A critical audit slamming the tenure of a former public defender came as no surprise to the current officeholder.
“I was pretty sure there were issues there,” Public Defender Charles Cofer tells First Coast News.
Cofer asked for the audit when he took over for his scandal-plagued predecessor, Matt Shirk. Released this week, the Florida Auditor General’s report found Shirk’s final months in office included lavish trips, giveaways of state property and violations of public records laws.
“I guess nothing really would surprise me,” Cofer said. “I think we have pretty much identified all the issues -- and he’s been gone now for two and a half years -- but during the first four or five months here, it just was kind of like a daily disappointment, in terms of what we were finding.”
Shirk was previously the subject of a scathing Grand Jury report in 2014, which found he violated attorney-client privilege, fired female employees to try to save his marriage, and sent sexually suggestive text messages to subordinates.
The Grand Jury recommended Shirk step down. Failing that, they suggested then-Gov. Rick Scott remove him. Scott declined and said he’d leave the matter up to voters.
Shirk lost his reelection bid, but has continued to practice law, and remains a member in good standing according to the Florida Bar website.
That could change. Cofer says plans to use the recent state audit as the basis of a new complaint.
“Some of the issues provide the basis for a complaint to the Florida Bar," she said. "I have drafted it, I think it’s my obligation to file it, and I will file it.”
The Florida Bar has received prior complaints about Shirk. Some couldn’t be investigated since constitutional officers are protected from Bar complaints. But Shirk was also subject to a Florida Ethics Commission probe, which found probable cause that Shirk abused his power.
Cofer says she believes the Bar is simply waiting for the Ethics Commission to wrap up the final stages of its investigation into Shirk – which could happen later this month.
“It’s not that difficult to follow the rules,” Cofer said. “Everybody knows what the rules are. They’re there for a reason.”
The problems uncovered by the audit have already been fixed, Cofer says because the person who created them is gone.
“You can have all the rules that you want, but if the elected official isn’t interested in following the rules, ultimately the buck stops at the top,” he said.