Florida Justices Take Up ‘Stand Your Ground’ Split
June 27, 2018
With lower courts split on the issue, the Florida Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up a question about whether a 2017 change to the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law should apply to older cases.
The controversial 2017 change shifted a key burden of proof in “stand your ground” cases — a shift that can play a role in determining whether people claiming self-defense should be shielded from prosecution. But two appellate courts have split about whether the change should apply to defendants who were arrested before the 2017 law took effect but whose cases were pending.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the case of Tashara Love, who sought to use the self-defense law to be shielded from prosecution in a November 2015 shooting incident outside a Miami-Dade County nightclub. The 3rd District Court of Appeal last month ruled that the 2017 burden-of-proof change should not apply retroactively to Love’s case.
In asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, Love’s attorneys pointed to potentially broad implications.
“This case presents an issue of statewide importance impacting countless criminal prosecutions: whether the 2017 amendment to the Stand Your Ground law applies to all pending cases or only those arising after its enactment,” the attorneys wrote in a brief.
As is common, the Supreme Court’s order Tuesday accepting the case dealt only with procedural issues. But all five justices involved in deciding whether to take up the case — Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Charles Canady and Ricky Polston — agreed on hearing it.
The “stand your ground” law says people are justified in using deadly force and do not have a “duty to retreat” if they believe it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm. When the defense is successfully raised in pre-trial hearings, defendants are granted immunity from prosecution.
Before the 2017 change, the Supreme Court had ruled that defendants had the burden of proof in pre-trial hearings to show they should be shielded from prosecution. But with backing from groups such as the National Rifle Association, lawmakers shifted the burden from defendants to prosecutors to prove whether self-defense claims are justified. By placing the burden on prosecutors, the new version of the law could help at least some defendants in “stand your ground” cases.
While the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that the change should not be applied retroactively, the 2nd District Court of Appeal this spring took the opposite position in a Hillsborough County case.
A panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal said the burden-of-proof change should apply retroactively to Tymothy Ray Martin, who was convicted of felony battery in a 2016 altercation involving his girlfriend. Martin appealed his conviction, and the appeal was pending when the 2017 burden-of-proof change took effect.
Martin’s case also is at the Supreme Court. Amid the conflicting rulings, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office agreed that the Supreme Court should resolve the retroactivity issue — though it suggested justices hear the Martin case instead of the Love case.
“(Courts) of the Third District are forbidden from applying Florida’s Stand Your Ground amendment retroactively, while courts of the Second District must apply it retroactively to all pending cases,” attorneys in Bondi’s office wrote in a brief this month. “This constitutes the requisite ‘express and direct conflict’ that the (Supreme) Court’s conflict jurisdiction is designed to resolve.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Register Now For The Tate Aggies Softball Camp
June 27, 2018
The Tate Summer Softball Camp will be held on Thursday, July 12.
The cost is $40 for a softball and hitting skills clinic from 9 a.m. until noon, plus $10 additional for a pitching clinic from 12:30 until 1:30 p.m. at the Tate softball field.
The clinic will be presented by the Tate Aggies coaching staff assisted by current and former Aggie players.
Click here for a registration form for ages 7 through the eighth grade. The form can be returned with payment to any board member or on the day of camp from 8:30 until 9:00 a.m.
For more information, call Brian at (850) 393-6587
Used Car Dealer Faces 15 Years For Fraud
June 27, 2018
Manuel Jacquet was convicted of organized fraud $20,000 or more, selling motor vehicles without a dealer’s license and 11 counts of sale of rebuilt vehicles without notice.
Prosecutors said Jacquet falsely presented himself to the public as a licensed car dealer in Escambia County between November 2016 and August 2017. He advertised cars for sale on social media and internet websites under his name and his company’s name, Onest Motors.
There were 11 victims that testified they purchased cars from him and his company. Jacquet falsely represented the cars’ history and title status in order to complete the sales. He received over $38,000 in the scheme, the State Attorney’s Ofice said.
Circuit Judge Joel Boles presided over the two day trial and set sentencing for August 10. Jacquet faces up to 15 years in state prison.
The case was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Court Rejects Speeding Up Medical Marijuana Smoking Case
June 27, 2018
An appeals court Tuesday rejected a request to quickly send a major medical-marijuana case to the Florida Supreme Court.
The case focuses on arguments about whether a 2017 law improperly bars patients from smoking medical marijuana. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers last month ruled that the smoking ban violated a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida.
Attorneys for the state appealed Gievers’ ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal. Plaintiffs in the case, including the group People United for Medical Marijuana, filed a motion June 8 asking that the case be “certified” to the Supreme Court — a move that would effectively lead to bypassing the 1st District Court of Appeal.
The plaintiffs argued, in part, that the ban on smoking marijuana “presents an immediate threat of irreparable injuries to those patients for whom this medical (smoking) treatment is currently prohibited.” But attorneys for the state disputed that the case should go immediately to the Supreme Court.
