FORT PIERCE — A judge Wednesday threw out a defamation lawsuit filed by Anthony "Tony" DiFrancesco against interim Port St. Lucie Police Chief Richard Del Toro and a political action committee, court filings show.
“The operative facts do not and could never satisfy the elements necessary to establish a viable defamation claim against the defendants,” St. Lucie County Circuit Judge Brett M. Waronicki ruled in a 10-page order. “All the statements upon which Mr. DiFrancesco’s claims are based are not reasonably capable of having any defamatory meaning and do not state a viable claim for defamation.”
In dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it can’t ever be refiled, Waronicki further ordered DiFrancesco to pay Del Toro “reasonable” attorney fees and costs, but the order didn't state the amount to be paid.
The defamation lawsuit, initially filed July 8 by DiFrancesco in St. Lucie County Circuit Court, named as defendants Del Toro and the Friends of Del Toro political action committee.
TCPalm columnist Blake Fontenay and Gannett Co., Inc, the parent company to TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, were briefly added as defendants in an amended suit filed July 18, but were voluntarily dismissed less than a month later, records show.
Those dismissals followed court papers filed by Gannett attorneys James J. McGuire of Tampa and Daniela Abratt-Cohen of Fort Lauderdale, seeking to dismiss TCPalm and Fontenay, who argued DiFrancesco’s pardon was "not a magic eraser that removes plaintiff’s convictions from the historical record.”
“(DiFrancesco) remains a convicted felon, and the media defendants’ references to (him) as a ‘felon’ who was later pardoned are therefore true and not actionable in defamation as a matter of law,” the lawyers wrote. “The media defendants are permitted by law to report on plaintiff’s criminal history and note that he is a felon, despite the pardon he later received.”
‘Grateful’ for ruling
DiFrancesco, a Fort Pierce businessman with political ties to St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson , filed the lawsuit in the runup to the August Republican primary election for sheriff that had pitted Pearson against two GOP rivals, including Del Toro.
Del Toro won the GOP primary by more than 62% of the vote compared to nearly 34% for Pearson, and 4.05% for challenger Preston Michael DiFrancesco , a nephew of Anthony DiFrancesco, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office.
Del Toro faces Democrat Steven Giordano in the Nov. 5 general election.
Stuart attorney Peter Del Toro , who represents his brother Richard Del Toro, said Wednesday he was “grateful for the judge’s ruling and feel justice was served.
“I look forward to a strong finish to my brother’s campaign and to see him and his team working toward making St. Lucie County the safest county in Florida,” he said.
Reached Wednesday, DiFrancesco’s Boca Raton attorney Patrick W. Lawlor said he intends to appeal Waronicki’s dismissal order.
“We believe the conclusion is incorrect based on the facts and the law,” Lawlor said. “We're going to file for the court to reconsider it, and if that's denied, we will move forward with an appeal on this.”
What was the lawsuit about?
DiFrancesco’s suit claimed the defamation issue surfaced when Del Toro and the Friends of Del Toro PAC posted to www.shadysheriff.com a “Pearson Smear Ad” that “maliciously” attacked DiFrancesco by repeating he was a “felon.”
The suit claimed the website reposted portions of Fontenay's TCPalm columns that falsely defined DiFrancesco as a convicted felon. DiFrancesco, the suit argues, was granted a full pardon by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Executive Clemency Board on Jan. 18, 2023, which the columns explained.
In his ruling, Waronicki noted the suit listed three defamation claims centered around the questions:
- What does it mean to be a "convicted felon;"
- What does it mean to “bankroll a cause;”
- Whether donating $10,000 to a political campaign “constitutes donating ‘thousands of dollars.’ ”
“This court has already done a thorough analysis of Mr. DiFrancesco’s defamation claim and the three statements made by defendants that are the subject of this lawsuit,” he wrote. “Mr. DiFrancesco’s defamation claim is without merit.”
A convicted felon, Waronicki ruled, “is always a convicted felon even if pardoned.”
“The Florida Supreme Court plainly stated … a pardon does not have the effect of erasing guilt for a crime,” Waronicki ruled. “Simply put, although Mr. DiFrancesco had his civil rights restored after receiving a full pardon, he still has felony convictions on his record …”
Protected ‘political’ speech
Waronicki concluded the actions and speech DiFrancesco cited as the basis for his defamation claims “are constitutionally protected rights of free speech and assembly and were exercised in connection with a public issue - the election of St. Lucie County sheriff.”
“Mr. DiFrancesco himself alleged … the statements were made as part of a ‘political smear campaign against Richard Del Toro’s political rival, St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson,’ ” Waronicki noted. “Further, electioneering communications is political speech protected by the First Amendment.”
He further noted relevant Florida case law, in part, shows “a pardon does not have the effect of wiping out guilt so that the conviction is treated as though it never occurred.
“It merely removes the legal punishment for the offense,” Waronicki wrote.
And because DiFrancesco in court papers admitted he and his family members had donated a total of $14,000 to Pearson’s sheriff’s race, Waronicki found “it is undisputed that he did provide financial contributions.”
“Even if the term bankroll was somehow not ‘perfectly accurate,’ … minor inaccuracies are overlooked when the ‘gist’ of the statement is truthful,” he ruled. “As such, the statement that Mr. DiFrancesco ‘bankrolled’ Sheriff Pearson’s campaign is true or, at a minimum, substantially true.”
Waronicki also rejected DiFrancesco’s claim that Del Toro defamed him by stating his family donated “thousands of dollars” to Pearson’s campaign after admitting the DiFrancesco family donated $10,000 to Pearson’s race.
“By its plain meaning, ‘thousands of dollars’ is any dollar amount $2,000 and above,” Waronicki ruled. “Accordingly, the defendants' statement that Mr. DiFrancesco’s family donated ‘thousands of dollars’ is true.”
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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of " Uncertain Terms ," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com . If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Judge throws out defamation lawsuit against Richard Del Toro, orders legal fees paid
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