By Nancy L. Othón
Sun-Sentinel.com
June 11, 2007, 12:00 PM EDT
WEST PALM BEACH -- In front of his victim's family seated in a Palm Beach County courtroom Monday morning, a New Jersey man calmly recounted how he strangled Linda Fishman more than four years ago at her home west of Boca Raton.
As part of his plea agreement, Fred Kretzmer, 32, had to answer questions from a prosecutor about how and why he murdered Fishman. Kretzmer pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree arson and will spend 20 years in prison.
Kretzmer said he befriended Fishman at the Marriott in Palm Beach Gardens where he was working in 1999.
In February 2003, he took a taxi to her home on Flower Drive and waited for Fishman to come home, Kretzmer said. He then snuck into her garage and entered her home, he testified.
Kretzmer testified he had gone to Fishman's home to "rekindle an old friendship," but that when Fishman failed to recognize him and began to panic that a strange man was in her home, Kretzmer was "caught very emotionally."
"I went at her and I took her from behind and I strangled her," Kretzmer said.
Kretzmer used a brown cord to strangle Fishman, then poured alcohol on her hands and neck to try to clean up the scene, he said.
At one point in the hearing, Kretzmer turned around to apologize to Fishman's family.
Fishman's sister Bernice Ferency called the apology "weak."
Family members said they agreed to the deal to ensure a conviction and prison time for Kretzmer.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Lake Worth deli owner gets 15 years in wife's murder-for-hire plot
By Missy Diaz
Sun-Sentinel.com
June 11, 2007, 4:23 PM EDT
WEST PALM BEACH -- A Wellington drug runner who tried hiring a hitman to kill his wife to avoid a $2.5 million divorce settlement will spend 15 years in prison for his crimes.
Glenn Sandler, 54, who owns the popular Gourmet Deli House west of Lake Worth, pleaded guilty Monday to cocaine trafficking and solicitation to commit murder.
As part of his plea agreement, Sandler was ordered by Circuit Judge Edward Garrison to pay a $250,000 fine and to forfeit his four-seater Mooney M20J airplane and a motorcycle. In exchange for the plea, Prosecutor Caroline Shepherd dismissed a third count, attempted first-degree murder. He will receive credit for 580 days he has already spent in jail. In September, Sandler's attorney, Richard Lubin, filed a motion to rely on an insanity defense at trial. As a result of a psychotic disorder, Sandler didn't know what he was doing or comprehend the consequences of his actions when he offered an undercover deputy $25,000 to kill Betty Sandler in October 2005, according to Lubin's motion.
In the midst of a contentious divorce, Sandler met with what he thought was an assassin to eliminate his wife. He told the undercover that he had previously tried to hire someone else for the job but that the man ran off with the money.
Sandler gave the purported hitman Betty Sandler's description and address as well as information about her daily routine. Betty Sandler was notified of her husband's plan.
At the same meeting, Glenn Sandler, according to police, bragged about flying drugs from Colombia to Miami. The deputy asked him to fly 11 pounds of cocaine from Lantana to Sebring, which Sandler did. The following day, the deputy brought Sandler keys and a cell phone belonging to Betty Sandler as proof the killing had taken place. Sandler was arrested in the Home Depot parking lot in Greenacres.
Lubin said Monday that his client pleaded guilty because he is guilty, and that while mental health experts concurred about Sandler's mental state at the time, waging an insanity defense is a risky proposition.
Betty Sandler attended Monday's hearing but declined to comment afterward. Citing safety concerns, she asked that Sandler not be placed in a South Florida prison, but the request was denied.
The judge agreed to delay sending Sandler to the Department of Corrections for 30 days because of his mother's poor health. He's had his own share of misfortunes since his incarceration, including the deaths of his father and his 22-year-old son, who died in a motorcycle accident in January 2006.
Missy Diaz can be reached at mdiaz@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5505.
Sun-Sentinel.com
June 11, 2007, 4:23 PM EDT
WEST PALM BEACH -- A Wellington drug runner who tried hiring a hitman to kill his wife to avoid a $2.5 million divorce settlement will spend 15 years in prison for his crimes.
Glenn Sandler, 54, who owns the popular Gourmet Deli House west of Lake Worth, pleaded guilty Monday to cocaine trafficking and solicitation to commit murder.
As part of his plea agreement, Sandler was ordered by Circuit Judge Edward Garrison to pay a $250,000 fine and to forfeit his four-seater Mooney M20J airplane and a motorcycle. In exchange for the plea, Prosecutor Caroline Shepherd dismissed a third count, attempted first-degree murder. He will receive credit for 580 days he has already spent in jail. In September, Sandler's attorney, Richard Lubin, filed a motion to rely on an insanity defense at trial. As a result of a psychotic disorder, Sandler didn't know what he was doing or comprehend the consequences of his actions when he offered an undercover deputy $25,000 to kill Betty Sandler in October 2005, according to Lubin's motion.
In the midst of a contentious divorce, Sandler met with what he thought was an assassin to eliminate his wife. He told the undercover that he had previously tried to hire someone else for the job but that the man ran off with the money.
Sandler gave the purported hitman Betty Sandler's description and address as well as information about her daily routine. Betty Sandler was notified of her husband's plan.
At the same meeting, Glenn Sandler, according to police, bragged about flying drugs from Colombia to Miami. The deputy asked him to fly 11 pounds of cocaine from Lantana to Sebring, which Sandler did. The following day, the deputy brought Sandler keys and a cell phone belonging to Betty Sandler as proof the killing had taken place. Sandler was arrested in the Home Depot parking lot in Greenacres.
Lubin said Monday that his client pleaded guilty because he is guilty, and that while mental health experts concurred about Sandler's mental state at the time, waging an insanity defense is a risky proposition.
Betty Sandler attended Monday's hearing but declined to comment afterward. Citing safety concerns, she asked that Sandler not be placed in a South Florida prison, but the request was denied.
The judge agreed to delay sending Sandler to the Department of Corrections for 30 days because of his mother's poor health. He's had his own share of misfortunes since his incarceration, including the deaths of his father and his 22-year-old son, who died in a motorcycle accident in January 2006.
Missy Diaz can be reached at mdiaz@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5505.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Dad's death colors life of Wilk lawyer
Posted on Sat, Jun. 09, 2007
By DAN CHRISTENSEN
Criminal defense lawyer Bill Matthewman is an ex-cop defending a cop killer.
The irony isn't lost on the former Miami police sergeant, but at this point in his high-profile legal career, Matthewman says he no longer frets about what others think of his clients.
'When I represent police officers charged with killing or shooting civilians, defendants and lawyers say, `How can you represent those dirty cops?'
'' Matthewman said. 'When I represent civilians charged with killing police officers, police officers say, `How can you represent that scumbag?' ''
Matthewman is currently defending Kenneth Wilk, who was convicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale in the slaying of Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta. Matthewman and Miami co-counsel J. Rafael Rodriguez will return to court Tuesday to try to persuade a jury to spare Wilk from the death penalty.
Three other federal capital trials have been held in South Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Matthewman, a married father of four who lives in Parkland, has been involved in two of them.
Born and raised in Miami-Dade's Westchester neighborhood, Matthewman became a Miami patrolman in 1975 and rose to sergeant before quitting in 1981 to attend the University of Florida School of Law. He graduated with honors in 1983.
Matthewman, 53, was influenced to become a police officer, and later a defense lawyer, by the untimely death of his father who suffocated after falling inside an oil truck he was cleaning.
''I was 4 years old. I'd been waiting for him to come home and take me to the movies,'' Matthewman said. ``Losing my father so young, I've always felt the underdog needs to be protected.''
Matthewman was Chedrick Crummie's lawyer during the first federal death penalty trial in South Florida in 1996. A jury acquitted Crummie and two other members of two death-eligible murders that arose out of their membership in the ''Boulder Boys'' crack cocaine gang.
DEATH-PENALTY PRO
Matthewman, a name partner in the South Florida law firm Seiden, Alder, Matthewman and Bloch, has had 20 death-eligible cases in Puerto Rico.
In 2003, in the first death penalty case to go to trial there, client Hector Oscar Acosta Martinez was acquitted of the murder of a local businessman.
Last year, client Carlos Ayala-Lopez was convicted of killing a Veteran's Administration police officer, but the jury rejected the death penalty.
Matthewman has never been a prosecutor, and declined Thursday to discuss his personal views on the death penalty while Wilk's case is pending.
But Coconut Grove criminal defense attorney Bruce Fleisher, who met Matthewman in the 1970s when Fleisher was a local public defender and Matthewman was a cop, said Matthewman isn't a passionate opponent of the death penalty.
`DAMN GOOD LAWYER'
''A lot of defense lawyers are true believers. He's not a true believer. He's just a damn good lawyer doing the best for his client,'' said Fleisher, who represented Luis Gonzalez Lauzan Jr. in 2004 when a Miami federal jury refused to sentence him to death for orchestrating the murder of a government informant.
Matthewman's defense work has put him front and center in some of South Florida's most notorious criminal cases involving police officers.
In 1994, Matthewman helped win the acquittal of Miami Officer Armando Aguilar who was accused of fabricating evidence to help out fellow officers implicated in the 1988 beating death of neighborhood drug dealer Leonard Mercado.
In 2002 and again in 2004, Matthewman successfully defended Miami Officer Alejandro Macias in two criminal cases that arose out of a massive gun-planting conspiracy.
Seven other city officers were convicted.
Matthewman is now focused on sparing Wilk -- a client he was appointed by the court to represent -- a lethal injection.
Wilk told jurors he killed Fatta, but claimed he was suffering from AIDS-related dementia when Fatta and other members of a multiagency task force came to his Fort Lauderdale home to serve warrants on Aug. 19, 2003.
The jury found Wilk, 45, guilty of murder, possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice and the attempted murder of another deputy.
By DAN CHRISTENSEN
Criminal defense lawyer Bill Matthewman is an ex-cop defending a cop killer.
The irony isn't lost on the former Miami police sergeant, but at this point in his high-profile legal career, Matthewman says he no longer frets about what others think of his clients.
'When I represent police officers charged with killing or shooting civilians, defendants and lawyers say, `How can you represent those dirty cops?'
'' Matthewman said. 'When I represent civilians charged with killing police officers, police officers say, `How can you represent that scumbag?' ''
Matthewman is currently defending Kenneth Wilk, who was convicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale in the slaying of Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta. Matthewman and Miami co-counsel J. Rafael Rodriguez will return to court Tuesday to try to persuade a jury to spare Wilk from the death penalty.
Three other federal capital trials have been held in South Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1988. Matthewman, a married father of four who lives in Parkland, has been involved in two of them.
Born and raised in Miami-Dade's Westchester neighborhood, Matthewman became a Miami patrolman in 1975 and rose to sergeant before quitting in 1981 to attend the University of Florida School of Law. He graduated with honors in 1983.
Matthewman, 53, was influenced to become a police officer, and later a defense lawyer, by the untimely death of his father who suffocated after falling inside an oil truck he was cleaning.
''I was 4 years old. I'd been waiting for him to come home and take me to the movies,'' Matthewman said. ``Losing my father so young, I've always felt the underdog needs to be protected.''
Matthewman was Chedrick Crummie's lawyer during the first federal death penalty trial in South Florida in 1996. A jury acquitted Crummie and two other members of two death-eligible murders that arose out of their membership in the ''Boulder Boys'' crack cocaine gang.
DEATH-PENALTY PRO
Matthewman, a name partner in the South Florida law firm Seiden, Alder, Matthewman and Bloch, has had 20 death-eligible cases in Puerto Rico.
In 2003, in the first death penalty case to go to trial there, client Hector Oscar Acosta Martinez was acquitted of the murder of a local businessman.
Last year, client Carlos Ayala-Lopez was convicted of killing a Veteran's Administration police officer, but the jury rejected the death penalty.
Matthewman has never been a prosecutor, and declined Thursday to discuss his personal views on the death penalty while Wilk's case is pending.
But Coconut Grove criminal defense attorney Bruce Fleisher, who met Matthewman in the 1970s when Fleisher was a local public defender and Matthewman was a cop, said Matthewman isn't a passionate opponent of the death penalty.
`DAMN GOOD LAWYER'
''A lot of defense lawyers are true believers. He's not a true believer. He's just a damn good lawyer doing the best for his client,'' said Fleisher, who represented Luis Gonzalez Lauzan Jr. in 2004 when a Miami federal jury refused to sentence him to death for orchestrating the murder of a government informant.
Matthewman's defense work has put him front and center in some of South Florida's most notorious criminal cases involving police officers.
In 1994, Matthewman helped win the acquittal of Miami Officer Armando Aguilar who was accused of fabricating evidence to help out fellow officers implicated in the 1988 beating death of neighborhood drug dealer Leonard Mercado.
In 2002 and again in 2004, Matthewman successfully defended Miami Officer Alejandro Macias in two criminal cases that arose out of a massive gun-planting conspiracy.
Seven other city officers were convicted.
Matthewman is now focused on sparing Wilk -- a client he was appointed by the court to represent -- a lethal injection.
Wilk told jurors he killed Fatta, but claimed he was suffering from AIDS-related dementia when Fatta and other members of a multiagency task force came to his Fort Lauderdale home to serve warrants on Aug. 19, 2003.
The jury found Wilk, 45, guilty of murder, possession of child pornography, obstruction of justice and the attempted murder of another deputy.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Justices weigh Dollar General evidence
By JIM SAUNDERS
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Supreme Court justices Thursday began considering whether Roy Lee McDuffie should stay on death row for the 2002 slayings of two co-workers in a Dollar General Store in Deltona.
During an appeal hearing in the high-profile case, justices focused heavily on issues related to McDuffie's alleged motive -- financial problems that drove him to rob the store and kill clerks Janice Schneider, 39, and Dawniell Beauregard, 27.
At the same time, justices delved into a lack of physical evidence in the case. A partial palm print from McDuffie was found on a piece of duct tape used to bind Beauregard, but other evidence, such as the gun used to shoot the women, was never found.
Justice Barbara Pariente indicated the lack of evidence made it important for the court to carefully scrutinize the case. Justices often take months to rule on death-penalty appeals.
"We've got a situation here where we really have to look carefully at any (potential legal) error," she said.
But Justice Raoul Cantero III said he thought there was direct evidence against McDuffie, including the palm print.
"This isn't just a circumstantial evidence case," Cantero said.
McDuffie, 44, was a manager trainee at the Dollar General Store on Deltona Boulevard and had been with Schneider and Beauregard in the hours before they were found shot to death Oct. 25, 2002.
A jury in 2005 convicted McDuffie of murder, and he was sentenced to death. He is now being held at Union Correctional Institution in North Florida, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Todd Scher, an attorney for McDuffie, argued during Thursday's hearing that Circuit Judge S. James Foxman made legal errors that should lead to a new trial.
Those arguments centered, in part, on witnesses related to McDuffie's financial problems. In one instance, Foxman prevented a friend of McDuffie, Anthony Wiggins, from testifying about loaning him money.
Scher said such testimony could have helped counter the allegation that McDuffie was motivated to rob the store.
"There's no other motive that the state was able to suggest other than this financial motive," Scher said.
But Assistant Attorney General Barbara Davis said Wiggins was not allowed to testify because defense attorneys had not given required notice that he would be a witness in the trial.
"The prosecutor was just taken aback," Davis said.
Scher also focused on the judge's decision to allow testimony about a threatening and profane voice mail that McDuffie left just days before the murders. That message was left for a man who had started an eviction lawsuit over a house McDuffie had rented.
Davis argued the testimony was relevant to the case because it showed McDuffie's "mental state."
But some justices questioned whether the testimony could have unfairly prejudiced the jury as it considered whether McDuffie was guilty in the Dollar General murders.
"The comments showed that he was a pretty bad actor as far as the language that he used and the threats that he made," Justice Harry Lee Anstead said.
jim.saunders@news-jrnl.com
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Supreme Court justices Thursday began considering whether Roy Lee McDuffie should stay on death row for the 2002 slayings of two co-workers in a Dollar General Store in Deltona.
During an appeal hearing in the high-profile case, justices focused heavily on issues related to McDuffie's alleged motive -- financial problems that drove him to rob the store and kill clerks Janice Schneider, 39, and Dawniell Beauregard, 27.
At the same time, justices delved into a lack of physical evidence in the case. A partial palm print from McDuffie was found on a piece of duct tape used to bind Beauregard, but other evidence, such as the gun used to shoot the women, was never found.
Justice Barbara Pariente indicated the lack of evidence made it important for the court to carefully scrutinize the case. Justices often take months to rule on death-penalty appeals.
"We've got a situation here where we really have to look carefully at any (potential legal) error," she said.
But Justice Raoul Cantero III said he thought there was direct evidence against McDuffie, including the palm print.
"This isn't just a circumstantial evidence case," Cantero said.
McDuffie, 44, was a manager trainee at the Dollar General Store on Deltona Boulevard and had been with Schneider and Beauregard in the hours before they were found shot to death Oct. 25, 2002.
A jury in 2005 convicted McDuffie of murder, and he was sentenced to death. He is now being held at Union Correctional Institution in North Florida, according to the state Department of Corrections.
Todd Scher, an attorney for McDuffie, argued during Thursday's hearing that Circuit Judge S. James Foxman made legal errors that should lead to a new trial.
