State Taking Escambia Popeye’s Death Penalty Case To U.S. Supreme Court
December 6, 2016
The state plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a landmark Escambia County case in which justices struck down as unconstitutional Florida’s death-penalty sentencing procedure because it gave too much power to judges, instead of juries.
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s lawyers will appeal a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court in the case of Timothy Lee Hurst, according to a motion asking a judge to put on hold a resentencing hearing for Hurst. That resentencing hearing was ordered by the Florida Supreme Court in October.
Hurst was sentenced to death for the 1998 killing of fast-food worker Cynthia Harrison in Pensacola. Harrison, an assistant manager at a Popeye’s Fried Chicken restaurant on Nine Mile Road where Hurst worked, was bound, gagged and stabbed more than 60 times. Her body was found in a freezer.
The state is objecting to the Florida court’s interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in January in the Hurst case, according to the document filed in Escambia County.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst’s case found that Florida’s system of allowing judges, instead of juries, to find the facts necessary to impose the death penalty was an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury. The court sent Hurst’s case back to the Florida high court.
At the time of the January ruling, Florida’s system allowed jurors by a simple majority to recommend the death penalty. Judges would then make findings of fact that “sufficient” aggravating factors, not outweighed by mitigating circumstances, existed for the death sentence to be imposed, a process known as “weighing.”
Florida lawmakers hurriedly rewrote the law this spring, requiring jurors to unanimously find that at least one aggravating factor exists before a defendant can be eligible for a death sentence and requiring at least 10 jurors to recommend death for the sentence to be imposed.
The new law, approved by Gov. Rick Scott, also required juries to weigh whether sufficient mitigating factors exist to outweigh the aggravating circumstances, but the law is silent about whether those decisions must be unanimous.
In October, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the new statute was unconstitutional because it did not require unanimous jury recommendations about imposing the death penalty, something not addressed by the U.S. court decision.
The Florida court, in a 5-2 ruling, decided that the lack of unanimity in the state law runs afoul of protections guaranteed by the U.S. and state constitutions.
The majority also found that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hurst mandated that all findings necessary for imposition of a death sentence are “elements” that must be decided by a jury, and Florida “has a longstanding history of requiring unanimous jury verdicts as the elements of a crime,” the majority wrote.
But the state disagrees.
The Florida court interpreted the U.S. court’s earlier ruling in Hurst “to require jury findings of all aggravating circumstances; mitigating circumstances; and weighing rather than only requiring jury findings of one aggravating circumstance,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Charmaine Millsaps and Assistant Attorney General John Molchan wrote in the six-page request in Escambia County.
“The state of Florida believes this expansive reading to be in error and will seek discretionary review in the United States Supreme Court,” the lawyers wrote.
But defense lawyers said the state’s appeal is problematic because the Florida Supreme Court based its Hurst ruling in large part on the state’s constitutional guarantee to trial by jury.
“They’re unhappy with the result, and they’re unhappy with all of these death sentences being reversed. But they’re running into a problem: what’s the federal issue and what’s the state issue. The U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t have jurisdiction to decide what the state statute meant. That’s a question of state law,” lawyer Martin McClain, who has represented more than 250 defendants in death penalty cases, said in a telephone interview Monday.
In its Hurst ruling, the Florida Supreme Court concluded that “under the commandments of Hurst v. Florida, Florida’s constitutional right to trial by jury, and our Florida jurisprudence, the penalty phase jury must be unanimous in making the critical findings and recommendation that are necessary” before death can be imposed.
“I believe the U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to interfere with a state Supreme Court interpreting state law and that state’s Constitution,” said Pete Mills, a 10th Judicial Circuit assistant public defender who is chairman of the Florida Public Defenders Association’s Death Penalty Steering Committee.
While the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Hurst did not address unanimity, the state’s appeal of the Florida court’s decision could be an attempt to get a federal ruling on the issue.
“I think they’re trying to get another bite at the apple,” said 5th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Mike Graves. “I don’t understand how they expect to get from here to there.”
by Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida with contribution from NorthEscambia.com
Flomaton Man Charged With Weekend Shooting Death
December 6, 2016
A Flomaton man has been charged with the shooting death of a mother of four Friday night in Pollard, AL.
Shannon Heath Bell, age 31 of Upper Creek Road, has been charged with manslaughter for the death of 36-year old Donna L. Martin. He was being held in the Escambia County (AL) Detention Center in Brewton with bond set at $25,000.
About 6:30 Friday night, authorities received a call about a gunshot victim in the Pollard area. The caller was experiencing problems with his phone connection, but was eventually able to relay that he wanted medical units to meet him at the intersection of Foshee Road and Highway 31. First responders arrived to find Martin suffering from a gunshot wound to her side. She was transported to D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton where she was later pronounced deceased.
