JQC Attorney Responds to Hawkes in 'Taj Mahal' Case

The special counsel to the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) on Wednesday told the Florida Supreme Court that Judge Paul M. Hawkes has no basis on which to seek dismissal of ethics charges pending against him in connection with a new $49 million courthouse on the eastern edge of Tallahassee.F. Wallace Pope Jr., an attorney from Clearwater, Fla., representing the JQC in the disciplinary case against the First District Court of Appeal judge, said Hawkes mischaracterized the nature of the JQC proceeding in a recent motion to dismiss the charges against him.Pope called on the Suprem...