Escambia Man Gets Life Sentence For Attempted Murder
June 25, 2015
An Escambia County man has been sentenced to life in prison for a 2014 attempted murder and assault.
Hector Adolfo Demontalvo was sentenced by Circuit Judge Linda Nobles to life in state prison with a minimum mandatory sentence of 33 years to be served day for day. Demontalvo pled no contest on March 30, 2015 to the charges of attempted murder with a firearm, aggravated assault with a firearm, and armed burglary with a firearm.
On September 4, 2014, Escambia County deputies responded to 211 Donald Drive. At the scene, they found Zachary Brown inside the residence suffering from multiple wounds. Witnesses stated that Brown was shot, stabbed, kicked and struck by a skateboard causing serious bodily injuries. Witnesses identified Demontalvo as the perpetrator and stated that he had fled the residence. Those witnesses also stated that Demontalvo accused Brown of “wearing a wire” just prior to his attack. The deputies found the knife and gun used in the attack at 211 Donald Drive.
Within minutes of arriving, the deputies were called to 216 Henry Street in Pensacola where they found the Demontalvo. They discovered at Demontalvo had broken into that house and attempted to kidnap a resident while armed with a second gun.
Jay Lindsey Named Tate Head Football Coach
June 25, 2015
Jay Lindsey has been named head football coach at Tate High School.
Lindsey was named interim coach in late March.
Lindsey was offensive coordinator for the Aggies last season and led the team through the spring. He has nine years coaching experience, including his time at Tate and years at Pace High school.
Lindsey’s appointment follows the resignation of Ronnie Douglas, who stepped down to spend more time on his business ventures.
Judge Considers Challenge To Abortion Waiting Period
June 25, 2015
Only days before a new Florida law would start requiring 24-hour waits before women can have abortions, a Leon County circuit judge is considering whether to place a hold on the law while a constitutional challenge goes forward.
The law (HB 633), which passed in April, is slated to go into effect July 1. The day after Gov. Rick Scott signed the law, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a constitutional challenge and sought an emergency injunction.
On Wednesday, Chief Circuit Judge Charles Francis heard arguments from the ACLU and the Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office and then said he’d issue a ruling quickly on whether to grant an injunction.
Both sides are expected to appeal an adverse ruling.
The new law adds to the information that physicians performing abortions must provide to women to obtain their consent. Under the law, the information must be provided in person to women at least 24 hours before the procedures are performed — requiring women to make two trips to abortion clinics.
Supporters of the law contend it will give women more time to reflect on their decisions. Opponents contend it will place obstacles before women seeking abortions, especially women who are victims of violence and women who are low-income and live in rural areas.
In a one-hour hearing Wednesday, ACLU attorney Renee Paradis pointed to Florida’s “explicit” constitutional right to privacy as the basis for challenging HB 633.
“Florida is one of only five states with this kind of strong privacy protection in the Constitution,” she said. “None of those five have a waiting period. The only one that tried to have a waiting period was struck down by the courts in Montana.”
But Blaine Winship, special counsel to the attorney general, said the state has a vested interest in its residents’ well-being.
“The state wields the police power to protect the health and safety of the people,” he said.
Winship also contended that nothing in the new law removes a woman’s right to get an abortion.
“The question of whether there is a 24-hour wait for her to contemplate the full impact and ramifications of her decision is obviously what we’ve been talking about today,” he said. “It’s what the Legislature aimed to try to protect.”
Lawmakers included in the law exceptions to the 24-hour wait for victims of rape, incest, domestic violence and human trafficking. To qualify, however, those victims must produce police reports, restraining orders, medical records or other documentation — and Paradis said most victims do not seek those.
The Republican-led Legislature rejected Democrats’ attempts to allow women to consult with doctors online or to have nurses explain the procedure on the first visit.
“This is all just about informed consent,” Winship said. “The Legislature took great care in building in a number of exemptions.”
But Paradis said the second-trip requirement threatens a woman’s privacy by increasing the risk that other people — from loved ones to employers and co-workers — will learn that she is having an abortion.
The two sides also sparred over the strength of Florida’s constitutional right to privacy. Winship pointed to a 2006 Florida Supreme ruling that upheld the informed-consent provision in a 1997 law, the “Women’s Right to Know” Act, which required doctors to explain the medical risks of abortion and to obtain consent from women seeking them.
Paradis, however, noted that the language in a landmark 1989 case had provided Floridians with stronger privacy protections than most states.
