Miami

President Obama Has Now Commuted the Sentences of 248 Individuals

Published

10 years ago

March 30, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C. (FNN NEWS) – Today, the President announced 61 new grants of commutation to individuals serving years in prison under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws. More than one-third of them were serving life sentences. To date, the President has now commuted the sentences of 248 individuals – more than the previous six Presidents combined. And, in total, he has commuted 92 life sentences.

The President granted commutations of sentence to the following 61 individuals:

Henry Claude Agnew – Miami, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; Southern District of Florida
Sentence: 262 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (November 24, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

David Lang Akana – Pahala, HI
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine; attempt to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; District of Hawaii
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (February 15, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Robert Anthony Anderson – Louisville, KY
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, aiding and abetting; Western District of Kentucky
Sentence: Life imprisonment (August 8, 1994)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on March 30, 2017.

Marvin Bailey – Hollywood, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; aiding the travel in interstate commerce to promote the distribution of cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; Southern District of West Virginia
Sentence: Life imprisonment; $25,000 fine (June 19, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on March 30, 2017, and unpaid balance of the $25,000 fine remitted.

Bernard Beard – Compton, CA
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, and phencyclidine (PCP); felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition; Central District of California
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (May 22, 2009)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Reginald Wendell Boyd, Jr. – Greensboro, NC
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine hydrochloride; carry a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime; Middle District of North Carolina
Sentence: 180 months’ imprisonment; eight years’ supervised release (October 31, 2005)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Carmel Bretous – Miami, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to import at least five kilograms of cocaine; importation of five kilograms of cocaine; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms of cocaine; possession with intent to distribute five kilograms of cocaine; Southern District of Florida
Sentence: 235 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (November 6, 2001)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Terry Brown – St. Louis, MO
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and phencyclidine (PCP); Eastern District of Missouri
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (July 7, 2005)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Willie Chevell Cameron – Panama City Beach, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, a mixture and substance containing cocaine, more than 50 grams of methamphetamine (actual) and more than 50 grams of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine; Northern District of Florida
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (June 14, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Nathan Carter – Memphis, TN
Offense: 1. Possession of 121 grams cocaine with intent to distribute; possession of
65.8 grams cocaine base with intent to distribute; Western District of Tennessee

2. Supervised release violation (attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine); Western District of Tennessee

Sentence: 1. Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (April 30, 1999)

2. 30 months’ imprisonment; 18 months’ supervised release; $10,000 fine (May 5, 1999)

Commutation Grant: Prison sentence for both offenses commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Lewis Clay – College Park, GA
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute and the distribution of at least 50 grams of crack cocaine; possession of cocaine; Northern District of Georgia
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (May 1, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Manuel Colon – Springfield, MA
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, and heroin; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; District of Massachusetts
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (January 25, 2007)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Alvin Cordell – Cincinnati, OH
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana; attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base (crack); Southern District of Ohio
Sentence: Life imprisonment; $50,000 fine (May 5, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on March 30, 2017, and unpaid balance of the $50,000 fine remitted

Kevin County – New Orleans, LA
Offense: 1. Distributing more than 100 grams of heroin; distributing less than 100
grams of heroin (two counts); Eastern District of Louisiana

2. Conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and cocaine hydrochloride, distribution of cocaine base, distribution of cocaine hydrochloride, use of a communication facility in furtherance of a drug crime; Eastern District of Louisiana

Sentence: 1. 151 months’ imprisonment; six years’ supervised release (December 18, 2002)

2. 240 months’ imprisonment (concurrent); 10 years’ supervised release (March 26, 2003)

Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Nabar Moneek Criam – Brooklyn, NY
Offense: Possessed with intent to distribute crack; possessed firearms during trafficking crime; Middle District of North Carolina
Sentence: 180 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (March 30, 2007)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Amos Embress Cyrus – Hemingway, SC
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base; supervised release violation (Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine); District of South Carolina
Sentence: 300 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (June 21, 1996)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Roy Lee Debose – Shreveport, LA
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine hydrochloride; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; Western District of Louisiana
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (September 18, 2000)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Dexter Lanoyd Dickens – Panama City, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine; distribution of a mixture or substance containing cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school (four counts); principal to distribution and possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing cocaine; distribution and possession with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing cocaine; possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine; Northern District of Florida
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (December 17, 2004)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Andre Ester – Houston, TX
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; Southern District of Texas
Sentence: 300 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (October 25, 2002)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Christopher Tim Florence – Chapel Hill, NC
Offense: Possessed with intent to distribute cocaine base (crack); Middle District of North Carolina
Sentence: 268 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (August 9, 2005)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Ian Kavanaugh Gavin – Eight Mile, AL
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine; using/carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense; Southern District of Alabama
Sentence: 180 months’ imprisonment; eight years’ supervised release (March 8, 2007)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and supervised release term commuted to four years of supervised release.

Isadore Gennings – Cincinnati, OH
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine; interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises; possession with intent to distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine; Southern District of Ohio
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (March 14, 2002)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and supervised release term commuted to five years of supervised release.

Lamont Durville Glass – Knoxville, TN
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; felon in possession of a firearm; Eastern District of Tennessee
Sentence: 262 months’ imprisonment; eight years’ supervised release (January 9, 1998)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Vander Keith Gore – Little River, SC
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 50 kilograms or more of marijuana, and less than 100 grams of heroin; District of South Carolina
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (October 30, 2002)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

George Michael Gray – Springfield, OR
Offense: Conspiracy to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; manufacture of methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of firearm in connection with drug trafficking offense; District of Oregon
Sentence: Life imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (July 3, 1995)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Curtis Greer – Rosenberg, TX
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base (two counts); Southern District of Texas
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $5,000 fine (August 21, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and unpaid balance of the $5,000 fine remitted.

Jerome Harris, Jr. – Mobile, AL
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; use/carry/possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; Southern District of Alabama
Sentence: 300 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (November 7, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Vernon Harris – Philadelphia, PA
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute; possession of firearm by convicted felon; Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (October 25, 1996)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Kenneth G. Harvey – Los Angeles, CA
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; Western District of Missouri
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $10,000 fine (April 5, 1991)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Andrew Lee Holzendorf – South Bay, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; Northern District of Florida
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (November 14, 1996)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Tommy Howard – Cincinnati, OH
Offense: Use of a firearm during the commission of a drug trafficking offense; Southern District of Ohio
Sentence: 292 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release; $1,000 fine (January 8, 2004)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Kenneth Isaacs – Little Rock, AR
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute hydromorphone; Eastern District of Arkansas
Sentence: 180 months’ imprisonment; three years’ supervised release (May 6, 2004)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Robert Lee Lane – Bradenton, FL
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; Middle District of Florida
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (May 3, 1990)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Angela LaPlatney – Casper, WY
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute methamphetamine; concealing a person from arrest; District of Wyoming
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $1,000 fine (February 17, 2005)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Anthony Lee Lewis – Tampa, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine; distribution of crack cocaine; possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine; convicted felon in possession of a firearm; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; Middle District of Florida
Sentence: Life imprisonment (September 16, 1994)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on March 30, 2017.

Herbert Lewis, Jr. – Okmulgee, OK
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute cocaine (two counts); Eastern District of Oklahoma
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $2,500 fine (March 7, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and unpaid balance of the $2,500 fine remitted.

Byron Lamont McDade – Bowie, MD
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, aiding and abetting; District of Columbia
Sentence: 324 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (May 29, 2002)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

John E. Milton, III – Baton Rouge, LA
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine and cocaine base; Middle District of Louisiana
Sentence: 600 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release; $250,000 fine (April 3, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and unpaid balance of the $250,000 fine remitted.

Gregory Morgan – Jonesboro, GA
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; Northern District of Georgia
Sentence: 225 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (March 11, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Michael W. Morris – Fort Worth , TX
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute “crack” cocaine base; Southern District of Indiana
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (December 24, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and supervised release term commuted to five years of supervised release.