The case remains under investigation and authorities said additional charges may be forthcoming. The case has been turned over to the district attorney and will be presented to a grand jury.
Two Tons Of Peanut Butter Collected During Recent Food Drive
December 6, 2016
Two tons of peanut butter was collected during a recent “Take a bite out of Hunger” peanut butter food drive.
UF IFAS Escambia County Extension collected 371 jars of peanut butter weighing in at 625 pounds, plus local peanut producers Rodney and Mike Helton donated three pallets containing 3,375 pounds of peanut butter in 4,500 jars.
The peanut butter will be donated to local food pantries.
Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Escambia County Names New Building Services Director
December 6, 2016
Escambia County has hired Tim Tolbert as the new building official – director of Building Services, replacing Donald Mayo, who retired from the position on November 10 after 38 years with the county. Tolbert’s first day on the job was Monday.
Tolbert most recently served as the building official with Lafayette Consolidated Government in Lafayette, LA, a position he held since April 2015. His responsibilities included enforcing state-mandated construction codes, local ordinances and related state statutes through permitting, plan review and inspection. Tolbert’s previous positions include the building official for the Santa Rosa County School District and building official for the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners.
Growing up in Holley, FL, Tolbert has worked in the construction industry all his life beginning with the family construction business then transitioning into construction regulation. He graduated from Milton High School and also attended Florida State Fire College and Pensacola State College.
Tolbert has 22 years of experience as a building official and fire marshal and holds more than a dozen certifications and licenses in his field. His certifications through the International Code Council include building official, building inspector, building code official, plans examiner, coastal construction inspector, residential combination inspector, property maintenance and housing inspector and housing code official. Tolbert also holds eight certifications through the Southern Building Code Congress International.
Additionally, Tolbert was appointed to the Florida Building Commission in July 2008 by Gov. Charlie Crist and reappointed in July 2013, serving until April 2014. He is a state of Florida approved construction education instructor with more than 10 years of experience and has developed numerous construction courses approved by the state of Florida.
Tolbert said he’s excited for the opportunity to return to the Escambia County area and be closer to Holley, where his family has a history dating back to 1865. Tolbert has three children and a fiancée, Cassie Swain, who plans to relocate to the area and continue working as a realtor.
Along with advancing in his career, Tolbert said he’s looking forward to continuing to help contractors and residents with their design and building needs.
“I enjoy solving problems that arise when a building method or design butts heads with the building code,” Tolbert said when asked what he loves about his field of work. “Code compliance is always required, but a building official can accept alternate methods of compliance as long as the method meets or exceeds the intent of the code. It’s always rewarding when I’m able to help a customer with a difficult code issue.”
As Escambia County’s building official – director of Building Services, Tolbert’s responsibilities will include supervising the Building Services Department, providing support to county administration and the board of county commissioners and ensuring compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and codes.
Senators Look At Next Steps For Medical Marijuana
December 6, 2016
About a month after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment to broadly legalize medical marijuana, a Senate panel next week will start looking at how to carry out the requirement.
The Senate Health Policy Committee is scheduled to hold a workshop on December about implementation of what is known as Amendment 2. About 71 percent of voters approved the measure during the November 8 election.
Lawmakers in 2014 approved a law that allows types of non-euphoric cannabis for some patients. They also approved a measure this year that allows full-strength marijuana for terminally ill patients. But Amendment 2 would make marijuana available to patients with a far-broader range of conditions.
by The News Service of Florida
Scott Continues Push For Law Officer Pay Raises
December 6, 2016
Gov. Rick Scott urged legislators Monday to back his proposed 5 percent pay raises for state law enforcement officers in the 2017-18 budget — and hinted the plan could grow to include corrections officers.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Scott, whose $11.7 million proposal would boost the salaries of some 4,000 officers such as state troopers, Capitol police and wildlife law-enforcement officers.
Scott continued trying to build support for the raises during an appearance in Tampa, after rolling out the initiative last week in Orlando. The governor in early 2017 will release a full budget proposal, which will serve as a starting point as lawmakers draw up a final spending plan for the fiscal year that starts in July.
Citing a 45-year low in Florida’s crime rate and a rash of recent police killings nationally, Scott said a raise for sworn law enforcement officers —- whose last raise came in 2014, when all state workers received increases — was overdue.
Scott said state police deserve to be rewarded for their “life-saving work,” while Florida Highway Patrol Col. Gene Spaulding said “some glimmer of hope” for raises was necessary to adequately recruit and retain officers.
But the proposed eight-figure allocation could put him at odds with some legislative budget writers, who say there might not be enough money to fund it.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, laid out an austere vision for next year’s budget in comments during the Legislature’s organization session last month.
Corcoran said he forecasts the state will begin budget talks “somewhere between a half-billion to a billion dollars in the hole” compared to previous projections, which indicated a meager $7.5 million surplus.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, is more bullish on the issue of state law-enforcement raises, however.