Those arguments centered, in part, on witnesses related to McDuffie's financial problems. In one instance, Foxman prevented a friend of McDuffie, Anthony Wiggins, from testifying about loaning him money.
Scher said such testimony could have helped counter the allegation that McDuffie was motivated to rob the store.
"There's no other motive that the state was able to suggest other than this financial motive," Scher said.
But Assistant Attorney General Barbara Davis said Wiggins was not allowed to testify because defense attorneys had not given required notice that he would be a witness in the trial.
"The prosecutor was just taken aback," Davis said.
Scher also focused on the judge's decision to allow testimony about a threatening and profane voice mail that McDuffie left just days before the murders. That message was left for a man who had started an eviction lawsuit over a house McDuffie had rented.
Davis argued the testimony was relevant to the case because it showed McDuffie's "mental state."
But some justices questioned whether the testimony could have unfairly prejudiced the jury as it considered whether McDuffie was guilty in the Dollar General murders.
"The comments showed that he was a pretty bad actor as far as the language that he used and the threats that he made," Justice Harry Lee Anstead said.
jim.saunders@news-jrnl.com
Eatonville cop wounds teen at park
The juvenile waved a gun at officers, authorities say. He was shot in the leg.
April Hunt
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 8, 2007
An Eatonville police officer shot and wounded a teenager who pointed a gun at him during a chase near Catalina Park on Thursday, officials said.
Nigel Akins suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. He was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center, released and then booked into the Juvenile Assessment Center, said Eatonville police Capt. Joseph Jenkins.
Officer Bryan Salters, who was put on administrative leave per standard procedure, fired just one shot, Jenkins said.
However, police received several 911 calls about shots being fired in the park just before the confrontation.
"We're trying to get to the bottom of what happened in the park prior to Officer Salters getting here," Jenkins said. "He was on routine patrol and saw suspicious activity but did not know about the other shots."
A group of young men ran off when Salters approached. He called for backup, and Detective Robert Jones pursued. Akins ran back toward Salters.
Jenkins said the teen pointed a handgun at the officer. That gun was recovered after the shooting, and tests are being done to see whether the gun had been fired.
Neighbors in the Catalina Park subdivision said the suspects ran off because police have threatened to arrest anyone hanging around on the street corners.
Jackie Singleton was asleep in her home on Katherine Place near the park when she heard several shots, and her daughter told her about the shooting.
"They tell them if they see them on the corner, they'll take them to jail," Singleton said. "I don't sell drugs or anything, but even I can't stand on the corner. I know they're trying to do their job, but they're overdoing it."
Salters had not fired his gun in the line of duty before. He has been with the department for about eight months, after a stint with another agency. Before that, he was an Eatonville officer for two years.
Police would not release a criminal history on Akins or give his exact age because he is a juvenile. Jenkins said police did have run-ins with the teen before.
Akins faces charges of felony assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm and resisting arrest with violence.
The incident has been turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and investigators were on the scene Thursday.
Despite the shooting and hours of police activity, kids continued to play in the park.
"Kids are always playing there," said Gale Spencer, whose 9-year-old son and nephew were playing when the shots rang out.
"I don't know how they didn't get shot."
April Hunt can be reached at ahunt@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6269.
April Hunt
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 8, 2007
An Eatonville police officer shot and wounded a teenager who pointed a gun at him during a chase near Catalina Park on Thursday, officials said.
Nigel Akins suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. He was treated at Orlando Regional Medical Center, released and then booked into the Juvenile Assessment Center, said Eatonville police Capt. Joseph Jenkins.
Officer Bryan Salters, who was put on administrative leave per standard procedure, fired just one shot, Jenkins said.
However, police received several 911 calls about shots being fired in the park just before the confrontation.
"We're trying to get to the bottom of what happened in the park prior to Officer Salters getting here," Jenkins said. "He was on routine patrol and saw suspicious activity but did not know about the other shots."
A group of young men ran off when Salters approached. He called for backup, and Detective Robert Jones pursued. Akins ran back toward Salters.
Jenkins said the teen pointed a handgun at the officer. That gun was recovered after the shooting, and tests are being done to see whether the gun had been fired.
Neighbors in the Catalina Park subdivision said the suspects ran off because police have threatened to arrest anyone hanging around on the street corners.
Jackie Singleton was asleep in her home on Katherine Place near the park when she heard several shots, and her daughter told her about the shooting.
"They tell them if they see them on the corner, they'll take them to jail," Singleton said. "I don't sell drugs or anything, but even I can't stand on the corner. I know they're trying to do their job, but they're overdoing it."
Salters had not fired his gun in the line of duty before. He has been with the department for about eight months, after a stint with another agency. Before that, he was an Eatonville officer for two years.
Police would not release a criminal history on Akins or give his exact age because he is a juvenile. Jenkins said police did have run-ins with the teen before.
Akins faces charges of felony assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm and resisting arrest with violence.
The incident has been turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and investigators were on the scene Thursday.
Despite the shooting and hours of police activity, kids continued to play in the park.
"Kids are always playing there," said Gale Spencer, whose 9-year-old son and nephew were playing when the shots rang out.
"I don't know how they didn't get shot."
April Hunt can be reached at ahunt@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6269.
Ex-worker at OIA says he smuggled guns, drugs
Meanwhile, Puerto Rico moves to tighten lax airline rules on firearms.
Pedro Ruz Gutierrez and Jeannette Rivera-Lyles
Sentinel Staff Writers
June 8, 2007
An airline worker who used his badge to foil security checkpoints at Orlando International Airport pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges he smuggled drugs and guns to his native Puerto Rico.
As Zabdiel Santiago-Balaguer, 22, admitted his role in Orlando federal court, senators in the U.S. commonwealth passed a bill that would close the loophole in airline procedures that allows legitimate travelers to easily transport firearms to the island.
For years, gunrunners have been taking advantage of lax airline rules to import the weapons that have fueled the island's illegal-gun market. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms estimates that up to two-thirds of the guns come from Florida.
In March, Santiago-Balaguer was arrested and named the ringleader in a gun- and drug-smuggling operation after a fellow airline employee was arrested at San Juan's airport with 14 guns and 8 pounds of marijuana he had carried onto a Delta Air Lines flight.
The incident prompted Congress to mandate a full review of security procedures at the nation's airports and call for background checks of all employees with access to secure areas by the Transportation Security Administration. OIA has already begun to screen all workers.
The case also highlights the widespread problem of stolen guns that runs parallel to a growing crime wave in Central Florida. The Sentinel recently reported that several Orange County residents suspected in area gun-shop thefts sold firearms to Santiago-Balaguer and other co-defendants.
On Thursday, Santiago-Balaguer, shackled at the feet and wearing an Orange County Jail jumpsuit, told U.S. District Court Judge John Antoon II he was responsible for the contraband.
"I was smuggling guns and marijuana through the airport as an airline employee," Santiago-Balaguer said in federal court. The Kissimmee resident, who is being held without bail, is the first to work out a deal with the government. There are at least five other defendants who have been charged in the case.
Santiago-Balaguer is a former employee of Comair, a Delta subsidiary. He faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute at least 10 pounds of cocaine and using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.
According to a 20-page plea agreement he signed with the U.S. Attorney's Office on Monday, Santiago-Balaguer will cooperate with authorities and as a result may get a reduced prison term at his Sept. 5 sentencing.
FBI and Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agents began tracking Santiago-Balaguer in January, the plea says. At Super Bowl XLI in Miami, the Kissimmee resident unknowingly introduced his source of cocaine on the island to an undercover agent.
During the game, according to court records, Santiago-Balaguer "discussed shipping guns and marijuana to Puerto Rico and obtaining cocaine and heroin from Puerto Rico."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent Citro said Santiago-Balaguer acted as a translator and go-between when he set up a cocaine deal with the undercover agent in Miami. Assistant Federal Public Defender Stephen Langs would not comment Thursday.
The bill in the Puerto Rico Legislature, sponsored by Sen. Lucy Arce, will require airlines and cruise ships to ensure that people entering Puerto Rico with guns have a valid license. If they don't, the bill mandates that the airline or cruise line hold and turn over the weapons to police.
If a resident of Puerto Rico, the gun owner could apply for a license to legally possess the gun on the island. If the gun owner is a tourist, he or she would have to relinquish the weapons and get them back when ready to leave the island. A companion bill to the one passed Thursday could be taken up in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives as early as next week. The sponsor, Rep. Jorge Colberg Toro, predicted it would pass without opposition. "It will be the law of the land in 30 days or less," Colberg Toro said.
Currently, no federal government agency regulates the transport of guns by passengers on domestic flights. Instead, airlines regulate themselves.
American Airlines allows up to five guns, three rifle-type weapons and 11 pounds of ammunition per passenger. The weapons must be unloaded, secured in locked boxes and packed in checked luggage.
But in order to legally carry weapons in Puerto Rico, a state-issued license is required. Thus, passengers who bring guns in from other destinations are breaking the law unless they secure a Puerto Rico license.
The airlines, Arce and Colberg Toro said, have not opposed the measure so far.
"I don't know what's there for them to oppose," Colberg Toro said. "It is unconceivable to let things go the way they have. We have investigated, and the findings show that this loophole in the law is fueling the illegal-weapons market."
Pedro Ruz Gutierrez and Jeannette Rivera-Lyles
Sentinel Staff Writers
June 8, 2007
An airline worker who used his badge to foil security checkpoints at Orlando International Airport pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges he smuggled drugs and guns to his native Puerto Rico.
As Zabdiel Santiago-Balaguer, 22, admitted his role in Orlando federal court, senators in the U.S. commonwealth passed a bill that would close the loophole in airline procedures that allows legitimate travelers to easily transport firearms to the island.
For years, gunrunners have been taking advantage of lax airline rules to import the weapons that have fueled the island's illegal-gun market. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms estimates that up to two-thirds of the guns come from Florida.
In March, Santiago-Balaguer was arrested and named the ringleader in a gun- and drug-smuggling operation after a fellow airline employee was arrested at San Juan's airport with 14 guns and 8 pounds of marijuana he had carried onto a Delta Air Lines flight.
The incident prompted Congress to mandate a full review of security procedures at the nation's airports and call for background checks of all employees with access to secure areas by the Transportation Security Administration. OIA has already begun to screen all workers.
The case also highlights the widespread problem of stolen guns that runs parallel to a growing crime wave in Central Florida. The Sentinel recently reported that several Orange County residents suspected in area gun-shop thefts sold firearms to Santiago-Balaguer and other co-defendants.
On Thursday, Santiago-Balaguer, shackled at the feet and wearing an Orange County Jail jumpsuit, told U.S. District Court Judge John Antoon II he was responsible for the contraband.
"I was smuggling guns and marijuana through the airport as an airline employee," Santiago-Balaguer said in federal court. The Kissimmee resident, who is being held without bail, is the first to work out a deal with the government. There are at least five other defendants who have been charged in the case.
Santiago-Balaguer is a former employee of Comair, a Delta subsidiary. He faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute at least 10 pounds of cocaine and using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.
According to a 20-page plea agreement he signed with the U.S. Attorney's Office on Monday, Santiago-Balaguer will cooperate with authorities and as a result may get a reduced prison term at his Sept. 5 sentencing.
FBI and Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation agents began tracking Santiago-Balaguer in January, the plea says. At Super Bowl XLI in Miami, the Kissimmee resident unknowingly introduced his source of cocaine on the island to an undercover agent.
During the game, according to court records, Santiago-Balaguer "discussed shipping guns and marijuana to Puerto Rico and obtaining cocaine and heroin from Puerto Rico."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent Citro said Santiago-Balaguer acted as a translator and go-between when he set up a cocaine deal with the undercover agent in Miami. Assistant Federal Public Defender Stephen Langs would not comment Thursday.
The bill in the Puerto Rico Legislature, sponsored by Sen. Lucy Arce, will require airlines and cruise ships to ensure that people entering Puerto Rico with guns have a valid license. If they don't, the bill mandates that the airline or cruise line hold and turn over the weapons to police.
If a resident of Puerto Rico, the gun owner could apply for a license to legally possess the gun on the island. If the gun owner is a tourist, he or she would have to relinquish the weapons and get them back when ready to leave the island. A companion bill to the one passed Thursday could be taken up in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives as early as next week. The sponsor, Rep. Jorge Colberg Toro, predicted it would pass without opposition. "It will be the law of the land in 30 days or less," Colberg Toro said.
Currently, no federal government agency regulates the transport of guns by passengers on domestic flights. Instead, airlines regulate themselves.
American Airlines allows up to five guns, three rifle-type weapons and 11 pounds of ammunition per passenger. The weapons must be unloaded, secured in locked boxes and packed in checked luggage.
But in order to legally carry weapons in Puerto Rico, a state-issued license is required. Thus, passengers who bring guns in from other destinations are breaking the law unless they secure a Puerto Rico license.
The airlines, Arce and Colberg Toro said, have not opposed the measure so far.
"I don't know what's there for them to oppose," Colberg Toro said. "It is unconceivable to let things go the way they have. We have investigated, and the findings show that this loophole in the law is fueling the illegal-weapons market."
Family: No mercy for Broward deputy's killer
BY WANDA J. DeMARZO
Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta, slain in the line of duty three years ago, was a loving son, uncle and brother, his sister, Linda Kirtley told federal jurors Thursday.
''I miss him every day, every day,'' Kirtley said on the first day of testimony in the death-penalty phase of the trial.
Kenneth Wilk, 45, convicted Tuesday of Fatta's murder, faces a possible sentence of death by lethal injection for the Aug. 19, 2004 ambush-slaying of Fatta. Because it is a federal case, the 12 jurors must reach a unanimous decision.
While there have been hundreds of capital cases successfully prosecuted by the state, there never has been a successful federal capital murder case in South Florida.
Fatta's father, however, said he would like his son's killer to be the first so that his son will never be forgotten.
''My son will always be remembered,'' Joe Fatta Sr. explained outside the courtroom Thursday. ``He'll be a part of history.''
It's not clear how long the penalty phase will last. At one point during trial deliberations, the jury indicated to the judge that it was deadlocked -- a sign that not all of them were able to reach a consensus on all counts.
TUESDAY VERDICT
They continued to deliberate, however, and finally reached a decision late Tuesday afternoon. But legal experts say the jury's earlier indecision could be a sign that one or more of them have doubts.
Death-penalty opponents say that, while they sympathize with Fatta's family, executing Wilk will not undo what he did.
''Some crimes are so horrible that there is no earthly punishment that fits the crime. A decision to kill caused this terrible tragedy. Another decision to kill cannot repair the damage done,'' said Mark Elliott, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Fatta, 33, was part of a multiagency federal task force that raided Wilk's upscale Fort Lauderdale home to serve a search warrant for child pornography.
Wilk, who suffers from AIDS, changed after 2001, testified James Sipowicz, of Austin, Texas, a friend of Wilk's for 27 years.
''He wasn't the same person I had known,'' Sipowicz said. ``He was quite different, the carefree attitude he had, the good nature, the joviality he had, it was all gone.''
Another friend, Richard Murphy, however, testified that Wilk was a giving person who gave a grocery gift certificate to a needy friend and, when the man had nowhere to live, offered him a place to stay in his Fort Lauderdale home.
Murphy also testified how Wilk saved the life of a woman in a Miami Subs in Hollywood in late 2003.
''She was choking, drooling, and he was the person that immediately went to her and he did the Heimlich maneuver,'' Murphy said.
Also on Thursday, the jury heard testimony from Fatta's sister and brother, Joe Fatta Jr., who described their brother's childhood as a computer screen flashed photographs for the jury: a smiling Fatta swimming with dolphins, a proud Fatta standing next to his BSO patrol unit with his parents outside his Pompano Beach home.
''I can talk forever about the positive choices my brother made all his life and how he never chose to work the dark side of life,'' said Fatta Jr.
``His loss was a tragic loss for me and for my family and the community. He dedicated his life to the community.''
The burly firefighter broke down on the stand and was unable to continue speaking.
After hearing more testimony Thursday afternoon, the jury was excused until Tuesday, but not before being cautioned by U.S. District Judge James Cohn, who on Wednesday dismissed an alternate juror for posting comments about the case on a newspaper Internet site.
NO BLOGGING
''Do not discuss this case on the Internet,'' Cohn told the jury. ``Don't blog on any Internet sites. Don't even go on the Internet.''
The juror, who sat in on all of the testimony and deemed herself an expert, didn't like what readers were saying about the case. So she chimed in, admonishing others that only the police and Wilk know what actually happened in Wilk's home the day of the murder.
The juror was an alternate, meaning she wasn't one of the 12 who convicted Wilk on all counts Tuesday. But she was to come back Thursday for the penalty phase.
Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta, slain in the line of duty three years ago, was a loving son, uncle and brother, his sister, Linda Kirtley told federal jurors Thursday.
''I miss him every day, every day,'' Kirtley said on the first day of testimony in the death-penalty phase of the trial.
Kenneth Wilk, 45, convicted Tuesday of Fatta's murder, faces a possible sentence of death by lethal injection for the Aug. 19, 2004 ambush-slaying of Fatta. Because it is a federal case, the 12 jurors must reach a unanimous decision.
