Diaz Cease-And-Desist Letter

2600 S.
Douglas Road, Suite 305

Coral Gables, FL 33134
(305) 215-2264
RFernandez@rhflawfirm.com
Janaury 13, 2021
SENT VIA -EMAIL
Luis Gutierrez
Roberto Cespedes
Radio Caracol 1260
LGutierrez@caracol1260.com
RCespedes@caracol1260.com
Re: Cease-and-Desist for Defamatory Allegations Made Against

State Senator Manny Diaz on Raul Martinez’s Show
Statutory Notice under Section 770.01, Fla. Stat. (2020)
Dear Mr. Gutierrez & Mr. Cespedes:

I am writing you on behalf of the State Senator Manny Diaz (“Senator Diaz”). It has come
to my attention that individuals named Jenny Lee Molina and Sasha Tirador were interviewed
yesterday, January 12, 2021, on your Raul Martinez show wherein both Ms. Molina and Ms.
Tirador made false and defamatory allegations against Senator Diaz for things that were admitted
to have taken place over 20 years ago. Ms. Molina in a conclusory manner alleged on the program
that: (i) Senator Diaz made me uncomfortable in the way he spoke to me as a teacher which was
“inappropriate”; (ii) Senator Diaz was also “inappropriate” considering that he asked me to stay
after school; (iii) I also heard from other unnamed sources that Senator Diaz would sneak young
girls into his mom’s house where he lived at the time; and (iv) everyone knew about Senator Diaz
using drugs and that Senator Diaz would talk about drugs—both also “inappropriate” conduct
according to Ms. Molina. Ms. Tirador, although having no personal knowledge of any of the
allegations made, repeatedly claimed on the program that other former students have factually
corroborated the above assertions but does not identify a single person by full name who can
substantiate such salacious claims. I would strongly encourage you to review the entire radio
interview that took place on Mr. Martinez’s show to verify the factual and legal points made herein.
To be abundantly clear, Senator Diaz fully and unequivocally denies these baseless and
defamatory claims. As will be illustrated below, these assertions made now 20 years later
contradict Ms. Molina’s own statements made in the past and are clearly politically motivated due
to Senator Diaz’s conservative political views. Let’s review these facts and then judge the
credibility of the allegations made considering that the continued dissemination of these slanderous
claims can potentially ruin the professional and personal reputation of Senator Diaz without a
scintilla of any concrete evidence.
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2600 S. Douglas Road, Suite 305
(305) 215-2264
First, let’s review what statements Ms. Molina has made that contradict the recent
fabricated claims of “inappropriate” behavior by Senator Diaz. Back in July 2013, Senator Diaz
was already serving as a State Representative for District 103 At that point Ms. Molina had not
been a student of Senator Diaz for approximately 14 years, therefore, there was no reason for Ms.
Molina to feel compelled to say anything positive of Senator Diaz if in fact it is true that he had
been so egregiously “inappropriate” as a teacher. On July 10, 2013, there is a string of text
messages on Instagram wherein Ms. Molina directly communicates to Senator Diaz that, “Oh, I
am soooo grateful to you as a teacher and now a great community leader…Thank you, so
happy to reconnect. You were a great teacher!” See Screenshots of Ms. Molina’s Instagram
Texts dated on or about July 10, 2013 attached hereto as Exhibit “A” (emphasis added). If Senator
Diaz was so “inappropriate” in his interactions with Ms. Molina when she was a high school
student 20 years ago why would Ms. Molina go out of her way to praise and thank him for his
public service years later. More recently, Ms. Molina stated that, “I never said I was a victim
nor did he do anything illegal for me to go to the police.” See Screenshot of Ms. Molina’s
Instagram Text dated on or about January 8, 2021, attached hereto as Exhibit “B” (emphasis
added). In summary, Ms. Molina, in her own words, has previously praised and thanked Senator
Diaz for being “a great teacher” and readily admits she was not a victim, nor did she witness
Senator Diaz do anything illegal. Senator Diaz’s unblemished record as a teacher, administrator
and coach the last 25 plus years should substantiate that these “inappropriate” behavior claims are
not credible considering that there is absolutely nothing in any of his personnel records that would
corroborate any disciplinary action(s) or accusation(s) regarding improper conduct involving a
student.
In fact, Ms. Molina has failed to state with any specificity what alleged statements were
made by Senator Diaz directed to her that were so “inappropriate.” It is difficult if not impossible
