Alberto Milian
Alberto Milian (born November 12, 1960) is an American lawyer and judge from Florida. He is a judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. He won the primary election on August 26, 2014, and assumed office on January 6, 2015. His term expires on January 4, 2021. Elections 2014 Milian ran for election to the Eleventh Circuit Court. Primary: He was elected in the primary on August 26, 2014, receiving 57.9 percent of the vote. He competed against Mary C. Gomez. Education. Milian earned his Bachelor of Arts in public administration from Florida International University in  1983 and his Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law. Military career. Milian served in the United States Army Reserve from 1980 to 1998. He graduated from the U.S. Army Parachutist and Officer Candidate School in 1981. Milian is a veteran of two wars: Operation Just Cause (Panama) and Operation Desert Storm (Persian Gulf War). Noteworthy events. Terrorism attack hits close to home, spurs Milian to public service. In the mid-1970s, Alberto Milian's father, Emilio, was injured in a terrorist attack. Emilio was a popular, conservative radio host in the Miami area. On his show, "El  Pueblo Habla," Emilio often spoke out against the violence in Miami during the anti-Castro movement. One day in April 1976, Emilio left the radio station where he hosted his show. When he turned the ignition of his car, a bomb that had been planted under the engine exploded. He lost both legs in the attack but did not lose his life. This attack had a great impact on young Alberto Milian. Though he says he is not "a teary-eyed, worshipful son," Milian credits his father and those of his generation with waging a principled, non-violent battle against  Fidel Castro. After Emilio's death in 2001, Milian began his own investigation into the attack, though no one was ever brought to trial for the crime. Milian said he became a lawyer partly because of his father's tragedy. Where Emilio used the airwaves to get his message out, Alberto uses the law and politics. Reputation for professional aggressiveness. Milian was referred to as a "pitbull" in a piece by the "St. Petersburg Times" because of his courtroom outbursts and behavior. In 1999, after prosecuting a domestic violence case for the Broward County State Attorney's Office, Milian made  controversial comments in public regarding not only the defense counsel in the case, but also the jurors. He called defense attorneys "maggots" and jurors "lobotomized zombies." Milian later said that he made those comments because the victim in the case was "maligned" by the defense during the trial. Milian left the Broward County State Attorney's Office the following year (2000) and entered solo practice. On another occasion, Milian punched a defense attorney in the lobby of a courthouse. Milian says he was provoked by the other attorney and that he acted in self-defense. This altercation led to Milian  being suspended from the practice of law for a short period of time.