JACKSONVILLE, Fla – A Jacksonville attorney whose conviction after a 2013 statewide internet cafe chain raid was later overturned on appeal isn’t giving up on his civil lawsuit against those who prosecuted him.
A judge dismissed Kelly Mathis’ lawsuit, saying prosecutors are shielded from civil lawsuits in circumstances like this, but Mathis is asking a federal appeals court to send the case back and order a trial.
Mathis says as an attorney for Allied Veterans of the World he thought their operations were legal and he was simply doing his job.
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Footage from 2013 shows Mathis in the days after the state conducted raids on the Allied Veterans’ internet cafes. He proclaimed his innocence to News4JAX later that week.
“I’m innocent and I will fight these charges to clear my name whatever it takes,” Mathis said at the time.
During his prosecution, state officials called him the Allied Veterans mastermind, and a jury found him guilty, but that conviction was overturned on appeal.
In his lawsuit first filed a few years ago, Mathis took aim at those who prosecuted him.
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“At this point, I am on offense,” said Mathis. “I am not on the defense. I have filed this lawsuit to hold these individuals accountable for their actions.”
A brief that was filed says in part:
“When an attorney who has done nothing more than represent his client competently, professionally, and ethically is left no recourse when he is arrested, incarcerated and prosecuted for his legal advocacy, the legal system itself is in peril.”
Several people are named in this lawsuit, including Florida’s former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Statewide Prosecutor Nicholas Cox, the former sheriff for Seminole County, and the former general counsel for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
The federal appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday on the civil lawsuit.
