Alabama Work Release Inmate Recaptured
June 27, 2018
[Update] An escaped Alabama inmate has been recaptured.
Inmate James Douglas Hubbard was recaptured Thursday morning by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.
Previous story:
The Alabama Department of Corrections said James Douglas Hubbard, 29, fled from a work release work location near Bay Minette about 11:20 a.m. Wednesday. He was last seen wearing a black t-shirt with an orange reflective vest, blue jeans, work boots and a green baseball cap. He is about 5-foot 10-inches, 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Hubbard was serving an 84 month sentence for theft of property from Talladega County.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or ADOC at (800) 831-8825.
Three Charged In Murder Of 19-Year Old
June 27, 2018
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has made three arrests in connection with a June 20 Mayfair murder.
Shauntareeya L. Jones has been charged with second degree murder, and Shalen Cierra Yeldon and Deon L. Nettles have been charged with accessory after the fact for the murder of 19-year old Jaquan Berry.
The suspects met Berry near Trenton Drive and Edison Drive to buy $60 worth of marijuana. During that drug transaction a struggle ensued and the victim was shot by Jones, according to investigators. Berry was found dead on the side of the road.
Jones is being held with bond set at $700,000. Nettles and Yeldon are being held in the Escambia County Jail with bond set at $300,000.
Fire Destroys Multiple Apartments In Escambia County
June 27, 2018
Fire destroyed multiple apartments in a complex on Tumbleweed Trail off Fowler Avenue early Wednesday morning.
Firefighters arrived to find flames coming from the roof about 2:30 a.m. There was no immediate report of any injuries.
Six people — four adults and two children — were displaced by the fire and are a being assisted by the American Red Cross.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the Florida State Fire Marshal’s Office.
NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Cantonment Man Arrested In Nine Mile Road Shooting Death
June 27, 2018
A Nine Mile Road murder suspect was arrested after a police pursuit earlier today.
Deon Keith Harris of Cantonment was arrested for the January 6, 2017, homicide of Allen Ray Elliott. Elliott died from a gunshot wound to the head after what the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office described as a drug deal gone bad he was found face down in the parking lot of an apartment complex behind Vannoy’s Tires.
Authorities say the suspect and his girlfriend made up a story about being carjacked in order to create an alibi for the crime.
Shaquille Kushun Jordan was also arrested in late January 2017 for the murder. The case against him is pending.
Deputies located Harris’ vehicle Tuesday afternoon and attempted a traffic stop, but Harris accelerated away. During the pursuit, he struck another vehicle, injuring the driver, before the pursuit ended near Davis Highway and I-10.
NorthEscambia.com file photos.
CRA Plan To Improve ‘Blighted’ Area Of Century Moves Forward
June 27, 2018
Final plans for a Century CRA — Community Redevelopment Agency — are complete and are moving forward toward final approval.
The Century Town Council, sitting as as the Community Redevelopment Agency, will submit the plan Monday at 7:05 p.m. at town hall to the Local Planning Agency.
Once the CRA is in place and operating, it will work to improve conditions within the area. As property tax values rise, most of the increase is funneled back into the redevelopment area for further improvements.
The CRA area is 510 acres, bounded by Jefferson Avenue to the south, Jefferson Avenue to the east, East High 4 to the north and the center line of North Century Boulevard to the west. It also extends north on the east side of North Century Boulevard to include commercial properties up to, and including, the former Burger King. Click here for a detailed map (pdf).
Community Redevelopment Objectives
- Enhance quality of life by partnering with public or private, profit or non-profit organizations to develop and implement facilities, programs and services that are based on and support inclusivity, tolerance, and safety in the Century CRA.
- Promote self-sufficiency and resiliency through partnerships with stakeholders that facilitate instructional opportunities for residents and business owners/entrepreneurs in the Century CRA.
- Initiate economic development opportunities that are customized to the distinctive attributes and possibilities unique to the Century CRA.
- Capitalize on the Century CRA’s historic and natural resources to support the area’s unique identity as well as promote a greater sense of neighborhood pride.
Strategies for CRA
- Invest in public facilities and infrastructure
- Sewer, stormwater management
- Transportation;
- Streetscape and pedestrian features; and
- Public and community areas.
- Expand economic development opportunities
- Improve housing conditions with repair and affordable home ownership opportunities;
- Highlight historic and natural amenities; and
- Identify targeted development sites.
Short Term Implementation Plan
- 2-Year Action Plan (2018-2020)
- Activities and tasks that are smaller, incremental and set the foundation for encouraging long-term private investment in the CRA
- Funding Resources: primarily Town, County, regional agencies, and non-profit organizations
Long-Term Implementation Plan
- •10-year Action Plan (2018-2028)
- Builds upon activities and tasks from the short-term action plan and begins to implement the more costly capital improvements and services that require utilization of revenues to leverage TIF funds
- Funding Resources: primarily regional and state agencies, and large grant organizations
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Retired Escambia County Sheriff’s K-9 Edo Passes Away
June 27, 2018
Retired Escambia County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Edo passed away Tuesday. Edo was the dedicated partner of Deputy Jason Land. Before his retirement in May 2017 , Edo not only captured numerous suspects, but was also a member of national championship four-man team at the United States Police Canine Association Police Dog Trials. NorthEscambia.com and file photos, click to enlarge.
