A Miami-Dade appeals court has thrown out an unprecedented fine the county’s ethics panel levied last year against lawyer Juan-Carlos “J.C.” Planas , ruling that his 2023 complaint against a Miami Beach mayoral candidate was lawful.

The three-Judge panel ruled that the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust ( COE ) acted improperly when it ordered Planas to compensate former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora for his legal costs.

Judges Ramiro Areces , Miguel de la O and Daryl Trawick of the 11th Judicial Circuit unanimously agreed that Planas’ complaint against Góngora, while unsuccessful, was based on a plausible interpretation of disclosure rules under state law.

Accordingly, they quashed the COE’s order and a subsequent Miami-Dade Judge’s decision t

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