The cat Christopher Brooks was taking to a vet died at roadside as he was being given field sobriety tests, despite its owners’ please to the cop. But his DUI conviction was upheld by a Hillsborough County appeal court that declared that special circumstances don;t apply to cats as they would to human beings.
Circuit & County Court
ACLU Sues Florida DMV for Suspending Licenses of Those Too Poor to Pay Court Costs
More than 200,000 Florida drivers have had their licenses suspended for failure to pay legal fees as of the start of 2013–fees that are unrelated to penalties associated with their sentence. The suspensions disproportionately affect poor people, who, without a car, have even fewer means to hold a job and make good on payments.
In a Surprising Shift, County Commission Finds Money for 2 Jail-Diversion Programs After All
Flagler County commissioners Thursday evening agreed to take on a $100,000 mental-health jail diversion program previously paid for by the state, and a $60,000 pre-trial release program they had opposed in earlier workshops. Both shifts took place during a hearing devoted to approving next year’s tax property rate.
Coitus Prophylacticus: Advocacy Lawsuit Wants Florida Porn Flicks To Wear a Condom
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Health, targeting a South Florida-based company it charges with making an adult video without protecting the performers from sexually transmitted diseases via the use of condoms.
Flagler Beach’s Bobby Pace Pleads Not Guilty to Obstruction Charge
Bobby Pace, the 41-year-old Flagler Beach acting fire chief until late July, has pleaded not guilty to an obstruction charge the State Attorney filed against him on July 25 and waived an appearance before County Court Judge Melissa Moore-Stens at an arraignment on Tuesday.
Lonnie Redner’s Life Sentence for Double Murder Ends an Almost 4-Year-Old Case
Lonnie Redner of Palm Coast went to Ormond-by-the-Sea in November 2009 to rob two men of prescription pills. He murdered them instead and stole 50 pills and $20 in cash. In a case that ended last week, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Nickel and Diming County Foregoes Program That Would Have Reduced Jail Population
The Flagler County judge and sheriff had supported a proposed pre-trial release program that would have kept low-grade, non-violent offenders out of jail, saving them money in the short term and the county money in the long term, but the county commission eliminated the proposal as part of a $400,000 cut from next year’s budget proposal.
Two Ex-Firefighters Sue Flagler Beach, Charging Their Firing Was Retaliatory
Shane Wood and Jacob Bissonnette say their firing by City Manager Bruce Campbell last February, over an allegation they stored home-made alcohol at the fire station, was retaliation for their role in an investigation that led to a charge of obstruction of justice against Bobby Pace, another firefighter who was briefly acting chief.
James McDevitt Pleads Not Guilty in Flagler Beach Rape Allegation and Gets Public Defender
James McDevitt, the 21-year-old Palm Coast resident accused of raping a 38-year-old woman in an empty lot on South 12th Street in Flagler Beach on June 18, pleaded not guilty to the first-degree felony charge in a brief appearance before Flagler County Circuit Court Judge J. David Walsh. He was assigned assistant public defender Bill Partington.
Middle School Boy Invokes Stand Your Ground in School Bus Fight With Girl, and Court Agrees
Showing the breadth of Florida’s “stand your ground” law, an appeals court Wednesday said the controversial legal defense can be used by a boy involved in a fight with a girl on a school bus. No weapons were involved. The boy making the stand your ground claim was arrested on a battery charge.