Hillsborough prosecutor resigns after colleague's sister served as jury foreperson in Tampa rape trial; judge orders new trial

A Hillsborough County prosecutor has resigned after a defense attorney accused her of misconduct for not telling the defense that the foreperson of a Tampa rape trial jury was the sister of another prosecutor in the same office, a disclosure failure that led a judge to throw out the guilty verdict and order a new trial.

Assistant State Attorney Kate Spurlock left the office of Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez earlier this month, three days after Circuit Judge Mark Kiser granted a new trial in the sexual battery case against Javier DelaTorre, the Tampa Bay Times reported Friday. Kiser found that the circumstances raised enough concern about whether the defendant received a fair trial to warrant a new one. He did not, however, make any finding that Spurlock or the juror committed misconduct.

Spurlock declined to comment to the Times, citing the ongoing legal proceedings. Lopez's office declined to discuss specifics but issued a lengthy statement saying it was Spurlock who decided not to notify the defense, and that the office and the other attorneys involved believed disclosure during jury selection was the proper and required step.

The case at the center

DelaTorre, 46, was arrested in April 2025 after a woman accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her while they stayed in the same home during spring break, according to court documents cited by the Times. The woman's name and identifying information are redacted from court records. DelaTorre pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual battery.

On Sept. 30, a six-person jury found him guilty. With the verdict now set aside, DelaTorre again stands accused and is presumed innocent; Kiser set the retrial for January.

Spurlock, a veteran prosecutor, was the lead attorney on the case. She joined Lopez's office in December 2025 after a decade as a prosecutor in Pinellas and Pasco counties, and a year after an unsuccessful run for a Pinellas County judgeship, according to the Times. In Hillsborough she was one of seven attorneys in the special victims unit, which handles sex offenses and crimes against children.

What the text messages show

According to text messages obtained by the Public Defender's Office and provided to the Times, Spurlock learned of the relationship the morning jury selection began. Kelsey Day, a lead trial attorney in the office who was working in a different courtroom and was not involved in the DelaTorre case, wrote that she believed her sister was on Spurlock's jury panel and wanted to give her a heads up.

Spurlock thanked her and, in an apparently joking reply, asked whether the sister would make a good juror. Day responded that she hoped they kept her sister, that she might not be able to sit through a case involving a child, and that she expected the defense to strike her. Day described her sister as a rule follower, the messages show.

The records also show Day first messaged the two prosecutors who lead the special victims unit, Christine Boulos and Joseph Kudia, to ask who was handling the trial before Kiser and to say her sister was on the panel. Boulos responded with Spurlock's contact information. Day also messaged prosecutor Rebekah Kaufman, who tried the case alongside Spurlock, according to the Times.

The sister was seated and became the jury's foreperson. Spurlock did not notify the Public Defender's Office of the relationship until Oct. 5, about a week after the trial began and several days after the guilty verdict.

What the defense alleged

On Oct. 8, Assistant Public Defender Gabrielle Biggs asked for a new trial and for permission to interview the juror, accusing both Spurlock and the juror of misconduct. Biggs also alleged that the juror tried to talk to Spurlock in a courthouse elevator on the day testimony began and was seen approaching Spurlock and witnesses after the verdict. Those claims are allegations in a court filing; the judge did not rule on them.

Biggs pointed out that during jury selection a different prospective juror had volunteered that he once worked with Spurlock in Pinellas County, though he said he did not know her personally. The defense had him removed. The foreperson never disclosed her family tie to the office, Biggs wrote, and had she done so the defense would have sought to excuse her as well.

After obtaining the text messages through a public records request late last month, Biggs filed another motion asking the judge to disqualify Spurlock and every other attorney who received the messages from arguing against a new trial.

How the state responded in court

Lindsey Hodges, a prosecutor in the office's major crimes section, appeared for the State Attorney's Office at the hearing. She agreed to the request to disqualify the other prosecutors, saying in court she was doing so "for the sake of keeping this clean," the Times reported.

Hodges did not concede that the prosecutor or the juror had committed misconduct. But she said the state agreed a new trial was warranted based on "the totality of the circumstances." Biggs asked Kiser to declare specifically that misconduct occurred. Kiser ordered the new trial without making that finding.

What Lopez's office says

In its statement, the State Attorney's Office said other prosecutors brought the matter to Chief Assistant State Attorney John Terry, who oversees the felony divisions, and that Spurlock was ultimately instructed to disclose the relationship even though the trial had ended. The office praised those prosecutors for raising the issue, calling it an example of the integrity it expects.

The office said Spurlock resigned after meeting with Terry and that she expressed regret. While several lawyers were involved, it said, the decision not to notify the defense was hers, and such information should be disclosed even when the need to do so is "not crystal clear." The statement said Spurlock may have believed her decision was appropriate at the time. It called her departure unfortunate but said the office's professionalism and place of trust in the justice system are not debatable.

The office added that it is still evaluating the matter and that any next steps involving the local professionalism committee or The Florida Bar are being weighed by everyone involved, including the prosecution team, defense counsel and the judge.

Why it matters for Tampa Bay courts

Prosecutors and defense attorneys rely on jury selection to surface connections that could compromise a juror's impartiality, and both sides are expected to raise known relationships. A guilty verdict set aside on fairness grounds means the accuser in the DelaTorre case may have to testify again, and the county will bear the cost of a second trial. Lopez was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 after he suspended former State Attorney Andrew Warren, then defeated Warren in the November 2024 election and was sworn in to a full term in January 2025.

What's next

DelaTorre's retrial is scheduled for January in Hillsborough circuit court, with prosecutors who were not part of the text message exchange handling the case. No finding of misconduct has been made against Spurlock or the juror, and no Florida Bar action has been announced. The State Attorney's Office has said its review is continuing.