by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
The new year started well for Judge Charles Arnold.
He celebrated his 58th birthday Jan. 3 and that same morning handed down a sentence in criminal court which garnered congratulatory visits from police officers and colleagues.
“I really wish you could’ve been here to see this,” said Linda Davis, his judicial assistant.
The defendant was a repeat offender, which means at least two prior felony convictions within a five-year period. According to Arnold, most of the time they plead innocent, taking their chances with a jury trial.
In this case, a female police officer detained the man on stolen property and drug charges, but he attempted to flee. When she caught him and tried to detain him again, he began beating her, breaking bones in her face.
Judge Arnold gave him 50 years.
“Sometimes the police are happy with you and sometimes they aren’t,” said the mild-mannered circuit court judge. “He got what he deserved.”
In this case, the police can thank Arnold’s oldest son Charlie.
“Charlie saved my life,” said Arnold, referring to a rule passed by the federal government in 1968 which transferred “2S” student deferments for the conflict in Vietnam into “3A” dependent deferments. Arnold was in his senior year in law school at the University of Florida when Charlie was born. Because of that deferment, Arnold didn’t go to Vietnam.
“I’m sure I would’ve died over there,” he said.
Arnold was born in Jacksonville on Jan. 3, 1944. He attended DuPont High School before leaving for the University of Florida in 1963, where, he said, he was the “the No. 6 man on the five-man golf team.” He was a member of the ATO fraternity, as well as the Blue Key Honorary Fraternity.
It was there that he met his wife, Carolyn, who was an ATO “little sister,” along with her friend Jerri, who Arnold said he introduced to her future husband, former Florida Gators football coach Steve Spurrier.
“The ATO little sisters were the best looking girls at the school,” said Arnold. “We would all play golf together.”
Arnold has been a judge since then- Gov. Lawton Chiles appointed him in 1998, but he is no stranger to the local criminal court system. He started as an assistant in the City’s General Counsel Office in 1968 after graduating from law school, which proved to be an interesting time to be working as a City lawyer because 1968 was the first year of a consolidated Duval County.
“Hans Tanzler was mayor and for my first case I found myself arguing the constitutionality of the School Board, basically saying that the legislation that created it — which was different from any other in the state — was legal. Obviously, we won,” he said. “Then we had to go to Tallahassee and argue that the entire consolidation was legal. Talk about baptism under fire.”
He then joined the State Attorney’s Office, where Arnold worked for Ed Austin during the consolidation of the entire court system. Arnold and State Attorney Harry Shorstein were charged with revamping the court’s computer system to create an integrated criminal tracking mechanism.
In 1973, Arnold entered private practice with his two uncles, Walter Arnold and Edward Booth, and while he said that small law firms tend to require a generalist attitude from their lawyers, he continued to focus on federal criminal defense.
One of his more notable cases was representing former mayor Louis Ritter, who was accused of misappropriating a liquor license in exchange for a bribe. Ritter was cleared of the charges.
Arnold left Booth & Arnold in 1992 to serve as the City’s General Counsel. He returned to private practice at Holland & Knight for three years before becoming a judge.
“I always knew I wanted to return to the public sector and that criminal justice was my passion,” said Arnold. “But I also wanted to make a little money in between.”
Arnold is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of only 20 in Jacksonville. He also is a master of the Chester Bedell Inn of Court, a club modeled on the British Legal System that cultivates young legal talent.
Arnold’s youngest son, Casey, is now a freshman at Florida. His daughter, Cathleen, is a University of Florida Law School graduate, and along with her husband, is a prosecutor in Lakeland.
Arnold presided over 45 jury trials in 2001, more than any judge. It was that schedule that required Arnold to take a break from his other passion, baseball. He began coaching because his sons played and he became addicted to the sport.
One of the main reasons why competitive league baseball became so popular locally was because Arnold fought to give neighborhoods the option to have their own small, self-governing leagues. During his time in the General Council’s Office, Arnold lobbied to have $2.1 million allocated by the City Council for the Baker-Skinner Park on Powers Avenue.
“It’s one of the best fields in the country,” Arnold said, “and it’s great for the city.”
In his spare time, Arnold enjoys fishing in Alaska and took his sons to the Kenai Peninsula, which is near Fairbanks, a few years ago to fish for trout and salmon. The family also likes to ski; they’ve been to Snowmass, Big Sky and Park City recently.
“I always wanted to buy a cabin in Wise River, Mont. and fish but I’m not sure if that’s possible with three grandchildren,” he said.
As for his birthday, Arnold had no real big plans.
“I’m sort of a homebody these days. I told my wife, ‘I want my favorite meal, roast beef and fried eggplant and I want to see the grandkids.’”