Can DeSantis’ AG Uthmeier get a Miami judge impeached? Here’s what to know

The urging by Florida’s attorney general to impeach a Miami judge — after he found a mother who drowned her 1-year-old daughter in a bathtub not guilty by reason of insanity — is only grandstanding, said Andrew Berman, a legal ethics expert and an appellate attorney of four decades.

“Grandstanding by a political official is dangerous. It would set a horrible precedent to attack judges for their decisions,” Berman told the Miami Herald. “That is what appellate courts are for.”

Attorney General James Uthmeier, in a Thursday post on X, referenced Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel de la O’s ruling, saying his office “will be drafting articles of impeachment, and we look forward to working with all legislators who will support.”

READ MORE: Florida AG wants impeachment of judge who found a mom not guilty due to insanity

This week, the judge found that Precious Bland, 43, did not understand the nature of her actions when she killed her daughter, saying there was “zero credible explanation other than her psychotic state.” De la O also said he did not see a reason to commit Bland to a mental institution.

Bland waived her right to a jury trial, instead opting to have the judge determine whether she should be convicted of aggravated manslaughter and attempted murder. The defense argued that Bland had a psychotic episode due to a COVID infection.

Berman pointed out that de la O is one of the most respected judges in the state, adding that critics can “quarrel with his decision but not quarrel with his impartiality.”

Impeaching a judge is rare — and unlikely to succeed, Berman said. State officials can call for a judge to be impeached, but only the Legislature has the power to remove a judge after a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.

A Florida judge has not been the subject of impeachment proceedings in more than six decades. Allegations of judicial misconduct are typically investigated by the Judicial Qualifications Commission, an independent state agency. Any disciplinary measures are meted out by the Florida Supreme Court.

But the governor’s office has not shied away from removing state officials who disagree with him.

In recent years, Gov. Ron DeSantis removed Orlando-area State Attorney Monique Worrell and Tampa-area State Attorney Andrew Warren after accusing Worrell of being too lenient and Warren of refusing to enforce abortion restrictions. (Both top prosecutors unsuccessfully challenged their suspensions in court, although Worrell was ultimately re-elected.)

The governor can suspend state attorneys and other state officers who are not subject to impeachment, but he does not have that same power over judges.

READ MORE: Judge finds Florida attorney general in contempt of court for flouting immigration order

Uthmeier was sanctioned by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams for violating her restraining order on enforcing a Florida immigration law that criminalizes undocumented immigrants when they enter the state. Uthmeier had written a letter to police agencies in April telling them “there remains no judicial order that properly restrains you from” making arrests under Florida’s immigration law and said he would not tell law-enforcement agencies to obey her court order.

Responding to the attorney general’s announcement, attorney Larry Handfield, who is representing Bland, told reporters the judge was following the law and anyone reacting to the verdict without following the trial was jumping to conclusions.

“Once you know the facts, it was clear that conduct was not the person, the life she lived for 43 years,” Handfield said. The killing, the attorney said, stood in stark contrast to his client, who was a decorated Navy officer who served in Iraq and was part of a security detail for then-President George W. Bush.

READ MORE: Mom: COVID made me drown 1-year-old daughter in tub. Judge says she’s not guilty

The killing occurred on Aug. 23, 2021, at the home where Bland, her husband, Evan Bland, and their six children lived on the 3000 block of Northwest 99th Street. There, deputies discovered that Bland had drowned her daughter Emii in a bathtub, according to an arrest report.

Emii was found face down inside the bathtub, which was filled with bloody water, investigators say.

Bland’s husband tried to stop her, and a struggle ensued. Precious Bland asked their teenage daughter to get a knife, and the daughter told deputies that she “didn’t know why [Bland] wanted a knife, but she complied.” With that knife, Bland stabbed her husband in the head and neck — and, afterward, sliced her teenage daughter in the forearm as the teen tried to get Emii from Bland, the report says.

When deputies arrived, Evan Bland told them his wife “was upset, stating that Jesus Christ is coming and COVID is going to kill us all,” according to the report. Evan Bland said his wife insisted that everyone in the home needed to be baptized in the bathtub.

This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 5:51 PM.