Judge pulled over

Anyone hear about a judge getting tickets while acting rather rude? See :shock: ms there may be more behind the story.

jose that you? this sounds like the media is fishing. go puck yourself and leave us alone.

KEEP DIGGING, JOSE. THE PBSO WILL KEEP YOU BUSY. HIRE AN ASSISTANT. IT AIN'T GOSSIP UNFORTUNATELY. ASK YOUR GRANDFATHERS ABOUT THE WARREN COMMISSION.

Bitter over traffic tickets in September, an inflamed Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes tongue-lashed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and said "he would always have doubts when a trooper appears in his courtroom," according to a report.

The confrontation shows bias against the highway patrol and should disqualify him from presiding over a case made by the agency, the state attorney's office argued in a motion filed last week.

Reached Friday, Kastrenakes said, "I cannot comment on anything pending before me."

About 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 18, a trooper stopped Kastrenakes in the Florida Turnpike's Lake Worth service plaza and cited him for driving the wrong way in a one-way parking lot and for lacking proof of insurance, records show.

Kastrenakes, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Charlie Crist in May, became increasingly irate, troopers said later.

His Palm Beach County ID badge dangled from a lanyard around his neck as he got out of his gray Lexus and argued with Trooper Sandra Thompson.

He told her he would dismiss any case she brought before him in court because "he knew she was a liar," according to a highway patrol report filed Feb. 10, almost six months after the incident.

"He also stated that if this is the type of tickets that troopers write he would always have doubts when a trooper appears in his courtroom," the report said.

Records show Kastrenakes paid a fine of $216 earlier this month after initially pleading not guilty to the moving violation.

A former federal prosecutor in West Palm Beach, Kastrenakes is universally admired for his nimble mind and sense of fairness. He was named a judge after convicting four public officials in five years. Among the politicians he sent to prison as a prosecutor were Palm Beach County Commissioners Tony Masilotti, Warren Newell and Mary McCarty.

But it was Kastrenakes who stepped out of line on the turnpike in September, Assistant State Attorney Ellen Roberts contends in a motion filed Feb. 19.

Roberts charged that Kastrenakes "attempted to use the prestige of his judicial position to influence and gain advantage" over the trooper who ticketed him.

"The alleged conduct and comments by Judge Kastrenakes clearly demonstrate an unequivocal bias and unfavorable opinion of the Florida Highway Patrol troopers," Roberts wrote.

She declined to comment on the motion Friday, saying it speaks for itself.

The motion argues Kastrenakes should disqualify himself from a felony case against Andrew Morgan. In December, the highway patrol arrested Morgan, 35, on charges of perjury in a driver's license application and obtaining a driver's license by fraud.

Morgan's attorney, Joel Robrish, described Kastrenakes as "one of the finest judges in Palm Beach County."

Morgan is scheduled to appear before Kastrenakes on July 8.

Roberts wrote in her motion that she first learned of the traffic stop "through informal channels characteristic of conversational gossip or rumor."

"As soon as these allegations were verified, I became acutely concerned and fearful that the state would not receive a fair trial in cases where the Florida Highway Patrol was material to the prosecution," Chief Assistant State Attorney Paul Zacks said in a sworn statement submitted with the motion.

A hearing on the motion had yet to be scheduled Friday.

A highway patrol spokesman said Friday the agency was "disappointed" in the position Kastrenakes allegedly took.

"We hold ourselves to a very high level of integrity," Sgt. Jorge Delahoz said. "We'll leave it up to the legal system to determine what action should be taken."

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