One Injured In Tate School Road Crash
January 5, 2017
One person received minor injuries in a two vehicle crash about 3:50 this afternoon on Highway 95A and Tate School Road. The injured party was transported to an area hospital by Escambia County EMS. The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. Further details were not available. NorthEscambia.com
What Was The Strange Noise In Cantonment Last Night? Not A Fire Breathing Dragon
January 5, 2017
Numerous readers contacted NorthEscambia.com about a strange, loud noise in Cantonment Wednesday night. A couple of readers even described the noise as sounding like a “fire breathing dragon”.
NorthEscambia.com tracked down the source of the noise, and no, it was not a fire breathing dragon. It was the International Paper plant in Cantonment literally letting off a little steam.
“Noise may occur if our boilers vent steam to bring our equipment back to service. We are back operating today,” said Janice Holmes, spokesperson for IP, adding that the plant was in compliance with all laws regarding noise levels.
“We always want to be great neighbors by listening and responding to community concerns as quickly as possible,” Holmes added.
Always better neighbors than a fire breathing dragon, we presume.
The sound can be heard from a distance in the video above, and from near the plant in the video below. Reader submitted videos by Alisha Sloan and Brittany Seale.
Pedestrian Struck And Killed By Cantonment Man On Nine Mile Road
January 5, 2017
A pedestrian was struck and killed on Nine Mile Road late Wednesday night.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 52-year old Ricky W. Polk of Saucier, MS, was walking west on Nine Mile Road near the intersection of Cove Avenue when he was struck by a 1999 Dodge pickup driven by 56-year old Marlon K. Shelton of Cantonment. Polk was pronounced deceased on the scene of the 11:19 p.m. crash.
Shelton pulled over to the shoulder of the road following the crash.
The FHP is investigating to determine if Polk was in the roadway or on the shoulder at the time of the crash. Any charges against Shelton are pending the outcome of the investigation.
Teen Hit By Vehicle On Chemstrand Road
January 5, 2017
A teen pedestrian was struck by a vehicle Wednesday morning on Chemstrand Road.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 15-year old Jacob Gallawa was walking along the shoulder of Chemstrand Road when he stepped into the path of a 206 Dodge Ram driven by 49-year old Cynthia Williams of Pensacola.
Gallawa transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition. Williams and her 8-year old passenger were not injured. No charges were filed in the crash.
George Stone Law Enforcement Academy Donates To Backpack Project
January 5, 2017
Students enrolled in the Law Enforcement Academy at George Stone Criminal Justice Training Center spend 33 weeks learning everything they need to become qualified to take the State Officer Certification Exam that, when completed and passed, will allow the student to become a certified law enforcement officer with municipal and county agencies throughout the state of Florida.
Every Law Enforcement Class in the GSTCs Criminal Justice training program is encouraged to take on a special cause for their class service project as a way to give back to the community. L.E. Class #45 chose the Escambia County School District’s Maintenance Department’s program Backpack Project USA for their class project. After contacting the Maintenance Department to get a wish list, they solicited donations and purchased the needed items.
Class #45’s assistant commander, Kevin Hill said, “After Mr. Lyster, (academy coordinator) suggested the Backpack Project, we realized there was a way we could help a student who may not get enough to eat over the weekend by simply donating some of the items on the wish list. In turn, this allowed us, the students of L.E. Class #45, to help make a big difference in the lives of children in need and in turn begin to give to the community as we would do as those sworn to serve and protect.”
The items have been delivered to the Maintenance Department for distribution in January. Class #45 has also received an invitation to attend the annual 2017 Family Fishing Rodeo and Fish Fry scheduled for next Labor Day.
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Convicted Rapist Escapee Recaptured
January 5, 2017
Alabama Department of Corrections officials report the recapture of state inmate Bobby Junior Campbell. Campbell, 37, and a male suspect were taken into custody by ADOC agents around 2 p.m. today in Montgomery.
Campbell and Mitchell Shane Worthy, 24, were found at an area hotel near Interstate Park Drive where both surrendered to authorities without incident. Worthy is suspected in aiding Campbell in his escape.
Campbell was transferred from the G.K. Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore to the Barbour County Sherriff’s Department on Nov. 17. Campbell was later released from the Barbour County Jail the same day.
The Department of Corrections reported Campbell’s release as an escape on Wednesday after corrections officials discovered a fraudulent court document in his file ordering his transfer from the Fountain Correctional Facility to the Barbour County Jail and subsequent release.
Officials said the fraudulent order raised questions of its authenticity when a person’s name authorizing the inmate’s transfer and release could not be validated.
Campbell was serving a 20-year sentence on a 2004 second-degree rape conviction out of Houston County. He faces charges for the escape. Worthy will be charged with aiding an escaped inmate.
Worthy was sentenced to three years in prison in 2014 on a theft of property conviction in Elmore County. He was released from prison in October 2015 and his connection with Campbell is not known at this time.
The ADOC is investigating Campbell’s escape and the circumstances leading to his release.
Driver Escapes Injury In Highway 29 Deer Crash
January 5, 2017
A driver escaped injury in a collision with a deer on Highway 29 just south of Morgan Cemetary Road in Molino Wednesday night. The collision caused the airbags in the vehicle to deploy. The accident was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol. The deer did not survive. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Sets February Special Election Dates For Two Council Seats
January 5, 2017
The town of Century has set a special election for two of the body’s five seats.