“The state may think it knows better, but that doesn’t matter,” Paradis said. “It matters what the woman decides.”
Francis said he would not rule Wednesday, but soon thereafter.
by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida
Seminoles Up The Ante In Gambling Negotiations
June 25, 2015
The Seminole Tribe has given the state 30 days to strike a new accord about exclusive rights to operate banked card games and has put the state on notice that tribal casinos don’t have to shut down the games even in the absence of a revamped deal.
Wednesday’s letter from tribal chief James Billie is the Seminoles’ latest effort to force state leaders into negotiations about the lucrative card games and comes a month before a deal giving the tribe “exclusivity” over the games is set to expire.
Billie sent state leaders a “notice of commencement of compact dispute resolution procedures,” setting in motion a 30-day period for both sides to meet over the banked card games, which include blackjack. The dispute resolution mechanism requested by the tribe is included in a 20-year agreement, inked in 2010, that set out the parameters for the Seminoles’ gambling operations in Florida.
The compact also included a five-year deal, slated to sunset at the end of July, that gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate banked card games at five of its seven casinos. In exchange, the Seminoles agreed to pay the state a minimum of $1 billion over five years. The payments would stop if anyone else in the state offers the “banked” games.
“It’s my opinion that the tribe is utilizing these arguments and the dispute resolution provision to get into a room with state leaders in order to continue a discussion on the balance of the term of the compact and the operation of banked cards,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, a Bradenton lawyer who helped craft the original compact. “From a legal strategy standpoint, it’s a good strategy. I disagree with the arguments that they’re making, but it at least gives them a procedural methodology to negotiate with the state.”
Lawmakers failed to approve a new agreement during the regular session that ended in May, and discussions between the tribe and Republican legislative leaders have gone nowhere this year. Gov. Rick Scott handed over the issue to House and Senate leaders after a deal between the governor and the Seminoles blew up in the waning days of the 2014 legislative session.
In Wednesday’s six-page letter hand-delivered to Scott, Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, the Seminoles contend that they can continue to offer the card games with or without a new deal because of state-authorized gambling activities taking place elsewhere.
The alleged violations of the compact would allow the tribe to stop making direct payments to the state and instead deposit the money into an escrow account, Billie wrote.
“While the tribe could have exercised its right to do so immediately, it has thus far elected to continue making its payments to the state and, as a gesture of good faith, intends to continue making its payments to the state pending the resolution of this dispute,” he wrote.
Billie’s arguments included a claim the tribe has made for years regarding slot machines that look like blackjack and roulette, authorized by state gambling regulators at non-tribal pari-mutuels. The slots operate essentially the same as the banked games, Billie wrote, the only difference being that the cards are electronic instead of paper, “a distinction we assert is without a difference.”
The Seminoles also raised a new issue on Wednesday, however, about whether player-banked card games in which the “bank” is another player instead of “the house” — first authorized by state gambling regulators in 2011and now at play in at least three pari-mutuel facilities — also violate the tribe’s rights to exclusivity. “Banked” card games, such as blackjack, are typically considered those in which players bet against the house instead of each other.
But Billie’s letter asserts that the National Indian Gaming Commission considers player-banked card games to be a form of banked card games.
“That is a very arcane area but, as I read their letter, it’s not something that I find to be ridiculous,” said Steve Geller, a former state senator and attorney who specializes in gaming law. “This may be a way of forcing the state into negotiation. I tend to disagree with most of it, but I don’t find them to be open and shut issues, particularly if the NIGC (National Indian Gaming Commission) has interpreted this player-banked card game to be a banked card game.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida
Tate, Jay Players Named To All State Softball Teams; Wyatt Coach Of Year
June 25, 2015
The Miracle Sports All-State softball teams were named Wednesday.
Tate High School’s Tori Perkins was named the 7A pitcher of the year, and Tate coach Melinda Wyatt was named the 7A coach of the year.
Perkins and Casey McCrackin were named 7A first team. Rachel Wright, Hayden Lindsay and Lauren Brennan were named to the state second team.
In 1A, Jay’s Destiny Herring, Michaela Stewart and Harley Tagert were named to the first team, while the Royals’ Dana Blackmon, Samantha Steadham, Avery Jackson and Emily Dobson were named to the second team.
Pictured: Tori Perkins (L) shortly after Tate won the Class 7A softball championship, and Coach Melinda Wyatt (right) tosses a ceremonial first pitch for the Blue Wahoos. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Former Lawmaker, ‘Country Doctor’ Peaden Dies
June 24, 2015
Former Sen. Durell Peaden, a soft-spoken Panhandle doctor who helped shepherd state health policy and funding, has died after suffering a heart attack early this month.
