Prosecutor Michael Von Zamft presents closing arguments in the case of, Francisco Oliveira Jr., the man accused of shooting and nearly killing Latin songwriter Estefano. Here, Von Zamft displays evidence in the case.
AL DIAZ
MIAMI HERALD
The veteran prosecutor ousted from the case of a Miami gang boss — which unraveled after allegations of prosecutorial misconduct — could face discipline by the Florida Bar.
A complaint filed by the Florida Bar against now-retired prosecutor Michael Von Zamft stemmed from Von Zamft’s handling of the case of Corey Smith, who had been sentenced to death for killing four people in Liberty City in the 1990s. Smith’s case was back in Miami court in 2024 after he was granted a new death penalty sentencing hearing.
ID Photo Corey Smith Florida Department of Corrections
A Bar grievance committee found probable cause to file the complaint against Von Zamft from “judicial findings and sworn testimony establishing that former Assistant State Attorney Michael Von Zamft engaged in serious professional misconduct…”
The nine-page complaint, which was filed last Friday in the Florida Supreme Court, mostly focuses on the findings made by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Wolfson, who removed Von Zamft and prosecutor Stephen Mitchell from Smith’s case in March 2024. Mitchell remains under investigation by the Bar.
When reached by the Herald Wednesday, Von Zamft’s attorney Andrew Steven Bolin said Von Zamft “appreciates having the opportunity to prove his conduct did not violate the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar.”
Evidence withheld from defense
According to the complaint, Von Zamft did not disclose cooperation letters regarding Tricia Geter, Smith’s ex-girlfriend and a key witness in the case. The letters “established that the witness was provided benefits in exchange for her cooperation” but were not turned over to the defense — despite prosecutors being required to do so.
Von Zamft wrote letters to federal prosecutors in north Florida, who were handling a cocaine case against Geter, regarding Geter’s cooperation with police in Miami. At the time, Geter had been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for distribution of cocaine. That sentence was reduced to five years.
Van Zamft, the complaint said, “reacted in a variety of ways from alleging [the letters] were false, to not remembering them, and finally remembering some of them. When pressed about whether the letters were provided to Smith’s attorney, respondent testified, “I would hope not.””
Deter Heller, left, defense attorney for Clifford Friend, the Lighthouse Point man charged in the 18-year disappearance of his wife, and Michael Von Zamft, prosecutor, right, during a hearing in Judge Beth Bloom’s courtroom, Friday, April 13, 2012. Von Zamft won a conviction in the case. MARICE COHN BAND MIAMI HERALD File
The complaint also mentioned how witnesses in Smith’s case were taken to the Miami Police Department and given favors in exchange for their cooperation. Geter testified that she and other witnesses were given food, drinks, tobacco products, visits from family and friends and even conjugal visits.
Those details were also never disclosed to Smith’s defense attorneys.
A jail call played during a hearing revealed Von Zamft’s attempts to place witnesses together in a prison courtyard to “rehabilitate” their testimony, according to the complaint. In the call with Latravis Gallashaw, one of Smith’s co-defendants who became a state witness, Von Zamft lamented how he couldn’t rely on Geter to testify in Smith’s resentencing. Gallashaw is a convicted murderer in a case that involves witness elimination.
Convicted murderer Corey Smith’s former girlfriend Tricia Geter, is questioned under oath this week by Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Stephen Mitchell, during a hearing to determine if Miami-Dade prosecutors are too compromised to participate in the re-sentencing phase of Smith’s trial. Jose A. Iglesias jiglesias@elnuevoherald.com
“If I call her and she refuses, then I will find a way to make her unavailable, and then I can read her whole testimony,” Von Zamft said in the call.
“You would want to do that?” Gallashaw responded.
“No, I don’t want to do it,” the prosecutor replied. “I’d rather she testified and did a good job. But can I count on it? No.”
Wolfson, the complaint says, found that Von Zamft “lacked candor, withheld required disclosures, failed to acknowledge misconduct, and made misrepresentations during the evidentiary hearing.” The judge also concluded that the prosecutor’s philosophy was to win at all costs.
Last year, prosecutors ultimately dropped the death penalty against Smith. He was resentenced to 30 years in prison after reaching a plea agreement with the state.
Convicted murderer and gang leader Corey Smith, center, thanks his attorney Craig Whisenhunt after he pleaded guilty to second degree murder on several charges in Courtroom 4-1 at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, as the State dropped the former first degree murder charges. Left to Right: Whisenhunt, Allison Miller, and Smith. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com Judge under fire, too
Judge Bronwyn Miller is also facing discipline in connection to Smith’s case.
A state oversight panel in October found probable cause to file formal charges against Miller, a former prosecutor and current judge on Miami’s Third District Court of Appeal.
Judge Bronwyn Miller of the Third District Court of Appeal Courtesy Third District Court of Appeal
The panel cited concerns over Miller’s texts with Miami-Dade’s State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, her former boss, during the resentencing of Corey Smith. Miller, as a prosecutor, had secured the death penalty against Smith decades earlier.
Miller indicated in the text messages to Fernandez Rundle she was trying to protect her reputation, which she felt was tarnished during the resentencing proceedings. The state oversight panel found that those texts “appear to be coercive.”
Judge Miller is seeking that the disciplinary charges be dismissed, arguing she did not attempt to “corrupt the process” but sought to “secure justice.”
Miami Herald
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.