At trial, the jury heard testimony from the victim/drug dealer Daniel Drake as well as other witnesses who had smoked substantial amounts of marijuana at the time of the shooting. Both Jones and Drake claimed the other was trying to rob him. Neither admitted ownership of the gun used in the shooting.

According to law enforcement, Drake and Jones had been conducting a drug deal when the two began to fight. They alleged that Jones pulled out a pistol and threatened to kill Drake. Deputies claimed that Jones then opened Drake’s car, removed the marijuana and attempted to leave. When Drake went after him, Jones allegedly shot at him several times.

Drake said he brought a half-pound of “hydro” marijuana to a yard on Mohrlake Drive in Brandon, intending to make a sale to Jones. Drake and Jones got into a car to make the transaction. Each claims the other tried to rob him in the car. Drake said Jones showed him a wad of cash, which Drake told him he admired, but then Jones displayed a gun and asked, “How do you like this?”

Jones said he wasn’t carrying a gun. He said Drake pulled the gun, but he was able to wrestle it away from the dealer. Then both got out of the car, and they scuffled some more. Drake’s partner said he managed to get the gun away from Jones but, for some reason, gave the gun back to him.

Jones said he took off running with the gun. Drake said Jones grabbed the marijuana out of the car first. They fought some more. Jones said he was losing and slipping into unconsciousness. “I was in fear for my life. I closed my eyes and shot.”

The jury clearly believed that these circumstances did not meet the necessary elements for conviction of attempted murder. With unreliable witnesses and confusing versions of the facts of the case, it is not hard to understand why they returned the not guilty verdict.

Spurgeon’s defense attorney, Bjorn Brunvand of this office, says the state violated the Brady rule, which requires the state in criminal cases to disclose to a defendant all evidence favorable to the defense. Spurgeon was convicted of manslaughter last month by a jury and awaits sentencing. She faces up to 15 years in prison for the death of a one-year-old in her care. Spurgeon was initially charged with first-degree murder. A jury convicted her instead of manslaughter.

The defense recently learned Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said another child at the day care could have caused the injuries that killed 1-year-old Maria Harris. Thogmartin made the statement to a law school class while lecturing. A student in the class reported the statements to defense counsel.

Thogmartin is expected to testify at the hearing.

In August 2008, Harris’ grandmother dropped the child off at Spurgeon’s home day care. When she picked up the child that afternoon, Maria was lethargic and soon became unresponsive. She died days later in the hospital. An autopsy determined the child died of blunt head trauma.

During the trial, 11 medical experts testified with differing opinions on what caused the injuries.

Brunvand and co-counsel Ron Kurpiers requested a meeting with Thogmartin to confirm the information. “We said this is the first we heard of that,” Kurpiers said. “You didn’t put it in your report. He emphasized to us that he had on multiple occasions relayed that information to the assistant state attorney.”

The information never made it to the defense attorneys before or during the trial. The defense maintains that if the jury had been presented this critical evidence, it would have returned a finding of not guilty.

Prosecutors say they didn’t hear Thogmartin discuss any new evidence and, if they had, they would have brought it to the court’s attention.

Authorities say Whaley told them he had an argument with family members during a trip to Daytona Beach but that he was so intoxicated he couldn’t recall why they argued. There was some suggestion by the sheriff’s department that the 23-year-old wanted to stay in Daytona a bit longer but his relatives wished to return home to Polk County. When they arrived home in Lake Wales, he allegedly decided to kill his grandmother, Barbara Denmark, and his aunt, who lived nearby.

According to detectives, Whaley slashed and stabbed Denmark with two knives while she was in the bathtub. Leaving her with at least 25 wounds. He reportedly told police that he decided not to follow through on his plan to kill other relatives and dialed 911 instead.

“Come get me,” he said to the 911 dispatcher. Whaley was inside the home when deputies arrived and was kneeling over his grandmother’s body, cradling her head. He surrendered without incident.

Whaley has been charged with first-degree murder. The State will have to decide soon whether or not to seek the death penalty. Prosecutors have 15 days to file a notice if they intend to seek the death penalty. The notice is filed as part of a procedure for cases that have elements that might make the death penalty appropriate.

If they choose not to do so, Whaley faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder. Under Florida law, murder in the first degree is the unlawful killing of a human being “when perpetrated from a premeditated design to effect the death of the person killed or any human being.” The law does not fix the exact period of time that must pass between the formation of the premeditated intent to kill and the killing. The period of time must be long enough to allow reflection by the defendant. A jury might also consider several lesser-included offenses including second-degree murder or manslaughter.

