Frank represented Kutner as his immunized testimony fueled the FDLE probe and Davis lawsuit
GAINESVILLE – More than three years after former Alachua County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Brandon Kutner emerged as a key witness in a criminal investigation into then-Sheriff Clovis Watson’s administration, new state records show that Kutner later became the subject of disciplinary proceedings involving his own law enforcement credentials.
The development is significant because of the central — and complicated — role Kutner played in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation. Kutner acknowledged monitoring a privileged conversation involving attorney Bobi J. Frank and told investigators he knew such monitoring was illegal. He received prosecutorial immunity before providing information that became important to the investigation, including his assertion that then-Undersheriff Joel DeCoursey had instructed him regarding the monitoring.
That allegation was not corroborated by the other command staff interviewed by investigators. When Third Judicial Circuit State Attorney John Durrett later declined to prosecute Watson, he emphasized the weakness of relying on a single immunized witness, writing, “Captain Kutner was the only Chief Inspector of the five that were interviewed to report being instructed to do so. The entire charge rests upon the immunized testimony of a singular witness.”
Kutner’s role became more consequential because Frank was not only his attorney but also represented Sgt. Kevin Davis in his discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office and was the attorney who brought allegations about the agency to FDLE. A jury ultimately awarded Davis $15 million in February 2025.
After the verdict, attorneys for Sheriff Chad Scott argued that jurors had not been given information about Kutner’s conduct and immunity that could have been relevant in evaluating his credibility as a witness.
Now, records from the state commission responsible for regulating Florida law enforcement officers add another element to that history: Kutner himself became the subject of a professional disciplinary proceeding.
Records contained in the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission’s August meeting materials include minutes from an earlier commission meeting addressing disciplinary cases. Kutner had appeared on the Commission’s May 14 agenda as “F-21 Kutner, Brandon C.” under the heading “Default – Moral Character.” The category covered officers accused of misconduct and failing to maintain the good moral character required of Florida law enforcement officers under Section 943.13(7), Florida Statutes.
The Commission’s minutes explain that officers in the category had been served with administrative complaints alleging misconduct but failed to request a hearing or otherwise dispute the allegations within the required 21 days. As a result, they waived their right to a hearing on disputed facts.
The Commission subsequently voted to accept the case materials as evidence, adopt the findings contained in the administrative complaints and impose the disciplinary action recommended in each case.
The development adds another chapter to Kutner’s unusual role in the investigation that surrounded Watson’s administration and eventually spilled into Sgt. Kevin Davis’s civil discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office.
Frank represented Kutner
Kutner was not simply a witness interviewed by FDLE. Attorney Bobi J. Frank represented him.
Frank was also the attorney who took allegations concerning the Sheriff’s Office to FDLE and requested an investigation. According to court filings previously reviewed by Alachua County Today, Frank contacted FDLE on Feb. 15, 2023, the same day Davis’s civil lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office was filed.
That placed Frank in several overlapping roles. She represented Davis in civil litigation against the Sheriff’s Office, represented Kutner and other witnesses who provided information to FDLE, and was herself involved in one of the allegations presented to investigators.
Several early FDLE interviews were conducted at Frank’s law office. Records reviewed by Alachua County Today also show that she represented numerous witnesses interviewed during the investigation.
One of the most serious allegations involved the monitoring of privileged communications between deputies and their attorneys. Frank herself was the attorney involved in a conversation Kutner acknowledged monitoring.
Kutner told FDLE investigators he understood that monitoring privileged communications was illegal. Asked about his knowledge of the law, Kutner acknowledged, “I knew that it was, yes, a crime.” By the time he provided critical information to investigators, however, Kutner had received prosecutorial immunity.
The result was an unusual situation. Frank represented the man who admitted monitoring a conversation involving her, while also serving as the complainant who brought allegations concerning the Sheriff’s Office to FDLE. Information supplied by her client then became part of the investigation into whether Sheriff’s Office administrators had directed unlawful conduct.
