MIAMI MARCH 11, 2025, nhr.com—Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge Joseph Perkins denied the motion to dismiss by Miami-based Actualidad Media Group, a radio station that accused Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago in February of 2023 of being under ethics investigation.
Judge Joseph Perkins, in his ruling, said [A] motion to dismiss filed pursuant to the Anti-SLAPP statute is governed by the same standards as an ordinary motion to dismiss under the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
“That is, upon a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a cause of action, all material allegations of the complaint are taken as true. Those allegations are then reviewed in light of the applicable substantive law to determine the existence of a cause of action,” said Judge Perkins.
According to a report by the Miami Herald, Lago sued Actualidad 1040 AM radio after host Roberto Rodriguez Tejera and Coral Gables Commissioner Ariel Fernandez, a candidate at the time, “falsely” claimed during an on-air segment in February 2023 that the mayor was the subject of a Miami-Dade Ethics Commission investigation for a potential conflict of interest.
The specific comments stemmed from Lago’s alleged familial financial ties to a trailer park at the center of the city’s fight to annex a nearby unincorporated area known as Little Gables. The annexation of Little Gables went before the voters of Coral Gables in a non-binding referendum in August of 2024. The voters rejected the idea of annexation and Mayor Lago has since stated that he respects the will of the voters.
The main question that will have to be decided by the Judge – and potentially a Jury – is whether claims made by the radio station anchor were inaccurate and made with the intention to cause harm to Lago.
In that sense, this case is similar to the one that ABC News settled with President Trump earlier this year. ABC News agreed to a $15 million settlement with Donald Trump over false claims made by anchor George Stephanopoulos, who inaccurately stated that Trump had been “found liable for raping” E. Jean Carroll.
In Lago’s case, the radio station apparently said that Lago was under “ethics investigation” when he wasn’t. At the time, Lago was only under “preliminary review” a distinction that the then Commission on Ethics Director, Jose Arrojo, told the Miami Herald, was “important, because the lesser designation is designed to prevent the unfair smear effect that the label ‘under investigation’ could have on a public official.”
Coral Gables is having municipal elections this April 8th, and Lago is on the ballot, alongside two commission seats.
