Escambia County medical director will have to pay court costs in defamation lawsuit

Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal Published 3:59 p.m. CT March 9, 2021 | Updated 12:54 p.m. CT March 10, 2021

Dr. Rayme Edler speaks publicly for the first time about the allegations surrounding the Escambia County EMS division at the Escambia County Commission meeting Thursday, May 2, 2019. Pensacola News Journal

Escambia County’s medical director will have to pay the court costs of a local activist she sued in 2019 for defamation, an Escambia County Circuit Court judge ruled last week.

Medical Director Dr. Rayme Edler filed a lawsuit in July 2019 against Escambia County resident Mel Pino during the height of the Emergency Medical Services training scandal that rocked the county’s Public Safety Department.

Ultimately, the scandal resulted in four former EMS employees being arrested and charged with falsifying training documents after Edler filed a complaint against them with the Florida Department of Health. Their trial is currently scheduled to begin in April.

In 2019, the county’s Public Safety Department was in chaos as multiple county officials resigned in the wake of the investigation. Edler clashed with the former public safety director, and harassment complaints and counter-complaints went back and forth. One paramedic’s complaint against Edler resulted in a federal lawsuit that is still pending in court.

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At the height of the scandal, Edler filed a defamation lawsuit against Pino after Pino made several online posts criticizing Edler and filed a complaint against her with the Florida Department of Health.

Edler dropped the lawsuit in January 2020 as depositions in the suit were scheduled to begin.

Shortly after that, the presiding judge, Jeffery Burns, was reassigned from the case and Circuit Court Judge Thomas Dannheisser was assigned.

Pino filed a motion to recover the cost to defend herself in the suit, which kept the case in court.

An ECTV shot shows Mel Pino speaking during public forum on Aug. 1, 2019.

 (Photo: Escambia County)

Dannheisser ruled Thursday that Pino was entitled to recover a $5,000 bond required as part of a temporary injunction against her and that Edler must repay Pino’s court costs but does not have to pay her attorney’s fees.

In his ruling, Dannheisser blasted Burns’ handling of the case, including the issuing of an “incorrect” temporary injunction, which he said unnecessarily increased Pino’s attorney’s fees.

Burns unexpectedly resigned from his judgeship in January.

“This relatively manageable case between a public employee and an interested citizen was unfortunately unraveled by the then presiding Judge Burns,” Dannheisser wrote in his order.

Dannheisser criticized Burns for only setting 30 minutes for the first hearing, announcing before the hearing began that he had already determined Edler was a public figure and then ruling on an issue that Edler had not sought relief for about her home address being posted online.

Pino had not posted Edler’s address but rather it was made by another person in a Facebook comment thread in response to Pino’s comments. Burns issued a temporary injunction ordering her to remove the comments.

Dannheisser said the ruling was “without basis” and was legally incorrect.

“The order was contrary to law, vague, open-ended and factually impossible for the Defendant (Pino) to comply with,” Dannheisser wrote. “This improper temporary injunction triggered unnecessary attorney’s fees relating to the continued litigation of this issue.”

Edler’s attorney did not respond to the News Journal’s request for comment for the story by deadline.

In a written statement to the News Journal, Pino, who has filed to run for the Escambia County Commission, said she was grateful for Dannheisser’s review and candid opinion.

“I understand why it seemed that some of my statements might have veered from public issue,” Pino said. “Our ability to demonstrate the connections between my statements and Dr. Edler’s role as Medical Director was hindered when the case was dropped just as the depositions of key witnesses were set to begin, and while we were pursuing various documentation through subpoenas.”

Pino also said she believes her criticisms of Edler were valid and the lawsuit shows that things aren’t always as they seem.

“While I have never defended every person being investigated, I still have good reason to believe that some if not all of them are innocent of any intent in their criminal charges,” Pino said.

Jim Little can be reached at jwlittle@pnj.com and 850-208-9827.

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