Assistant public defender loses job

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

LARGO -- Jonathan Comnes, an assistant public defender who slept with a client's mother and later was charged with waving a gun at a motorist, was facing an ultimatum.

One more ethical breach, one more foul-up of any kind, and it would be Comnes' job.

Thursday, two months after that warning, Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger fired the 34-year-old Comnes, who was paid $42,765 a year.

Dillinger, who in May freely discussed the ultimatum he gave Comnes, refused Thursday to say specifically what led to the firing.

"It was an office-related matter," Dillinger said. "Why is this newsworthy?"

Dillinger said he did not fire Comnes because of past problems. "It was not one event that led to this," he said. "There were cumulative problems."

Comnes declined to comment.

His dismissal came the same morning that Dillinger met with Circuit Judge Philip Federico to apologize to the judge for Comnes' conduct at a hearing Wednesday.

Comnes had asked the judge for a continuance of a hearing into whether a man had violated his probation by smoking marijuana.

Federico, who had continued the hearing several times, refused to do so again. Comnes then said he would file a motion to force the judge off the case, questioning his ability to be fair.

Federico halted the proceeding. Comnes returned to Federico's courtroom and said he had changed his mind and wouldn't file the motion .

"I told him, "In effect, you've engineered your own continuance because the witnesses have already been dismissed,' " said Federico, who was required to stop the hearing when Comnes questioned the judge's fairness.

"I can tell you I wasn't pleased," Federico said. "You have to be careful about the kinds of allegations you make about people. I don't think the way to handle an adverse ruling is to attack the integrity or fairness of the judge."

Federico said he did not approach Dillinger's office about Comnes. Instead, Dillinger's office inquired, the judge said.

"We don't need judges telling the state attorney or public defender what their business is," Federico said. "You've got to be careful to give them factual information without expressing an opinion.

"But both (State Attorney) Bernie McCabe and Bob Dillinger have a policy that if there are problems with their lawyers, they want to know about them sooner rather than later."

Dillinger, asked about the matter, said, "I just apologized for the situation and that was it."

Dillinger nearly fired Comnes in May after a report by the St. Petersburg Times that he had sex with the mother of a woman he represented on a felony charge. The woman gave birth to his baby in May 1998 and later filed a paternity suit against Comnes.

Comnes acknowledged in an interview in May that the relationship was an ethical lapse, one he feared could end his legal career.

It almost did. At the time, Dillinger said he decided not to fire Comnes, instead forcing him to apologize to his colleagues.

The revelation came after an accusation by another woman, who was nearly killed by a man Comnes represented on an attempted murder charge. The woman said Comnes asked her out on a date in March while the case was pending.

Comnes admitted he asked her out, but said he did not know at the time who she was.

In March 1999, Comnes was charged with a misdemeanor after he waved a gun at a motorist during a traffic dispute. He entered a pretrial diversion program and the charge was dropped after he completed it successfully.

"It's always tough to fire someone," Dillinger said.

"I always sleep on it. And I didn't sleep that well last night."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.