One witness stood alone
Kutner’s account became particularly important because he claimed then-Undersheriff Joel DeCoursey instructed him regarding the monitoring of privileged communications. Other command staff interviewed by investigators did not provide the same account. After the case was transferred for review to Third Judicial Circuit State Attorney John Durrett, that lack of corroboration became a significant problem. Durrett summarized the weakness of the allegation in unusually direct terms:
“Captain Kutner was the only Chief Inspector of the five that were interviewed to report being instructed to do so. The entire charge rests upon the immunized testimony of a singular witness.”
That singular witness was Frank’s client.
The investigation did not result in criminal charges against Watson. Durrett ultimately declined prosecution after reviewing the FDLE investigation.
The timing later became important in Davis’s civil case. A jury returned its verdict on Feb. 7, 2025, awarding Davis $15 million in non-economic damages. Durrett’s letter declining prosecution was issued Feb. 19, after the trial had ended. The Sheriff’s Office obtained the letter and additional FDLE materials after the verdict.
Although jurors could not have been shown a prosecutorial decision that had not yet been issued, the Sheriff’s attorneys later argued that they went into trial without access to significant information already known to witnesses and attorneys involved in the FDLE investigation, including information affecting Kutner’s credibility.
From witness to respondent
Kutner’s subsequent appearance before CJSTC is significant for another reason. Prosecutorial immunity and professional discipline are two different things.
The immunity Kutner received protected him from criminal prosecution within the terms of the agreement. It did not amount to a finding that his conduct was proper, nor did it prevent the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission from determining whether he continued to meet Florida’s standards for certified law enforcement officers.
Florida law requires officers to maintain good moral character. CJSTC proceedings in that category can involve serious misconduct affecting an officer’s fitness to remain certified. The Commission’s records show Kutner was served with an administrative complaint alleging a violation of officer standards and that his case proceeded as a default after he failed to contest the allegations through the administrative process. The available meeting records do not, however, spell out the specific conduct alleged against Kutner in his individual administrative complaint.
In July, Alachua County Today submitted a public records request to FDLE seeking the underlying records concerning Kutner’s disciplinary proceeding and the status of his law enforcement credentials. As of publication, the newspaper has not received a response.
Those records are important because they should identify the specific conduct upon which the state based its disciplinary case against Kutner. Without the underlying administrative complaint and final order, it would be premature to conclude that the credential action was based specifically on Kutner’s conduct uncovered during the Watson investigation.
What is clear is that Kutner’s prosecutorial immunity did not insulate him from the separate process used to regulate Florida law enforcement officers.
A different picture emerges
Kutner’s role has taken on added significance as the Davis case has moved through post-trial proceedings and appeal. At trial, he helped provide a picture of alleged wrongdoing within the Watson administration. The existence of the FDLE investigation itself also became part of Davis’s case against the Sheriff’s Office.
The fuller record that emerged afterward was considerably more complicated.
Kutner had been represented by the same attorney who brought allegations to FDLE. That attorney was herself involved in the privileged communication Kutner admitted monitoring. Kutner received immunity before becoming a significant witness. His claim that the monitoring was directed from above was not corroborated by the other chief inspectors interviewed, and Durrett ultimately described the allegation as resting entirely on the testimony of one immunized witness.
Sheriff Chad Scott’s attorneys later argued that jurors were left with a misleading impression of Kutner as a whistleblower rather than a participant whose own conduct and immunity were relevant to judging his credibility. In post-trial litigation, the defense characterized him as a witness portrayed as having “clean hands,” despite information subsequently obtained concerning his conduct and immunity.
Now the state’s law enforcement standards commission has added another dimension to that history.
The FDLE investigation that began with allegations brought forward by Frank did not result in the prosecution of Watson. The allegation that administration officials directed illegal monitoring ultimately rested, according to Durrett, on Kutner alone.
Kutner had immunity from criminal prosecution.
He did not have immunity from the professional consequences that could follow his own conduct.
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