Alex Diaz de la Portilla is in a bit of a doghouse with a Leon County court. An arrest warrant was issued for the Miami-based former state senator after he disobeyed an order to turn over a Weimaraner dog to his ex-wife by 5 p.m. Friday.
Diaz de la Portilla and Claudia Davant owned two Weimaraners together, and on Wednesday the judge overseeing the couple's divorce decreed that Diaz de la Portilla would spend 30 days in jail if he failed to hand one of them over.
When the 46-year-old former Senate Majority Leader missed the deadline, another judge issued what Diaz de la Portilla referred to as "an unlawful order" for arrest.
"[The judge's] actions are clearly illegal,” Diaz de la Portilla wrote in a text message to the Miami Herald. "This Judge exceeded his authority on a whim."
Diaz de la Portilla declined to give his whereabouts, according to the paper, though his former spouse suggested to the Herald that he might be living it up out of the country on money he earned working on new Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez's succesful campaign.
Diaz de la Portilla, who left office last year because of term limits, had previously tried to argue the court that a dog is "mere chattel" and contempt of court could not be sanctioned.
But that plea was dismissed by the judge, who noted in the arrest warrant that Diaz de la Portilla had "willfully failed to appear at all recent hearings," was "doing everything he could to delay matters," and was "basically thumbing his nose" at the court.
Local
Diaz de la Portilla and Davant, a lobbyist, were married in 2003 and filed for divorce in 2009.