While there have been hundreds of capital cases successfully prosecuted by the state, there never has been a successful federal capital murder case in South Florida.
Fatta's father, however, said he would like his son's killer to be the first so that his son will never be forgotten.
''My son will always be remembered,'' Joe Fatta Sr. explained outside the courtroom Thursday. ``He'll be a part of history.''
It's not clear how long the penalty phase will last. At one point during trial deliberations, the jury indicated to the judge that it was deadlocked -- a sign that not all of them were able to reach a consensus on all counts.
TUESDAY VERDICT
They continued to deliberate, however, and finally reached a decision late Tuesday afternoon. But legal experts say the jury's earlier indecision could be a sign that one or more of them have doubts.
Death-penalty opponents say that, while they sympathize with Fatta's family, executing Wilk will not undo what he did.
''Some crimes are so horrible that there is no earthly punishment that fits the crime. A decision to kill caused this terrible tragedy. Another decision to kill cannot repair the damage done,'' said Mark Elliott, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Fatta, 33, was part of a multiagency federal task force that raided Wilk's upscale Fort Lauderdale home to serve a search warrant for child pornography.
Wilk, who suffers from AIDS, changed after 2001, testified James Sipowicz, of Austin, Texas, a friend of Wilk's for 27 years.
''He wasn't the same person I had known,'' Sipowicz said. ``He was quite different, the carefree attitude he had, the good nature, the joviality he had, it was all gone.''
Another friend, Richard Murphy, however, testified that Wilk was a giving person who gave a grocery gift certificate to a needy friend and, when the man had nowhere to live, offered him a place to stay in his Fort Lauderdale home.
Murphy also testified how Wilk saved the life of a woman in a Miami Subs in Hollywood in late 2003.
''She was choking, drooling, and he was the person that immediately went to her and he did the Heimlich maneuver,'' Murphy said.
Also on Thursday, the jury heard testimony from Fatta's sister and brother, Joe Fatta Jr., who described their brother's childhood as a computer screen flashed photographs for the jury: a smiling Fatta swimming with dolphins, a proud Fatta standing next to his BSO patrol unit with his parents outside his Pompano Beach home.
''I can talk forever about the positive choices my brother made all his life and how he never chose to work the dark side of life,'' said Fatta Jr.
``His loss was a tragic loss for me and for my family and the community. He dedicated his life to the community.''
The burly firefighter broke down on the stand and was unable to continue speaking.
After hearing more testimony Thursday afternoon, the jury was excused until Tuesday, but not before being cautioned by U.S. District Judge James Cohn, who on Wednesday dismissed an alternate juror for posting comments about the case on a newspaper Internet site.
NO BLOGGING
''Do not discuss this case on the Internet,'' Cohn told the jury. ``Don't blog on any Internet sites. Don't even go on the Internet.''
The juror, who sat in on all of the testimony and deemed herself an expert, didn't like what readers were saying about the case. So she chimed in, admonishing others that only the police and Wilk know what actually happened in Wilk's home the day of the murder.
The juror was an alternate, meaning she wasn't one of the 12 who convicted Wilk on all counts Tuesday. But she was to come back Thursday for the penalty phase.
Judge grants convict's death request
By SUSANNAH A. NESMITH
Victor Caraballo got Thursday what he has been asking for -- a death sentence. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas sent Caraballo to Florida's Death Row for the murder of Ana Maria Angel, an 18-year-old kidnapped with her boyfriend in 2002.
Caraballo, 39, is mentally ill and wants to die, his attorney said. ''He didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison,'' attorney Joel Denaro said after the sentencing hearing. ``He wanted the death penalty.''
Caraballo was the first of five men accused in the brutal attack to go to trial. He confessed that he, his brother and three friends kidnapped and robbed Angel and her boyfriend, Nelson Portobanco. The couple, high-school sweethearts, were snatched from a Miami Beach street corner after they had taken a midnight stroll on the beach.
Caraballo and the other four men drove the couple north on Interstate 95, taking turns raping Angel while Portobanco crouched on the floor of the truck.
The men stabbed Portobanco and left him for dead by the side of the highway in Broward County. Portobanco survived and was able to make his way to the road and flag down a motorist. Though he was critically injured, he immediately alerted authorities that Angel was in danger.
Police mounted a massive search, but they were too late. Angel was found by the roadside in Palm Beach County with a gunshot to the back of the head. Her hands were clasped in prayer.
Although Caraballo did not pull the trigger, he didn't try to stop his friend, Joel Lebron, from killing the woman, according to police.
A Miami-Dade jury found Caraballo guilty of kidnapping, robbery, rape, murder and attempted murder in April. The jury recommended by a vote of 9-3 that he be sentenced to death.
Judge Thomas noted that Caraballo and the others spent 2 ½ hours treating Angel in ``the most demeaning and torturous manner.''
After they left Portobanco for dead, Angel spent the next 15 minutes pleading for her life, convinced they were going to kill her, Thomas noted. ''She was crying, screaming and begging for her life,'' Thomas said.
Thomas also found that Caraballo was mentally ill, but ultimately it wasn't enough to spare his life. He also said he believed that Caraballo was abused and neglected as a child.
''However, even this type of abusive and deprived childhood cannot fully excuse or reasonably explain the death of Ana Maria Angel,'' Thomas said.
Angel's mother, Margarita Osorio, said she was satisfied with the sentence and vowed to attend the trials of the other four accused men.
''I have so many different emotions. . . . My daughter continues to be dead,'' she said. ``I will continue to represent her here.''
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle issued a statement hailing the sentence.
''Victor Caraballo and his confederates repeatedly brutalized Ana Maria Angel in unspeakable, inhumane ways and then made her beg for her life before executing her,'' Fernández Rundle said. ``If the death penalty was ever merited, this is the case.''
The case will be automatically appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. The other four are expected to go to trial this year and next year.
Miami Herald staff writer Jack Dolan contributed to this report.
Victor Caraballo got Thursday what he has been asking for -- a death sentence. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas sent Caraballo to Florida's Death Row for the murder of Ana Maria Angel, an 18-year-old kidnapped with her boyfriend in 2002.
Caraballo, 39, is mentally ill and wants to die, his attorney said. ''He didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison,'' attorney Joel Denaro said after the sentencing hearing. ``He wanted the death penalty.''
Caraballo was the first of five men accused in the brutal attack to go to trial. He confessed that he, his brother and three friends kidnapped and robbed Angel and her boyfriend, Nelson Portobanco. The couple, high-school sweethearts, were snatched from a Miami Beach street corner after they had taken a midnight stroll on the beach.
Caraballo and the other four men drove the couple north on Interstate 95, taking turns raping Angel while Portobanco crouched on the floor of the truck.
The men stabbed Portobanco and left him for dead by the side of the highway in Broward County. Portobanco survived and was able to make his way to the road and flag down a motorist. Though he was critically injured, he immediately alerted authorities that Angel was in danger.
Police mounted a massive search, but they were too late. Angel was found by the roadside in Palm Beach County with a gunshot to the back of the head. Her hands were clasped in prayer.
Although Caraballo did not pull the trigger, he didn't try to stop his friend, Joel Lebron, from killing the woman, according to police.
A Miami-Dade jury found Caraballo guilty of kidnapping, robbery, rape, murder and attempted murder in April. The jury recommended by a vote of 9-3 that he be sentenced to death.
Judge Thomas noted that Caraballo and the others spent 2 ½ hours treating Angel in ``the most demeaning and torturous manner.''
After they left Portobanco for dead, Angel spent the next 15 minutes pleading for her life, convinced they were going to kill her, Thomas noted. ''She was crying, screaming and begging for her life,'' Thomas said.
Thomas also found that Caraballo was mentally ill, but ultimately it wasn't enough to spare his life. He also said he believed that Caraballo was abused and neglected as a child.
''However, even this type of abusive and deprived childhood cannot fully excuse or reasonably explain the death of Ana Maria Angel,'' Thomas said.
Angel's mother, Margarita Osorio, said she was satisfied with the sentence and vowed to attend the trials of the other four accused men.
''I have so many different emotions. . . . My daughter continues to be dead,'' she said. ``I will continue to represent her here.''
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle issued a statement hailing the sentence.
''Victor Caraballo and his confederates repeatedly brutalized Ana Maria Angel in unspeakable, inhumane ways and then made her beg for her life before executing her,'' Fernández Rundle said. ``If the death penalty was ever merited, this is the case.''
The case will be automatically appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. The other four are expected to go to trial this year and next year.
Miami Herald staff writer Jack Dolan contributed to this report.
Jury to debate death sentence for killer of Broward deputy
By Paula McMahon
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 6, 2007
The same jury that convicted Kenneth Wilk of first-degree murder on Tuesday will return Thursday to decide whether he should be executed.
On the fourth day of deliberations, the final 25 minutes took the family of slain Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta from a crushing low to overwhelming relief.
Jurors sent out three notes between 2:25 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. Tuesday. The first said they couldn't reach a unanimous decision. The second, written 10 minutes later, said: "Please hold off on our last note for a little while."
Then a third note: "We have a verdict."
Fatta's family cried and trembled as they waited for Lt. Angelo Cedeño, whose finger was shot off in the Aug. 19, 2004, shooting that killed Fatta, to rush to the courtroom for the verdict.
Wilk, 45, was convicted of seven federal crimes.
The three capital convictions include two counts of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the death of Fatta, 33. Prosecutors charged Wilk with a fourth capital crime, but jurors convicted him of a lesser count of attempted second-degree murder for shooting Cedeño. Wilk also was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and possession of child pornography.
"We're just glad there's justice done in phase one of the trial, and we're going to continue on to phase two," said Fatta's brother, Joe Jr. As he waited for the verdict, he pinned a button on his lapel -- a photo of his slain "baby brother."
"It was just something personal," the firefighter-paramedic said, tearing up. "I just wanted him with me when we heard the verdict."
In a navy pinstriped suit and white shirt, Wilk seemed calm and showed no reaction to the verdict. His appearance has changed since 2004. He is pale, has shorter hair and wears glasses. He has spent most of his time in solitary confinement at the federal detention center in Miami, partly for his own safety and because of the high-profile nature of the case, witnesses testified.
Wilk never denied he shot the deputies in his northeast Fort Lauderdale home. But jurors rejected Wilk's claims that he acted in self-defense because he thought the deputies, who were serving a federal warrant for child pornography, were intruders. Jurors also rejected other defenses that he was temporarily insane due to AIDS-related dementia and unable to hear because of an ear infection.
Diagnosed with HIV in 1985, Wilk has AIDS, Hepatitis B and syphilis. His defense team is expected to argue he has a limited life expectancy and is likely to die before he could be executed.
A former car salesman who earned a six-figure salary, Wilk had never been in trouble before the age of 40.
Wilk wanted revenge on law enforcement after his boyfriend, Kelly Ray Jones, was arrested on charges of child pornography possession and attempting to have sex with a 12-year-old boy, federal prosecutors John Kastrenakes and Neil Karadbil argued. They presented e-mails, letters and recorded phone calls that showed Wilk suspected law enforcement would come to his home and that he planned to kill. Wilk placed loaded weapons around the house so he could grab a gun and ambush officers, the prosecution said. A shot from Wilk's hunting rifle penetrated Fatta's protective vest.
About one hour before the verdict, the eight female and four male jurors took a break in a courtyard. One woman juror cried, and some jurors seemed to try to comfort her.
The penalty phase is expected to end early next week. Both sides will offer more evidence about Wilk's life and actions.
If the jury votes for execution, Wilk would be the first person to get a federal death penalty sentence in Florida since U.S. laws were rewritten in the 1980s. Federal prosecutors face a greater challenge than their state peers because they have to get a 12-0 vote. Under state law, a 7-5 vote is sufficient to impose the death sentence.
Cedeño, 39, who was shot twice in the hand and shoulder and had a third bullet ricochet off his face, would not comment after the verdict.
Sheriff Ken Jenne and dozens of deputies, Fatta's friends and law enforcement officers who worked on the case, rushed to the courthouse for the verdict. Jenne said he was pleased with the outcome.
"What this resolves in the family's mind, in our minds, in the mind of Lt. Cedeño, is that the person who committed this crime knew he was attacking law enforcement," Jenne said.
The Fatta family was reluctant to talk about the case and what will come next, they said, because they do not want to jeopardize the penalty phase. But in an April interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, they had said they wanted the ultimate punishment.
"The evidence is overwhelming and he should get the death penalty, regardless of how long that takes before it happens," said Joe Fatta Sr. "I guess a death row inmate is kind of isolated from everyone else and that is punishment that will give him time to think about what he did and his ways."
Paula McMahon can be reached at pmcmahon@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4533.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 6, 2007
The same jury that convicted Kenneth Wilk of first-degree murder on Tuesday will return Thursday to decide whether he should be executed.
On the fourth day of deliberations, the final 25 minutes took the family of slain Broward Sheriff's Deputy Todd Fatta from a crushing low to overwhelming relief.
Jurors sent out three notes between 2:25 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. Tuesday. The first said they couldn't reach a unanimous decision. The second, written 10 minutes later, said: "Please hold off on our last note for a little while."
Then a third note: "We have a verdict."
Fatta's family cried and trembled as they waited for Lt. Angelo Cedeño, whose finger was shot off in the Aug. 19, 2004, shooting that killed Fatta, to rush to the courtroom for the verdict.
Wilk, 45, was convicted of seven federal crimes.
The three capital convictions include two counts of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the death of Fatta, 33. Prosecutors charged Wilk with a fourth capital crime, but jurors convicted him of a lesser count of attempted second-degree murder for shooting Cedeño. Wilk also was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and possession of child pornography.
"We're just glad there's justice done in phase one of the trial, and we're going to continue on to phase two," said Fatta's brother, Joe Jr. As he waited for the verdict, he pinned a button on his lapel -- a photo of his slain "baby brother."
"It was just something personal," the firefighter-paramedic said, tearing up. "I just wanted him with me when we heard the verdict."
In a navy pinstriped suit and white shirt, Wilk seemed calm and showed no reaction to the verdict. His appearance has changed since 2004. He is pale, has shorter hair and wears glasses. He has spent most of his time in solitary confinement at the federal detention center in Miami, partly for his own safety and because of the high-profile nature of the case, witnesses testified.
Wilk never denied he shot the deputies in his northeast Fort Lauderdale home. But jurors rejected Wilk's claims that he acted in self-defense because he thought the deputies, who were serving a federal warrant for child pornography, were intruders. Jurors also rejected other defenses that he was temporarily insane due to AIDS-related dementia and unable to hear because of an ear infection.
Diagnosed with HIV in 1985, Wilk has AIDS, Hepatitis B and syphilis. His defense team is expected to argue he has a limited life expectancy and is likely to die before he could be executed.
A former car salesman who earned a six-figure salary, Wilk had never been in trouble before the age of 40.
Wilk wanted revenge on law enforcement after his boyfriend, Kelly Ray Jones, was arrested on charges of child pornography possession and attempting to have sex with a 12-year-old boy, federal prosecutors John Kastrenakes and Neil Karadbil argued. They presented e-mails, letters and recorded phone calls that showed Wilk suspected law enforcement would come to his home and that he planned to kill. Wilk placed loaded weapons around the house so he could grab a gun and ambush officers, the prosecution said. A shot from Wilk's hunting rifle penetrated Fatta's protective vest.
About one hour before the verdict, the eight female and four male jurors took a break in a courtyard. One woman juror cried, and some jurors seemed to try to comfort her.
The penalty phase is expected to end early next week. Both sides will offer more evidence about Wilk's life and actions.
If the jury votes for execution, Wilk would be the first person to get a federal death penalty sentence in Florida since U.S. laws were rewritten in the 1980s. Federal prosecutors face a greater challenge than their state peers because they have to get a 12-0 vote. Under state law, a 7-5 vote is sufficient to impose the death sentence.
Cedeño, 39, who was shot twice in the hand and shoulder and had a third bullet ricochet off his face, would not comment after the verdict.
Sheriff Ken Jenne and dozens of deputies, Fatta's friends and law enforcement officers who worked on the case, rushed to the courthouse for the verdict. Jenne said he was pleased with the outcome.
"What this resolves in the family's mind, in our minds, in the mind of Lt. Cedeño, is that the person who committed this crime knew he was attacking law enforcement," Jenne said.
The Fatta family was reluctant to talk about the case and what will come next, they said, because they do not want to jeopardize the penalty phase. But in an April interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, they had said they wanted the ultimate punishment.
"The evidence is overwhelming and he should get the death penalty, regardless of how long that takes before it happens," said Joe Fatta Sr. "I guess a death row inmate is kind of isolated from everyone else and that is punishment that will give him time to think about what he did and his ways."
Paula McMahon can be reached at pmcmahon@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4533.
Driver in crash that killed 2 gets 35 years
Steven Johnson admits guilt, begs forgiveness
Stephen Hudak
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 9, 2007
TAVARES -- Assailed as a remorseless liar who had steadfastly refused to accept responsibility for what he did, Steven M. Johnson stood up Friday and took the blame for a drunken-driving accident that killed two Orange County women.
"I ask for your forgiveness, please," he begged of Bethany Rivas' and Crystal Fischer's families. "I know what I did was wrong."
