Judge dismisses defamation suit against Brevard sheriff over ‘Wheel of Fugitive’

An Okeechobee County district judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey over his controversial social media show “Wheel of Fugitive.”

Judge Laurie Buchanan of the 17th Judicial District issued the dismissal late Sunday without comment.

The one-page order cited an earlier ruling by a Florida appeals court that said public officials enjoy “absolute immunity” from comments they make in the course of their official duties – “no matter how false, malicious or ill-motivated the words may be,” the 2023 ruling said.

The plaintiff, David Austin Gay, was one of 60 people who were jailed between February 2020 and February 2021 and were either in jail, already at large or had no warrants for their arrest at the time the episode aired, a FLORIDA TODAY investigation found.