Assault & Battery Sentencing

[mpowelljr]

On Monday January 28th the former roomate of my now ex-girlfriend went on trial on 2 counts of aggravated assault.

She was found guilty on both counts. Today she sits in Jail in Orlando florida awaiting sentencing slated for Feburary 28th. The judge advised her that she faced up to 19 months in Jail.

It is my understanding that throughout the trial her (the defendant/roomant) public defender had asked for a mistrial among other things. His requests though were denied by the Judge. It is also my understanding that the "state - who represented the victim" and the police officer that took the stand were "surprised" upon hearing information about the victim to include:
The victim allegedly beating up the defendants 13 year old son. Charges were filed here but later dropped and may be re-opened again.
They (the victim and the defendant) were former lovers. etc.

In short when this information came about the prosecutor apparently didnt know which way the case was going to go considering all that was news to her.

Then there is this:
- The public defender filed an appeal immediately after the trial.
- He sought bond prior to sentencing and a hearing on the request for a bond was slated for Feburary 4th, except no one heard from the public defender.

As to the 2 counts. One was for a golf club and the other a brick. The officer claimed the defendant took "a" swing. The victim in trial claim "three" swings. The officer did - at the time of trial bring said brick and golf club to court.

The defendant does not deny the fact that she had a golf club in her hand. She wrote letters to the officers boss, the chairman and the judge. She - the defendant - denies ever swinging. As to the brick the defendant has no idea where that came from.

Lawyers have told the defendants family to claim inadequate representation or some such thing. I think the impetus here is to expedite a re-trial.

Today I ask:
What are the odds of the defendant getting probation?
While this is highly unlikley, is it possible for the "victim" to tell her prosecutor to request "probation"?
Will the defendant be moved to a state prison after sentencing?

The defendant has three kids.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Nobody can give you odds, least of all I since I don't have the transcript. From what it seems, inadequate representation of counsel might be a very good defense if the facts are as outrageous as they seem. What you brought up should absolutely have raised in court and I would want to know why it wasn't. There is no question that it would likely have affected the outcome of the case, which is a determining factor in throwing out the verdict/decision.

This might likely be investigated first, both because the defendant may have a good argument and because you don't want to ruin the good name of a competent attorney who may have done an adequate job but simply lost the case. Sometimes the press are a good source of leverage...

 

[mpowelljr]

Appreciate the response. The defendant was granted a bond today - Thursday Feb 7 - of 2500.00. I forward this information received to her as she ponders hiring an attorney.

A while back I had a conversation with the public defender who had asked me to be some sort of a "character" (my words) person on trial date. In his opinon he didnt need me but this of course assuming worse case. Throughout the conversation though he mentioned that his hurdle was the police officers statement and he was not concerned with the "victims" story considering he'll assume she's a liar.

Its a shame but some nettlesome facts remain:
- the victim at trial claimed 3 swings
- the police officer claimed 1 swing which backs up her police report.
- Trouble is. When the police officer was cross-examined and as asked "which is it" 3 versus 1 the officer replied. it might have been 3 she cant remember.
- the victim commited perjury on the stands, stating that she never knew the gentleman that came as support with her until "recently".
- on the morning of the trial the victim and the police officer were sitting outside.
- the defendants phone (cell) records shows 11 calls that day for police protection (she defendant kept calling police back)

One other thing. The defendants attorney had issues with the "evidence (golf club and brick)" the officer brought in court. I think it has to do with "doing an evidence report" which was never done. Not exactly sure where he was gonig with that.

In the end to most, the fact that the arresting officer was/would be present with "evidence" made this virtually impossible.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Again, I don't have a transcript of the case, but would find the outcome very disturbing given your facts. It would seem that I may be missing something here since such egregious oversights don't usually occur. I don't think that most prosecutors want to put innocent people in jail. I wonder what other evidence the prosecution had against the defendant that would be a contributing factor towards her guilty verdict.

I would wonder:

1) How was the issue of 11 calls to the police for protection handled? This might well provide sufficient evidence to establish a justificant and self-defense defense.

2) The cross examination of the 3 swings discrepancy. Didn't the officer take notes at the time? What happened to them? If she didn't take notes, then the officer must not have taken this matter so seriously since she didn't feel it important enough to document. I'd go right after the issue of typical police procedures and whether what happened was an aberration.

3) Ditto the evidence report.