Johnson had testified in April that he wasn't the driver. But a jury convicted him of two counts of DUI-manslaughter, siding with prosecutors who used DNA evidence to put him at the wheel and phone records showing he made 13 calls to family and friends immediately after the crash near Groveland -- but none to 911.
Rivas' mother, Sharon, said she has forgiven Johnson for the fatal crash but spoke against leniency for the Orlando man with six previous convictions for driving without a license.
"We all make mistakes," she said. "The difference is that most of us want to learn from our mistakes and not make them again."
Prosecutors said Johnson was drunk and unlicensed March 6, 2005, when he crashed a friend's car, killing Rivas, 19, of Winter Garden and Fischer, 21, of Orlando.
Both were his passengers.
Circuit Judge T. Michael Johnson was unswayed by the sudden confession and sentenced Johnson, 30, to 35 years in prison.
Although state sentencing guidelines recommended that Johnson receive between 24 and 41 years in prison, he asked the judge to forgo incarceration. Johnson suggested that the judge sentence him to tell his "story" to youths, who might be dissuaded from driving while impaired.
The families were visibly outraged. Their mouths fell open.
Kevin Fischer, Crystal's father, interrupted the teary appeal, shouting, "You're a liar, Steven," as he left the courtroom.
The judge quickly rejected the suggestion, which he compared to giving "you a ham and sending you home."
The judge also said he was troubled by evidence showing Johnson never called 911 after the crash but placed 13 calls to his mother, his roommate and the Groveland man, who had been host of the party where Johnson spent the evening drinking.
Prosecutors had argued Johnson was hoping to find someone who could pick him up before police and paramedics arrived.
The car crashed into a utility pole on Empire Church Road.
Toxicology reports showed that Johnson and all of his passengers were impaired by alcohol, including the owner of the car, Justin Hunter, 21.
Hunter, Rivas' boyfriend, survived but was critically injured and has no memory of the accident.
The parents and siblings of the women took turns Friday describing their sorrow and loss.
Sharon Rivas said her daughter never hung up the phone without saying, "I love you."
Candy Fischer said she thinks of her daughter whenever she passes a PT Cruiser, the stylish station wagon that her daughter bought with money she earned by working two jobs.
Johnson's family and friends said they understood the pain as they urged the judge to impose a lenient sentence that would let the Orlando man continue to be a father to his son, a preschooler who fidgeted in the hard wooden pew of the courtroom.
But justice called for a long prison term, Kevin Fischer said.
"I was sentenced to life without my daughter," he told the judge.
Stephen Hudak can be reached at shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5930.
Stephen Hudak
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 9, 2007
TAVARES -- Assailed as a remorseless liar who had steadfastly refused to accept responsibility for what he did, Steven M. Johnson stood up Friday and took the blame for a drunken-driving accident that killed two Orange County women.
"I ask for your forgiveness, please," he begged of Bethany Rivas' and Crystal Fischer's families. "I know what I did was wrong."
Johnson had testified in April that he wasn't the driver. But a jury convicted him of two counts of DUI-manslaughter, siding with prosecutors who used DNA evidence to put him at the wheel and phone records showing he made 13 calls to family and friends immediately after the crash near Groveland -- but none to 911.
Rivas' mother, Sharon, said she has forgiven Johnson for the fatal crash but spoke against leniency for the Orlando man with six previous convictions for driving without a license.
"We all make mistakes," she said. "The difference is that most of us want to learn from our mistakes and not make them again."
Prosecutors said Johnson was drunk and unlicensed March 6, 2005, when he crashed a friend's car, killing Rivas, 19, of Winter Garden and Fischer, 21, of Orlando.
Both were his passengers.
Circuit Judge T. Michael Johnson was unswayed by the sudden confession and sentenced Johnson, 30, to 35 years in prison.
Although state sentencing guidelines recommended that Johnson receive between 24 and 41 years in prison, he asked the judge to forgo incarceration. Johnson suggested that the judge sentence him to tell his "story" to youths, who might be dissuaded from driving while impaired.
The families were visibly outraged. Their mouths fell open.
Kevin Fischer, Crystal's father, interrupted the teary appeal, shouting, "You're a liar, Steven," as he left the courtroom.
The judge quickly rejected the suggestion, which he compared to giving "you a ham and sending you home."
The judge also said he was troubled by evidence showing Johnson never called 911 after the crash but placed 13 calls to his mother, his roommate and the Groveland man, who had been host of the party where Johnson spent the evening drinking.
Prosecutors had argued Johnson was hoping to find someone who could pick him up before police and paramedics arrived.
The car crashed into a utility pole on Empire Church Road.
Toxicology reports showed that Johnson and all of his passengers were impaired by alcohol, including the owner of the car, Justin Hunter, 21.
Hunter, Rivas' boyfriend, survived but was critically injured and has no memory of the accident.
The parents and siblings of the women took turns Friday describing their sorrow and loss.
Sharon Rivas said her daughter never hung up the phone without saying, "I love you."
Candy Fischer said she thinks of her daughter whenever she passes a PT Cruiser, the stylish station wagon that her daughter bought with money she earned by working two jobs.
Johnson's family and friends said they understood the pain as they urged the judge to impose a lenient sentence that would let the Orlando man continue to be a father to his son, a preschooler who fidgeted in the hard wooden pew of the courtroom.
But justice called for a long prison term, Kevin Fischer said.
"I was sentenced to life without my daughter," he told the judge.
Stephen Hudak can be reached at shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5930.
Police: Worker molested patient
Willoughby Mariano
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 9, 2007
A Florida Hospital East health-care worker was arrested late Friday after a patient said he molested her while she was in her hospital bed, deputies said.
Javier Rodriguez, 34, a phlebotomist, was supposed to take blood from the woman about 9 a.m. Friday at the east Orange County hospital, said sheriff's Sgt. Richard Mankewich.
But instead, Mankewich said, Rodriguez molested her.
According to arrest records, Rodriguez asked the woman to change positions so he could take her blood. The patient, who is in her 30s, said she could not because a catheter was being used, and it hurt.
Rodriguez, who is not qualified to work with catheters, said he would check the device. But he made lewd comments about her body and sexually molested her, Mankewich said.
"The kinds of comments he made were extremely sexual and disturbing," Mankewich said.
The patient ordered Rodriguez out of her room and called law enforcement.
Late Friday deputies led Rodriguez, who was still wearing his maroon hospital scrubs, to a waiting vehicle to be taken to Orange County Jail. He made no comment.
Rodriguez faces one count of felony sexual battery and one count of misdemeanor battery. He has worked at Florida Hospital East for three years, he told investigators.
Because of the nature of the case, the victim's name was not released.
Willoughby Mariano can be reached at wmariano@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5171.
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 9, 2007
A Florida Hospital East health-care worker was arrested late Friday after a patient said he molested her while she was in her hospital bed, deputies said.
Javier Rodriguez, 34, a phlebotomist, was supposed to take blood from the woman about 9 a.m. Friday at the east Orange County hospital, said sheriff's Sgt. Richard Mankewich.
But instead, Mankewich said, Rodriguez molested her.
According to arrest records, Rodriguez asked the woman to change positions so he could take her blood. The patient, who is in her 30s, said she could not because a catheter was being used, and it hurt.
Rodriguez, who is not qualified to work with catheters, said he would check the device. But he made lewd comments about her body and sexually molested her, Mankewich said.
"The kinds of comments he made were extremely sexual and disturbing," Mankewich said.
The patient ordered Rodriguez out of her room and called law enforcement.
Late Friday deputies led Rodriguez, who was still wearing his maroon hospital scrubs, to a waiting vehicle to be taken to Orange County Jail. He made no comment.
Rodriguez faces one count of felony sexual battery and one count of misdemeanor battery. He has worked at Florida Hospital East for three years, he told investigators.
Because of the nature of the case, the victim's name was not released.
Willoughby Mariano can be reached at wmariano@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5171.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Convicted Dollar General killer to appeal death penalty
June 07, 2007
By PATRICIO G. BALONA
Staff Writer
DELAND -- An attorney representing the man convicted of murdering two clerks at a Dollar General Store in Deltona claims the judge who presided over the trial allowed several errors that caused jurors to find his client guilty and recommend the death sentence.
Miami appellate attorney Todd G. Scher is scheduled to argue today before the Florida Supreme Court that Roy Lee McDuffie's conviction in early 2005 should be overturned and he should be granted a new trial.
McDuffie, 44, is awaiting execution for the murders of Janice Schneider, 39 and Dawniell Beauregard, 27, on Oct. 25, 2002. The two store clerks were found shot to death with several stab wounds in a back office at the Dollar General Store on Deltona Boulevard.
McDuffie, a manager trainee at the store, was linked to the crime by a partial palm print found on duct tape binding Beauregard. That evidence, Scher wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court, was not sufficient to tie McDuffie to the crime scene.
Scher also wrote that the trial judge, Circuit Judge S. James Foxman, excluded a witness, Anthony Wiggins, who would have testified McDuffie didn't need the money that was stolen because he had loaned money to McDuffie.
Scher also said Foxman allowed a witness, Alex Matias, to identify McDuffie as the person he saw walking out of the store, even though he could not give police enough information to create a sketch and became certain of McDuffie's identity only after seeing him on television. Matias stood by his identification because he did not want to lose a $10,000 reward, Scher wrote.
In addition, Scher argued the judge improperly allowed the jury to consider the contention by prosecutors that the murders were cold, calculated and premeditated in recommending a death penalty, then ruled, in sentencing him to death, that the crime wasn't premeditated.
Scher plans to ask Supreme Court justices to toss out the court's decision to put McDuffie to death, and grant him a new trial.
Scher could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
"I am not worried," said Kelli Jo Lee, sister of murder victim Janice Schneider. "I felt the prosecutor proved his case and (McDuffie) can't bring in any new evidence he may have made up."
Lee said she will not attend the hearing because McDuffie will not be present. She only attends when McDuffie is present because she believes her resemblance to her sister makes McDuffie uncomfortable.
"I kind of like that I have that power over him," Lee said.
Sandi Copes, the state attorney general's press secretary, would not comment on the McDuffie oral arguments because it is set to go before the Supreme Court.
But in a brief by the attorney general's office responding to Scher's arguments, attorney Barbara Davis wrote that Wiggins was not listed by the defense as a witness; and the court did not abuse its discretion by allowing Matias' testimony.
Davis wrote that the jury was not bound to recommend a sentence based on the prosecutors' assertion the crime was premeditated.
Davis asked the Supreme Court to "affirm the convictions and sentences."
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
By PATRICIO G. BALONA
Staff Writer
DELAND -- An attorney representing the man convicted of murdering two clerks at a Dollar General Store in Deltona claims the judge who presided over the trial allowed several errors that caused jurors to find his client guilty and recommend the death sentence.
Miami appellate attorney Todd G. Scher is scheduled to argue today before the Florida Supreme Court that Roy Lee McDuffie's conviction in early 2005 should be overturned and he should be granted a new trial.
McDuffie, 44, is awaiting execution for the murders of Janice Schneider, 39 and Dawniell Beauregard, 27, on Oct. 25, 2002. The two store clerks were found shot to death with several stab wounds in a back office at the Dollar General Store on Deltona Boulevard.
McDuffie, a manager trainee at the store, was linked to the crime by a partial palm print found on duct tape binding Beauregard. That evidence, Scher wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court, was not sufficient to tie McDuffie to the crime scene.
Scher also wrote that the trial judge, Circuit Judge S. James Foxman, excluded a witness, Anthony Wiggins, who would have testified McDuffie didn't need the money that was stolen because he had loaned money to McDuffie.
Scher also said Foxman allowed a witness, Alex Matias, to identify McDuffie as the person he saw walking out of the store, even though he could not give police enough information to create a sketch and became certain of McDuffie's identity only after seeing him on television. Matias stood by his identification because he did not want to lose a $10,000 reward, Scher wrote.
In addition, Scher argued the judge improperly allowed the jury to consider the contention by prosecutors that the murders were cold, calculated and premeditated in recommending a death penalty, then ruled, in sentencing him to death, that the crime wasn't premeditated.
Scher plans to ask Supreme Court justices to toss out the court's decision to put McDuffie to death, and grant him a new trial.
Scher could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
"I am not worried," said Kelli Jo Lee, sister of murder victim Janice Schneider. "I felt the prosecutor proved his case and (McDuffie) can't bring in any new evidence he may have made up."
Lee said she will not attend the hearing because McDuffie will not be present. She only attends when McDuffie is present because she believes her resemblance to her sister makes McDuffie uncomfortable.
"I kind of like that I have that power over him," Lee said.
Sandi Copes, the state attorney general's press secretary, would not comment on the McDuffie oral arguments because it is set to go before the Supreme Court.
But in a brief by the attorney general's office responding to Scher's arguments, attorney Barbara Davis wrote that Wiggins was not listed by the defense as a witness; and the court did not abuse its discretion by allowing Matias' testimony.
Davis wrote that the jury was not bound to recommend a sentence based on the prosecutors' assertion the crime was premeditated.
Davis asked the Supreme Court to "affirm the convictions and sentences."
patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
Gay Cop Killer May Get Death in Florida
by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Boston Contributor
Thursday Jun 7, 2007
A gay man from Fort Lauderdale may be the first to receive the death penalty in Florida since the re-institution by Congress of capitol punishment in 1998.
According to a story posted Wednesday on 365Gay.com, Kenneth Wilk was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2004 shooting of Broward County Sheriff’s deputy Todd Fatta during a raid on Wilk’s home. A second deputy was also wounded during the raid, the object of which was to search for child pornography.
The wounding of the second deputy, Sgt. Angelo Cedeno, resulted in a conviction for attempted murder. Wilk was also found guilty on charges of possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice.
Wilk’s defense attorney, Bill Matthewman, argued that Wilk was suffering from AIDS-related dementia at the time of the shootings, and Wilk testified that he had mistaken the deputies for intruders. However, prosecutor John Kastrenakes cited Wilk’s online profile, in which he counted "hunting cops" among his hobbies, as proof that Wilk targeted the men for being law enforcement officers. Kastrenakes argued that Wilk, anticipating a police search of his home for child pornography, supplied himself with firearms in advance.
Though Wilk has been convicted, the sentencing phase of the trial was not scheduled to begin until today.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
EDGE Boston Contributor
Thursday Jun 7, 2007
A gay man from Fort Lauderdale may be the first to receive the death penalty in Florida since the re-institution by Congress of capitol punishment in 1998.
According to a story posted Wednesday on 365Gay.com, Kenneth Wilk was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2004 shooting of Broward County Sheriff’s deputy Todd Fatta during a raid on Wilk’s home. A second deputy was also wounded during the raid, the object of which was to search for child pornography.
The wounding of the second deputy, Sgt. Angelo Cedeno, resulted in a conviction for attempted murder. Wilk was also found guilty on charges of possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice.
Wilk’s defense attorney, Bill Matthewman, argued that Wilk was suffering from AIDS-related dementia at the time of the shootings, and Wilk testified that he had mistaken the deputies for intruders. However, prosecutor John Kastrenakes cited Wilk’s online profile, in which he counted "hunting cops" among his hobbies, as proof that Wilk targeted the men for being law enforcement officers. Kastrenakes argued that Wilk, anticipating a police search of his home for child pornography, supplied himself with firearms in advance.
Though Wilk has been convicted, the sentencing phase of the trial was not scheduled to begin until today.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Man found to be sexual predator
Article published Jun 6, 2007
By Stacy Jacobs
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
A Leon County jury has found that Alexander Murray is a sexually violent predator under the Jimmy Ryce Act Tuesday.
Enacted in 1999, the Jimmy Ryce Act requires sexual predators with a previous conviction and a mental abnormality to be committed for treatment for an indefinite period of time - for life, or until they are rehabilitated. Prosecutors need to show that the defendant is likely to commit further acts of violence due to the mental abnormality unless committed for treatment.
Assistant State Attorney Eddie Evans, the prosecutor for this case, estimated that fewer than 20 people had qualified to be prosecuted in this circuit under the Jimmy Ryce Act since it was enacted.
28-year-old Murray was convicted in 2002 of lewd or lascivious molestation. His victim was a 14-year-old girl. While out on bond for before trial, he attacked and attempted to molest a 12-year-old girl on her way home from school. He was diagnosed as a psychopath with a sexual disorder.
After he was released from prison, Murray violated his probation and while in jail, began contacting another 14-year-old girl by phone. Her mother discovered the relationship and reported him to police.
Judge Terry Lewis committed Murray to the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia.
By Stacy Jacobs
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
A Leon County jury has found that Alexander Murray is a sexually violent predator under the Jimmy Ryce Act Tuesday.
Enacted in 1999, the Jimmy Ryce Act requires sexual predators with a previous conviction and a mental abnormality to be committed for treatment for an indefinite period of time - for life, or until they are rehabilitated. Prosecutors need to show that the defendant is likely to commit further acts of violence due to the mental abnormality unless committed for treatment.
Assistant State Attorney Eddie Evans, the prosecutor for this case, estimated that fewer than 20 people had qualified to be prosecuted in this circuit under the Jimmy Ryce Act since it was enacted.
28-year-old Murray was convicted in 2002 of lewd or lascivious molestation. His victim was a 14-year-old girl. While out on bond for before trial, he attacked and attempted to molest a 12-year-old girl on her way home from school. He was diagnosed as a psychopath with a sexual disorder.
