Appeals court orders Hope Florida report expunged

Appeals court rejects grand jury finding

An appeals court ordered the Hope Florida grand jury report expunged after finding that the grand jury erred in accusing aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis of misappropriating public money. The judges rejected that conclusion in their review of the report.

The court’s order does not leave the disputed finding in place under different wording. It directs that the report containing the finding be expunged. The formal result is the removal of the grand jury report rather than a correction to the sentence at issue.

The ruling came from appeals judges reviewing the grand jury’s findings. It was not a new finding by the Leon County state attorney’s office, which had empaneled the grand jury.

How the report reached this point

The grand jury was empaneled by the state attorney for Leon County. Its Hope Florida report included the statement about DeSantis aides and public money that the appeals court found erroneous.

The ruling separates the roles of the two institutions. The state attorney empaneled the grand jury, which produced the report. The appeals court then reviewed the findings and ordered the resulting report expunged because of the error identified by the judges.

Expungement means the report is ordered removed rather than allowed to remain as the grand jury’s report. The judges’ decision therefore prevents the report from continuing to carry the disputed misappropriation finding. The next procedural step is carrying out the appeals court’s directive.