“(There) are various other forms of medical marijuana presently available and approved (or permitted) … in Florida for qualifying patients,” the state argued in a June 12 brief. “For example, vaping or vaporization of marijuana flower is permitted for medical use, so long as the flower is in a sealed, tamperproof receptacle.”
The appeals court Tuesday issued a one-sentence order rejecting the request to certify the case to the Supreme Court, though the order did not explain the reasoning.
by The News Service of Florida
Former Tate Coach Serving Six Life Sentences For Child Sex Abuse Pleads To Additional Charges
June 27, 2018
A former Tate High assistant football coach and church youth leader that was sentenced last year to six consecutive life sentences for child sexual assault has entered a guilty plea to the remaining charges against him.
Charlie Maybern Hamrick, 55, pleaded guilty Tuesday to five counts of child abuse and two counts of misdemeanor battery, and he was immediately sentenced to five years in state prison to run concurrent with the life sentences.
According to the State Attorney’s Offcie, the plea prevented additional victims from being required to testify in court.
Some of the abuse occurred at Tate High School where Hamrick performed unauthorized physical exams on male students in a school locker room. He also inappropriately touched a male student at a Cantonment church.
For an earlier story with more details on the charges that led to six life sentences for Hamrick, click here.
Fire Destroys Home In Cottage Hill
June 26, 2018
Fire destroyed a home in Cottage Hill Tuesday afternoon.
The fire was reported just after 4 p.m. in the 2000 block of Williams Ditch Road. There were no injuries reported.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office. At least two people were displaced by the fire and were offered assistance from the American Red Cross.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour and Jared Sigler, click to enlarge.
Tanker Truck Leaks Gallons Of Oily Substance Onto Highway 29
June 26, 2018
A tanker truck leaked about 25 gallons of an oily, soapy substance on Highway 29 near 10 Mile Road shortly before 6 a.m.
The “Flexatrac-ACM-100″ was shipped in a 53-foot tanker truck from Ascend Performance Materials in Gonzalez and spilled mostly into one southbound lane of Highway 29, closing the the outside lane for cleanup. The material — described by officials as basically soybean oil and soap — was not considered hazardous except for being slippery.
The Florida Department of Transportation said sand was used to remove the oil and road was washed to remove any residue (bottom picture). Al lanes of southbound Highway 29 reopened about 2:30 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Death Of Century Correctional Institution Inmate Under Investigation
June 26, 2018
A weekend inmate death at Century Correctional Institution is under investigation.
Inmate Wesley C. Moore, 38, was pronounced deceased at the prison shortly after 7:00 p.m. Saturday.
The death is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with assistance from the Department’s Office of the Inspector General, according to Patrick Manderfield, press secretary for the Florida Department of Corrections. He declined to release further information due to the active investigation and privacy laws. He did not specify if the death appeared to be natural or suspicious.
Moore was serving a three year, nine month sentence out of Okaloosa County for possession of a controlled substance and failing to comply with sexual offender registration requirements. He was previously convicted of unlawful sexual activity with a minor age 16-17 and robbery.
Moore’s death was the 15th inmate death at Century Correctional Institution since 2013 and the ninth since January 2017.
Century Approves Plan To Correct Audit Findings; Repay Nearly $2 Million To Fund
June 26, 2018
The Century Town Council has approved a “corrective action plan” with a roadmap to correcting negative audit findings….even if it’s paying back nearly $2 million at a rate of just $300 per month.
The town’s most recent audit, covering the fiscal year ending in September 2016, found deteriorating financial conditions that could result in a future “financial emergency”, $3.83 million in transferred special revenue funds that must be repaid, $1.4 million in expenditures in violation of state statutes, over $5,000 in a bank account that did not appear on the books and other deficiencies.
The plan outlined by accountant Robert Hudson proposes fixes and changes for each finding
The audit found the town had borrowed nearly $4 million from a special revenue fund and those funds should be repaid.
Hudson said about $600,000 derived from the local option gas tax was borrowed from the special revenue fund, but those dollars can be reclassified as operating transfers, not a loan, because Florida law allows the funds to be used for “street maintenance”. And about $1.5 million can be reclassified as transfers for certain infrastructure items and vehicles.
As for the nearly $2 million in loans from special revenue that would still be outstanding after the reclassification, the town council approved a good faith payment at a rate of $300 per month as recommended by Hudson.
The bank account not included in the general ledger, as found by the audit, was a “clearing account” where daily deposits were deposited into an account and transferred each day, Hudson said. Once the town started receiving credit cards that settlement would not occur for a few days after submission to the bank, leaving a balance in the account.
Pictured: Century Town Council members on a conference call with accountant Robert Hudson during a special council meeting Monday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
New Construction Career Academy Opening At Jay High School
June 26, 2018
Jay High School will open a Building Construction Academy this fall to meet the increased demand in the the construction trades.
It’s one of three new academies that will open in Santa Rosa County Schools.
Gulf Breeze High School seeks to meet local workforce demand in hospitality careers with its new Hospitality & Tourism Academy. And Milton High School students will have the opportunity to learn about starting their own business in the new Business & Entrepreneurship Academy.
For more information visit SantaRosaCareerPathways.com.