By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
A veteran who served as a soldier for 18 months in South Korea and soon after was called to lead a platoon in the ground war of Operation Iraqi Freedom is running for circuit judge.
Attorney Dan Weisman said he grew up in Gainesville and remembers sitting on his father’s knee listening to stories about how his grandpa was involved in capturing a Nazi officer while fighting in the Ardennes Forest in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.
Weisman, a candidate for circuit judge, offered those comments during a July 22 Republican candidates’ forum in Cedar Key.
He said the idea of being involved in public service became a part of his life when he heard those stories about his grandfather serving as a soldier in World War II.
“For me, that was the start of a life of service and a life of giving back even if it means putting yourself in harm’s way,” Weisman said. “I am running for judge because I have a heart for service.”
After college, Weisman said he volunteered for the infantry. He said the Army gave him everything he asked for “and maybe a few things I didn’t.” He was immediately sent to boot camp and officer candidate school. He chose to go to Korea for 18 months.
When he returned home his parents were looking forward to spending time with him, but Weisman decided instead to be part of the Training Academy for Ranger School. That was about the time the Iraqi War started.
“They needed lieutenants. My unit chose me to go represent my unit. I got a platoon from the 101st Airborne that I led during the ground war part of Iraqi Freedom,” he said. “After that, I was ready for a change of gears. I think it’s important for a judge to have a lot of gears.”
Weisman went to law school. He said the next step in his career may have been influenced by seeing too many episodes of the television drama Law and Order In the show, fictional District Attorney Jack McCoy always went after the bad guys as a prosecutor.
After law school, where he met his wife, Weisman was chosen by the Attorney General’s office for the Office of Statewide Prosecutor. He developed a specialty in communities with a gang problem of investigating the gangs with an eye toward building a racketeering case against its members.
“What we did is if we could get righteous charges on gang members after a long-term investigation, and it was constitutionally appropriate to do so, we would go arrest the whole gang if we could, and I could end up prosecuting the whole gang if we could – 5, 10, 15 sometimes 20 gang members pursuant to a racketeering action. We would do everything we could, racketeering, armed robbery, homicide, the works,” he said.
Weisman said the prosecution of gangs worked well for a while, but after his two little boys came along, he was ready for another change. He went into private practice.
“I’ve been in private practice for a number of years and I do a whole bunch of things in private practice. I consider myself a well-rounded attorney too. In private practice I have done work for my fellow veterans, basically whatever they need,” Weisman said.
He said he has represented people in civil court whenever he was needed. He has defended people accused of crimes as well. He said that although he worked with detectives for years and understood the detectives’ perspective, he learned that once in a while someone is falsely accused of a crime.
“I learned once in a while – not always – someone makes a false allegation on someone, and in the same way we love the 1st Amendment, and in the same way as we love the 2nd Amendment, well guess what guys, the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments are all about making sure we have rights when the government comes to take our rights away,” Weisman said.
He said his legal practice has basically been on both sides of the aisle, the civil side and the criminal side.
“In terms of anyone being put on the criminal bench (to serve as a judge), I am someone who has served on both sides of the aisle and that gives me the broad perspective that is going to make sure everybody feels like they are taken care and getting a fair case,” he said.
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Enterprise Reporting by Terry Witt July 22, 2022; Posted July 30, 2022
