Ex-Broward schools lawyer accepts plea deal after Parkland shooting probe
FORT LAUDERDALE - A former Broward County Public Schools attorney accused of illegally sharing information from a statewide grand jury on the 2018 Parkland school shooting pleaded no contest Thursday to a reduced charge.
Barbara Myrick, the former general counsel for the district, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of attempted unlawful disclosure of grand jury proceedings, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. She had been facing a felony charge of illegally disclosing information from the grand jury. Myrick was sentenced to one year of probation, which can be terminated after six months, and she will have to pay $4,751 in prosecution fees.
The case might not be over. Myrick's plea agreement allows her to appeal the judge's earlier ruling that denied a motion to dismiss the case. Her lawyer, David Bogenschutz, said the case will be appealed to the 4th District Court of Appeal.
Myrick was arrested in 2021, along with then-Superintendent Robert Runcie. A grand jury, originally impaneled to review school safety after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School left 17 people dead, expanded its reach and examined a $17 million technology deal, leading to the indictment of former district administrator Tony Hunter on charges of bribery and bid tampering.
Runcie was accused of committing perjury while testifying about the technology deal, and Myrick was accused of sharing information she learned from the grand jury with Runcie's lawyer. Runcie later resigned, and Myrick retired.
Runcie's case was dismissed last year on jurisdictional grounds, but an appeals court later overturned that decision. The case against Hunter was also recently dismissed, but prosecutors are also challenging that decision.
