalties for doing so are extremely harsh in Florida. The state is serious about curbing injuries and deaths from alcohol-related crashes. The more DUIs you receive, the worse the penalties become. Not to mention the fact that both the courts and the FloridaDepartment of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, will have a say in what happens to you after you are stopped for driving under the influence.Driving under the influence (DUI) is defined as operating a motor vehicle while impaired with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of0.08% or higher, a chemical substance, or a controlled substance. Those under 21 years old will be charged with a DUI if their BAC is 0.02% or over and commercial drivers will be charged if their BAC is 0.04% or over.First DUI Conviction in FloridaEven your 1st DUI conviction can be costly both in time, fines and living with the consequences. Second DUI Conviction Administrative Penalties. Driver's license suspension/revocation.
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Not within 5 years: 180 days to 1 year. Within 5 years: 5 years. DUI Program (if required) and fee: $15. Administrative fee: $130. Driver's license reinstatement fee:.
Suspension: $45. Revocation: $75. Maintain FR-44 for 3 years. Ignition Interlock Device: $12 if granted a restricted driver's license.Criminal Penalties. Fines of $1,000 to $2,000. For BAL of.0.15% or higher, or a minor in the car, minimum $2,000 to $4,000. Jail time of not more than 9 months.