James Uthmeier wants to criticize the judge in the release of the insanity of COVID
NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and local attorneys want to criticize the judge who acquitted a woman in a historic case related to COVID.
Miami-Dade County Judge Miguel de la O acquitted Precious Bland, who was charged with first degree murder and attempted murder after allegedly drowning her 15-month-old daughter and stabbing her husband and another child.
Bland’s lawyers argued that he was suffering from COVID-19 and, therefore, could not understand the consequences of his actions. According to his defense, Bland was experiencing visions and believed he was being instructed to baptize his family members.
At the time of the 2021 incident, Bland was yelling “Jesus Christ is coming and COVID is going to kill us all,” her husband told police, according to a copy of the arrest report obtained by Fox News Digital.
STORE OWNER HELD OUT ON BOND FOR 3 YEARS FREED IN KILLING OF YOUTH SHOT
James Uthmeier spoke at the National Conservative Convention on September 3, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“The defendant insisted that everyone needs to be baptized and that he will baptize everyone in the bathtub,” the report reads.
The police report describes a horrific incident where Bland ordered one of the children in the home to get a knife, but the child said he did not know why.
Bland is said to have stabbed her husband many times during the struggle, she and her other four children left the house fearing for their lives and she contacted the police, the report reads.
Bland’s eldest daughter, when she tried to take away the child from the defendant, “received a stab wound on her arm during the struggle,” the report continued.
The girl “then ran away from the house fearing for her life. The police arrived at the scene, entered the residence, and arrested the defendant,” said the report.
Police found the baby “face down, unresponsive, in a bathtub full of bloody water,” according to the report.
De la O sided with the defense, acquitting Bland of all three charges and allowing him to return home before an upcoming hearing to decide his treatment options. Uthmeier called the judge’s decision unacceptable.
FEDERAL JUDGE WHO CONSIDERED SEX IN CHAMBERS APOLOGIZES TO FORMER BILLER AS HARASSMENT PUSHES RAPS UP
“In the bench trial — where the jury made the decision, not the jury — it allowed the woman to defend herself after she drowned her child. She claimed insanity related to COVID. This is unacceptable,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“I believe we have impeachment provisions in our state constitution for a reason. The federal government has the same authority, but we don’t see judges being impeached in modern times. So, I believe this is wrong. We will be pushing hard to work with our legislature to make some of these judges accountable. I believe they are violating their oath and putting our citizens at risk,” said Fox News Digimetal.
Uthmeier also revealed that he was looking into ways to impeach other judges, revealing to Fox News Digital that he was working with other Florida legislators on the issue.
FEDERAL JUDGE WHO CONSIDERED SEX IN CHAMBERS APOLOGIZES TO FORMER BILLER AS HARASSMENT PUSHES RAPS UP
Precious Brand Mugshot (Miami-Dade County Clerk of Court and Administrator)
“I’ve had some Florida legislators reach out, they’re happy to work with me on impeachment issues, and hopefully I’ll get some of these dangerous people off the bench,” he told Fox News Digital.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in judges who we believe are overstepping their authority, abusing discretion, or acting in a way that endangers public safety. We’ve already called for impeachment in several other judicial cases: the Tallahassee judge who let a convicted child rapist go free – the guy who the jury found guilty, killed a five-year-old child. There’s a case in Miami where the judge released the defendant on bail after he put rocks in the girl’s mouth during the rape,” explained Uthmeier.
Bland’s attorney, Larry Handfield, said he believes the ruling is the first to successfully protect against COVID-19-related insanity in the country.
“This was COVID,” Handfield told NBC6 South Florida.
“She’s a woman who served our country for five years,” he said, referring to Bland’s five years in the U.S. Navy.
Handfield said he was “living the American dream until COVID came. He didn’t question COVID.”
Uthmeier also said he believes this is one of the first decisions of its kind, if not the first.
“I don’t know that this has happened before. I haven’t read all the documents of the case, but to me, anyone who drowns their daughter should not be released. To the extent that insanity will focus on things, I believe that it should look at where you are locked up because of your arrest, not to give you a ‘get out of jail free’ card and let other people go without danger ‘card when you are free from jail. they got that help behind closed doors — some kind of mental institution where they’re locked up and they can’t get free and walk the streets again,” Uthmeier said.
Florida’s attorney general also said he believes the decision is part of a “national trend” of judicial overreach.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez attended the first day of the legislative session at the Florida State Capitol on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Tallahassee, Florida. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“I think that all of us as leaders in this country must wake up and realize that the prosecution and removal of judges is something under the Constitution that cannot be followed. And until we do it – until we reject their use of the authority to abuse authority – they will continue to be honest when they do these wrong things. Therefore, I will be pushing to criticize more and more loudly next year,” he concluded.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
The court appointed psychiatrist Dayra Bodan to determine whether Bland’s level of insanity merited involuntary hospitalization. Bland is scheduled to have another hearing on July 6 to determine treatment options.
Fox News Digital reached out to Bland’s attorney but did not receive a response. Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, where Judge de la O presides, told Fox News Digital “judicial ethics do not permit comment on pending cases.”