to refute an alleged “inappropriate” statement(s) if Senator Diaz does not know what exactly was
supposedly said, who else was present when the statements were made, where did it occur and
when. Further, in reference to any claim that Senator Diaz had asked Ms. Molina to stay after
school and that the request was somehow “inappropriate”, Ms. Molina admitted during her radio
interview that she would stay after school to help Senator Diaz with the training of the boys’ soccer
team---a perfectly legitimate reason for the request to stay after school if in fact it happened 20
years ago. Lastly, the other scurrilous assertions made during the radio interview by Ms. Molina
and reiterated by Ms. Tirador were not based on any personal knowledge whatsoever by either of
them and are extremely damaging considering that they are based on pure rank hearsay and
unsubstantiated false rumors. A person’s professional and personal reputation should not be ruined
on such flimsy claims that date back 20 years ago.
In addition, despite Ms. Molina’s claims that these inflammatory allegations against
Senator Diaz are not politically motivated, it certainly does appear that way. On January 7, 2021,
Senator Diaz shared on his Instagram account his political opinion on a robocall being made by
the Broward County School System pertaining to the opportunity for student counseling related to
the violent protests that took place the day before in Washington, D.C. See Screenshot of Senator
Diaz’s Instagram Text dated January 7, 2021 attached hereto as Exhibit “C”. In direct response
to his post, Ms. Molina stated, “Diaz, it’s concerning that myself and other high school students
2
2600 S. Douglas Road, Suite 305
(305) 215-2264
you taught still think you’re a pervert and an inappropriate teacher….Now you make money
passing laws that enrich charter schools AKA your other job. How does a State Senator
become a millionaire on their salary? Teach me that!” See Exhibit “C” (emphasis added).
Further, during her radio interview Ms. Molina claimed to be insulted by Senator Diaz’s response
to the Broward School System robocall since he never cared about the mental health of students
as a teacher and she cannot believe Senator Diaz is in a position of legislative leadership in
reference to school funding. Also, Ms. Molina claims not to be a political operative yet she
identified herself on her Twitter account as “Former Digital Comms Creative for @JoeBiden
Florida.” See Screenshot of Jenny Molina’s Twitter Account attached hereto as Exhibit “D”
(emphasis added). Interestingly, this reference identifying herself as a political operative for the
Biden campaign in Florida has now been deleted from her Twitter account. Lastly, Ms. Tirador,
who made disparaging and defamatory claims based on pure hearsay, is a political consultant with
Democratic ties and has a well-known animosity towards Senator Diaz. As a former Democratic
congressional candidate in 2008, Mr. Martinez was only too eager to hear these scandalous claims
against a political opponent. Any assertion that this is not politically driven is respectfully
laughable.
It was incumbent on your radio station to do some reasonable due diligence before allowing
such slanderous claims to go on air without questioning further the sources and/or veracity of the
claims being made against Senator Diaz. This is especially true since Mr. Martinez on air
acknowledged that a representative of Senator Diaz had contacted the radio station in advance of
the Molina/Tirador interview and put the radio station on notice of the potential slanderous claims
that were going to be made. Mr. Martinez disregarded such advanced notice and did not delay the
interview as requested to allow a legal response to same. Senator
As required under Section 770.01, Fla. Stat. (2020), before initiating a lawsuit for
defamation, I am hereby putting your radio station on notice of your broadcast of slanderous and/or
libelous material. In order to avoid any further potential liability, you must immediately cease and
desist from any further dissemination of these defamatory statements and comply with all the
statutory requirements of Section 770, Fla. Stat. (2020).
Please immediately confirm receipt of this notice. Thank you in advance for your
anticipated cooperation and govern yourself accordingly.
Respectfully,
Robert H. Fernandez, Esq.
cc: State Senator Manny Diaz

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2600 S.

Douglas Road, Suite 305

Janaury 13, 2021

SENT VIA -EMAIL

Re: Cease-and-Desist for Defamatory Allegations Made Against

Dear Mr. Gutierrez & Mr. Cespedes:

Robert H. Fernandez, Esq.

cc: State Senator Manny Diaz

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