Larry Nokes – Quincy, IL
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; possession of a controlled substance; Central District of Illinois
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (December 10, 2007)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Wayne Parker – Miami, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; Northern District of Florida
Sentence: 420 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $1,500 fine (November 23, 1999); amended to 360 months’ imprisonment; six years’ supervised release; $1,500 fine (March 8, 2001)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Exdonovan Peak – Brooklyn, NY
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; Southern District of Mississippi
Sentence: 365 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release; $12,000 fine (February 13, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and unpaid balance of the $12,000 fine remitted.

Carol Denise Richardson – Texas City, TX
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base (incorrectly described in the judgment as cocaine); possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base; Southern District of Texas
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (June 16, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Jose Ramon Rivera – Chicago, IL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin; distribution of heroin (two counts); Northern District of Illinois
Sentence: 360 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (November 10, 1993)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Ismael Rosa – Chicago, IL
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine (four counts); use of communication facility in commission of drug offense (two counts); Northern District of Illinois
Sentence: Life imprisonment (August 8, 1995)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on March 30, 2017.

Melissa Ross – Daytona Beach, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride and 50 grams or more of cocaine base; Middle District of Florida
Sentence: 292 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $4,000 fine (June 11, 2002); amended to 240 months’ imprisonment (January 17, 2009)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and unpaid balance of the $4,000 fine remitted.

Jeffrey Sapp – Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine; possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine; Southern District of Florida
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (January 24, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Robin Evette Shoulders – Louisville, KY
Offense: Possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine; Western District of Kentucky
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (December 16, 2002)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on September 26, 2016.

Eric Smith – Memphis, TN
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; unlawfully maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing and using cocaine base; Western District of Tennessee
Sentence: 360 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (April 24, 1995)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Ernest Spiller – East St. Louis, IL
Offense: Distribution of crack cocaine (two counts); maintaining a crack house; possession of a firearm in further of a drug trafficking crime; felon in possession of a firearm; Southern District of Illinois
Sentence: 352 months’ imprisonment; three years’ supervised release; $1,000 fine (August 3, 2000)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Tairone Traniel Stanford – Buna, TX
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance – cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute a Schedule II controlled substance – cocaine base; Eastern District of Texas
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (April 22, 1999)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Alohondra Rey Staton – Greenville, NC
Offense: Possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base (crack); Eastern District of North Carolina
Sentence: 360 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (August 21, 2001)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Corey R. Thomas – St. Louis, MO
Offense: Possession with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of cocaine base (“crack”); Eastern District of Missouri
Sentence: Life imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (June 9, 2004)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Damion L. Tripp – Poplar Bluff, MO
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute a substance containing 50 grams or more of cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute a substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana; Eastern District of Missouri
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (April 28, 2008)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Dwayne Twane Walker – Charlottesville, VA
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine base; Western District of Virginia
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release; $500 fine (May 27, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Jesse Webster – Chicago, IL
Offense: Conspiracy; attempting to possess with intent to distribute cocaine (incorrectly listed on the judgment as conspiracy); filing false income tax return (two counts); Northern District of Illinois
Sentence: Life imprisonment; five years’ supervised release; $25,000 fine (March 21, 1996)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on September 26, 2016, and balance of the $25,000 fine remitted.

Shermaine Donnell Whitley – Charleston, SC
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine and cocaine base (“crack”); District of South Carolina
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (May 1, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Sammy Lee Woods – Aurora, CO
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of cocaine base, aiding and abetting; use of a communications facility to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base, aiding and abetting; possession with intent to distribute 1.062 grams of cocaine base, aiding and abetting; District of Colorado
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (April 21, 2004)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Christopher Michael Wright – Elmira, OR
Offense: Conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine; District of Oregon
Sentence: 216 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release; $5,000 restitution (May 31, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Michael A. Yandal – Murray, KY
Offense: Possession with the intent to distribute approximately 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base; possession with the intent to distribute marijuana; possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; Western District of Kentucky
Sentence: 195 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (April 24, 2007); amended to 180 months’ imprisonment (December 11, 2007)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

Crime

Lawyer’s Group Text Causes 2nd Florida Murder Case Mistrial

Published

4 years ago

August 18, 2022

FNN NEWS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A prosecutor in a murder case complained about a judge’s ruling in a group text message that included the judge, resulting in a second mistrial for a man charged with killing his girlfriend’s young son. Now the defense wants the case dismissed altogether.

