Circuit Judge John Cooper said he was “still wrestling” with the “sophisticated legal issues” presented in the case and promised to issue a verbal decision at 10 a.m. Friday. DeSantis on Thursday promised to appeal if Cooper does not side with the state.
Circuit & County Court
As 8 School Districts Approve Mask Mandates, DeSantis Administration Argues in Court Against Them
As the legal battle plays out, eight school districts as of Tuesday afternoon had voted to require masks for students, with exceptions only for students whose parents submit doctors’ notes. The mask mandates in the eight counties cover an estimated 1.23 million students, based on state enrollment data from the 2020-2021 school year.
Palm Coast Man Accused of Shooting Into a Neighbor’s House Wants to Go Home. Judge Swiftly Says No.
The swiftness of Circuit Judge Terence Perkins’s decision, paired with the brief but wrenching testimony of one of the victims, was a passing illustration of how the casualness of gun wielding in a county where almost a fifth of adult residents have a concealed weapon permit at times results in severe consequences–and potentially deadly incidents, with continuing ramifications for all involved.
Man Who Killed Flagler Sheriff’s Deputy Chuck Sease in 2003 Wants Clemency, Half-Way of 35-Year Prison Sentence
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly and State Attorney R.J. Larizza have written the state clemency board stern letters opposing any commutation of sentence for Bruce Grove, the now-46-year-old former Palm Coast resident serving 35 years in prison for the killing of Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy Charles “Chuck” Sease in 2003 as Grove was eluding other deputies in a chase.
Judge Will Weigh DeSantis Order Banning Mask Mandates in Schools
A Leon County circuit judge has scheduled a hearing Friday in a lawsuit filed by parents challenging an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to prevent school districts from requiring students to wear masks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
James Harris of Jimmy’s Hang 10 Will Remain in Jail Pending Trial as Judge Denies Motion for Bond
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins this afternoon denied a motion by James Harris’s attorney to release Harris from jail, on bond, pending trial on three charges of molestation involving his stepdaughter over what she says is a period of five years. She is 14. Harris is the 61-year-old owner of Jimmy’s Hang 10, the Flagler Beach restaurant, who was arrested on July 2.
FPC’s Shauntiana Stafford, 17, Killed Herself in 2019. Her Mother is Suing Flagler Schools, Charging Wrongful Death
Seemingly the first such lawsuit in recent decades in Flagler, the case opens a rare window into bullying issues behind normally restrictive student privacy laws, potentially revealing in detail the psychological and mental context of a student in the weeks and months leading up to her death, her relationship with school staffers, and the district’s responses in all its intricacies.
Life in Prison for Leon Wiley for Attempting to ‘Erase’ Step-Daughter Through 6 Years of Depraved Abuse and Sadism
55-year-old Leon Norman Wiley Jr.’s three-hour sentencing hearing today included victim impact statements of shattering details from the step-daughter he’d raped, impregnated and pimped out since she was 12, from her mother, and even from Wiley’s own parents, who had no illusions about the crimes he’d committed, though they asked for some mercy.
13-Year-Old Soccer Player Files Suit Against Florida’s Just-Enacted Ban on Transgender Girl Athletes
A 13-year-old Broward County soccer player and her parents are challenging a a new state law that bans transgender female athletes from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams, arguing that it is unconstitutional and “ignores basic medical science” about trans students.
Leon Wiley Admits He Raped His Minor Step-Daughter for Years But Says Jury Was Wrong to Convict Him
Leon Norman Wiley Jr., 54, was found guilty by a jury of raping his stepdaughter since she was 12, but he argued today that he was owed a new trial because none of the abuse took place in Flagler County. The judge rejected the argument. Wiley is to be sentenced Friday to what may amount to life in prison.