Jonathan Canales was sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Tiffany Norman in the Mondex in 2014 as her three children slept. He will represent himself when he appears before Circuit Judge Terence Perkins next week, arguing defendants’ last hope: that his attorney had been ineffective.
Circuit & County Court
In-Person Jury Trials Suspended in Flagler Until at Least Late January as Covid Trolls
There will be no in-person jury trials in Flagler County until at least January 19 due to the very high incidence of coronavirus cases in the county. The county in the week ending last Saturday broke yet another record in confirmed cases for the previous seven days, with a total of 270, and a cumulative total exceeding 3,500.
DeSantis Passes Over Rendzio and Names Kenny Janesk Judge in 7th Judicial Circuit, Which Includes Flagler
Janesk has been a prosecutor in the Seventh Circuit State Attorney’s Office since 2011, working as the managing attorney of the Putnam County office. The appointment fills the position vacated by Circuit Judge Patti A. Christensen, who stepped down at the end of September.
Nathaniel Shimmel, 25, Sentenced to 50 Years in Stabbing Death of His Mother, Michele, at Their Palm Coast Home
Shimmel had faced the possibility of life in prison. His 50-year sentence will be followed by lifetime probation. Between time served and early release, he may be eligible to leave prison in 2060, when he will be 64. The family of the victim agreed to the plea deal to bring closure to the homicide case of longest date on the court’s docket.
Appeals Court Tosses GOP Challenge to Mask Mandate in Leon, But Doesn’t Address Constitutional Issues
Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis has declined to issue a statewide mask mandate. He also issued an executive order in September that suspended collection of fines and penalties related to violations of mask requirements, but that did not prevent local governments from continuing to have the requirements.
Covid Justice: Florida Court Rules Zoom Hearings Don’t Violate Defendants’ Constitutional Rights
In a legal test of remote court proceedings during the Covid-19 pandemic, an appeals court Wednesday rejected arguments that using Zoom technology in a probation-violation hearing would violate a defendant’s constitutional rights.
The Strange Case of Cornelius Baker’s Dangling Fate on Death Row, 13 Years After a Bunnell Murder
Conflicting Supreme Court cases gave convicted murdered Cornelius Baker hope that he could get a new sentencing trial and escape the death penalty, as have two previous Flagler death row inmates. But the conflicting cases, again reflecting the contradictions of Florida’s capital punishment laws, now leave his fate in an absurd twilight zone.
Supreme Court Refuses to Reinstate Death Sentences in Decision That Could Affect 2 Flagler Inmates
The decisions could apply to about 100 inmates, possibly including David Snelgrove of Palm Coast, who was removed from death row in January after his lawyer successfully argued for life without parole, and Cornelius Baker, whose hope for a new penalty-phase trial is still pending.
Oral Arguments on Alachua’s Mask Mandate Evoke Hijabs, Nazis, KKK, Crime and, Finally, Public Health
Oral arguments about Alachua County’s mask mandate before a three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeal Monday was a spectacle of audacious leaps and strange analogies that nevertheless illustrated the sharp and far from resolved divide between mask proponents and anti-maskers, including on the judicial bench.
State Attorney Will Seek Death Penalty for Derrek Perkins in Stabbing Murder of Wife Brandi in Hastings
The victim, a resident of Green Cove Springs who worked at a restaurant in St. Augustine, had filed an injunction against Derrek the day before the stabbing and after several intimidating and threatening incidents involving him.