After he was released from prison, Murray violated his probation and while in jail, began contacting another 14-year-old girl by phone. Her mother discovered the relationship and reported him to police.
Judge Terry Lewis committed Murray to the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia.
Brevard killer wants a new trial
June 6, 2007
BY JIM ASH
FLORIDA TODAY CAPITAL BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- Convicted Brevard County murderer Crosley Green wants a new trial and the state wants his death sentence upheld.
Lawyers for both were before the Supreme Court Wednesday, arguing for and against a 2005 appellate ruling that upheld Green's guilty verdict but threw out his death sentence.
A Brevard County jury convicted Green, then 32, of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery in the 1989 shooting death of 22-year-old Chip Flynn in a Central Florida orange grove.
Justices keyed mostly on whether Green's judge should have considered his juvenile conviction for a New York gas station robbery when he sentenced Green to death.
Assistant Attorney General Barbara Davis argued that Green's juvenile record was fair game.
"A juvenile conviction was admissible," Davis told the justices. "Crosley Green was 18 and he was convicted as an adult in an adult court."
The trial judge prominently cited Green's New York conviction when he agreed with the jury's 8-4 recommendation for the death penalty.
On Wednesday, justices wondered whether Green had a juvenile record at all.
According to court records, Green pleaded guilty when he was 18, but the court threw out his conviction, declared him a "youthful offender," sealed the record -- and sentenced him to a year in prison.
Green was eventually paroled to his native Florida.
"I have trouble understanding how you vacate the conviction and then end up incarcerating someone," said Justice Peggy Quince.
Green's attorney, Mark Gruber, said the New York judge went out of his way to tell Green about the favor he was granting.
"He told him right on the spot the significance of what he had done," Gruber said. "He said, 'you do not have a criminal record.'"
Davis countered that Florida should treat the juvenile conviction just as New York does. Judges there can take a youthful offender record into account, even though the records are sealed, she said.
"That's a gift. But if you have a second conviction, that can be used against you. It doesn't disappear," she told the justices.
Justice Barbara Pariente called the question "crucial," not only because the trial judge cited the conviction, but because the jury heard about it, too.
In his court briefs, Gruber cited witnesses who later recanted, including Green's sister, and a report about a juror who was allegedly seen making a slashing gesture to his throat, as among the reasons Green's conviction should be overturned.
Justices adjourned for the day after hearing the arguments and it is not clear when they will issue a ruling.
BY JIM ASH
FLORIDA TODAY CAPITAL BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- Convicted Brevard County murderer Crosley Green wants a new trial and the state wants his death sentence upheld.
Lawyers for both were before the Supreme Court Wednesday, arguing for and against a 2005 appellate ruling that upheld Green's guilty verdict but threw out his death sentence.
A Brevard County jury convicted Green, then 32, of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery in the 1989 shooting death of 22-year-old Chip Flynn in a Central Florida orange grove.
Justices keyed mostly on whether Green's judge should have considered his juvenile conviction for a New York gas station robbery when he sentenced Green to death.
Assistant Attorney General Barbara Davis argued that Green's juvenile record was fair game.
"A juvenile conviction was admissible," Davis told the justices. "Crosley Green was 18 and he was convicted as an adult in an adult court."
The trial judge prominently cited Green's New York conviction when he agreed with the jury's 8-4 recommendation for the death penalty.
On Wednesday, justices wondered whether Green had a juvenile record at all.
According to court records, Green pleaded guilty when he was 18, but the court threw out his conviction, declared him a "youthful offender," sealed the record -- and sentenced him to a year in prison.
Green was eventually paroled to his native Florida.
"I have trouble understanding how you vacate the conviction and then end up incarcerating someone," said Justice Peggy Quince.
Green's attorney, Mark Gruber, said the New York judge went out of his way to tell Green about the favor he was granting.
"He told him right on the spot the significance of what he had done," Gruber said. "He said, 'you do not have a criminal record.'"
Davis countered that Florida should treat the juvenile conviction just as New York does. Judges there can take a youthful offender record into account, even though the records are sealed, she said.
"That's a gift. But if you have a second conviction, that can be used against you. It doesn't disappear," she told the justices.
Justice Barbara Pariente called the question "crucial," not only because the trial judge cited the conviction, but because the jury heard about it, too.
In his court briefs, Gruber cited witnesses who later recanted, including Green's sister, and a report about a juror who was allegedly seen making a slashing gesture to his throat, as among the reasons Green's conviction should be overturned.
Justices adjourned for the day after hearing the arguments and it is not clear when they will issue a ruling.
Faith-based programs for kids can work without legal controversies
Filed under Research, Florida, Religion, Law on Tuesday, June 5, 2007.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Faith-based correctional programs for troubled kids can survive and even thrive without legal challenges if they follow Florida’s lead in keeping participation voluntary and welcoming different religions, a new University of Florida study finds.
A pilot program in Florida believed to be the first in the nation for juvenile offenders has successfully avoided the separation of church and state controversies that have plagued some adult programs around the country and even shut down a prison fellowship in Iowa, said Jodi Lane, a UF criminologist who led the research.
“If other states can learn from Florida by anticipating the legal issues and addressing them before they start, they’re going to be in much better shape,” Lane said. “I would expect Florida to be a model for other states that want to set up their own juvenile faith-based programs.”
Unlike many other programs in the country that are exclusively Christian, Florida’s participants can select from other religions, Lane said. If a youth is Islamic, for example, the people running the program will find a volunteer from that faith to serve as a mentor, she said.
The other big constitutional issue — religious coercion — was not a concern here because the program was completely voluntary; interested juveniles and their parents signed a consent form agreeing to participate, she said.
As part of the Bush presidency’s focus on faith-based initiatives, Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice received $3.5 million in 2003 to create a pilot faith- and community-based initiative within juvenile correctional facilities. At the state’s request, Lane and UF criminology professor Lonn Lanza-Kaduce evaluated the program two years later in five residential facilities for incarcerated youth, three for boys and two for girls.
Their initial results were published in the April edition of the journal Evaluation Review titled “Before You Open the Doors: Ten Lessons from Florida’s Faith and Community-Based Delinquency Treatment Initiative.” Findings on whether the treatment helped prevent offenders from committing new crimes are expected this fall after the youths will have returned to the community for at least six months, Lane said.
But so far, anecdotal evidence shows the program to be a positive experience, Lane said. Participants say their morale has improved, and staff report inmates are better behaved, she said.
“We know these kids are getting a lot of attention, which is helping them,” she said. “When you talk with them, they definitely let you know they feel people care about them.”
Lane said she believes the passion the staff have for helping youth, which is driven by their faith, gives them the determination to make sure the participants have whatever they need, even if it means going out and shopping for it themselves. Many left lucrative jobs for a position with no benefits because they believed so strongly in what they were doing, she said.
“They gave up their personal lives to make sure things ran smoothly,” she said. “It was not your typical institutional setting where people tend to work their shift and go home. I think there is something about the faith-based community that gives them energy to work with kids, and kids need people with energy rather than those who go to work every day for a paycheck.”
Recruiting enough mentors for the youths was one struggle the staff faced, she said.
Florida’s program departed from those in many other states in that it sought mentors from a variety of religions, Lane said. Other programs in the country tended to be Christian, whereas participants in Florida were allowed to select from any religion or choose a secular mentor from a community organization if they preferred that to a faith-based mentor, she said.
“There were Jewish kids, who were given a Jewish mentor, Muslim kids, who were matched up with a Muslim mentor, and others who were more nontraditional,” she said.
The biggest concern was whether the youths would feel pressured to participate in the program and Florida’s program was designed to prevent this from happening, Lane said.
The youths are allowed not only the choice of whether to participate, but they also were given the alternative of having something else to do, she said.
“If there is a Bible study, the kid not only gets to choose whether or not to go, but is also given another equally enticing opportunity instead of just sitting in a cell and being penalized for not taking part in the religious activity,” she said.
Also to Florida’s advantage is that its constitution allows only community donations to be used to buy religious items, such as Bibles or the Quran, she said.
-30-Credits
Writer
Cathy Keen, ckeen@ufl.edu, 352-392-0186
Source
Jodi Lane, jlane@ufl.edu, 352-347-8579, 514-8275
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Faith-based correctional programs for troubled kids can survive and even thrive without legal challenges if they follow Florida’s lead in keeping participation voluntary and welcoming different religions, a new University of Florida study finds.
A pilot program in Florida believed to be the first in the nation for juvenile offenders has successfully avoided the separation of church and state controversies that have plagued some adult programs around the country and even shut down a prison fellowship in Iowa, said Jodi Lane, a UF criminologist who led the research.
“If other states can learn from Florida by anticipating the legal issues and addressing them before they start, they’re going to be in much better shape,” Lane said. “I would expect Florida to be a model for other states that want to set up their own juvenile faith-based programs.”
Unlike many other programs in the country that are exclusively Christian, Florida’s participants can select from other religions, Lane said. If a youth is Islamic, for example, the people running the program will find a volunteer from that faith to serve as a mentor, she said.
The other big constitutional issue — religious coercion — was not a concern here because the program was completely voluntary; interested juveniles and their parents signed a consent form agreeing to participate, she said.
As part of the Bush presidency’s focus on faith-based initiatives, Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice received $3.5 million in 2003 to create a pilot faith- and community-based initiative within juvenile correctional facilities. At the state’s request, Lane and UF criminology professor Lonn Lanza-Kaduce evaluated the program two years later in five residential facilities for incarcerated youth, three for boys and two for girls.
Their initial results were published in the April edition of the journal Evaluation Review titled “Before You Open the Doors: Ten Lessons from Florida’s Faith and Community-Based Delinquency Treatment Initiative.” Findings on whether the treatment helped prevent offenders from committing new crimes are expected this fall after the youths will have returned to the community for at least six months, Lane said.
But so far, anecdotal evidence shows the program to be a positive experience, Lane said. Participants say their morale has improved, and staff report inmates are better behaved, she said.
“We know these kids are getting a lot of attention, which is helping them,” she said. “When you talk with them, they definitely let you know they feel people care about them.”
Lane said she believes the passion the staff have for helping youth, which is driven by their faith, gives them the determination to make sure the participants have whatever they need, even if it means going out and shopping for it themselves. Many left lucrative jobs for a position with no benefits because they believed so strongly in what they were doing, she said.
“They gave up their personal lives to make sure things ran smoothly,” she said. “It was not your typical institutional setting where people tend to work their shift and go home. I think there is something about the faith-based community that gives them energy to work with kids, and kids need people with energy rather than those who go to work every day for a paycheck.”
Recruiting enough mentors for the youths was one struggle the staff faced, she said.
Florida’s program departed from those in many other states in that it sought mentors from a variety of religions, Lane said. Other programs in the country tended to be Christian, whereas participants in Florida were allowed to select from any religion or choose a secular mentor from a community organization if they preferred that to a faith-based mentor, she said.
“There were Jewish kids, who were given a Jewish mentor, Muslim kids, who were matched up with a Muslim mentor, and others who were more nontraditional,” she said.
The biggest concern was whether the youths would feel pressured to participate in the program and Florida’s program was designed to prevent this from happening, Lane said.
The youths are allowed not only the choice of whether to participate, but they also were given the alternative of having something else to do, she said.
“If there is a Bible study, the kid not only gets to choose whether or not to go, but is also given another equally enticing opportunity instead of just sitting in a cell and being penalized for not taking part in the religious activity,” she said.
Also to Florida’s advantage is that its constitution allows only community donations to be used to buy religious items, such as Bibles or the Quran, she said.
-30-Credits
Writer
Cathy Keen, ckeen@ufl.edu, 352-392-0186
Source
Jodi Lane, jlane@ufl.edu, 352-347-8579, 514-8275
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Crash Course for Florida's Executioners
Mark Weisenmiller
TAMPA, Jun 5 (IPS) - Two newly-trained teams of executioners committed to the principle of "humane and dignified death" are ready to go into action as soon as Florida's new governor Charlie Crist starts signing death warrants for the state's 380 death row inmates -- but no one knows yet who will be the first to be executed after the lifting of a four-month moratorium.
This was confirmed to IPS by Gretl Plessinger, a public relations officer at the Florida Department of Corrections. On May 9, Florida officially ended its moratorium on executions declared in mid-December. On the same day, Crist approved an array of proposals to improve the way the state carries out its executions by lethal injection.
The moratorium was announced on Dec. 15, two days after a Florida executioner fumbled repeatedly as he tried to find the vein in the left arm of Angel Diaz, a convicted killer. The execution did eventually succeed, but took more than half an hour -- at least twice as long as usual.
Anti-death penalty activists all over the world protested amid suggestions that Diaz might have been conscious during some of the time and experienced excruciating pain. This would have been a violation of the U.S. constitution which bars cruel punishment.
The scale of the protest led outgoing governor John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, the man who had originally signed the Diaz death warrant, to declare a temporary moratorium on executions while a hastily-called 11-member commission investigated how to prevent a repetition.
Nine other U.S. states also introduced moratoriums on their executions by lethal injection. Florida is the first of these to lift its moratorium.
Each of Florida's two new execution teams consisted of 10 people, Plessinger told IPS. They had been trained in "numerous" places, including Terre Haute in Indiana.
Terre Haute is a high-security prison in the geographical centre of the U.S. Its death chamber, the only federal one in the country, was reopened after the Supreme Court reversed in 1967 its decision against the death penalty. It was there that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in June 2001.
Governor Crist, widely-known for supporting capital punishment, has approved all the 37 recommendations proposed by the commission of investigation.
The new rules require that a prison warden must be present to confirm that that a condemned inmate is unconscious before the death-producing drugs are injected, Plessinger said in a email response to questions submitted by IPS. This apparently addresses the concern that Diaz might have been aware that his executioner was struggling with his needles to complete the last part of his execution.
More lighting had been installed in the death chamber, Plessinger said.
She side-stepped the question of whether Florida would be now increasing the dosages of the drugs in its lethal injections.
But she confirmed that there would be no change in the make-up of the chemicals in the three-part lethal injection. The commission had been specifically asked to investigate whether the drugs used in Florida's executions should be replaced with something else. "The department explored not only the drugs used in Florida, but other states and by the federal government," Plessinger said. "The drugs utilised by the Florida department of corrections are consistent with the drugs used in other jurisdictions."
But Plessinger left open the possibility that changes in the prescription could be made later. "The department will continue to monitor developments in pharmacology," she said.
The three drugs used in the U.S. lethal injections include sodium pentothal, a general anaesthetic to make the inmate unconscious, pancuronium bromide to induce paralysis, and a final injection of potassium chloride to stop the heart.
Plessinger said she could not give the name of the next death row inmate to be executed. "The department of corrections does not determine who is executed. That decision is made by the governor's office," she said, adding: "At this time governor Crist has not signed any death warrants."
But one death row inmate apparently threatened with imminent execution is Ian Deco Lightbourne. In an effort to head this off, his lawyers have asked the courts to order the four reporters who witnessed the Diaz execution to produce their notes. The move was aimed at supporting their case that execution by lethal injection was unconstitutional and Lightbourne should be removed from death row.
The request for the notes has been rejected, IPS has learned. But Susan Bunch, a lawyer representing one of the journalists, told IPS in a telephone interview that she did not think this was the end of the battle for Lightbourne's lawyers. "I didn't get the impression they were going to give up on this," she said.
Predictably, the adoption of the Florida commission report on lethal injections and the lifting of the moratorium on executions was criticised by U.S. death penalty abolition groups.
"What they basically did was to take testimony, which was a step in the right direction," David Elliott, spokesman for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said. But he questioned how any study could be helpful when no state offered an example of good practice in the administration of lethal injections. He also questioned the thoroughness of the commission's work.
Howard Simon, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said the lifting of the moratorium was "out of step with public opinion". The commission should have studied why Florida had "so many" botched executions, he said. It should have also looked at the alternatives to capital punishment.
But the decision to lift the moratorium was welcomed by the Texas-based Justice for All, a pro-death penalty group with over 2,000 members in different states. Execution by lethal injection was the "most humane" means of execution, Diane Clements, its spokeswoman said.
Besides the 37 U.S. states which rely mainly on lethal injections, China, Guatemala and Thailand also use this method of execution. (FIN/2007)
TAMPA, Jun 5 (IPS) - Two newly-trained teams of executioners committed to the principle of "humane and dignified death" are ready to go into action as soon as Florida's new governor Charlie Crist starts signing death warrants for the state's 380 death row inmates -- but no one knows yet who will be the first to be executed after the lifting of a four-month moratorium.
This was confirmed to IPS by Gretl Plessinger, a public relations officer at the Florida Department of Corrections. On May 9, Florida officially ended its moratorium on executions declared in mid-December. On the same day, Crist approved an array of proposals to improve the way the state carries out its executions by lethal injection.
The moratorium was announced on Dec. 15, two days after a Florida executioner fumbled repeatedly as he tried to find the vein in the left arm of Angel Diaz, a convicted killer. The execution did eventually succeed, but took more than half an hour -- at least twice as long as usual.
Anti-death penalty activists all over the world protested amid suggestions that Diaz might have been conscious during some of the time and experienced excruciating pain. This would have been a violation of the U.S. constitution which bars cruel punishment.
