Florida

Judge nixes request for makeup artist to cover defendant’s facial tattoos at trial

Corrected: A Florida man charged in a double-murder case won’t be provided with a makeup artist to cover up his facial tattoos at trial. Although judges have allowed such services in other cases, Circuit Judge Richard Burton said he saw no reason for the state to pay to conceal tattoos…

Aug 11, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Lawsuit says ‘financial slavery’ service by dominatrix was elder exploitation

A Florida dominatrix was within the bounds of legality when she advertised her availability to provide physical punishment and “financial slavery,” a lawyer for Alex Abrams says. But a Seminole County Circuit Court lawsuit alleges that Judith Gumbrecht, aka “Goddess Jude,” went too far with a sadomasochistic financial relationship with…

Aug 5, 2015 2:25 PM CDT

Fugitive mom captured in parental kidnap case; did vaccination issue prompt her exit?

A little over a year after a mom and her young daughter disappeared, the fugitive Florida woman has been captured and is being held in a federal parental kidnapping case. Megan Elizabeth Everett, 23, and her 3-year-old daughter, Lilly Abigail Baumann, were found Monday in the Palatka area of Florida,…

Aug 4, 2015 10:50 AM CDT

Man on probation in $2M Lego-focused theft faces new case after vacation near shopping centers

On probation in Florida for stealing some $2 million worth of toy Lego sets and other merchandise, Ignatius Pollara told his probation officer that he planned to travel to Illinois to visit family. But the officer was suspicious, because Pollara has no family in Illinois. He alerted Illinois authorities, who…

Jul 27, 2015 4:55 PM CDT

Lawyer’s $100K sports car goes on a wild ride after he leaves the keys in the vehicle

An expensive sports car owned by a Florida criminal defense attorney went on a wild ride Friday after he left it parked outside the garage of his home with the keys inside it. Stolen a little after midnight, the 2014 Audi R8 was recovered at nearly 11 p.m. the same…

Jul 22, 2015 2:00 PM CDT

Lawyer asked court to detain client before suicide but judge said he lacked the authority

Wylie David Chambers had only one misdemeanor conviction on his record, back in the 1970s. But the government had a strong case against him as he was on trial in Florida in an aggravated assault case earlier this month, and it looked like he might be convicted and sent to…

Jul 21, 2015 10:30 AM CDT

Inmates are more likely to get the death penalty if their faces are deemed untrustworthy, study says

Convicted murderers whose faces were rated more untrustworthy were more likely to be sentenced to death than those with more trustworthy faces, according to a study of inmates convicted of murder. The first part of the study, led by University of Toronto social psychologist John Paul Wilson, asked 208 online…

Jul 21, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

One year after law prof’s shooting death, police release new details on mystery Prius

Police in Tallahassee, Florida, have released new details about the Prius that may have been used by the person who shot and killed Florida State University law professor Dan Markel on July 18 of last year. A neighbor who heard a loud bang found Markel bleeding in his car in…

Jul 20, 2015 7:38 AM CDT

Petition seeks removal of historical courthouse mural that included Klan

A petition on Change.org seeks removal of a historical mural in a Florida courthouse that shows hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan riding horses. News4Jax has a story on the petition, which criticizes the painting hanging in the Baker County courthouse for its “divisive imagery” and for denying “the…

Jul 16, 2015 9:34 AM CDT

Judge annuls wealthy US lawmaker’s marriage: Does that also erase assets to divide in divorce?

A Florida judge on Tuesday annulled a wealthy federal lawmaker’s longtime marriage, finding it to be invalid because his wife was already married when they wed. That means U.S. Representative Alan Grayson, D-Florida, won’t have to worry about dividing marital assets in his pending divorce, his lawyer says, because the…

Jul 14, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Travelers beware: Tourist excesses are sparking new laws and stricter enforcement

It might seem like harmless fun. But throughout the world travelers need to beware of following impulses: They face an increased likelihood of fines or even jail for misbehavior as an epidemic of injuries, damage and violations of local standards caused by tourists’ antics are sparking new laws and stricter…

Jul 13, 2015 1:42 PM CDT

Former law school CFO charged with using work AmEx card to pay $50K in personal bills

The former chief financial officer of a Florida law school has been arrested and charged with felony grand theft. John LaTorre, 56, is accused of using a work credit card issued to Barry University’s law school to pay $50,000 in unauthorized personal expenses, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Credit card charges…

Jul 10, 2015 10:55 AM CDT

3 lawyers ‘maliciously’ set up opposing counsel for midtrial DUI arrest, referee says

Three Florida lawyers violated attorney ethics rules by “deliberately and maliciously” setting up opposing counsel for a drunken-driving arrest during a hard-fought, high-profile defamation trial, a Florida judge acting as a referee in the legal ethics case has ruled. A hearing will be held in August to determine what penalty…

Jul 7, 2015 4:35 PM CDT

11th Circuit OKs wire-fraud conviction of lawyer who impersonated state bar official

A former lawyer who, while still in practice, impersonated a Florida Bar official during a 2009 conference call with her boss and mentor, then-attorney Scott Rothstein, says she had no idea he was operating a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme. But Christina Kitterman’s argument that she lacked the intent to commit…

Jul 6, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

2 lawyers who helped 1 client break the law are convicted in unrelated cases

Two different attorneys who at one time represented a convicted Florida con man have been convicted in unrelated cases of helping him break the law. The latest is attorney Marlon Smikle, 29, who last week pleaded no contest to conspiring to smuggle a cellphone to inmate Donald Heflin Mitchell Jr.…

Jul 6, 2015 12:35 PM CDT