To avoid prosecuting a former division chief, the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office has asked the governor to appoint a special prosecutor to handle the road rage case against prominent Miami lawyer Michael Diaz Jr.

The founder and managing partner of international law firm Diaz Reus & Targ is accused of beating a couple outside a Publix parking garage last December. Diaz, 49, has been charged with two felony counts of burglary with assault and battery and two misdemeanor counts of battery.