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County judge race pits defense attorney against incumbent and former prosecutor

 
Sonny McCathran was appointed in 2014 to the judgeship.
Sonny McCathran was appointed in 2014 to the judgeship.
Published July 28, 2016

County Court — the venue for traffic, small claims and misdemeanor cases — is sometimes called the "People's Court."

And the reason Brooksville lawyer Peyton Hyslop says he helped recruit Kristie Ruppe, another Brooksville lawyer, to oppose current County Judge Donald "Sonny" McCathran is McCathran's lack of sympathy for ordinary folks.

"It wouldn't be his legal decisions," said Hyslop, a former county judge. "It's his lack of any empathy or concern for people who appear before him."

McCathran, who was appointed to the job two years ago, said he is concerned about people, but more concerned about the law.

"If I decided in every single case to not impose a jail sentence because somebody has a family and children, I probably wouldn't impose a jail sentence very often," he said. "But I have to enforce what the Legislature says, and sometimes it is harsh — and sometimes it is warranted."

This nonpartisan race, which will be decided in the Aug. 30 primary election, is the first for a county judge position in Hernando since 2004 and a mirror image of that contest.

Hyslop, who had been on the bench for nearly 15 years, was targeted in 2004 by local law enforcement officers and prosecutors. They backed the successful candidacy of a longtime assistant state attorney, now-Circuit Judge Don Scaglione, and cast Hyslop as soft on defendants.

Ruppe has the support of several local lawyers, including Hyslop, who says McCathran, with a long history as a prosecutor, is unforgiving and detached.

Because the candidates say the rules covering judicial races forbid harsh criticism of opponents, both are running primarily on their qualifications for the job.

McCathran, 43, who grew up in South Florida, moved to Central Florida to work for State Attorney Brad King shortly after receiving his law degree from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens in 1997.

He served in the office for a total of 14 years, starting out prosecuting misdemeanors in Citrus and Sumter counties.

After three years in private practice, mostly representing employers in workers' compensation cases, he returned to the State Attorney's Office, handling major crimes, including murders, and serving as supervisor of the state attorney's office in Brooksville.

On the bench, he said, he has heard civil cases and, since the start of this year, criminal ones.

"My legal experience and legal knowledge is what makes me the best-qualified candidate," said McCathran, who since his appointment has lived near Brooksville with his wife, Carla, who works in information technology for the State Attorney's Office.

Ruppe, 46, who grew up in a military family, lived in several states and Germany as a child, but her roots are in the Northeast. She was born in Massachusetts, attended high school and college in New Hampshire and received her law degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

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She moved to Florida in 2003, shortly after her parents relocated here. After two years working as a prosecutor in Pasco County, she started her own law firm in Hernando in 2005.

She and her husband, Christopher, who owns the Gator Nutrition Center health food store in Spring Hill, have been married for 13 years.

"I am the only candidate for judge who has worked as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer," Ruppe wrote in a response to a Times candidate questionnaire. And "my commitment to Hernando County is more diverse and vested than that of my opponent."

McCathran said he has funded his own campaign, putting up a total of $35,000, for the same reason he didn't encourage any other lawyers to speak up for his campaign: He wants to avoid the appearance of conflict.

"There are too many potential issues with recusals and disqualifications," McCathran said of accepting donations from lawyers, though he acknowledged that his campaign website previously included a button to allow visitors to contribute.

Of the $24,743 in cash and in-kind donations that Ruppe has raised, more than $16,000 has come from her or from family members.

But she has also received $1,000 contributions, the largest allowed by law, from Hyslop and the firms of two other Brooksville lawyers, Joe Lowman and Robert Morris.

Jimmy Brown, one of the longest-serving lawyers in Brooksville, also supports Ruppe — not because he has an objection to McCathran, he said, but because he and several other lawyers thought her "vision for the court was fresh and energetic and good."

One example of McCathran's unfeeling approach, Hyslop said, was his refusal to allow one of his clients to serve his jail term for driving under the influence of alcohol over a series of weekends.

His client had a job with the school system, Hyslop said, and it has long been common practice for judges to allow weekend sentences for nonviolent criminals so they can stay employed.

"Losing your job is not on the list of punishments for any crime that I know of," Hyslop said.

But there are good reasons not to allow weekend sentences, McCathran said, including the possibility that people will "show up intoxicated or have contraband."

"As a prosecutor, I found it created more issues than it prevented," he said. "I was never a big fan, so I don't impose them."

Contact Dan DeWitt at ddewitt@tampabay.com. Follow @ddewitttimes.