Thursday, July 4, 2013 THE FLORIDA BAR 651 E.

Jefferson Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300 Timothy "Chaz" Stevens PO Box 1123 Deerfield Beach, FL 33443 Dear Sir or Madam: I hereby file a grievance alleging attorney Maria Sachs violated Florida Bar Rule 4-8.4(c). The rule, which governs professional conduct, states a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, except that it shall not be professional misconduct for a lawyer for a criminal law enforcement agency or regulatory agency to advise others about or to supervise another in an undercover investigation, unless prohibited by law or rule, and it shall not be professional misconduct for a lawyer employed in a capacity other than as a lawyer by a criminal law enforcement agency or regulatory agency to participate in an undercover investigation, unless prohibited by law or rule. In consideration of such, I offer the following. 1. According to Local 10 (WPLG) News, video shot by a private investigator shows Sachs' silver Corvette pulling into the Boca Raton estate outside her district in the evening, then leaving the home the following morning. The private investigator caught Sachs returning again to the estate later in the evening. 2. It appears that Sachs failed to disclose property ownership. 3. I have included other published reports pertinent to this matter. Given this, I respectfully request the Florida Bar thoroughly investigate this Grievance filed against Ms. Sachs and to the extent permitted by State or local law or regulations, any and all penalties, sanctions, or other disciplinary actions for violations of such standards be applied forthwith. Under penalty of perjury, I declare the facts set forth are true, correct, and complete. Sincerely;

Timothy Chaz Stevens

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Florida Democrat Lawmakers Could Get Five Years in Prison for Lying About Residence
By: ERIC GIUNTA | Posted: July 3, 2013 3:55 AM

Almost a half-dozen Democratic state legislators from South Florida are being accused of not residing in the districts they represent. The offense is not only politically unpopular, it could get them impeached, and even land them in prison for up to ve years.

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What are the allegations?

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A recent investigative news report by Miami's Local 10 News uncovered evidence that Sen. Maria Sachs of Delray Beach, an attorney, maintains a permanent home in Boca Raton while claiming to reside in Fort Lauderdale, which is within her district. And that's not all. Saint Petersblog reports:

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and her car House Minority Leader Perry Thurston claims to July 4 should be mostly sunny live with a convicted felon in a small, rundown Liberty reopening, reghter tribute Lauderhill home, rather than with his wife and among nation's July 4th activities family in their longtime two-story home in an Port Canaveral rethinks amphitheater upscale Plantation neighborhood. Rep. Joe SW Florida weather: Expect scattered Gibbons, who represents Hallandale Beach, thunderstorms by late afternoon appears to live in Jacksonville with his wife and George Zimmerman: How long will family while renting out a small condo in his House defense go? district. Then theres state Rep. Jared Moskowitz Gandolni leaves most of $70M estate who won a seat in a Coral Springs district and did to children so by renting an apartment a few miles away from his Parkland Golf and Country Club estate, where his wife continues to live. And as it turns out -- so does he. Rep. Hazelle Rogers, the same. She rents a condo in her district, a few miles from where she actually lives.

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What laws are these legislators supposedly violating? The Florida Constitution explicitly requires that [e]ach legislator shall be . . . a[] resident of the district from which elected, and Section 104.011 of the Florida Statutes makes it a third-degree felony to swear[] or afrm[] falsely to any oath or afrmation ... in connection with or arising out of voting or elections. When ling to run for ofce, every would-be legislator swears an oath that he is qualied under the Constitution and the Laws of Florida to hold the ofce to which [he] desire[s] to be nominated or

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elected, and if elected must additionally swear that he is duly qualied to hold ofce under the HOME POLITICS BUSINESS COLUMNS STATE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT Constitution of the state.
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What is a residence? Can legislators have more than one?

2013 Sunshine State News One helpful way to examine this question is to look at the way the Florida courts have traditionally Please read our Privacy Policy. By this site, you the accept our Terms of Service. applied similar language tousing judges, who Florida Constitution says must also reside within the territorial jurisdiction of whatever court they serve on. In 2000, the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal, in the case Miller v. Gross, held that, for constitutional purposes, residence means the same as domicile, a place where someone resides with the intention of living there indenitely. In both federal and state law, a person can only ever have one domicile at any given moment.