Broward County Judge Peter Holden refused to allow a 911 call as evidence against Corey Gorden, who is accused of killing the 3-year-old in 2015 and returning him in his car seat to his mother as if nothing had happened.

Assistant State Attorney Katya Palmiotto then sent a text complaining about the ruling to a group of current and former homicide prosecutors, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.

“Holden just sustained their objection and wouldn’t let us put the 911 call in as hearsay,” she wrote.

As a former homicide prosecutor who was appointed to the bench in 2018, the judge remained in the group chat. And lawyers are prohibited in criminal cases from talking with the judge if the defendant’s lawyers are not present.

Defense lawyer Michael Gottlieb filed for mistrial on Wednesday, saying in a summary that the 15-year veteran prosecutor had been overheard saying she messed up “real bad.”

“The judge was visibly upset and appeared angry,” Gottlieb wrote.

Holden grilled the prosecutor about the text message before declaring a mistrial.

In May, another judge declared a mistrial when prosecutors asked a witness about Gorden’s refusal to give a statement. Criminal trial jurors are not permitted to consider the defendants silence as proof of guilt.

Holden has not set a hearing on Gottlieb’s motion to dismiss the case.

Crimes and Courts

School shooter’s brain exams to be subject of court hearing

Published

4 years ago

August 15, 2022

FNN NEWS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A defense mental health expert in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz can pinpoint when he realized the 23-year-old mass murderer still has “irrational thoughts” — the two were making small talk when Cruz began describing plans for an eventual life outside prison.

Wesley Center, a Texas counselor, said that happened last year at the Broward County jail as he fitted Cruz’s scalp with probes for a scan to map his brain. The defense at hearings this week will try to convince Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer that Center and other experts should be allowed to testify at Cruz’s ongoing trial about what their tests showed, something the prosecution wants barred.

“He had some sort of epiphany while he was in (jail) that would focus his thoughts on being able to help people,” transcripts show Center told prosecutors during a pretrial interview this year. “His life’s purpose was to be helping others.”

Cruz, of course, will never be free. Since his arrest about an hour after he murdered 14 students and three staff members at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, there has never been any doubt his remaining years would be behind bars, sentenced to death or life without parole. Surveillance video shows him mowing down his victims with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle and he confessed, eventually pleading guilty in October.

Prosecutors made their argument for death to the seven-man, five-woman jury and 10 alternates over three weeks, resting their case Aug. 4 after the panel toured the still-bloodstained, bullet-pocked classroom building where the massacre happened.

The jurors also watched graphic surveillance videos; saw gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos; received emotional testimony from teachers and students who witnessed others die; and heard from tearful and angry parents, spouses and other family members about the victims and how their loved one’s death impacted their lives. They watched video of the former Stoneman Douglas student calmly ordering an Icee minutes after the shooting and, nine months later, attacking a jail guard.

Soon, it will be Cruz’s attorneys arguing why he should be spared, hoping to convince at least one juror their mitigating factors outweigh the prosecution’s aggravating circumstances — a death sentence must be unanimous.

But first, the trial took last week off to accommodate some jurors’ requests to deal with personal matters. The jury will also be absent this week as the sides argue before Scherer, who will decide whether brain scans, tests and other evidence the defense wants to present starting Aug. 22 is scientifically valid or junk, as the prosecution contends.

Center’s test and its findings will be subject to contentious debate. Called a “quantitative electroencephalogram” or “qEEG,” its backers say it provides useful support to such diagnoses as fetal alcohol syndrome, which Cruz’s attorneys contend created his lifelong mental and emotional problems.

EEGs have been common in medicine for a century, measuring brainwaves to help doctors diagnose epilepsy and other brain ailments. But the qEEG analysis, which has been around since the 1970s, goes a step farther — a patient’s EEG results are compared to a database of brainwaves taken from normal or “neurotypical” people. While qEEG findings cannot be used to make a diagnosis, they can support findings based on the patient’s history, examination, behavior and other tests, supporters contend.

