Jan Govan will run against Circuit Judge George Greer. But he says an order regarding fees isn't the reason.
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published May 20, 2004
CLEARWATER - Lawyer Jan Govan mentioned the Terri Schiavo case as one reason he wants to run against Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer.
Govan didn't mention Peter Wejanowski.
Just a month before Govan announced his candidacy, Greer signed an order denying the lawyer more than $50,000 in attorney's fees from the estate of Wejanowski, a Largo man who investigators said killed himself in 2001 after he murdered his girlfriend.
Govan has appealed the judge's decision and wants Greer to remove himself from the case because the two men are now election opponents.
Govan, however, hasn't filed a motion seeking the judge's recusal because he said the judge should do so without being asked.
Govan said his decision to run against Greer had little to do with the denial of attorney's fees.
"It's not a matter of money," Govan said Wednesday, saying he earns more than a circuit judge's $134,000 salary in private practice. "By running for judge, I'm causing myself to be less compensated. It's got nothing at all to do with the money."
Greer, citing judicial rules that forbid a judge from talking about an active case, declined to comment.
Others aren't so sure about Govan's motivation, including lawyer Alan Gross, an attorney involved in the Wejanowski case who has worked to keep Govan from getting the fees.
"This has absolutely nothing to do with Schiavo," Gross said. "There's a lot of history here."
Greer ordered that Mrs. Schiavo's husband could remove the feeding tube that has kept his wife alive for more than 14 years.
It all began on Aug. 19, 2001, when Wejanowski, 60, killed his live-in girlfriend, Karen Stacy, 41, by shooting her three times in the head and once in the chest. Any one of the four shots would have been fatal, Gross said.
Stacy's survivors filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wejanowski's estate, seeking damages.
Govan defended that lawsuit for Richard McDonald, the beneficiary and personal representative of Wejanowski's estate.
At trial, Govan portrayed Stacy as an aggressor who attacked Wejanowski with a knife. Govan said the cancer-stricken Wejanowski was defending himself when he killed Stacy.
"The evidence was that he was trying to repel her," Govan said. "It wasn't an execution-style thing."
Gross, who represent Stacy's estate, called the defense "preposterous." Police concluded Wejanowski murdered Stacy, Gross said. And Wejanowski, he said, also left seven suicide notes behind, some of which were highly incriminating.
Gross said Govan should have settled the case rather than fight an unwinnable battle.
"If ever there was a case I couldn't lose, this was it," said Gross. "This was a waste of time and money."
At trial, Pinellas-Pasco Anthony Rondolino granted a directed verdict on the issue of the wrongful death, saying there was no evidence to prove the self-defense argument.
A jury awarded Stacy's estate damages of $3.5-million.
Govan then went to Greer for approval of his attorney's fees for defending the case, fees that would be paid from money in Wejanowski's estate, which was valued at about $300,000.
Greer, the judge overseeing the Wejanowski estate in Probate Court, approved fees of $5,250. He rejected another $39,411 the estate had already paid Govan and $15,000 Govan said he is owed.
Gross has asked the court to order Govan to repay the $39,000.
Greer noted that attorney's fees can only be awarded if the attorney's work benefits the estate. "Clearly, their efforts did not in any measure enhance the estate," Greer wrote.
Govan disagrees. But Gross said, "It's almost impossible to overcome seven suicide notes."
