Jury asks "ghost candidate" questions in ex-Sen. Frank Artiles' trial
MIAMI-DADE - After an attorney for the defense Tuesday finished cross-examining Alex Rodriguez, the so-called "ghost candidate" in the election conspiracy trial of former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles, jurors asked questions.
Circuit Judge Miguel M de la O read them out loud with the attorneys' approval during the trial at the Miami-Dade Criminal Courthouse.
Artiles, 50, is accused of offering Rodriguez $50,000 to run for office in the Florida Legislature in 2020 and to cause the Democratic incumbent to lose the election by syphoning votes away from the Democrat in the razor-thin race. The defense said the money was a loan for a business transaction and unrelated to the 2020 election in which Rodriguez ran for state Senate as an independent candidate.
The state is arguing that Artiles, a former Republican state senator, made illegal contributions and encouraged Rodriguez to run for the Senate in District 37.
On Monday, defense attorney Frank Quintero portrayed Rodriguez as a scam artist who stole thousands of dollars from Artiles.
"Other than your statement that Mr. Artiles gave you the money … do you have any other evidence other than your testimony that, that event occurred," Quintero asked.
Rodriguez responded: "Like I said, the only reason I did this was because I was promised $50,000. Nobody forced me to do this. I was angry, angry at myself."
The judge asked this question from the jury: "You told state attorney that Artiles paid you to change your party affiliation, which payment/payments reflect that?
There wasn't a specific payment portion of the agreed $50,000 to change his party affiliation, Rodriguez said.
Another question: "Was Frank Artiles ever aware that you had two licenses with different addresses?"
The witness said yes.
Rodriguez, who lives in Palm Beach County, said he never got rid of his license from his address in Palmetto Bay in Miami-Dade County.
Rodriguez was asked to read to the jury a document he signed in 2020: a change of party form he filled out.
Rodriguez said he was always a Republican but he was allegedly asked by Artiles to change his party affiliation.
The prosecution showed some alleged text messages where Articles supposedly asked the witness to change his party affiliation to run for office in 2020. The witness responded he changed the affiliation.
Rodriguez received more than 6,000 votes as an independent candidate.
The incumbent, Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez, who has the same last name as the so-called "ghost candidate," lost the election by 32 votes in a recount.
Rodriguez was arrested in March 2021 for campaign violations.
In his plea deal, Rodríguez has agreed to cooperate for the prosecution and testify against Artiles. In return, he will serve one year of house arrest and three years of probation.
The prosecution claims that Artiles never asked for the money back because he paid Rodriguez for being a "ghost candidate."
The trial will resume Thursday.
