Ex-Surfside Building Official Can’t Duck Deposition

Mar 1, 2022 | Uncategorized

The Florida judge overseeing the litigation over the collapse of Surfside’s Champlain Towers South condominium building denied a request Friday by the town’s former building inspector for a protective order, requiring him to show up for a deposition requested by victims of the collapse.

A Miami-Dade County police boat patrols in front of Champlain Towers South condo building after its partial collapse in June 2021. (AP Photo/ Mark Humphrey)

In a hearing, Friday held on Zoom, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael A. Hanzman denied Rossendo “Ross” Prieto’s motion for a protective order, which his attorney said was filed because of concerns about COVID-19 and a stroke that he suffered in November.

But Jorge Silva of Silva & Silva PA, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, showed the court surveillance video that he says shows Prieto going on a store and a café without a mask and carrying a large package to his car, indicating the former inspector would have the strength to testify.

Sourced by law360.com