Victoria R. Brennan
Victoria R. Brennan was a judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court, Criminal Division, in Florida from 2011 to 2016. She was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) on April 5, 2011, to fill the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Kevin M. Emas to the Florida Third District Court of Appeal.[1] Brennan resigned from the bench on December 31, 2016.[2][3]
Before joining the 11th Judicial Circuit, Brennan served on the Miami-Dade County Court from 2006 to 2011. She was appointed to this position by Gov. Jeb Bush (R) in 2006.[4]
Biography
Brennan received her B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Miami in 1986 and 1989, respectively.[5][6]
After receiving her law degree, Brennan served as an assistant state attorney with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office from 1989 to 2003. She then joined the law firm of Hershoff and Lupino, where she worked as a criminal defense attorney. In 2005, Brennan left that firm to work briefly as staff counsel for the Guardian Ad Litem Program. Later that year, she became an assistant general counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush (R).[5][1]
Elections
2012
- See also: Florida judicial elections, 2012
Brennan was unopposed and automatically re-elected to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court following the primary election on August 14, 2012.[7]
Noteworthy cases
Former police chief eats paper to protect confidential source
In March 2014, Judge Brennan held former police chief Richard Masten in contempt of court and fined him $500 for the eating of court documents. Judge Brennan was presiding over a cocaine possession trial, and had demanded that Masten hand over a piece of paper containing information related to an anonymous tip in the case. Masten, who was the executive director of the Miami Dade Crime Stoppers, refused to relinquish the paper, insisting that he was honor-bound to protect the identity of the anonymous source who had called in the tip incriminating the alleged cocaine possessor on trial. Masten, while in court, tore up the paper which contained information regarding the tipster and proceeded to eat it.[8]
Masten refused to expose his source, fearing that if he did so now, it would set a dangerous precedent in the courts. “I make a promise to tipsters out there. It isn’t going to happen on my watch. If you want to put me in jail, fine," he stated.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rick Scott - 45th Governor of Florida, "Governor Scott Appoints Victoria R. Brennan of Miami to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court," April 5, 2011
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Miami Judge Accused of Windshield Basing Resigns from Bench," December 13, 2016
- ↑ Miami Herald, "Miami judge accused of windshield bashing resigns from bench," December 13, 2019
- ↑ AUS, "Victoria Brennan," accessed May 19, 2020
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ Lawdiary, "Biographies of State and County Court Judges in Florida," accessed May 24, 2014 Scroll to p.34
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "2012 Candidate Listing," accessed August 15, 2017
- ↑ NY Daily News.com, "Retired police chief eats paper to protect snitch," March 16, 2014
