Expert: Lack of indictment for Shirk not surprising

Grand jury's presentment must be made public within 14 days

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's still unclear when a grand jury's findings will be made public following a lengthy investigation of public defender Matt Shirk.

After months of digging into allegations of improprieties in Shirk's office and the firings of three young female employees, the grand jury returned a presentment on Tuesday.

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That presentment remains sealed, but no one was indicted.

Legal expert Rhonda Peoples-Waters said Wednesday that the lack of an indictment was not surprising.

'We all expected that the actions may not have risen to the level of criminal activity, but certainly there is a concern as far as Matt Shirk's ethical behavior that has been brought up by these allegations," Peoples-Waters said. "With a presentment, what the grand jury does -- on their own initiative -- is write out a report of their findings after they've listened to all of this evidence. They may make some recommendations. And I suspect that these recommendations may even be such that they're going to recommend that the Florida Ethics Commission maybe look into Matt Shirk's behavior."

The investigation into Shirk began more than a year ago in response to allegations disclosed by the Florida Times-Union that Shirk engaged in improper conduct in the hiring and firing of three female employees, two of whom worked at a nightclub.

Two high-level staffers who quit the office accused Shirk of having "an unusual closeness" to the three females.

Several months after the newspaper stories, Shirk's wife, Michelle, filed for divorce, saying their 10-year marriage was "irretrievably broken." She has since dismissed the divorce proceedings. 

One of the fired employees has a pending sexual harassment lawsuit against Shirk. She accuses him of asking her to shower with him at the office, an invitation she says she rejected.

Under the law, the grand jury's presentment must be made public sometime within the next 14 days. 


About the Author:

Tom Wills joined Channel 4 in 1975 and has co-anchored Jacksonville's highest-rated evening newscasts for more than 40 years.