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In various legal contexts one's domicile is demonstrated by considering any number of factors, including the address listed on a driver's license, which property one claims a homestead exemption on, where one spends most of one's time residing, and where one has his newspaper regularly delivered to. At what point in the elections process does a would-be legislator have to reside within his district? The Constitution says that legislators (not candidates) have to reside in the district from where they are elected, which seems to suggest that residence only has to commence from the moment of election, when they actually become elected legislators. What can happen to a legislator who violates the Constitution and swears falsely to their residence? Swearing falsely on an elections-related oath is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to ve years in prison and/or a ne of up to $5,000. It is up to the local prosecutor to decide whether to prosecute such a crime, or any other. Legislators who are attorneys can also face disciplinary action by the Florida Bar for violating any law. Penalties can range from anything between censure and disbarment. Can legislators who lie about residency be removed from ofce? Yes, but only by the legislative body to which the offending members belong. Each chamber of the Legislature has its own internal rules and procedures for dealing with allegations of misconduct. It is the job of each chamber's Rules Committee to investigate allegations that members are misbehaving. If that committee nds probable cause that an offense has been committed, it's up to the House speaker or the Senate president to appoint a special committee to investigate the charge. If the charge is proven, each chamber votes on what the punishment should be. The House rules provide that the speaker may (but does not have to) remove a legislator from ofce on his own if that legislator is convicted of a felony. What actions have been taken so far against these South Florida Democrats? One Matthew Feiler, a Broward voter, has led a complaint against Sachs with the State Commission on Ethics, but don't expect it to go anywhere. Without discussing any specic case, a spokeswoman with the commission conrmed to Sunshine State News that the commission has no jurisdiction whatsoever over this question. If Mr. Feiler's out for blood, he should le his complaint with the Senate Rules Committee, the local state attorney's ofce, and the Florida Bar. Disbarred attorney Jack Thompson has filed a complaint against Thurston with the Florida Bar. Thurston, an attorney, has no disciplinary history.

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Eric Giunta is a member of the Florida Bar. Reach him at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at 954-235-9116.

Tags: Don Gaetz, FDP, Florida 4th District Court of Appeal, Florida Bar, Florida Commission on Ethics, Florida Constitution, Florida Democratic Party, Florida House of Representatives, Florida Legislature, Florida Senate, Hazelle Rogers, Jack Thompson, Jared Moskowitz, Joe Gibbons, Maria Sachs, Miller v. Gross, News, perjury, Perry Thurston, Rules Committee, Saint Petersblog, Will Weatherford, WPLG Local 10 News, Politics

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Senator caught on video staying outside district

Maria Sachs has home in Boca Raton, claims to reside in Lauderdale condo
Author: Bob Norman, Reporter, bnorman@Local10.com
Published On: Jun 26 2013 04:45:07 PM EDT Updated On: Jun 26 2013 11:00:00 PM EDT

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DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - State Sen. Maria Sachs has a beautiful $1.5 million estate in Boca Raton where she has lived with her family for years. But she was effectively evicted from sprawling property when she was elected in November. The reason: The home lies well outside her district and the Florida Constitution demands that legislators reside where they serve. Sachs, a Democrat whose district office is in Delray Beach, now claims to live in a little 740 square-foot condo in Fort Lauderdale owned by lobbyist Judy Stern, a long-time friend.

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Special section: Local 10 Investigates The surveillance tape, however, tells a different story. Video shot last week by a private investigator and obtained by Local 10 shows Sachs' silver Corvette pulling into the Boca Raton estate outside her district in the evening, then leaving the home the following morning. The private investigator caught Sachs returning again to the estate later in the evening. A neighbor living in the Fort Lauderdale condo building said that Sachs' son is actually living in the condo. When Local 10's Bob Norman knocked on the door a man answered from inside refused to open the door. He claimed the senator was there, but when asked if Local 10 could speak with her, the man refused before going silent. Stern, who claims Sachs has been paying rent on the condo since her November election, confirmed that Sachs' son Marcello stays at the condo. Republican Senator Jack Latvala, Ethics Committee Chairman, questioned whether Sachs actually resides in the Fort Lauderdale condo in her district where she claims to live, or if she continues to live in the vast, $1.5 million-estate in Boca Raton with her husband outside the district. "I'm inquiring on a constitutional issue, a requirement that legislators live in the district that they serve," said Latvala, who based his claims on a story that appeared in a conservative website called Media Trackers.
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READ: Broward Commissioner's residency claims don't hold up | Florida Democratic leader caught living outside district | Latvala questioned whether Judy Stern's daughter and condo co-owner, Barbra Stern, was "flouting the Constitution" as an appointed state elections commissioner. Norman tried unsuccessfully for several days to arrange an interview with Sachs before she finally catching up with her at a Democratic Caucus meeting Tuesday night. "Where do you live?" he asked Sachs repeatedly. She refused to answer before she claimed Norman had missed two opportunities to interview her in the past and eventually walked away.

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