The Circuit Court in Flagler County is at the center of an unusual appeal of a sentence due to a judge forgetting to let the prosecutor and defense attorneys make their closing arguments in a wrenching sentencing hearing three months ago that shook up many people in the courtroom.
Last March 4, at the end of an 88-minute hearing, Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols sentenced Melvin Adona, 53, to 10 years in prison for the hit-and-run deaths of Jacqueline Martin, 50, and Georgette Fisher, 59. Adona struck them, along with Philip McClure, 48, who suffered grave injuries. A drunk Adona struck them as they crossed South State Street in January 2023. Then he hid from cops in the yard of a restaurant not far away, terrified.
The hearing included several members of both victims’ families and friends addressing the court with heart-rending testimony. Nichols herself had gone into chambers at the beginning of the hearing to watch surveillance camera footage of the collision.
It did not leave her unmoved. Nor had the testimony: judges aren’t automatons, and can sometimes have physical reactions to the cases before them, especially when a wrong done doesn’t equate with ill intentions and all those involved are ordinary people whose lives were upended (or ended) by an extraordinary act. (See: “10 Years in Prison for Melvin Adona for Hit-and-Run Deaths of Jacqueline Martin, 50, and Georgette Fisher, 59.“)
The testimony done, Nichols took a 10-minute break, surprising no one as to why. “This is an incredibly difficult case,” she said when she returned. “These are some of the worst cases as judges and lawyers we have to handle.” She then pronounced the sentence.
“I absolutely believe that Mr. Adona is remorseful, I absolutely believe that,” the judge said. “However, two people are dead and one person miraculously survived.” The sentencing apparently over, Nichols walked back out, saying she’d return momentarily to sign papers. The hearing up to that point had lasted 88 minutes. (See the transcript of those 88 minutes here.)
Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clerk, who had prosecuted the case, and Adona’s defense attorney, Aaron Delgado, looked at each other. The judge had forgotten something: hearing the attorneys’ arguments, when each side makes its case–the prosecution, for harsher terms, the defense, for more lenient terms. If it’s not the heart of the sentencing hearing, it’s an essential part of it.
The attorneys spoke with the judge in chambers. The judge then returned, acknowledged the error, and said she would grant the two attorneys the time to make their closing arguments for the record, even though it was obvious the judge was not going to change her decision.
The attorneys did so. But again, unbeknownst to them and the court, the court recording had ended with Nichols adjourning earlier. There are no court reporters in court anymore. It’s all done by digital recording, controlled by an office away from the courtroom. That office had taken the hearing to be over, and had turned off the recording.
But for a partial audio recording of Delgado’s closing argument by a FlaglerLive reporter, there is no record of the attorneys’ arguments.
The case is now on appeal at the Fifth District Court of Appeal. All such cases are routinely appealed. But in this case, the judge’s error has led to a motion by the defense, unopposed by the prosecution, for the appellate court to “relinquish jurisdiction” back to the the Circuit Court in Flagler County “to oversee the attempted reconstruction of the unrecorded portions of the appellant’s sentencing hearing.”
Delgado filed the motion on Friday.
“Here, the Court’s sentencing without hearing the argument of counsel is the sole issue on appeal,” the motion states. “An Appellant is entitled to a full and accurate transcript of essential hearings and record below. […] Before an appellate court reverses a case due to a missing or incomplete transcript, the State should be afforded an opportunity to determine whether the missing portions of the record can be reconstructed.” The motion notes that FlaglerLive provided the attorneys with the portion of the recording that captured the defense’s argument.
It is almost certain that the appellate court will grant the motion. It is not yet clear how and when the circuit court will reconstruct the record, short of summoning the two attorneys, possibly bringing back Adona, and holding that portion of the sentencing hearing again in Courtroom 401. The judge’s sentence is unlikely to change.
Adona since April 4 has been serving his sentence at the Marion Work Camp, a minimum-security prison north of Ocala. He is scheduled for release in February 2036, but can shave 18 months off his sentence in “gain time,” or good behavior, if the appeal of his sentence is unsuccessful.
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