Latvala affirmed his support for Scott’s plan via social media last week, tweeting “I commend the Gov for his proposal. These men & women keep our state safe. They’ve only had 2 pay raises in 9 yrs.”
Scott did not specifically address the recent budget projections but said he thinks robust tax revenues and population growth in recent years make the raises viable.
Scott also refused to rule out granting Florida Department of Corrections officers a similar raise, which could put the governor’s proposal even further apart from the budget designs of House leaders.
“They’re hard workers, correctional officers. State workers work really hard,” said Scott, adding he would consider further proposed raises as he rolls out additional aspects of his budget plan in coming weeks.
During the 2013 round of state worker raises, law enforcement was singled out for an additional $10.3 million in pay hikes — 3 percent for all officers, with an additional 2 percent for those with more than five years of experience.
Scott tied his new pay-raise pitch to the deadly mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June, as well as a series of severe storms this year in which officers faced danger.
“Right now, for whatever reason, it’s risky to put on a uniform right now,” said Scott.
by Ryan Ray, The News Service of Florida
Second Red Bulb Placed On Fire Safety Wreath
December 5, 2016
A second red bulb will be placed on the “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety wreath to represent a residential fire in 5300 block of North Blue Angel Parkway on Sunday, Dec. 4.
Escambia County Emergency Communications received a call at 8:37 p.m. reporting a mobile home fire with entrapment of two residents. A bystander pulled the two people from the home, and they were transported to local hospitals. The fire was called under control at 9:04 p.m. with the home considered a total loss. Escambia County Fire Rescue found no evidence of a smoke detector in the home. The Florida State Fire Marshal is investigating.
The “Keep the Wreath Green” fire safety campaign is a collaborative initiative with the city of Pensacola to promote fire safety during the month of December.
During the month-long campaign, five-foot wreaths are on display at 18 county fire stations and five city fire stations, with wreaths also placed outside Escambia County’s Ernie Lee Magaha Government Building downtown, the Escambia County Public Safety Building, Pensacola City Hall and Cordova Mall near the food court entrance.
Each time firefighters respond to a residential fire with damage, a green light bulb will be replaced with a red one to remind citizens of the dangers posed by fires in residential home.
Jay Pediatrician Moving Medical Practice To Century
December 5, 2016
Jay pediatrician Dr. Marian Stewart is moving her practice to Century next month.
Stewart has practiced pediatric medicine as part of the Jay Medical Clinic for the past 18 years. She will close her Jay practice on January 12, 2017, and will join Escambia Community Clinics January 16 at their new ECC Century Pediatrics location at 511 Church Street.
“Please know that my commitment to your health care is as strong as ever and I will continue to provide you with excellent patient care at my new practice location. I wish you and your family good health and thank you for your continued support,” Stewart said.
“We are very excited to have Dr. Stewart join Escambia Community Clinics as a pediatric provider, and know that she has been a valued pediatrician in the communities in which she serves for many years. We are looking forward to adding pediatric medical services to our ECC Century Pediatrics location,” Ann Papadelias, chief of community engagement for Escambia Community Clinics, said.
Escambia Community Clinics has operated a dental program in Century since mid-October, caring for over 150 children during their first six weeks of operation.
Escambia Community Clinics is a not for profit community health center established in January 1997. Ten years later, Escambia Community Clinics, Inc. was designated as a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) by the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). ECC provides services throughout Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties and surrounding areas designated by HRSA as medically underserved populations and health professional shortage areas.
Stewart’s current patients that have questions about their medical records can call (850) 675-4546 ext. 121 until January 12. For information on Escambia Community Clinics service and appointments, call (850) 981-9433.
Century Council Meeting Rescheduled
December 5, 2016
Tonight’s regular meeting of the Century Town Council has been rescheduled for Monday, December 19 at 7 p.m.
The council normally meets on the first and third Monday of each month, but traditionally meets just once — on the first Monday — in December. But at their last meeting, the council voted to move that meeting to December 19.
A Community Development Block Grant public hearing will be held prior to the council meeting at 6:15 p.m. on December 19, following by a housing assistance workshop at 6:30 p.m.
NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Senate, House Bills Would Ban Florida Fracking
December 5, 2016
After a fierce legislative debate early this year about fracking, a freshman senator filed a proposal Friday that would bar the use of the controversial oil and gas drilling technique in Florida.
Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, filed the proposal (SB 98) a little more than a week after Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, filed a similar measure (HB 35) in the House. Farmer’s bill is dubbed the “Stop Fracking Act.”
The bills will be considered during the 2017 legislative session, which starts in March. Fracking bills spurred a major battle during the 2016 session, with the issue ultimately dying in the Senate. While supporters said the 2016 bills would have created a needed regulatory framework, environmental groups contended the measures were aimed at opening the door to fracking.