A state attorney who is being sued for firing a former information technology director who alleged that prosecutors failed to hand over evidence to George Zimmerman's defense team during the Trayvon Martin murder trial has called for the $5 million lawsuit to be thrown out, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Ben Kruidbos is suing State Attorney Angela Corey for $5 million in damages and his job back after he was fired in June for alleging that prosecutors withheld evidence from Zimmerman's defense team. Kruidbos claims that he is a whistleblower and that Corey broke the law by firing him, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
During the trial Kruidbos testified that he had been able to extract photographs and text messages out of the cell phone belonging to Martin that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had been unable to extract. Kruidbos was afraid that lead prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda did not share Kruidbos' report with the defense, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
In a court filing Corey says that she cannot be sued since as an elected official she has "sovereign immunity." Sovereign immunity means that the government cannot be sued without its consent, according to the St. Augustine Record.
"I think it's an absurd assertion that she's above the law," Wesley White, the attorney representing Kruidbos, said.
A letter explaining why Kruidbos was terminated said that he had done a poor job overseeing the information technology department and retained documents illegally. The letter also made note that Kruidbos had been questioned in March when personnel information had been publicly leaked by a computer breach, according to the St. Augustine Record.
An investigation has been launched by the Florida Commission on Human Relations to determine whether or not Kruidbos deserved whistleblower status and was immune from having his job terminated, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