The scale of the protest led outgoing governor John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, the man who had originally signed the Diaz death warrant, to declare a temporary moratorium on executions while a hastily-called 11-member commission investigated how to prevent a repetition.
Nine other U.S. states also introduced moratoriums on their executions by lethal injection. Florida is the first of these to lift its moratorium.
Each of Florida's two new execution teams consisted of 10 people, Plessinger told IPS. They had been trained in "numerous" places, including Terre Haute in Indiana.
Terre Haute is a high-security prison in the geographical centre of the U.S. Its death chamber, the only federal one in the country, was reopened after the Supreme Court reversed in 1967 its decision against the death penalty. It was there that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in June 2001.
Governor Crist, widely-known for supporting capital punishment, has approved all the 37 recommendations proposed by the commission of investigation.
The new rules require that a prison warden must be present to confirm that that a condemned inmate is unconscious before the death-producing drugs are injected, Plessinger said in a email response to questions submitted by IPS. This apparently addresses the concern that Diaz might have been aware that his executioner was struggling with his needles to complete the last part of his execution.
More lighting had been installed in the death chamber, Plessinger said.
She side-stepped the question of whether Florida would be now increasing the dosages of the drugs in its lethal injections.
But she confirmed that there would be no change in the make-up of the chemicals in the three-part lethal injection. The commission had been specifically asked to investigate whether the drugs used in Florida's executions should be replaced with something else. "The department explored not only the drugs used in Florida, but other states and by the federal government," Plessinger said. "The drugs utilised by the Florida department of corrections are consistent with the drugs used in other jurisdictions."
But Plessinger left open the possibility that changes in the prescription could be made later. "The department will continue to monitor developments in pharmacology," she said.
The three drugs used in the U.S. lethal injections include sodium pentothal, a general anaesthetic to make the inmate unconscious, pancuronium bromide to induce paralysis, and a final injection of potassium chloride to stop the heart.
Plessinger said she could not give the name of the next death row inmate to be executed. "The department of corrections does not determine who is executed. That decision is made by the governor's office," she said, adding: "At this time governor Crist has not signed any death warrants."
But one death row inmate apparently threatened with imminent execution is Ian Deco Lightbourne. In an effort to head this off, his lawyers have asked the courts to order the four reporters who witnessed the Diaz execution to produce their notes. The move was aimed at supporting their case that execution by lethal injection was unconstitutional and Lightbourne should be removed from death row.
The request for the notes has been rejected, IPS has learned. But Susan Bunch, a lawyer representing one of the journalists, told IPS in a telephone interview that she did not think this was the end of the battle for Lightbourne's lawyers. "I didn't get the impression they were going to give up on this," she said.
Predictably, the adoption of the Florida commission report on lethal injections and the lifting of the moratorium on executions was criticised by U.S. death penalty abolition groups.
"What they basically did was to take testimony, which was a step in the right direction," David Elliott, spokesman for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said. But he questioned how any study could be helpful when no state offered an example of good practice in the administration of lethal injections. He also questioned the thoroughness of the commission's work.
Howard Simon, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said the lifting of the moratorium was "out of step with public opinion". The commission should have studied why Florida had "so many" botched executions, he said. It should have also looked at the alternatives to capital punishment.
But the decision to lift the moratorium was welcomed by the Texas-based Justice for All, a pro-death penalty group with over 2,000 members in different states. Execution by lethal injection was the "most humane" means of execution, Diane Clements, its spokeswoman said.
Besides the 37 U.S. states which rely mainly on lethal injections, China, Guatemala and Thailand also use this method of execution. (FIN/2007)
Man convicted in 2004 killing of deputy
Article published Jun 5, 2007
Jun 5, 2007
The Associated Press
A Fort Lauderdale man was found guilty Tuesday in the killing of one Broward Sheriff's Office deputy and the wounding of another.
Jurors deliberated for nearly four days before finding Kenneth Wilk, 45, guilty of first-degree murder, second degree-attempted murder, child pornography and obstruction of justice.
The panel of eight women and four men rejected defense claims that Wilk was suffering from AIDS-related dementia when he gunned down the officers. Wilk took the stand during trial and testified that he thought the deputies were intruders.
The trial's sentencing phase is to begin Thursday, when Wilk stands to become the first person in South Florida to be given the death penalty since it was reactivated by Congress in 1998.
Deputy Todd Fata was shot and killed Aug. 19, 2004, while serving a warrant to Wilk on child pornography charges. Wilk used a high-powered hunting rifle with a bullet that pierced the officer's protective vest.
A second deputy, Angel Cedeno, was shot in the hand and lost a finger.
"Justice was done," said Fata's mother, Josephine Fata.
Wilk's attorney, Bill Matthewman, declined comment until the penalty phase has ended.
Jun 5, 2007
The Associated Press
A Fort Lauderdale man was found guilty Tuesday in the killing of one Broward Sheriff's Office deputy and the wounding of another.
Jurors deliberated for nearly four days before finding Kenneth Wilk, 45, guilty of first-degree murder, second degree-attempted murder, child pornography and obstruction of justice.
The panel of eight women and four men rejected defense claims that Wilk was suffering from AIDS-related dementia when he gunned down the officers. Wilk took the stand during trial and testified that he thought the deputies were intruders.
The trial's sentencing phase is to begin Thursday, when Wilk stands to become the first person in South Florida to be given the death penalty since it was reactivated by Congress in 1998.
Deputy Todd Fata was shot and killed Aug. 19, 2004, while serving a warrant to Wilk on child pornography charges. Wilk used a high-powered hunting rifle with a bullet that pierced the officer's protective vest.
A second deputy, Angel Cedeno, was shot in the hand and lost a finger.
"Justice was done," said Fata's mother, Josephine Fata.
Wilk's attorney, Bill Matthewman, declined comment until the penalty phase has ended.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Violent Crime Up Again, More Murders, Robberies
From Monsters and Critics.com
US News
By James Vicini
Jun 4, 2007, 13:50 GMT
WASHINGTON - More murders and robberies in 2006 sent U.S. violent crimes higher for the second straight year, the FBI said on Monday, with the increase blamed on gangs, youth violence, gun crimes and fewer police on beats.
The FBI reported that the number of violent crimes nationwide went up by 1.3 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent increase in 2005. That had been the first rise in four years and the biggest percentage gain in 15 years.
The report showed that murders in big cities jumped last year by 6.7 percent. Robberies, an important indicator of crime trends, increased 6 percent nationwide.
Cities with big increases in the number of murders included Orlando and Miami in Florida; Oakland and San Diego in California; Phoenix, Arizona; Corpus Christi, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Reno, Nevada and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Even though the higher violent crime numbers had been expected, they still represented bad news for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has targeted violent crime as a top priority for the U.S. Justice Department.
A department study released last month of 18 metropolitan areas cited more violence by local gangs or street crews, a greater prevalence of guns in the hands of criminals and younger, more violent offenders as key reasons for the rising crime rates.
Criminologists agreed with those reasons and also said there are fewer police on the beat. They cited the Bush administration's shift in emphasis to prevent terrorism since the September 11 attacks and funding cuts for programs to put more police officers on the street.
'WAKE-UP CALL'
'The fact that we are seeing these increases several years in a row should be a wake-up call,' said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston.
'There's a tendency to think the sky is falling. It's not,' said Fox, noting the increases have been relatively small. 'We're not talking about an epidemic here.'
David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said the crime problems appear to be spreading to medium-sized and smaller cities.
He said the emergence of deadly drug crews or street gangs can have a potentially profound impact on a city's homicide or gun assault rate.
Lawrence Sherman, director of a criminology center at the University of Pennsylvania, called it an unusual pattern that murder is going up in some big cities, but down in others.
One possible explanation is that some police departments are doing much more to catch people illegally carrying concealed weapons, he said.
In the FBI report, murders nationwide increased overall by 0.3 percent. The increase in big cities was nearly offset by declines in non-metropolitan areas.
In the violent crime category, burglaries and murders increased nationwide while the number of rapes declined by nearly 2 percent and aggravated assaults fell slightly.
Violent crime went up in every region of the country except for the Northeast. The largest increase occurred in the West at 2.8 percent.
The number of so-called property crimes declined by nearly 3 percent. Burglaries and arsons increased while motor vehicle theft and larcenies and thefts decreased.
US News
By James Vicini
Jun 4, 2007, 13:50 GMT
WASHINGTON - More murders and robberies in 2006 sent U.S. violent crimes higher for the second straight year, the FBI said on Monday, with the increase blamed on gangs, youth violence, gun crimes and fewer police on beats.
The FBI reported that the number of violent crimes nationwide went up by 1.3 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent increase in 2005. That had been the first rise in four years and the biggest percentage gain in 15 years.
The report showed that murders in big cities jumped last year by 6.7 percent. Robberies, an important indicator of crime trends, increased 6 percent nationwide.
Cities with big increases in the number of murders included Orlando and Miami in Florida; Oakland and San Diego in California; Phoenix, Arizona; Corpus Christi, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Reno, Nevada and Little Rock, Arkansas.
Even though the higher violent crime numbers had been expected, they still represented bad news for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has targeted violent crime as a top priority for the U.S. Justice Department.
A department study released last month of 18 metropolitan areas cited more violence by local gangs or street crews, a greater prevalence of guns in the hands of criminals and younger, more violent offenders as key reasons for the rising crime rates.
Criminologists agreed with those reasons and also said there are fewer police on the beat. They cited the Bush administration's shift in emphasis to prevent terrorism since the September 11 attacks and funding cuts for programs to put more police officers on the street.
'WAKE-UP CALL'
'The fact that we are seeing these increases several years in a row should be a wake-up call,' said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston.
'There's a tendency to think the sky is falling. It's not,' said Fox, noting the increases have been relatively small. 'We're not talking about an epidemic here.'
David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said the crime problems appear to be spreading to medium-sized and smaller cities.
He said the emergence of deadly drug crews or street gangs can have a potentially profound impact on a city's homicide or gun assault rate.
Lawrence Sherman, director of a criminology center at the University of Pennsylvania, called it an unusual pattern that murder is going up in some big cities, but down in others.
One possible explanation is that some police departments are doing much more to catch people illegally carrying concealed weapons, he said.
In the FBI report, murders nationwide increased overall by 0.3 percent. The increase in big cities was nearly offset by declines in non-metropolitan areas.
In the violent crime category, burglaries and murders increased nationwide while the number of rapes declined by nearly 2 percent and aggravated assaults fell slightly.
Violent crime went up in every region of the country except for the Northeast. The largest increase occurred in the West at 2.8 percent.
The number of so-called property crimes declined by nearly 3 percent. Burglaries and arsons increased while motor vehicle theft and larcenies and thefts decreased.
Baby killing charges against Solon teen shock town
Baby killing charges against Solon teen shock town
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Solon residents were shocked Monday to learn that a quiet, studious Solon High School graduate was charged with killing her newborn baby by throwing her down a garbage chute in a Florida resort.
Ashley Truitt, 18, was charged Monday with first-degree murder in Broward County, Fla., after staff in a Pompano Beach resort found a newborn baby girl dead in a trash bin Saturday morning. Truitt, who participated in Solon High School graduation on May 20, apparently hid her pregnancy from her parents, boyfriend and others in the community.
“We’re all just kind of in shock,” said Solon High School Principal Bob Lesan. “I just hope she gets the help she needs. It will be a tough time for her and her family.”
Truitt, who was vacationing at the Wyndham Resort with her parents, younger brother and boyfriend, gave birth to the baby around 4:30 a.m. Saturday in the condominium bathroom, according to an affidavit filed by the Broward County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Department.
Truitt walked down the hallway on the building’s seventh floor and threw a bag containing the infant down a garbage chute, Broward County reported. An autopsy report shows the child died of blunt force trauma to the head, likely caused by falling seven stories into a ground floor garbage bin.
Wyndham Resort staff called police around 9:30 a.m. Saturday when they found large amounts of blood and a paring knife on the seventh floor, police reported. “Deputies saw the blood trail leading from room 785,” said Hugh Graf, a public information officer for Broward County.
Jason Black, Truitt’s boyfriend of about one year, told police he was awakened around 4 a.m. Saturday when he heard water running in the bathtub. When he looked up from bed, he observed Truitt, clad in towels, walking toward the door of the condominium unit.
Black followed Truitt, observing a trail of blood down the hallway, police said. Black saw his girlfriend enter a trash chute room, but when he attempted to open the door to the room, she prevented him from doing so, police said. Black confronted Truitt about the blood and she said she was having her period, police reported.
“Ashley dismissed Jason and he returned to unit #785,” the affidavit states. Truitt came back to the room 10 minutes later and did not offer any more information to Black, police reported.
Truitt later told investigators that she hid the pregnancy from her parents and Black, whom she did not think was the father of the child. She said she began to experience labor pains around midnight and at around 4:30 a.m. gave birth to the infant girl in the bathroom, police reported.
The baby was breathing and crying upon birth, Truitt told investigators. She used a kitchen paring knife to cut the umbilical cord. Truitt told investigators she was bleeding heavily as she walked down to the garbage chute room, where she delivered the placenta.
Once inside the garbage chute room, Truitt placed the baby in a bag that contained towels, she told investigators. Truitt “refused to elaborate on the disposal of the infant down the trash chute,” the affidavit states.
Truitt’s parents, Raymond and Patricia Truitt, told investigators they had concerns their daughter was pregnant. Raymond Truitt said he noticed his daughter had gained weight, but when he confronted her about being pregnant, she denied it, the affidavit states.
Patricia Truitt said she had the same suspicions and had noticed her daughter wearing loose clothing.
But Solon residents who had seen Ashley Truitt less than two weeks prior said they could not tell the slender teen was pregnant.
“She went to graduation,” Lesan said about Solon’s May 20 graduation ceremony. “She walked across the stage, but with the robe and stuff, she hid the pregnancy from us as well.”
Jeff Barta, who lives next door to the Truitts in Solon, said he would never have guessed when he saw Truitt at her graduation party that she was close to giving birth. “There was no way you could tell,” Barta said.
Lesan described Truitt as a quiet, studious girl who did not get involved in activities at Solon High School.
“She was a quiet young lady who came to school and did her work,” Lesan said.
Truitt completed her course work in January so she could work to save money for college, he said. Barta said Truitt planned to go to culinary school at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
Truitt is being held without bond in a Broward County jail, Graf said. Conviction of first-degree murder in Florida is punishable by the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Nicole Plum, a Chelsea, Ia., teenager spent about three years in prison after abandoning her infant girl in the snow near the city’s water tower, where the baby was found dead in February 2001. Plum, who was 17 when she gave birth, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for felony child endangerment and involuntary manslaughter. She was approved for parole in 2005.
The death of Plum’s child, who became known as “Baby Chelsea,” prompted the Iowa Legislature to approve a safe-haven law that grants immunity from prosecution to parents who leave unwanted babies in the care of health facilities. Florida has a similar safe haven law.
Reporter Erin Jordan can be reached at (319) 351-6527 or ejordan@dmreg.com.
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Solon residents were shocked Monday to learn that a quiet, studious Solon High School graduate was charged with killing her newborn baby by throwing her down a garbage chute in a Florida resort.
Ashley Truitt, 18, was charged Monday with first-degree murder in Broward County, Fla., after staff in a Pompano Beach resort found a newborn baby girl dead in a trash bin Saturday morning. Truitt, who participated in Solon High School graduation on May 20, apparently hid her pregnancy from her parents, boyfriend and others in the community.
“We’re all just kind of in shock,” said Solon High School Principal Bob Lesan. “I just hope she gets the help she needs. It will be a tough time for her and her family.”
Truitt, who was vacationing at the Wyndham Resort with her parents, younger brother and boyfriend, gave birth to the baby around 4:30 a.m. Saturday in the condominium bathroom, according to an affidavit filed by the Broward County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Department.
Truitt walked down the hallway on the building’s seventh floor and threw a bag containing the infant down a garbage chute, Broward County reported. An autopsy report shows the child died of blunt force trauma to the head, likely caused by falling seven stories into a ground floor garbage bin.
Wyndham Resort staff called police around 9:30 a.m. Saturday when they found large amounts of blood and a paring knife on the seventh floor, police reported. “Deputies saw the blood trail leading from room 785,” said Hugh Graf, a public information officer for Broward County.
Jason Black, Truitt’s boyfriend of about one year, told police he was awakened around 4 a.m. Saturday when he heard water running in the bathtub. When he looked up from bed, he observed Truitt, clad in towels, walking toward the door of the condominium unit.
Black followed Truitt, observing a trail of blood down the hallway, police said. Black saw his girlfriend enter a trash chute room, but when he attempted to open the door to the room, she prevented him from doing so, police said. Black confronted Truitt about the blood and she said she was having her period, police reported.
“Ashley dismissed Jason and he returned to unit #785,” the affidavit states. Truitt came back to the room 10 minutes later and did not offer any more information to Black, police reported.
Truitt later told investigators that she hid the pregnancy from her parents and Black, whom she did not think was the father of the child. She said she began to experience labor pains around midnight and at around 4:30 a.m. gave birth to the infant girl in the bathroom, police reported.