The officer then pulled over Rojo Medina’s 2002 Ford F150. In an arrest affidavit, the officer wrote he could “smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage” emanating from Rojo Medina’s breath. The officer also reported that he spotted cocaine (or what he believed to be cocaine) on the center console. A child was sitting in the backseat.

Police arrested Rojo Medina on several charges, including driving under the influence, child abuse, driving on a suspended or revoked license and possession of a controlled substance. Local media reported that Rojo Medina has been cited in the past for license issues, including driving with one that was suspended or revoked and not having one at all.

Child abuse or neglect counts often appear when caregivers are found to be driving under the influence with children because of the caregiver’s duty to provide a child with the care, supervision, and services necessary to maintain the child’s physical and mental health. Under Florida law, neglect of a child may be based on repeated conduct or on a single incident that could reasonably be expected to result in serious physical injury, or a substantial risk of death, to a child (if that incident is a violation of a caregiver’s duty to provide adequate care to maintain the child’s health). Child neglect charges are categorized as third-degree felonies under Florida law.

Detectives served a search warrant at the 34th Street Mart, seizing 32 packs of K-2, with brand names such as “Heads Up,” “Maui Wowie,” “Knockout,” “Down2earth Climaxxx” and “620.”

The investigation apparently began this month when detectives received information about the illegal use of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards in the store. An undercover officer then purchased several items from Abukhdeir at the store, utilizing an illegal EBT card and PIN number, which Abukhdeir allegedly knew were illegal.

During the transaction, Abukhdeir told the detective that he had K-2 and marijuana, and that he sells K-2 to customers, according to law enforcement. Several undercover detectives then reportedly purchased K-2 and a small amount of marijuana from Abukhdeir.

Abukhdeir is charged with three counts of sale of imitation controlled substance; four counts of possession of imitation controlled substance with intent to sell; three counts of possession of imitation controlled substance; and one count each of possession of cannabis less than 20 grams, delivery of cannabis and maintaining a store for drug use/sales. He faces five years in prison on each of the sale and possession with intention to sell charges if convicted.

Abukhdeir was arrested March 27 on a charge of driving while his license was suspended or revoked, and on Hillsborough County warrants for driving while his license was suspended or revoked, failure to appear on the license charge, and failure to appear on a possession of cannabis charge. He bonded out the same day.

According to the indictment, Duluc and Grishkoff used three physical therapy clinics in the Middle District of Florida to fraudulently bill Medicare for services not rendered to any Medicare beneficiaries between June 2005 and April 2008. The physical therapy clinics were West Coast Rehabilitation, Inc. (Fort Myers); Rehab Dynamics, Inc. (Venice); and Polk Rehabilitation, Inc. (Lake Wales).

The government alleges Duluc and Grishkoff paid patient recruiters to acquire Medicare beneficiary information for purposes of falsely billing Medicare. In addition, upon acquisition of their physical therapy clinics, they also allegedly acquired the historical patient records left at the clinic sites, including the names and identification numbers of Medicare beneficiaries. As a part of their scheme to defraud Medicare, Duluc and Grishkoff used this Medicare beneficiary information to fraudulently bill Medicare.

Prosecutors also claim Duluc and Grishkoff allegedly allowed others, who owned and operated similarly illegitimate physical therapy clinics in the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, to use Duluc’s and Grishkoff’s clinics to submit fraudulent claims for reimbursement to Medicare. Based on their arrangement, Duluc and Grishkoff purportedly accepted bogus patient records and billing forms from the co-conspirator clinics and billed Medicare for services as if they had been provided by Duluc’s and Grishkoff’s clinics.

The Medicare fraud proceeds were generally split 80/20 by the parties, with 80% going to the co-conspirator clinics and 20% being kept by Duluc’s and Grishkoff’s clinics.

The indictment alleges that, as a result of Duluc’s and Grishkoff’s health care fraud scheme, Medicare paid out approximately $8,152,262.14 for services not rendered. According to court documents, the federal government is seeking a money judgment in the amount of $8,152,262.14, which constitutes the proceeds of Duluc’s and Grishkoff’s alleged health care fraud conspiracy.

If convicted, Duluc and Grishkoff each face a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison for the conspiracy charge; ten years for each health care fraud charge (19 counts); five years for each false statement charge (6 counts), along with a mandatory minimum term of two years in federal prison for the aggravated identity theft charges (4 counts).

Joe S. Palacios and Christian Rodriguez, both 19, were killed and Esteban Zavala, also 19, is in serious but stable condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

According to law enforcement, Davis told investigators he and the victims were smoking marijuana together, and he shot them to protect his daughter, although police found no evidence the attack was provoked. Davis, Palacios, Rodriguez and Zavala all reportedly worked at a local McDonald’s together.