Florida Justices Take Up ‘Stand Your Ground’ Split
June 27, 2018
With lower courts split on the issue, the Florida Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up a question about whether a 2017 change to the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law should apply to older cases.
The controversial 2017 change shifted a key burden of proof in “stand your ground” cases — a shift that can play a role in determining whether people claiming self-defense should be shielded from prosecution. But two appellate courts have split about whether the change should apply to defendants who were arrested before the 2017 law took effect but whose cases were pending.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the case of Tashara Love, who sought to use the self-defense law to be shielded from prosecution in a November 2015 shooting incident outside a Miami-Dade County nightclub. The 3rd District Court of Appeal last month ruled that the 2017 burden-of-proof change should not apply retroactively to Love’s case.
In asking the Supreme Court to hear the case, Love’s attorneys pointed to potentially broad implications.
“This case presents an issue of statewide importance impacting countless criminal prosecutions: whether the 2017 amendment to the Stand Your Ground law applies to all pending cases or only those arising after its enactment,” the attorneys wrote in a brief.
As is common, the Supreme Court’s order Tuesday accepting the case dealt only with procedural issues. But all five justices involved in deciding whether to take up the case — Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, Charles Canady and Ricky Polston — agreed on hearing it.
The “stand your ground” law says people are justified in using deadly force and do not have a “duty to retreat” if they believe it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm. When the defense is successfully raised in pre-trial hearings, defendants are granted immunity from prosecution.
Before the 2017 change, the Supreme Court had ruled that defendants had the burden of proof in pre-trial hearings to show they should be shielded from prosecution. But with backing from groups such as the National Rifle Association, lawmakers shifted the burden from defendants to prosecutors to prove whether self-defense claims are justified. By placing the burden on prosecutors, the new version of the law could help at least some defendants in “stand your ground” cases.
While the 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that the change should not be applied retroactively, the 2nd District Court of Appeal this spring took the opposite position in a Hillsborough County case.
A panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal said the burden-of-proof change should apply retroactively to Tymothy Ray Martin, who was convicted of felony battery in a 2016 altercation involving his girlfriend. Martin appealed his conviction, and the appeal was pending when the 2017 burden-of-proof change took effect.
Martin’s case also is at the Supreme Court. Amid the conflicting rulings, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office agreed that the Supreme Court should resolve the retroactivity issue — though it suggested justices hear the Martin case instead of the Love case.
“(Courts) of the Third District are forbidden from applying Florida’s Stand Your Ground amendment retroactively, while courts of the Second District must apply it retroactively to all pending cases,” attorneys in Bondi’s office wrote in a brief this month. “This constitutes the requisite ‘express and direct conflict’ that the (Supreme) Court’s conflict jurisdiction is designed to resolve.”
by Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
Register Now For The Tate Aggies Softball Camp
June 27, 2018
The Tate Summer Softball Camp will be held on Thursday, July 12.
The cost is $40 for a softball and hitting skills clinic from 9 a.m. until noon, plus $10 additional for a pitching clinic from 12:30 until 1:30 p.m. at the Tate softball field.
The clinic will be presented by the Tate Aggies coaching staff assisted by current and former Aggie players.
Click here for a registration form for ages 7 through the eighth grade. The form can be returned with payment to any board member or on the day of camp from 8:30 until 9:00 a.m.
For more information, call Brian at (850) 393-6587
Used Car Dealer Faces 15 Years For Fraud
June 27, 2018
Manuel Jacquet was convicted of organized fraud $20,000 or more, selling motor vehicles without a dealer’s license and 11 counts of sale of rebuilt vehicles without notice.
Prosecutors said Jacquet falsely presented himself to the public as a licensed car dealer in Escambia County between November 2016 and August 2017. He advertised cars for sale on social media and internet websites under his name and his company’s name, Onest Motors.
There were 11 victims that testified they purchased cars from him and his company. Jacquet falsely represented the cars’ history and title status in order to complete the sales. He received over $38,000 in the scheme, the State Attorney’s Ofice said.
Circuit Judge Joel Boles presided over the two day trial and set sentencing for August 10. Jacquet faces up to 15 years in state prison.
The case was investigated by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Court Rejects Speeding Up Medical Marijuana Smoking Case
June 27, 2018
An appeals court Tuesday rejected a request to quickly send a major medical-marijuana case to the Florida Supreme Court.
The case focuses on arguments about whether a 2017 law improperly bars patients from smoking medical marijuana. Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers last month ruled that the smoking ban violated a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana in Florida.
Attorneys for the state appealed Gievers’ ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal. Plaintiffs in the case, including the group People United for Medical Marijuana, filed a motion June 8 asking that the case be “certified” to the Supreme Court — a move that would effectively lead to bypassing the 1st District Court of Appeal.
The plaintiffs argued, in part, that the ban on smoking marijuana “presents an immediate threat of irreparable injuries to those patients for whom this medical (smoking) treatment is currently prohibited.” But attorneys for the state disputed that the case should go immediately to the Supreme Court.
“(There) are various other forms of medical marijuana presently available and approved (or permitted) … in Florida for qualifying patients,” the state argued in a June 12 brief. “For example, vaping or vaporization of marijuana flower is permitted for medical use, so long as the flower is in a sealed, tamperproof receptacle.”
The appeals court Tuesday issued a one-sentence order rejecting the request to certify the case to the Supreme Court, though the order did not explain the reasoning.
by The News Service of Florida