The baby was breathing and crying upon birth, Truitt told investigators. She used a kitchen paring knife to cut the umbilical cord. Truitt told investigators she was bleeding heavily as she walked down to the garbage chute room, where she delivered the placenta.
Once inside the garbage chute room, Truitt placed the baby in a bag that contained towels, she told investigators. Truitt “refused to elaborate on the disposal of the infant down the trash chute,” the affidavit states.
Truitt’s parents, Raymond and Patricia Truitt, told investigators they had concerns their daughter was pregnant. Raymond Truitt said he noticed his daughter had gained weight, but when he confronted her about being pregnant, she denied it, the affidavit states.
Patricia Truitt said she had the same suspicions and had noticed her daughter wearing loose clothing.
But Solon residents who had seen Ashley Truitt less than two weeks prior said they could not tell the slender teen was pregnant.
“She went to graduation,” Lesan said about Solon’s May 20 graduation ceremony. “She walked across the stage, but with the robe and stuff, she hid the pregnancy from us as well.”
Jeff Barta, who lives next door to the Truitts in Solon, said he would never have guessed when he saw Truitt at her graduation party that she was close to giving birth. “There was no way you could tell,” Barta said.
Lesan described Truitt as a quiet, studious girl who did not get involved in activities at Solon High School.
“She was a quiet young lady who came to school and did her work,” Lesan said.
Truitt completed her course work in January so she could work to save money for college, he said. Barta said Truitt planned to go to culinary school at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
Truitt is being held without bond in a Broward County jail, Graf said. Conviction of first-degree murder in Florida is punishable by the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Nicole Plum, a Chelsea, Ia., teenager spent about three years in prison after abandoning her infant girl in the snow near the city’s water tower, where the baby was found dead in February 2001. Plum, who was 17 when she gave birth, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for felony child endangerment and involuntary manslaughter. She was approved for parole in 2005.
The death of Plum’s child, who became known as “Baby Chelsea,” prompted the Iowa Legislature to approve a safe-haven law that grants immunity from prosecution to parents who leave unwanted babies in the care of health facilities. Florida has a similar safe haven law.
Reporter Erin Jordan can be reached at (319) 351-6527 or ejordan@dmreg.com.
Fla. an example in national execution debate
Angel Nieves Diaz and his familyBy Julie Carr Smyth
The Associated Press
Originally posted on June 04, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio looks to Florida as it has found itself in the cross hairs of the latest national debate over the death penalty: Should executioners’ identities be protected?
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio begged the question with a wide-ranging request for state records seeking information on the May 24 execution of an inmate whose veins took 90 minutes to find and whose death came a record-setting 16 minutes after the toxic drugs began to flow.
Among other things, the ACLU asked for the names of Christopher Newton’s execution team — a group of volunteer medics and guards whose identities are routinely shielded by the state.
Though the hooded executioner is so common as to be iconic, the ACLU and other death penalty opponents say they have new cause for seeking complete information on the people carrying out state-sanctioned deaths by injection.
They point to the case of Dr. Alan Doerhoff, a participant in Missouri’s execution process who was revealed in press reports to have been sued for malpractice more than 20 times.
They also point to the December execution of Angel Diaz in Florida. An autopsy found the needles were pushed through Diaz’s veins into the flesh of his arms, possibly limiting the effectiveness of the drugs.
A commission created afterward to study the incident called for more training and better protocols for executioners.
Florida law protects the identity of its two executioners, each of whom are paid $150 cash for each execution, and also protects the identity of the persons who prepare, compound or administer a lethal injection.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty, said the public can’t properly scrutinize the effectiveness of capital punishment without adequate information on those carrying it out.
“Public executions should be as public as possible,” he said. “They supposedly have nothing to hide, and as with anything government does, it benefits from more scrutiny. For medical personnel, yes, there may be a cost. But that’s sort of like the cost that the state, or all of us, bear.”
Nonsense, said Michael Rushford, president of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, Calif.
“The ACLU, which has staked out its turf as severely against the death penalty, will use this opportunity to out someone involved in an execution, and use it to put these people at risk,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s how important their cause is to them.”
Rushford said the American Medical Association has threatened to sanction doctors who assist in executions — because it is a violation of their oath to “first, do no harm.”
So the push by death penalty opponents to make executioners’ names public, under the auspices of wanting to review their professional credentials, is meant to shrink the pool of willing volunteers and diminish the state’s ability to execute criminals.
“They (the ACLU) were against the gas chamber 30 years ago — they said there was only one humane alternative and that would be lethal injection,” he said. “Now they’re setting up this Catch-22, saying only a doctor can do that, and knowing the doctor’s association won’t let them do it.”
Executions in North Carolina have been temporarily halted after running into just such a hitch.
State law that had simply required that a doctor be present during executions was taken further by a federal judge, who said the doctor needed to actively monitor the inmate for pain.
Doctors faced disciplinary action by the state medical board for doing so, however, so the process is in limbo.
Missouri and California are caught up in similar legal battles over whether their states can be forced to involve doctors in executions who are prohibited by their profession’s code of conduct from facilitating a death.
Though doctors do not currently participate in Ohio’s execution process, their role could also become an issue in the court battle also raging in this state.
Despite the obstacles they’ve faced, most states still balk at revealing the members of execution teams.
Most notably, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill May 21 protecting the executioners’ anonymity and allowing them to sue anyone — including a news organization — who discloses their identity.
The Missouri prisons director has said the state welcomes public scrutiny of its lethal injection protocol and the education and work history of its execution team — just not the names and addresses of participants. Doerhoff’s services are no longer being used.
Dieter said he believes protecting the identity of executioners helps anesthetize the public to what takes place in the Death House.
“There is this distance that we want with the process,” he said. “That’s why lethal injection came about, sort of to give a more medicinal, antiseptic feel to it. Now it’s backfired in that it’s not working well.”
But Rushford said executioners have a job that will naturally subject them to attacks and deserve to be protected by government.
“The state should certainly monitor their background and training, but these people should be no more subject to ridicule than an abortion doctor who’s simply doing his job,” Rushford said. “The law should come down hard on anyone who uses someone’s legal profession to raise harm against them. It should be a hate crime.”
The Associated Press
Originally posted on June 04, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio looks to Florida as it has found itself in the cross hairs of the latest national debate over the death penalty: Should executioners’ identities be protected?
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio begged the question with a wide-ranging request for state records seeking information on the May 24 execution of an inmate whose veins took 90 minutes to find and whose death came a record-setting 16 minutes after the toxic drugs began to flow.
Among other things, the ACLU asked for the names of Christopher Newton’s execution team — a group of volunteer medics and guards whose identities are routinely shielded by the state.
Though the hooded executioner is so common as to be iconic, the ACLU and other death penalty opponents say they have new cause for seeking complete information on the people carrying out state-sanctioned deaths by injection.
They point to the case of Dr. Alan Doerhoff, a participant in Missouri’s execution process who was revealed in press reports to have been sued for malpractice more than 20 times.
They also point to the December execution of Angel Diaz in Florida. An autopsy found the needles were pushed through Diaz’s veins into the flesh of his arms, possibly limiting the effectiveness of the drugs.
A commission created afterward to study the incident called for more training and better protocols for executioners.
Florida law protects the identity of its two executioners, each of whom are paid $150 cash for each execution, and also protects the identity of the persons who prepare, compound or administer a lethal injection.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes the death penalty, said the public can’t properly scrutinize the effectiveness of capital punishment without adequate information on those carrying it out.
“Public executions should be as public as possible,” he said. “They supposedly have nothing to hide, and as with anything government does, it benefits from more scrutiny. For medical personnel, yes, there may be a cost. But that’s sort of like the cost that the state, or all of us, bear.”
Nonsense, said Michael Rushford, president of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, Calif.
“The ACLU, which has staked out its turf as severely against the death penalty, will use this opportunity to out someone involved in an execution, and use it to put these people at risk,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s how important their cause is to them.”
Rushford said the American Medical Association has threatened to sanction doctors who assist in executions — because it is a violation of their oath to “first, do no harm.”
So the push by death penalty opponents to make executioners’ names public, under the auspices of wanting to review their professional credentials, is meant to shrink the pool of willing volunteers and diminish the state’s ability to execute criminals.
“They (the ACLU) were against the gas chamber 30 years ago — they said there was only one humane alternative and that would be lethal injection,” he said. “Now they’re setting up this Catch-22, saying only a doctor can do that, and knowing the doctor’s association won’t let them do it.”
Executions in North Carolina have been temporarily halted after running into just such a hitch.
State law that had simply required that a doctor be present during executions was taken further by a federal judge, who said the doctor needed to actively monitor the inmate for pain.
Doctors faced disciplinary action by the state medical board for doing so, however, so the process is in limbo.
Missouri and California are caught up in similar legal battles over whether their states can be forced to involve doctors in executions who are prohibited by their profession’s code of conduct from facilitating a death.
Though doctors do not currently participate in Ohio’s execution process, their role could also become an issue in the court battle also raging in this state.
Despite the obstacles they’ve faced, most states still balk at revealing the members of execution teams.
Most notably, Missouri lawmakers passed a bill May 21 protecting the executioners’ anonymity and allowing them to sue anyone — including a news organization — who discloses their identity.
The Missouri prisons director has said the state welcomes public scrutiny of its lethal injection protocol and the education and work history of its execution team — just not the names and addresses of participants. Doerhoff’s services are no longer being used.
Dieter said he believes protecting the identity of executioners helps anesthetize the public to what takes place in the Death House.
“There is this distance that we want with the process,” he said. “That’s why lethal injection came about, sort of to give a more medicinal, antiseptic feel to it. Now it’s backfired in that it’s not working well.”
But Rushford said executioners have a job that will naturally subject them to attacks and deserve to be protected by government.
“The state should certainly monitor their background and training, but these people should be no more subject to ridicule than an abortion doctor who’s simply doing his job,” Rushford said. “The law should come down hard on anyone who uses someone’s legal profession to raise harm against them. It should be a hate crime.”
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Device will keep tabs on juvenile offenders
BY LINDA JUMP
FLORIDA TODAY
PALM BAY - Teen troublemakers here may soon be monitored 24 hours a day with high-tech ankle bracelets that use global positioning and cell phone tracking systems.
The first 30 teens will be fitted with the bracelets June 9 as part of new probation requirements. The 4-inch square devices, which the city bought as part of a pilot program, will allow police to keep track of the teens' whereabouts and to communicate with them, if necessary.
The device is the same that fired NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak was ordered to wear as she awaits trial on charges of attempting to kidnap a romantic rival.
"This is the most advanced system available now," Chief Bill Berger said at a Friday press conference introducing the program. "We hope this will get the message out if they go out and commit crimes, we'll know who did it."
The American Civil Liberties Union did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Palm Bay bought the cell phone-sized monitors with $15,000 from its Law Enforcement Trust Fund, which contains money seized from convicted criminals.
Tracker PAL, as the device is known, is made by Secure Alert, a Utah-based firm which claims to be able to track those wearing the device worldwide. The ankle units are tamper-resistant and have a fiber optic cable through them. Secure Alert is notified of any efforts to remove or damage the device.
Berger said Palm Bay decided to focus on youth because "we have a chance with kids, and we're trying to do something as a preventative measure."
Sgt. Steve Bland, who is overseeing a new Youth Services Unit within the police department, said judges can order use of the device as part of probation requirements.
Officer Ken Bash of the Youth Services Unit said there are about 300 teens on various forms of probation.
Police said the devices' primary use is for the most serious juvenile offenders on probation, such as those who have committed burglaries.
Berger said the department is also considering making the devices available for parents who worry that they can't control their children. He said that if parents can afford it, they might be asked to contribute toward the $8 daily cost.
Berger said his department is the first in Brevard County to use the units. Orange County also uses them, he said.
He said one probationer was required to stay away from another residence. He went there anyway and fled when police arrived. They found him behind a Dumpster, thanks to an audible alarm on the ankle unit.
FLORIDA TODAY
PALM BAY - Teen troublemakers here may soon be monitored 24 hours a day with high-tech ankle bracelets that use global positioning and cell phone tracking systems.
The first 30 teens will be fitted with the bracelets June 9 as part of new probation requirements. The 4-inch square devices, which the city bought as part of a pilot program, will allow police to keep track of the teens' whereabouts and to communicate with them, if necessary.
The device is the same that fired NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak was ordered to wear as she awaits trial on charges of attempting to kidnap a romantic rival.
"This is the most advanced system available now," Chief Bill Berger said at a Friday press conference introducing the program. "We hope this will get the message out if they go out and commit crimes, we'll know who did it."
The American Civil Liberties Union did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Palm Bay bought the cell phone-sized monitors with $15,000 from its Law Enforcement Trust Fund, which contains money seized from convicted criminals.
Tracker PAL, as the device is known, is made by Secure Alert, a Utah-based firm which claims to be able to track those wearing the device worldwide. The ankle units are tamper-resistant and have a fiber optic cable through them. Secure Alert is notified of any efforts to remove or damage the device.
Berger said Palm Bay decided to focus on youth because "we have a chance with kids, and we're trying to do something as a preventative measure."
Sgt. Steve Bland, who is overseeing a new Youth Services Unit within the police department, said judges can order use of the device as part of probation requirements.
Officer Ken Bash of the Youth Services Unit said there are about 300 teens on various forms of probation.
Police said the devices' primary use is for the most serious juvenile offenders on probation, such as those who have committed burglaries.
Berger said the department is also considering making the devices available for parents who worry that they can't control their children. He said that if parents can afford it, they might be asked to contribute toward the $8 daily cost.
Berger said his department is the first in Brevard County to use the units. Orange County also uses them, he said.
He said one probationer was required to stay away from another residence. He went there anyway and fled when police arrived. They found him behind a Dumpster, thanks to an audible alarm on the ankle unit.
Cash cut in model inmate program
The county's lauded treatment plan for the mentally ill loses a quarter of its money.
Rich Mckay
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 31, 2007
The budget of a nationally lauded program that helps mentally ill people in Orange County has been slashed by 25 percent, leaving officials and politicians scrambling to find ways to make up the difference.
"It's going to be a tough, tough, tough year," Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart said.
The program -- the county's nationally award-winning Central Receiving Center that screens people who might otherwise end up in costlier jail or emergency rooms and diverts them to treatment programs -- had a $3 million budget for the 2006-07 budget year that ends June 30.
But for the next budget year, the program has a budget of $2.25 million, said Donna Wyche, a manager with Orange County's Health and Family Services Department.
Given the state Legislature's promise of impending property tax cuts that will leave cities and towns with less money to spend, Wyche isn't hopeful that the county can step in to make up the difference.
"We're going to have to cut resources," Wyche said. "We're losing the equivalent of 10 beds. People will wait longer for services."
The cuts were made in the state budget, and Wyche is grateful that Rep. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Park, saved the program from even more drastic reductions.
When next year's state budget was being drafted, the program was allocated $1 million.
"We really needed their help, and they scrambled to bring it up to $2.25 million," Wyche said.
Wyche said the Orange County Commission has been good to the program, recently awarding it $206,356 to help pay for long-term housing for residents with mental-health and drug problems.
Two months ago, the center was held up as an "inspiring" program for other communities, praised in a joint study by the National Institute of Corrections and the Council of State Governments.
The study was released in the wake of a statewide crisis during which more than 300 severely mentally ill inmates were kept waiting in jails for treatment beds longer than the 15 days Florida law allows.
The center, which opened in 2003, has screened more than 17,000 residents.
Of the budget cuts, Wyche said, "At this point, I don't know that there's anything to do."
Stewart said she hopes to have a meeting on the receiving center in June to see whether anything can be done.
"There might be some grant money out there," she said.
Rich McKay can be reached at 407-420-5470 or rmckay@orlandosentinel.com.
Rich Mckay
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 31, 2007
The budget of a nationally lauded program that helps mentally ill people in Orange County has been slashed by 25 percent, leaving officials and politicians scrambling to find ways to make up the difference.
"It's going to be a tough, tough, tough year," Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart said.
The program -- the county's nationally award-winning Central Receiving Center that screens people who might otherwise end up in costlier jail or emergency rooms and diverts them to treatment programs -- had a $3 million budget for the 2006-07 budget year that ends June 30.
But for the next budget year, the program has a budget of $2.25 million, said Donna Wyche, a manager with Orange County's Health and Family Services Department.
Given the state Legislature's promise of impending property tax cuts that will leave cities and towns with less money to spend, Wyche isn't hopeful that the county can step in to make up the difference.
"We're going to have to cut resources," Wyche said. "We're losing the equivalent of 10 beds. People will wait longer for services."
The cuts were made in the state budget, and Wyche is grateful that Rep. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Park, saved the program from even more drastic reductions.
When next year's state budget was being drafted, the program was allocated $1 million.
"We really needed their help, and they scrambled to bring it up to $2.25 million," Wyche said.
Wyche said the Orange County Commission has been good to the program, recently awarding it $206,356 to help pay for long-term housing for residents with mental-health and drug problems.
Two months ago, the center was held up as an "inspiring" program for other communities, praised in a joint study by the National Institute of Corrections and the Council of State Governments.
The study was released in the wake of a statewide crisis during which more than 300 severely mentally ill inmates were kept waiting in jails for treatment beds longer than the 15 days Florida law allows.
The center, which opened in 2003, has screened more than 17,000 residents.