The four were sitting in Davis’ living room on Tuesday evening when Davis’ daughter entered from her bedroom, according to a police affidavit. Davis said his guests began acting strange and he got a “dark feeling,” he told investigators. The police affidavit states that Davis “felt they were sending signals to each other. His daughter walked out and Rodriguez and Palacios said something in Spanish while looking at his daughter.”

Davis told investigators he thought “something was about to happen” so he ran to his bedroom and retrieved his 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and began shooting at Zavala, Rodriguez and Palacios. Davis shot Rodriguez and Palacios in the head at close range, investigators said.

Davis and Zavala struggled until the gun was empty. Davis got knives from the kitchen to “finish off” Zavala, who fled from the home. Zavala was found staggering on Central Avenue by a police officer, according to the affidavit.

Davis’ daughter told a detective with the Child Protection Team that she heard arguing when she came out of her bedroom, then saw her father come out of his room with a gun. She said she saw her father shoot the men after she ran under a coffee table to hide, the police affidavit said.

The State has yet indicated any intention to pursue the death penalty in the case. If prosecutors don’t seek execution, Davis would face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

After a third trial, he was convicted of second-degree murder. When that conviction was overturned, he again faced second-degree murder charges in the case. The legal concept of double jeopardy prohibited the prosecution from pursuing a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty because he was found not guilty of the higher charge in the last trial.

He is currently on death row, facing execution for two other 1986 Tampa area murders.

As reported in local media, Bolin’s defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand agreed to represent Bolin because two people — one a state inmate — said separately that they heard a New York man confess to killing Holley. When defense attorneys tried to interview the New York man, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The prosecution persuaded the judge to prevent that testimony from being used in the trial.

Jurors were not allowed to hear any evidence of Bolin’s other convictions, nor did they hear testimony regarding the fact that he had been previously tried and convicted in the Holley case. Newspapers reported the jurors were very surprised to hear about the other cases and the previous trials after they had returned their verdict.

In opening statements Tuesday, prosecutors told jurors they would hear a two-decade-old recording in which Bolin’s now-deceased ex-wife Cheryl described Bolin in blood-stained sneakers searching through a woman’s purse he’d brought home at 2 in the morning. Her testimony was used to convict Bolin in three previous trials that were later overturned on appeals.

She didn’t come forward, however, with this information until four years after the killing, after she had remarried.

The court will not allow the  jury to be told that Bolin has been sentenced to death twice for Holley’s murder. After a third trial, he was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life. That conviction was overturned on appeal. He now faces second-degree murder charges again. The legal concept of double jeopardy prohibits the prosecution from pursuing a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty because he was found not guilty of the higher charge in the last trial.

Witnesses at trial include Bolin’s ex-wife (via a recording), who was legally blind at the time of the Holley murder, Bolin’s cousin (who claims Bolin confessed to him, although the cousin didn’t tell investigators until 20 years after the homicide) and many retired law enforcement officers.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Brunvand said he will focus on inconsistencies in testimony from past trials that add up to “snapshots of innocence” for Bolin. “No one deserves to die as Natalie Holley did,” he said, “but the evidence does not establish that Oscar Ray Bolin committed the gruesome crime.”

After the state presented its evidence on Tuesday and Wednesday, the defense presented its case including information about some questionable associates of Holley. After also presenting testimony that no fingerprints of Bolin’s were ever found and that Bolin’s ex-wife was given a “substantial” reward from Crime Stoppers, the defense rested. Closing arguments begin in the morning.

The lawyers represent clients arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for growing marijuana inside their homes. After questions were raised recently regarding the truthfulness of some of the Sheriff’s former detectives, prosecutors dropped charges in a number of drug cases.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced last week that four former detectives had been placed on leave over “issues of veracity”, pending a full internal affairs investigation.

Despite the sheriff’s actions, the local defense attorneys told the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, they “have lost confidence in the PCSO’s ability to conduct a full and fair investigation … and call upon the Department of Justice to do so.” In addition to Bjorn Bruvand, local lawyers Douglas de Vlaming, Newt Hudson, Jerry Theophilopoulos and John Trevena signed the letter. Also signing was private investigator Michael Peasley, who is a former narcotics detective for the sheriff.

The group asked the USDOJ to investigate allegations of erasure of digital recording images seized from a marijuana grower’s house, which potentially showed detectives illegally trespassing on a suspect’s propert prior to his arrest; whether officers physically abused a suspect during an arrest; whether a narcotics investigation involving the daughter of an internal affairs supervisor was covered up; and whether detectives stole any money.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office has now dropped charges in eight cases involving certain narcotics detectives and declined to pursue charges against three other suspects.