JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The trespassing case of Jacksonville community activist Ben Frazier is now in the hands of Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney David Smith. Within this trial court, Smith handles criminal cases in St. Johns, Flagler, Putnam, and Volusia counties.
It was originally assigned to Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson. She handles criminal cases in Duval County, as well as Clay and Nassau counties.
However, Nelson cited conflicts in prosecuting this case, and she requested Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reassign the case to another jurisdiction. After his office declined to do so, she handed the case over to Smith.
PHOTOS: Jacksonville community activist handcuffed ahead of Florida governor’s news conference
Action News Jax reported on Jan. 4 when the president and founder of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville was removed ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ news conference at the Duval County Department of Health.
Frazier was told by a spokesperson with DeSantis’ office that the news conference at the Duval Dept. of Health was a “private press conference” only for members of the media, so they asked anyone not credentialed to leave the room, adding that they’ll take up their concerns out of the room. Frazier refused to leave and was eventually taken out in handcuffs and given a trespassing citation.
On Jan. 6, Nelson wrote a letter to DeSantis, asking him to reassign Frazier’s case, citing her office’s relationship with him.
“[They have] certainly run into each other. And in some instances it was very positive, they worked together to solve crime to help the disenfranchised community. Sometimes, Ben says things that a police department want to hear and so he’s been critical,” said Frazier’s lawyer John Phillips.
On Jan. 14, Ryan Newman, general counsel for DeSantis’ office responded to Nelson, writing in part:
“Because staff members of this Office were directly involved in the circumstances and underlying facts necessary to support the arrest, we have concerns that the ends of justice would not be best served if this Office were to select which state attorney should investigate or prosecute this matter.”
“For the governor not to appoint a political crony, that’s good,” Phillips said.
Nelson then wrote a letter to Smith on Tuesday, Jan. 18, appointing him as special prosecutor in Frazier’s case, “with State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s permission.”
In the letter to Smith, Nelson said, “You have full authority to reach whatever decision you deem appropriate but must do so without input from any employee in our office.”
Letter to David Smith by ActionNewsJax on Scribd
Phillips says he agrees with this decision. “Multiple people saying this seems political,” he pointed out. “Let’s just get someone independent in to decide whether this floats or sinks.”
Phillips wrote a letter to Smith on Thursday, Jan. 20, requesting that the charges be dropped:
“What we have here is a failure to communicate borne out of divisive politics. Mr. Frazier is a longtime member of the media; now retired. He still contributes to various magazines and blogs, including one my family owns called Folio Weekly (a 34-year-old alt-weekly). ... Governor DeSantis proclaimed two days after this arrest that he is ‘in favor of letting people speak their mind however they want to do it.’ ... However, here we sit arguing about an arrest that his office doesn’t want to be involved in assigning a prosecutor and the jurisdictional prosecutor doesn’t want to prosecute. This meeting wasn’t distributed to all press, wasn’t compliant with Sunshine laws, Frazier’s arrest didn’t follow JSO or ADA protocol and didn’t violate the statute he was arrested under.”
Frazier and Phillips said on Jan. 10 they will file a federal civil rights lawsuit if a charge of trespassing is not dropped.