Bryan Lemus was spared prison three years ago after a plea deal that reduced charges of molesting a minor to child abuse. He was sentenced to probation, but has since violated his probation twice, the last time in December after violating a prohibition on using social media to exchange explicit images with a woman.
Flagler, Palm Coast & Other Local News
DOT Will Seek Public Input on More Permanent Protection for A1A, But Options Are Limited
After two months of closed-door sessions involving state, federal and local officials on how to more permanently secure State Road A1A in Flagler and Volusia counties from storm damage and rising seas, the Florida Department of Transportation will seek public input in two sessions later this month–one in Flagler Beach, one in Volusia County, and present a half dozen options or so.
Brenan Hill Now Faces Murder Charge as Savannah Gonzalez, Victim in Microtel Shooting, Dies
Brenan Hill now faces a second-degree murder charge in the shooting of Savannah Gonzalez near the Microtel in Palm Coast in March 2021. The State Attorney’s Office today filed the new charge. Hill is scheduled for an August trial.
Ex-Palm Coast Doctor Facing Rape and Deceit Allegations Says He Was Never Served
A year and a half after a civil lawsuit was filed against him, claiming he deceived, drugged and raped a woman at a condo in Palm Coast, Dr. Gerard Abate says he was never served. A judge will decide whether Abate or a process server are telling the truth at a hearing next week.
Flagler Jail Eliminates All Hard-Copy Mail to Inmates as Scanning and Tablets Replace Paper
All hard-copy mail delivery to the Flagler County jail’s 225-some inmates has been replaced by scans of mail. It is part of a sweeping change in the handling of inmate mail across the state at least 14 other states as prisons and jails cut down on incoming materials. The switch has drawn sharp criticism from prisoner advocates and strong support by those implementing it, as in Flagler.
In Putnam, a 38-Year-Old Man Is Sentenced to Die, Again, and a 21 Year Old Will Serve Life in Prison
Timothy Wayne Fletcher, 38, was sentenced to die at the state’s hand for the murder of his stepgrandmother Helen Googe in 2009. Anthony Foxx will serve life in prison without parole with the stabbing death of his Ayana Belton, who was 16.
A Defendant Says he’s Going to Prison for Doing What His Domestic Violence Classes Told Him to Do
Leon Marcus Criswell was sentenced to 17 months in state prison in a domestic battery case, but he says his case was aggravated because he did just what his counselors in domestic violence classes taught him to do: he sped away from what he saw as trouble before it got physical.
Divided Appeals Court Rejects Protection for Transgender Bathroom Use in St. Johns School Case
After a five-year legal battle, and reversing a lower court ruling, a sharply divided federal appeals court upheld a St. Johns County School Board policy that prevented a transgender male student from using boys’ bathrooms at a high school.
American Impressions 9 | South Dakota: Crazy
For the Sioux of South Dakota it’s been a tragic, unresolved legacy of exploitation in the Black Hills. The rape of the mountains by gold and uranium prospectors was followed by the carving of Mount Rushmore and, for the past 75 years, the ongoing desecration of the hills in the name of Crazy Horse–what was to be the largest sculpture in the world, but has turned into a lucrative tourist trap.
American Impressions 8 | North Dakota: A Life in Missiles
Virginia Lillico and her family spent their life in their homestead on land in the shadow of an ICBM missile silo in North Dakota at the height of the cold war and beyond. She never took safeguards seriously, thinking it was pointless.