Latest news with #ReginaHill
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Regina Hill's team wants key witness barred from testifying
Attorneys for suspended Orlando Commissioner Regina Hill have asked a judge to bar a key witness from testifying against her, saying she has exhibited a pattern of dishonest behavior as the attorneys gear up for trial. Sandra Lewis, a notary whose stamp and signature appear on a mortgage application Hill filed several years ago, gave evasive, contradictory, and sometimes false answers to questions Hill's attorneys threw her way, they claimed. The filing said Lewis feigned a lack of memory when answering basic background questions and tried to obscure the work she did for Shan Rose, a political opponent of Hill's, and Andrew Bain, who served as state attorney when Hill was arrested and charged. The document also stated Lewis was paid for political activities through her beauty school, which she failed to answer questions about. 'The notion that the State would proceed with this witness is disturbing,' attorneys wrote. 'She had two opportunities to provide truthful sworn testimony with an intervening period to consult with the State and a lawyer. Yet, she consistently engaged in deception and obstruction.' Lewis's, testimony would help prosecutors prove their accusations that Hill committed mortgage fraud when she applied for a loan in the name of a 96-year-old constituent without the woman's consent. WFTV interviewed Lewis shortly after the accusations against Hill became public last year. She admitted her stamp was on the document but pointed to several inconsistencies with the application and suggested the document had been altered. Lewis did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday. Hill is facing a maximum 180 years in prison if convicted, though she'd likely be sentenced to significantly less time. She said all accusations against her are false, and she had permission to apply for the mortgage, live in one of the woman's houses and spend the woman's money. Her trial is expected to take place in the fall. It's not clear if it will happen before or after she faces Rose in her fight to regain her commission seat in Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Regina Hill's Orlando home was condemned. After the suspended commissioner complained, the city declared it an error.
On Monday, a home on Domino Drive in Lake Mann Estates was plastered with a bright green 'notice to vacate' and was condemned by Orlando's code enforcement division. But by that evening, after its owner, suspended city commissioner Regina Hill blasted the city's order on social media as an 'attack' intended to thwart her planned political comeback, officials declared the home should never have been deemed unfit for human occupation. Days later, it remains unclear why the complaint was escalated. 'After code enforcement management reviewed the complaint and assessed the home, it was determined the house shouldn't have been condemned,' said Andrea Otero, a city spokesperson. 'The house was, however, unsecured so code enforcement boarded the windows that were cracked. There are processes and procedures that were not followed and are being addressed.' Officials would offer no further details. Hill doesn't live at the home, which was purchased in her name along with that of the woman at the center of an explosive elder abuse indictment, which led to Hill's suspension from the city council last year. A court order prevents Hill from having contact with the woman or from setting foot on any of the properties involved in the proceedings – including the one on Domino Drive. The case is currently slated for trial in May. Separately, a lawsuit filed by an attorney representing the elderly woman seeks to have a judge force a sale of the home, as well as another one Hill owns with the elderly woman. Investigators allege Hill used the woman's financial resources and credit rating to buy the properties, and that the woman, who is mentally impaired, did not understand what was happening. The code enforcement situation began on Feb. 27, when a neighbor reported the property apparently because a homeless person was sleeping in the shed behind the home. It also had been the subject of a complaint earlier this year for an overgrown yard. Hill said she discovered the condemnation notice on the door when she drove by the property Monday to make sure a lawn service had come by over the weekend. Upon her arrival, she saw code enforcement personnel on the property and the notice they had posted. 'I didn't understand why I wasn't notified that they were condemning the house,' she said. 'From one complaint, you go to condemning a house?' Hill said she believed the city's action was a political decision, noting she had filed to run for election in District 5 last week. Hill tagged interim commissioner Shan Rose, who was elected to represent the district after Hill's suspension, in her initial post on the matter. However, the complaint was made to code enforcement six days prior to Hill filing paperwork with the city clerk. Rose said she had nothing to do with the complaint or the condemnation and wasn't aware of the details of the situation. Photos of the property released as part of the code enforcement investigation show a lakefront home with windows and doors that are now boarded up. The photos also show a damaged dock with a bicycle on it, as well as some broken windows. The report has is short on detail as to if they found evidence of anybody sleeping there. An Orlando Utilities Commission official told code enforcement that utilities weren't hooked up to the home. Hill said the home was damaged during Hurricane Ian, and she had the home gutted to renovate it before her legal troubles surfaced. 'I'm really disgusted,' she said. rygillespie@
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Regina Hill's Orlando home was condemned. After the suspended commissioner complained, the city declared it an error.
On Monday, a home on Domino Drive in Lake Mann Estates was plastered with a bright green 'notice to vacate' and was condemned by Orlando's code enforcement division. But by that evening, after its owner, suspended city commissioner Regina Hill blasted the city's order on social media as an 'attack' intended to thwart her planned political comeback, officials declared the home should never have been deemed unfit for human occupation. Days later, it remains unclear why the complaint was escalated. 'After code enforcement management reviewed the complaint and assessed the home, it was determined the house shouldn't have been condemned,' said Andrea Otero, a city spokesperson. 'The house was, however, unsecured so code enforcement boarded the windows that were cracked. There are processes and procedures that were not followed and are being addressed.' Officials would offer no further details. Hill doesn't live at the home, which was purchased in her name along with that of the woman at the center of an explosive elder abuse indictment, which led to Hill's suspension from the city council last year. A court order prevents Hill from having contact with the woman or from setting foot on any of the properties involved in the proceedings – including the one on Domino Drive. The case is currently slated for trial in May. Separately, a lawsuit filed by an attorney representing the elderly woman seeks to have a judge force a sale of the home, as well as another one Hill owns with the elderly woman. Investigators allege Hill used the woman's financial resources and credit rating to buy the properties, and that the woman, who is mentally impaired, did not understand what was happening. The code enforcement situation began on Feb. 27, when a neighbor reported the property apparently because a homeless person was sleeping in the shed behind the home. It also had been the subject of a complaint earlier this year for an overgrown yard. Hill said she discovered the condemnation notice on the door when she drove by the property Monday to make sure a lawn service had come by over the weekend. Upon her arrival, she saw code enforcement personnel on the property and the notice they had posted. 'I didn't understand why I wasn't notified that they were condemning the house,' she said. 'From one complaint, you go to condemning a house?' Hill said she believed the city's action was a political decision, noting she had filed to run for election in District 5 last week. Hill tagged interim commissioner Shan Rose, who was elected to represent the district after Hill's suspension, in her initial post on the matter. However, the complaint was made to code enforcement six days prior to Hill filing paperwork with the city clerk. Rose said she had nothing to do with the complaint or the condemnation and wasn't aware of the details of the situation. Photos of the property released as part of the code enforcement investigation show a lakefront home with windows and doors that are now boarded up. The photos also show a damaged dock with a bicycle on it, as well as some broken windows. The report has is short on detail as to if they found evidence of anybody sleeping there. An Orlando Utilities Commission official told code enforcement that utilities weren't hooked up to the home. Hill said the home was damaged during Hurricane Ian, and she had the home gutted to renovate it before her legal troubles surfaced. 'I'm really disgusted,' she said. rygillespie@
