Imagine you’re Angeline Mericle: a Veteran and domestic violence survivor, bruised and terrified, fighting for your life against an abuser who’s already been arrested. You turn to the one person you trust to protect you—a lawyer promising justice through a respected advocacy group. But instead of a shield, you get a ghost. That lawyer, Renee Torpy, didn’t just drop the ball—she tossed Mericle to the wolves, all to chase a shiny judge’s robe she never even won. Now, she’s a public defender in Brevard County, and the question screams: How many more vulnerable people is she failing right now?
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This isn’t just a story of legal incompetence—it’s a gut-wrenching betrayal that left Mericle defenseless, her abuser free, and a supposed “safe harbor” exposed as a sham. Here’s the ugly truth, backed by emails, court records, and Mericle’s own words, that Torpy and Serene Harbor don’t want you to know.
A Survivor’s Nightmare: The Case Torpy Tanked
It started on July 15, 2022, when Jose Luis Montes was arrested by Oakland PD in Orange County for battering Mericle. Police asked for no bail, but Montes walked free the next day, lawyered up and ready to fight. Desperate for safety, Mericle turned to Serene Harbor, a Brevard County nonprofit that boasts of protecting domestic violence victims. They gave her Renee Torpy, their in-house attorney, to file an Injunction for Protection (IFP). The hearing was set for July 28, 2022, but what followed was a slow-motion disaster.
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U.S. Army PFC Ageline (Facebook photo)
By November 4, 2022, with the rescheduled hearing just 10 days away, Torpy dropped a bombshell. In an email obtained by The Space Coast Rocket, she wrote: “If I win [the election], I will be quitting my current job because the grant is only for one attorney… to stay on would be unfair to the victims.” Unfair? She’d already checked out, campaigning for Brevard County Court Judge Group 4 while Mericle’s life hung in the balance. Torpy told her to find a new lawyer—just before trial—leaving her scrambling in further despair. “I was left in a comatose that left my heart hurting more than it already did,” Mericle said.
Then came November 8, 2022. Confident she had the race won, she was already celebrating according to those around her campaign. However, Torpy lost the election to Kimberly Musselman, 52.34% to 47.66%. She set up an “Out of Office” reply, conveniently absent until the hearing date, November 14. That day, she flip-flopped: first refusing to represent Mericle, then showing up after her defeat, half-hearted and unprepared.
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Inside the courtroom, Torpy’s performance was described as a disgrace. Mericle says she endured a brutal three-hour cross-examination by Montes’ lawyer, with Torpy silent—not a single objection, no fight. “She questioned Montes for a barely five minutes.” Worst of all, she refused to submit medical reports proving Mericle’s injuries—bruises, bite marks, and other injuries—claiming they weren’t needed. The judge ultimately denied the protection order, citing “lack of evidence.” The very evidence Torpy had but wouldn’t use.
“I went to the VA where I was triaged and seen for treatment when this happened. I gave Torpy the full medical report. I asked her twice to submit it into evidence. She refused.”
She told us, “The Judge dismissed the case and specifically said if there was something showing I received medical treatment he would have granted the VPO.”
Mericle was left exposed, her abuser unchecked. The fallout didn’t stop there. Her deposition—where Torpy failed to even show up—turned into another three-hour ambush by opposing counsel, until the State DA stepped in, furious, warning it could tank the criminal case against Montes in Orange County. “She basically fed me to the wolves,” Mericle told us, her voice raw with betrayal.
Career Over Clients: Torpy’s Obsession with Power
Why did Torpy abandon Mericle? It appears she was too busy dreaming of a judge’s gavel. Her campaign site (torpy4judge.com), and during debates, she bragged about her “experience”—years as an assistant public defender and state attorney—yet she couldn’t spare a shred of it for a victim in desperate need of the services and experience she swore to provide. That November 4 email proves it: she was ready to abandon Serene Harbor’s victims the second she won, grant rules be damned. When she lost, she slunk back, but the damage was done.
Now, Torpy’s a public defender again, representing Brevard County’s most helpless defendants—people with no other lifeline. If she’d ditch a battered woman for ambitions of a judgeship, what’s she doing to those who can’t fight back, those whose freedom is on the line? And she’s still chasing glory: a finalist for Lead Brevard’s 4 Under 40 in 2023 and 2024, losing both times, and—get this—named Legal Advocate of the Year in 2023 by Theresa’s Fund. An advocate? Tell that to Mericle, who’s filing a Florida Bar complaint citing gross negligence and abandonment. The following year in 2023, she went on to run her husband’s campaign for Indian Harbour Beach City Council; that too failed. Torpy seems to constantly seek out self-recognition and promotion of her “expertise” at every speaking engagement she can slide into. Her ambitions aren’t inherently selfish, but when it’s at the cost of her clients, selfish isn’t strong enough a word.
Serene Harbor’s Role
Serene Harbor promotes itself as a lifeline for survivors, raking in grants like the $20,000 from RedRover in 2022. There’s no question the good they’ve done. But where was the oversight? How did they let Torpy campaign at the expense of a victim like Mericle that came to and trusted them for the help they advertise? When Mericle demanded her case file in October 2023, Serene Harbor shrugged—they didn’t have it. Torpy finally coughed it up, and guess what? Most “evidence” came from Montes’ lawyer, not Mericle’s own proof. Systemic failure, or just plain apathy?
We reached out to Serene Harbor for comment via email.
“Due to legal and ethical considerations, I am unable to comment on a former employee. However, we are always available to discuss our work supporting survivors of domestic violence. For confidential assistance, our 24/7 helpline is available at 321.726.8282 (call or text), and secure chat can be accessed at www.sereneharbor.org, where a certified advocate is ready to assist.”
A Cry for Justice—and a Warning
Angeline Mericle isn’t just seeking justice for herself; she’s sounding the alarm. “I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she told The Space Coast Rocket. “But I have no doubts it already has.” Her abuser’s still out there, she says thanks to Torpy. Meanwhile, Torpy’s defending clients who can’t choose her—clients who might be next in a trail of neglect, abandonment, or incompetence.
How many others did she abandon at Serene Harbor? How many defendants are suffering now? The Florida Bar will be investigating to determine what, if any consequences Torpy will face. Serene Harbor’s unable to comment. Brevard County’s watching.
The Bottom Line
Renee Torpy didn’t just fail Angeline Mericle—she sold her out, trading a victim’s safety for a shot at power she couldn’t even grab. Now, she’s got a new batch of vulnerable souls in her hands. If she is representing you or someone you know, it would be wise to be skeptical of her diligence at a minimum. Share this story. Demand answers. Because if Torpy’s still failing people, citizens deserve to know. It was not easy for Mericle to come forward with this story, but she felt she had to. I’ll leave you with the final words she told us after reading a draft of this article.
“ Like a record his words that he would end my life if I left him constantly played. Psych ops was too much. It makes me angry to think that if I would have got the VPO at least how it could have brought me some protection and peace. But, I ended up leaving Florida because I couldn’t shake all of this. I am doing better. I don’t know which is worse, surviving domestic abuse when I didn’t think I would make it out alive or the disease between self-serving politicians in government positions who practice without diligence or basic human decency for clients they are entrusted to protect.”
We reached out to Renee Torpy for comment. She did not respond.
Have tips or experiences with Renee Torpy or Serene Harbor? Contact us at editor@thespacecoastrocket.com