Of the budget cuts, Wyche said, "At this point, I don't know that there's anything to do."
Stewart said she hopes to have a meeting on the receiving center in June to see whether anything can be done.
"There might be some grant money out there," she said.
Rich McKay can be reached at 407-420-5470 or rmckay@orlandosentinel.com.
Man charged in boy's death
June 1, 2007
CAPE CORAL -- A man banned from having contact with his girlfriend's 3-year-old son has been charged with the child's death, officials said.
Zahid Jones and his two older siblings were removed from their mother's home March 7 after case workers found signs of abuse or neglect, said Coral Conner, a spokeswoman with the Department of Children & Families.
A judge later returned the children to Nicole Brewington's care but said her boyfriend, Kashon Averion Scott, was not allowed near them, Conner said.
A case manager visited Brewington's home May 25 and reported there was no sign of Scott, Conner said.
Someone called paramedics Tuesday and said Zahid was not breathing. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead less than an hour later, said Connie Barron, a spokeswoman for Cape Coral.
Scott, 29, of Lehigh Acres was charged with second-degree murder, she said. He was being held without bail at the Lee County Jail.
Compiled from wire reports
CAPE CORAL -- A man banned from having contact with his girlfriend's 3-year-old son has been charged with the child's death, officials said.
Zahid Jones and his two older siblings were removed from their mother's home March 7 after case workers found signs of abuse or neglect, said Coral Conner, a spokeswoman with the Department of Children & Families.
A judge later returned the children to Nicole Brewington's care but said her boyfriend, Kashon Averion Scott, was not allowed near them, Conner said.
A case manager visited Brewington's home May 25 and reported there was no sign of Scott, Conner said.
Someone called paramedics Tuesday and said Zahid was not breathing. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead less than an hour later, said Connie Barron, a spokeswoman for Cape Coral.
Scott, 29, of Lehigh Acres was charged with second-degree murder, she said. He was being held without bail at the Lee County Jail.
Compiled from wire reports
Court denies new trial in slaying
June 1, 2007
Tallahassee -- The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday said death-row inmate Robert Preston Jr. did not deserve a new trial in the 1978 slaying of a Seminole County convenience-store clerk.
Preston, 49, said DNA tests after his conviction found that a hair discovered on his belt buckle did not belong to the victim, Earline Walker.
Her body was found in a field near Preston's home in western Seminole County. She had been stabbed and her throat slashed.
At Preston's trial in Sanford, a state crime-lab expert testified that the hair appeared to match Walker's.
The high court, though, ruled that Preston should not get a new trial, despite the new DNA evidence, because there was so much other evidence linking him to the slaying.
At his trial, Preston did not deny killing Walker. He said he was temporarily insane because he was high on marijuana, alcohol and PCP.
Gary Taylor, Willoughby Mariano, Rene Stutzman, Babita Persaud, Christine Dellert and Kristen Reed of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Tallahassee -- The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday said death-row inmate Robert Preston Jr. did not deserve a new trial in the 1978 slaying of a Seminole County convenience-store clerk.
Preston, 49, said DNA tests after his conviction found that a hair discovered on his belt buckle did not belong to the victim, Earline Walker.
Her body was found in a field near Preston's home in western Seminole County. She had been stabbed and her throat slashed.
At Preston's trial in Sanford, a state crime-lab expert testified that the hair appeared to match Walker's.
The high court, though, ruled that Preston should not get a new trial, despite the new DNA evidence, because there was so much other evidence linking him to the slaying.
At his trial, Preston did not deny killing Walker. He said he was temporarily insane because he was high on marijuana, alcohol and PCP.
Gary Taylor, Willoughby Mariano, Rene Stutzman, Babita Persaud, Christine Dellert and Kristen Reed of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
Commission accuses judge of breaching conduct code
Jim Leusner
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 2, 2007
An Orlando circuit judge made unwanted sexual advances toward a law-school student and abused people who faced him in court, according to formal charges filed by a state investigative agency Friday.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission accused James C. Hauser, 58, of making the advances toward a 33-year-old, married student in a class he co-taught at Barry University's law school in early 2006 and phoning her numerous times after she asked him to leave her alone.
It also cited him for "erratic and abusive behavior" on the bench that led several attorneys to complain to Chief Judge Belvin Perry, who documented the complaints in a Feb.14, 2005, memo to Hauser while he was a family-court judge.
Hauser has been on paid administrative leave since the allegations surfaced 6 1/2 months ago.
The JQC charges Hauser with breaching the code of conduct regarding judicial integrity, dignity dealing with litigants and lawyers, permitting private communications with parties in cases, and conduct outside the courtroom which demeaned his office. Hauser and his attorney have 20 days to respond to the charges.
JQC Special Counsel Lauri Waldman Ross and Executive Director Brooke Kennerly would not comment on the charges. Under Florida law, the probe was secret but now will become public as the case is heard by the commission's six-member panel -- two judges, two lawyers and two citizens.
If the panel upholds any of the charges, it will recommend disciplinary action to the Florida Supreme Court, which has final say in the matter. Hauser faces a variety of possible punishments, including fines and a reprimand, suspension, removal from the bench or action against his lawyer license.
In the memo released Friday by the JQC, Perry warned Hauser about expressing personal opinions on the bench and allowing personal biases to affect rulings; being disrespectful to attorneys; having private communications with attorneys and expert witnesses; and encouraging litigants to seek counseling regardless of need.
Perry wrote that fellow judges said he had been acting inappropriately for years.
"Jim, as we have previously discussed, the items mentioned above are not acceptable, and your conduct must change," Perry wrote, threatening to reassign Hauser to another division if his behavior did not change.
Attorney Keith Mitnik of Orlando said Hauser was disappointed that the JQC charges were filed. But Mitnik said he can defend his client and cross-examine witnesses now that the secret probe is public.
"This is a very difficult ordeal for him, but he is confident the path will be cleared, these matters will be soon behind him, and he will continue serving the people as a judge," Mitnik said.
In an interview in January, Hauser admitted to the Orlando Sentinel that he had made some mistakes on the family-court bench but said his efforts to reduce the hostility between attorneys and their clients and children in divorce cases had angered some lawyers.
Hauser also was adamant that he did not commit any sex crimes with the married student. An Orange County Sheriff's Office investigation of him for attempted sexual battery with the student was closed earlier this year without charges, partly because the woman did not cooperate with authorities and didn't want to press charges.
Hauser admitted consensual, amorous contact with the woman and called it an "error" in judgment but said he passed a private polygraph test and a Sheriff's Office voice-stress test in which he denied any sexual crimes.
"Now that there is a formal charge, he can defend himself," Mitnik said. "And now I can question the lady . . . for Judge Hauser so we can get to the truth of the matter."
Mitnik said Hauser was never told by the woman not to contact her but said he stopped after she did not return phone calls. Another professor warned Hauser that the student was rude and combative in class, records show.
The woman alleged in a transcribed interview Nov. 16 with Perry that she and Hauser went to dinner, then to her apartment to pick up a movie. She said Hauser exposed himself, pushed her onto her bed and tried to sexually assault her as she fended him off. Her identity is being withheld by the Sentinel because of the sexual nature of the accusations.
Hauser has been on paid leave from his $145,080-a-year job since mid-November, immediately after Orange Circuit Judge Robert Evans, also an instructor at Barry, told Perry about the woman's allegations, according to a transcript provided to deputies. Perry then questioned the woman and apparently informed the JQC.
The investigation followed the filing of a domestic-violence petition a few weeks earlier by Hauser's estranged wife, Patti, who said she felt threatened. She later dropped the petition, and the couple is in the midst of a divorce.
Perry would not comment on the charges or say why Hauser has not been assigned to a court division this year. Hauser will continue to be paid, he said.
"I think it speaks for itself," Perry said. "Until this matter is resolved, he will remain unassigned."
Jim Leusner can be reached at jleusner@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5411.
Sentinel Staff Writer
June 2, 2007
An Orlando circuit judge made unwanted sexual advances toward a law-school student and abused people who faced him in court, according to formal charges filed by a state investigative agency Friday.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission accused James C. Hauser, 58, of making the advances toward a 33-year-old, married student in a class he co-taught at Barry University's law school in early 2006 and phoning her numerous times after she asked him to leave her alone.
It also cited him for "erratic and abusive behavior" on the bench that led several attorneys to complain to Chief Judge Belvin Perry, who documented the complaints in a Feb.14, 2005, memo to Hauser while he was a family-court judge.
Hauser has been on paid administrative leave since the allegations surfaced 6 1/2 months ago.
The JQC charges Hauser with breaching the code of conduct regarding judicial integrity, dignity dealing with litigants and lawyers, permitting private communications with parties in cases, and conduct outside the courtroom which demeaned his office. Hauser and his attorney have 20 days to respond to the charges.
JQC Special Counsel Lauri Waldman Ross and Executive Director Brooke Kennerly would not comment on the charges. Under Florida law, the probe was secret but now will become public as the case is heard by the commission's six-member panel -- two judges, two lawyers and two citizens.
If the panel upholds any of the charges, it will recommend disciplinary action to the Florida Supreme Court, which has final say in the matter. Hauser faces a variety of possible punishments, including fines and a reprimand, suspension, removal from the bench or action against his lawyer license.
In the memo released Friday by the JQC, Perry warned Hauser about expressing personal opinions on the bench and allowing personal biases to affect rulings; being disrespectful to attorneys; having private communications with attorneys and expert witnesses; and encouraging litigants to seek counseling regardless of need.
Perry wrote that fellow judges said he had been acting inappropriately for years.
"Jim, as we have previously discussed, the items mentioned above are not acceptable, and your conduct must change," Perry wrote, threatening to reassign Hauser to another division if his behavior did not change.
Attorney Keith Mitnik of Orlando said Hauser was disappointed that the JQC charges were filed. But Mitnik said he can defend his client and cross-examine witnesses now that the secret probe is public.
"This is a very difficult ordeal for him, but he is confident the path will be cleared, these matters will be soon behind him, and he will continue serving the people as a judge," Mitnik said.
In an interview in January, Hauser admitted to the Orlando Sentinel that he had made some mistakes on the family-court bench but said his efforts to reduce the hostility between attorneys and their clients and children in divorce cases had angered some lawyers.
Hauser also was adamant that he did not commit any sex crimes with the married student. An Orange County Sheriff's Office investigation of him for attempted sexual battery with the student was closed earlier this year without charges, partly because the woman did not cooperate with authorities and didn't want to press charges.
Hauser admitted consensual, amorous contact with the woman and called it an "error" in judgment but said he passed a private polygraph test and a Sheriff's Office voice-stress test in which he denied any sexual crimes.
"Now that there is a formal charge, he can defend himself," Mitnik said. "And now I can question the lady . . . for Judge Hauser so we can get to the truth of the matter."
Mitnik said Hauser was never told by the woman not to contact her but said he stopped after she did not return phone calls. Another professor warned Hauser that the student was rude and combative in class, records show.
The woman alleged in a transcribed interview Nov. 16 with Perry that she and Hauser went to dinner, then to her apartment to pick up a movie. She said Hauser exposed himself, pushed her onto her bed and tried to sexually assault her as she fended him off. Her identity is being withheld by the Sentinel because of the sexual nature of the accusations.
Hauser has been on paid leave from his $145,080-a-year job since mid-November, immediately after Orange Circuit Judge Robert Evans, also an instructor at Barry, told Perry about the woman's allegations, according to a transcript provided to deputies. Perry then questioned the woman and apparently informed the JQC.
The investigation followed the filing of a domestic-violence petition a few weeks earlier by Hauser's estranged wife, Patti, who said she felt threatened. She later dropped the petition, and the couple is in the midst of a divorce.
Perry would not comment on the charges or say why Hauser has not been assigned to a court division this year. Hauser will continue to be paid, he said.
"I think it speaks for itself," Perry said. "Until this matter is resolved, he will remain unassigned."
Jim Leusner can be reached at jleusner@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5411.
Tribune carrier's killer sentenced to death
By MEGAN V. WINSLOW
megan.winslow@scripps.com
June 2, 2007
FORT PIERCE — Daniel P. DeStefano's family tearfully sat linked together hand in hand for more than an hour Friday listening to Circuit Judge James W. McCann review the case against DeStefano's killer.
By the time he pronounced sentence — death for Steven Douglas Hayward — their tears had mostly dried.
McCann followed a jury's 8-4 recommendation from March and sentenced the 38-year-old Fort Pierce resident for first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
"There will never be another Daniel DeStefano," said Tom Bakkedahl, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted Hayward.
Hayward's "reign of terror ends today. Unequivocally," he said.
Hayward shot the 32-year-old Fort Pierce Tribune newspaper carrier in the chest and thigh with a .22 caliber revolver as he was delivering papers and collecting change from newspaper stands along Avenue D about 4 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2005.
DeStefano, who carried a Magnum revolver for protection, managed to shoot Hayward in the left hand and run to safety, but he died at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute the next day from internal bleeding.
Hayward was arrested a few days after the shooting. His blood was found on DeStefano's faded blue jeans, where he had reached into the fallen man's pockets to remove $10 in cash.
Hayward still maintains he wasn't DeStefano's shooter. He sat impassively through Friday's hearing, even when DeStefano's niece, fianceé and mother took the witness stand and called him in turn "a cold-blooded killer," "an animal" and "a conniving, calculating, malicious person."
"I hope you suffer," Renee Edwards said to Hayward after speaking about her and DeStefano's hopes for children and a life together.
"You can't even look," she said, staring him down as she walked back to her seat.
"You destroyed our family and we will never be the same again," 19-year-old Amanda Seddio said with anger and tears. "I had to learn, at age 16, how cruel the world can be. You took my favorite person from me in a split second. You were in jail for 16 years — for your first murder — didn't that teach you anything? Obviously not. You killed my uncle for $10. Ten dollars."
Hayward's first murder, another "unprovoked encounter," was the most weighty aggravator that supported the death penalty, McCann said.
On Feb. 21, 1988, Hayward shot and killed Sebien DeRoche outside a 13th Street bar. Hayward pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of armed robbery. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but left prison after 16 years because of state laws that allowed for an early release.
Hayward killed DeStefano 87 days after his release from prison for the DeRoche murder, a fact even defense attorney Robert Udell called "compelling" after the hearing.
"I doubt very much the public would disagree with the judge's decision," he said.
Udell's co-counsel, Jerome Stone, said their next step would be to work on Hayward's automatic appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
CHARGES AND SENTENCES
First-degree murder: Death
Armed robbery: Life in prison
without the chance for parole
Armed burglary: Life in prison
without the chance for parole
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon: 15 years with a minimum mandatory sentence of three years
megan.winslow@scripps.com
June 2, 2007
FORT PIERCE — Daniel P. DeStefano's family tearfully sat linked together hand in hand for more than an hour Friday listening to Circuit Judge James W. McCann review the case against DeStefano's killer.
By the time he pronounced sentence — death for Steven Douglas Hayward — their tears had mostly dried.
McCann followed a jury's 8-4 recommendation from March and sentenced the 38-year-old Fort Pierce resident for first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
"There will never be another Daniel DeStefano," said Tom Bakkedahl, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted Hayward.
Hayward's "reign of terror ends today. Unequivocally," he said.
Hayward shot the 32-year-old Fort Pierce Tribune newspaper carrier in the chest and thigh with a .22 caliber revolver as he was delivering papers and collecting change from newspaper stands along Avenue D about 4 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2005.
DeStefano, who carried a Magnum revolver for protection, managed to shoot Hayward in the left hand and run to safety, but he died at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute the next day from internal bleeding.
Hayward was arrested a few days after the shooting. His blood was found on DeStefano's faded blue jeans, where he had reached into the fallen man's pockets to remove $10 in cash.
Hayward still maintains he wasn't DeStefano's shooter. He sat impassively through Friday's hearing, even when DeStefano's niece, fianceé and mother took the witness stand and called him in turn "a cold-blooded killer," "an animal" and "a conniving, calculating, malicious person."
"I hope you suffer," Renee Edwards said to Hayward after speaking about her and DeStefano's hopes for children and a life together.
"You can't even look," she said, staring him down as she walked back to her seat.
"You destroyed our family and we will never be the same again," 19-year-old Amanda Seddio said with anger and tears. "I had to learn, at age 16, how cruel the world can be. You took my favorite person from me in a split second. You were in jail for 16 years — for your first murder — didn't that teach you anything? Obviously not. You killed my uncle for $10. Ten dollars."
Hayward's first murder, another "unprovoked encounter," was the most weighty aggravator that supported the death penalty, McCann said.
On Feb. 21, 1988, Hayward shot and killed Sebien DeRoche outside a 13th Street bar. Hayward pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of armed robbery. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but left prison after 16 years because of state laws that allowed for an early release.
Hayward killed DeStefano 87 days after his release from prison for the DeRoche murder, a fact even defense attorney Robert Udell called "compelling" after the hearing.
"I doubt very much the public would disagree with the judge's decision," he said.
Udell's co-counsel, Jerome Stone, said their next step would be to work on Hayward's automatic appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
CHARGES AND SENTENCES
First-degree murder: Death
Armed robbery: Life in prison
without the chance for parole
Armed burglary: Life in prison
without the chance for parole
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon: 15 years with a minimum mandatory sentence of three years
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