A “qEEG can confirm what you already know, but you can’t create new knowledge,” Center told prosecutors in his interview.

Dr. Charles Epstein, an Emory University neurology professor, reviewed Center’s findings for the prosecution. In a written statement to Scherer, he said EEGs using only external scalp probes like the one given Cruz are imprecise, making Center’s qEEG results worthless.

“Garbage in, garbage out,” he wrote.

Florida judges have given mixed rulings about allowing qEEGs since 2010, when the test helped a Miami-area man escape a death sentence for fatally stabbing his wife and severely wounding her mentally disabled 11-year-old daughter. Some judges have since allowed their admission, while others barred them. Scherer, who is overseeing her first death penalty trial, has never had a case where the defense tried to present a qEEG report.

Even if Scherer bars the test, lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill and her team still have evidence that Cruz’s brain likely suffered damage in the womb, including statements by his late birth mother that she abused alcohol and cocaine during pregnancy.

They also have reports giving circumstantial evidence of his mental illness. Cruz got kicked out of preschool for hurting other children. During his years in public school, he spent significant time at a center for students with emotional issues. He also received years of mental health treatment.

Then there are his life circumstances. Cruz’s adoptive father died in front of him when he was 5; he was bullied by his younger brother and his brother’s friends; he was allegedly abused sexually by a “trusted peer;” he cut himself and abused animals; and his adoptive mother died less than four months before the shooting.

His youth will also be an issue — he was 19 when the shooting happened.

Attorneys not involved in the case say if Scherer wants to avoid having a possible death sentence overturned on appeal, she should give the defense wide latitude on what it presents so jurors can fully assess his life and mental health.

“If it’s a close call, I think she is going to bend to the defense — and the prosecution is not going to be happy,” said David S. Weinstein, a Miami criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor.

Miami

Lawmaker, Florida school at odds on alleged bathroom attack

Published

4 years ago

August 14, 2022

FNN NEWS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Police in Florida say they will investigate a lawmaker’s allegation that a transgender student may have sexually assaulted a female student in a middle school bathroom over the summer — a rumored attack that school district officials say never occurred and that investigators say they received no reports about.

After reading Republican State Rep. Randy Fine’s social media posts about the alleged assault on Thursday, police in the eastern coast city of Melbourne, just south of Cape Canaveral, assigned two detectives to investigate the allegations, though they said they had received no previous word of an attack.

Fine told The Associated Press on Friday that some parents approached him, saying a teacher at the school told them about the incident but that the teacher was “afraid to go public because of fear of retaliation by the school district.”

Brevard Public Schools spokesperson Russell Bruhn disputed Fine’s allegations. “There was no attack. No victim, no witness, no parents coming forward, nothing,” he told the AP. “Rep. Fine owes our staff at Johnson Middle School an apology for making this baseless allegation.”

Fine, a Republican lawmaker known for fiery floor speeches marked by indignation, drew a national spotlight earlier this year when he sponsored a bill to dissolve the private government Walt Disney World controls on its property in Florida as punishment for the company’s opposition to a new law barring gender identity instruction in early grades that critics called “Don’t Say Gay.”

The reports began circulating on Wednesday, and Florida Today reported Thursday that Fine had sent a letter to Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz seeking an investigation into reports that a transgender student — granted access to the girl’s bathroom through the district’s open bathrooms policy — had assaulted a female student over the summer.

Melbourne police spokesperson Shaun Hill said the department received no reports of a sexual assault at the school over the summer. But he said Friday that the department, after seeing Fine’s social media posts, contacted him to ask for more information about the alleged incident, and assigned two detectives to the case. Hill said the investigation has just started and there is no further information available.

“I would assume that Rep. Fine would be eager to talk to the police himself and will also be eager to provide police with access to the concerned parents who have gone to him with this false information,” said Bruhn, the school district spokesperson.

In the letter to the education commissioner, Fine said parents have been “stonewalled” in their inquiries to the school district, including requests for public records.

Students attending summer school at Johnson were escorted to restrooms by adults during summer school because of ongoing construction, Bruhn told Florida Today, which first reported the story. He said students from other district schools were also attending classes there and were unfamiliar with the campus layout.