Senate Secretary Debbie Brown sent a memo to senators Wednesday morning informing them of the death of Peaden, 69, who served in the Senate from 2000 to 2010 and in the House from 1994 to 2000.
“Last night I lost a friend, cousin and mentor,” Sen. Greg Evers, a Baker Republican and cousin of Peaden, said in an email to lawmakers Wednesday. “It is with a heavy heart that I bring you the news of the passing of Senator Durell Peaden. Please keep his family in your prayers.”
Peaden’s family dates back generations in Northwest Florida, with biographical information in the House clerk’s manual indicating that a Peaden relative, John Wilkinson, served in the Legislature in the 1840s. Other members of the family also served later in the 1800s, in the early 1900s and in the 1970s.
With his soft, slow drawl, Peaden liked to describe himself as a “country doctor.” He was a well-liked figure in the Legislature and would, at times, aggressively advocate for health-care money. He said the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, which he chaired during part of his time in the Senate, dealt with “life and death” issues.
While in the House, Peaden — who was widely known as “Doc” in the Capitol — also took a lead role in helping establish a medical school at Florida State University. His pitch, at least in part, was that the school could help train primary-care physicians to work in rural and underserved areas.
Hailing from Crestview in the conservative northwest corner of the state, Peaden also was a leading supporter of gun rights. Perhaps most notably, Peaden in 2005 sponsored the “stand your ground” self-defense law.
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, announced to the Senate on June 5 that Peaden had suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in Pennsylvania. Evers last week told senators that Peaden was recovering.
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Pictured: Durell Peaden.
Cantonment Man Killed In Single Vehicle Crash
June 24, 2015
A Cantonment man was killed in a single vehicle accident in Cantonment Tuesday night.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 21-year old Aaron Lewis Wolfe was traveling southbound on County Road 97 in a 1998 Jeep Cherokee just before 9 p.m. As he entered a curve near Devine Farm Road, he left the roadway, traveled onto the shoulder and over-corrected, causing his vehicle to overturn multiple times. The Jeep came to rest upside down on the shoulder of the road.
Wolfe, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced deceased on the scene, according to the FHP.
NorthEscambia.com photo by Kristi Price, click to enlarge.
Century Home Destroyed By Fire
June 24, 2015
A Century home was destroyed by fire Tuesday night, and the cause of the blaze is now under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The fire was reported just after 9 p.m. in the 500 block of Tedder Road, near the Century Correctional Institution. The wood frame home was fully involved when the first firefighters arrived on scene.
Preliminary information indicated that renters had just recently moved out of the home, and no one was inside at the time the fire started. The home still had all utilities.
There were no injuries reported. The Century, McDavid and Walnut Hill stations of Escambia Fire Rescue, the Flomaton Fire Department and Escambia Count EMS were among the responders to the blaze.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Incumbent Bill Slayton Prefiles For School Board
June 24, 2015
Incumbent William “Bill” Slayton Jr. pre-filed Tuesday as a candidate for Escambia County School Board District 5 for the 2016 election.
Slayton, a resident of Cantonment, was first elected to the school board in 2008, following an unsuccessful bid for school superintendent in 2004.
Frequently Incarcerated Century Man Arrested Again
June 24, 2015
A Century man with a lengthy arrest history is now back behind bars.
Ronald Berlan Newton, 54, was charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, a third degree felony offense. He remains in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $100,000.
Newton had started an argument with his brother and other family members at a residence on Blackmon Street in Century, according to an arrest report, and threatened to kill his brother. Family members said Newton picked up a metal garden tool and swung it at his brother’s head, after threatening to kill him.
Deputies said Newton stated repeatedly that his brother was lying.
Since 2007, Newton has been arrested on a long list of charges that were dropped or dismissed included aggravated assault, criminal mischief, battery, lewd and lascivious behavior victim under 18, indecent exposure, disorderly conduct and contempt of court.
Newton was released from state prison in April 2012 after completing a 22 month sentence for stalking after being arrested more than a dozen times in a year. Newton was first found incompetent and remanded into the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families for evaluation, but was later found competent to stand trial.
Newton was again sentenced to prison in October 2013 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated stalking. After being released from prison, he was once again arrested for contempt of court for willfully violating an domestic violence injunction. He was released from jail on April 4, 2015.