Former Tate High Homecoming Queen Pleads Not Guilty In Vote Scandal

May 14, 2021

A former Tate High School homecoming queen has entered a not guilty plea to the charges against her.

Emily Rose Grover, 18, was scheduled to appear in court Friday. She waived her appearance and instead entered a written plea of not guilty through her attorney Randall Etheridge.

Grover was 17-year old juvenile at the time of her arrest in April by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. She turned 18 just a few days later, and is now being tried as an adult.

Grover and her mother Laura Carroll, former assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School, were charged by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with one count each of felony offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices; felony unlawful use of a two-way communications device, felony criminal use of personally identifiable information, and conspiracy to commit these offenses. The misdemeanor conspiracy charge against both has been upgraded by prosecutors to a felony count.

Carroll previously pleaded not guilty remains free on a $6,000 bond. Grover is free on a $2,000 bond.

Both are accused of illegally accessing the Escambia County School District FOCUS computer system and casting 246 votes for Tate homecoming queen in the fall of 2020. Grover won, but she was expelled and has been stripped of the crown.

Comments

15 Responses to “Former Tate High Homecoming Queen Pleads Not Guilty In Vote Scandal”

  1. Lol on May 18th, 2021 3:52 am

    @mnon…I knew plenty of gullible parents just like you when I was in high school… yall are the best ones cuz the “goody goodies” ALL had parents just like you….if they only really knew …watch you’ll find it one day eventually I promise you that…No child is 100% innocent and if you believe yours are you can’t get mad at ppl for sitting back and laughing at you about it…its funny

  2. Hmmm on May 15th, 2021 10:40 am

    This doesn’t mean that she’s going to try to say she didn’t do it or that she’s even taking it to trial. You can’t just plead guilty right off the rip, or you have no bargaining chips with the prosecutor. She will likely still plead guilty at some point, after her lawyer negotiates with the state attorney.

  3. mnon on May 15th, 2021 7:56 am

    Robert I assure you I’m no idiot, and I’m very close with my kids, again they do nothing wrong.. I don’t care what you were or weren’t, or what you think other’s kids are or aren’t. I don’t care if you believe kids can’t be responsible, upstanding people and assume they are all up to something. That is your biased based on your experience not facts or truth… that’s the problem today, people believe in their own biased feelings over facts.

  4. Anne on May 15th, 2021 6:11 am

    “Beauty is only skin deep” beneath that lies a person capable of anything good or bad.
    This young woman, and her mother, chose to put herself into a role where stolen popularity would give her a temporary bit of fame.
    Honestly, make-up, lipstick, filler, all sorts of “beauty” products must have been used because seeing her with crown and without the stage stuff she looks like different people.
    She and mom have both indicated they are as individuals GUILTY as charged.
    Go to trial and let the jury decide and an appropriate punishment be made.

    FOCUS is a flawed system in several ways yet permitting an Assistant Principal have district wide access to ALL kids records is totally irresponsible on the part of the upper levels of the school district.

    Do the crime, and giggle about it, do the time.

  5. Robert Bruner on May 15th, 2021 1:56 am

    Mnon,

    Kids that appear to be Saints are usually just the best con artists in my experience. The quiet ones that don’t appear to be Saints usually are. I appeared to be a Saints and I assure you I wasn’t.

  6. Josh on May 14th, 2021 10:32 pm

    for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
    Romans 3:23

  7. mnon on May 14th, 2021 9:55 pm

    LOL “encourage her” that is the problem she’s been encouraged too much.

    And I’m sorry my kids are saints, about to graduate (one this year) with great grades, they aren’t sexually active, they don’t smoke or drink, or do drugs… you know why, they were raised right, having respect for themselves and other people… and they were raised knowing popularity is just a brief illusion.

    This is the pentacle of privilege.

  8. Aggie dad on May 14th, 2021 7:51 pm

    People acting as if their kids are Saints, every one have made mistakes. Instead of beating her down, why not encourage her,

  9. Stephen on May 14th, 2021 7:38 pm

    I’m sorry, but a “mistake” is a one time thing. This went on for YEARS.

  10. Just Me on May 14th, 2021 7:04 pm

    Finally got it last week you apologized for your wrong doing….This week not guilty…. That’s called not being completely honest cause you admitted and apologized for using your mother’s FOCUS account…..Wake up and think about your actions and the consequences before you proceed …

  11. Just Me on May 14th, 2021 6:51 pm

    Ok let me think “

  12. Bob on May 14th, 2021 6:26 pm

    @So sorry

    No.

    Absolutely not.

    Best case scenario? She just rigged a homecoming vote.

    Worst case scenario? She compromised the Personal Identifiable Information of hundreds of her classmates, and their identities could potentially be stolen a month, a year, or a decade from now.

    I do hope that she can eventually rejoin society, and I do agree the role of the justice system is to rehabilitate rather than punish, but what this young woman did was a serious violation of the safety and security of her classmates, and should be treated as such.

  13. BWeav on May 14th, 2021 4:51 pm

    This was not a mistake. She knew full well that it was wrong, and she did it anyway. She must pay a penalty. Then we can move on. Her beauty is only on the surface.

  14. So sorry on May 14th, 2021 3:52 pm

    She is very beautiful and I hope she doesn’t let this stop her I’m sure she realizes the mistake she has made let’s not keep hurting her but help her get over this so she can again get back with her life

  15. Josh on May 14th, 2021 3:25 pm

    So, is mom going to try to take the fall for the daughter? Daughter is admittedly guilty through her own statements.