A Leon County circuit judge this week issued a judgment for state Rep. Carolina Amesty, R-Windermere, in a lawsuit that alleged she defamed a legislative aide. Judge J. Lee Marsh backed Amesty in the case filed by Nicolas Frevola.
The lawsuit alleged, in part, that Amesty falsely told Frevola’s boss, Rep. Fabian Basabe, R-Miami Beach, that Frevola tried to run her over with a car in 2022.
According to court and election records, Amesty defeated Frevola’s mother in a Republican primary in 2022 in Central Florida’s House District 45.
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Amesty and Basabe were elected to the House in November 2022.
Frevola filed the defamation lawsuit in September 2023. But in a March motion, Amesty’s attorneys argued that she had legal immunity because the alleged defamatory statements were “made within the scope of her duties as a member of the House of Representatives.”
Also, they argued that the defamation allegations should be rejected because they were not “published to a third party.”
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But in a filing last month, Frevola’s attorneys disputed that Amesty made the alleged statements in her “official capacity” as a lawmaker.
Marsh, who held a hearing April 18, did not detail the reasons for his ruling in this week’s one-page judgment.
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