A special primary election will be held on Tuesday, February 14, while any necessary runoff will be during a special election on February 28.
The first seat up for election will be the one currently held by Kevin Stead. Stead was appointed as the temporary replacement for Annie Savage, who passed away in late October. Savage had just been re-elected for another term beginning January 2017, so the election will fill the seat until 2021.
The second seat up for election is the one to be filled by Ben Boutwell when he is sworn into office later this month. Boutwell was forced to resign his seat effective January 2 when he ran unsuccessfully for mayor during the recent election. Monday night, he was re-appointed as his own temporary replacement by the remainder of the council.
Voters must be registered by January 17 for the special primary election or January 30 for the special election.
Candidates interested in either seat must be a resident of Century. Pre-qualifying dates have been set for January 9-20 at the Supervisor of Elections Office. Qualifying will be held at Century Town Hall on January 23 and January 24 from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
The qualifying fee is $35.84 (one percent of salary), plus a council fee of $15 for a total of $50.94.
If a seat is decided during the February 14 special election, swearing in will be Friday, February 24. If a seat is not decided until the February 28 election, the swearing in will be Friday, March 10.
‘Bizarre’ Court Action Leads To Florida Death Penalty Confusion
January 5, 2017
In a highly unusual move that heightened confusion in an already-murky legal arena, the Florida Supreme Court quickly rescinded an order Wednesday that would have barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in capital cases.
The release of the order — a mistake, according to a court spokesman — and its almost immediate retraction further muddled Florida’s embattled death penalty, on hold for nearly a year following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last January.
“The whole thing is bizarre,” House Judiciary Chairman Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican and a former prosecutor, told The News Service of Florida in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Late Wednesday morning, the court released an order in the case of Larry Darnell Perry, one of a number of high-profile death penalty cases related to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last January. That ruling found Florida’s capital sentencing system unconstitutional because it gave too much power to judges, instead of juries.
The Legislature quickly passed a new law intended to address the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. But the Florida Supreme Court struck down the new statute because it did not require unanimous jury recommendations for death to be imposed, something not addressed in the U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Wednesday’s order, vacated less than two hours after it was released by the court, would have denied Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s “request for clarification” in Perry’s case. In that case, the Florida court majority found that the new state law was unconstitutional because it required 10 of 12 jurors — rather than unanimous juries — to recommend the death penalty and that it “cannot be applied to pending prosecutions.”
The court vacated Wednesday’s order because it was released prematurely, according to spokesman Craig Waters.
“The order references cases that still are pending in the (Florida Supreme) Court in which separate opinions have not yet been issued. The error occurred because today’s order should not have been released until the opinions in those separate cases actually have been issued,” Waters said in a rare statement explaining the court’s action.
Appellate courts “routinely process” large numbers of cases at the same time and take steps to ensure that orders or opinions do not refer to cases that are pending, Waters wrote.
“The rule is that courts wait until all of the referenced opinions have been released to the public,” he wrote. “Due to purely human error, that process failed today. The Florida Supreme Court regrets the error and is reexamining its internal procedures to prevent similar errors from occurring in the future.”
In a dissent to the now-vacated opinion, Justice Ricky Polston referenced two death-penalty cases not yet decided by the court. Those cases focus on whether the new law could apply to cases already underway, if judges instruct juries that unanimous recommendations are required for the death penalty to be imposed.
Polston objected that the court should clarify its October ruling in Perry’s case, which he wrote “has created confusion and paralysis across the state regarding the death penalty and capital trials.”
Instead, the majority’s vacated order would have struck down the entire section of the new law dealing with sentencing in capital cases.
Pete Mills, an assistant public defender in the 10th Judicial Circuit, said Wednesday’s rescinded order “will likely be reissued in a similar form” in the future.
“This is a hiccup. This caused confusion for some people but was resolved very quickly,” said Mills, who is chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association Death Penalty Steering Committee.
A similar ruling would almost certainly bring all death penalty prosecutions to a halt in Florida, said Bernie McCabe, the state attorney in the 6th Judicial Circuit in Pasco and Pinellas counties.
“I agree with one word that Justice Polston says. I think the term is incomprehensible. I find that to be a mild description, but accurate,” McCabe said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “The way I read it is, there is a death penalty, but you can’t use it, which I think makes Justice Polston’s description appropriate. It means a lot of frustration for everybody involved in the system.”
Lawmakers are poised to deal with the statute again during the legislative session that begins in March. Sprowls’ committee will get an overview of recent death penalty litigation Tuesday, and a panel will address the issue at the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee meeting the following day.
The court’s actions Wednesday won’t have any impact on how lawmakers deal with the issue, Sprowls said.
“We’re looking at what we can do as a Legislature to make sure we have a working death penalty statute,” he said. “Regardless of their decision or not-decision today, we’re going to more forward so we can have a death penalty statute that victims can rely on.”
But McCabe had a more caustic view of the death penalty’s future, given the recent court decisions.
“Whatever the Legislature does, I presume that they will require unanimity and all of that, but there’s no certainty that that particular group on the Supreme Court will find that statute to be OK,” McCabe said. “I actually am quite concerned that we can ever have a statute that that particular group is going to find OK.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Molino Road Now Closed For Bridge Work
January 5, 2017
Molino Road was closed Wednesday to being work to replace the bridge over Penasula Creek, just east of Sunshine Hill Road. The road is expected to be closed for about 265 calendar days. For a previous story with more details, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.