JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Prosecutors and public defenders face off in court daily, but usually not directly.
Friday was different, as a judge heard the Public Defender’s Office level accusations of inappropriate and possibly unethical conduct by a local prosecutor.
Assistant Public Defender Teri Sopp claims Assistant State Attorney Leah Owens of threatened her client with prison time if she didn’t testify on behalf of the state. Owens denies it.
A September motion filed by Sopp to disqualify Owens and the entire 4th Circuit State Attorney's Office from the case was the subject of the hearing before Circuit Judge Tatiana Salvador.
Sopp testified under oath that Owens approached her in a courtroom April 20.
“Mrs. Owens came up to me in court and said, I just want you to know, if your client testifies for [her boyfriend in a murder case], she's going to be facing prison time … I said to Mrs. Owens, ‘Well that sounds like a threat.’ And she says, ‘You can take that as a threat.’”
Owens denied she made any threat. Under questioning from Chief Public Defender Charlie Cofer, a former judge, she said, “You were my first County Court Judge. You know that I would not do that.”
Owens agreed the pair discussed whether the defendant would be a witness for the state or the defense, but denied suggesting a prison penalty.
“We didn't even have that long of a conversation. It happened within moments," Owens says. "And that's not even possible. I know that that's not a possibility under [the defendant's potential sentencing] guidelines.”
Owens, who is part of the city’s targeted prosecution unit and handles many gang cases, noted that based on the defendant’s charges and history, she wouldn’t qualify for prison time.
Owens testified Sopp filed the motion because the state declined to drop charges, and did so right before a September hearing as a tactic to distract her.
"She had presented this motion right before her client’s cross, and in my opinion used that motion to her advantage to prevent me from being able to do my job," Owens testified.
Cofer also called private attorney Patrick Korody to testify. He represents a man the state is prosecuting for murder, who is the boyfriend of Sopp's client. Korody read aloud a text message he received from Sopp moments after the April encounter.
“Leah Owens bizarrely came up to me in court this morning and asked [the defendant] to cooperate with the state, and threatened prison time if she didn't,” the text said. “I told her, look [sic] that as a threat. And she said to consider it as one.”
Owens came under fire last August for showing up at the scene of a traffic stop and directing officers to collect evidence before any arrests were made. A motion to disqualify was also filed in that case, but was denied.
Both the State Attorney’s Office and the Public Defender declined comment after court.
A ruling on the motion is not expected for at least a week.