The State Attorney Sidebar

V O L U M E

SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:
A message
from the
State Attorney
Recent SAO
trial victories

2 ,

I S S U E

Its been a busy 2014, so

far! The State Attorneys
Office remains focused on
our core mission - keeping
this community safe. We
will not detour from this mission! In fact, I am pleased to
tell you that crime is down in
the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
The crime rate is the lowest

Homicide vs.

bard House
victim organization

2 0 1 4

that it has been in years.

Our goal is to keep those
crime numbers dropping.
We ask that you continue to
pray for our team as we continue to seek justice for the
hundreds of victims in our
community and pray for
peace for our victims and
their families. ~ Angela

The Rebuttal

tips

The Hub-

M A R C H

A Message From the State Attorney

Home safety

Murder

The medias current buzz word

seems to be ten letters long
OVERCHARGE. We have mentioned the topic before in The SAO
Sidebar, but after recent media
coverage, it is necessary to address
the subject once again.
The law does not permit an
overcharge in the State of Florida.
In fact, Florida has a series of
checks and balances in place to
protect against it. Defense attorneys are tasked with serving the
best interest of their clients. If an
attorney believes an overcharge
has been filed in their clients case,
that attorney can challenge the
charge by filing what is called a
Motion to Dismiss.
Stand Your Ground (SYG) is
another way for defense attorneys
to not only dismiss a charge, but get
immunity for their client. In the
George Zimmerman and Michael
Dunn cases, attorneys did not file a

Motion to Dismiss or request a SYG

hearing.

or any lesser charge which is included in the jury instructions.

The other safeguard in place is

what is called a Judgment of Acquittal
or JOA. The attorneys in the Zimmerman and Dunn cases did request a
JOA at trial. When a JOA is requested, the trial judge reviews all of the
facts in the case and then decides
whether the defendant should be
cleared of the charge(s) filed by the
State altogether or if the case should
be sent to the jury on the highest
charge filed and the necessarily or
requested lesser included offenses.
The judges in the Zimmerman and
Dunn trials denied JOA requests - that
means the judges found the charges
as filed by the State were proper and
should be deliberated by the jury.

In 2013, the Fourth Judicial Circuit

took 39 homicide cases to trial. That
is a record!

It is the responsibility of the SAO to

file the highest charge which it believes it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. A jury has the right to convict a defendant of the crime charged

The SAO stands behind the filing

decisions made in the Zimmerman
and Dunn cases as well as the many
other cases we file.

27 defendants were found GUILTY

AS CHARGED.

7 defendants were found guilty of a

lesser included offense

1 was found not guilty

4 ended in a hung jury (Of the four,
one was retried and the defendant was found GUILTY AS
CHARGED. The other three
cases are set for retrial this
year.)

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

PAGE 2

Justice Promised, Justice Delivered

Dennis T. Glover was convicted of Murder in the First
Degree. A jury also recommended that Glover be sentenced to Death Row. ~ASAs
John Guy and Janeen Mira

Christopher L. Anderson
was found guilty of Murder in
the First Degree and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. He was also sentenced to life in prison on
these counts. ~ASAs David
Thompson and Lee Smith

Robert A. Jerrell was convicted of Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child. ~ASAs

Donna Thurson and Beverly
Collins

Dustin S. Duty was found

guilty of Armed Robbery.

~ASAs Anna Crutcher and John

Kalinowski

Matthew R. Hinson was sentenced to life in prison for Murder in the Second Degree.
~ASA Jeff Moody

Pedro J. Ocasio-Alcazar was

convicted and sentenced to 60
years in prison for six counts of
Vehicular Homicide. ~ASAs
Steve Siegel and Lee Smith

Aaron E. Wallace was found

guilty of two counts of Attempted Aggravated Battery and one
count of Poss. Of a Firearm by a
Juv. Found to have Committed a
Felony Act. ~ASAs Brittany
Mauerberger and Peter Overstreet

James R. Cox was sentenced

Lascivious Molestation. ~ASAs

Rachel Algee and Erin Perry

Sandy V. Alston, Jr. was convicted of Sexual Battery on a

Child Under 12, Sexual Battery
on a Child Over 12 and Child
AbuseImpregnating a Child
Under 16. ~ASA Terence Martin

Rodney R. Newberry was convicted of Murder in the First Degree and Armed Robbery. A jury
also recommended that Newberry be sentenced to Death Row.
~ASAs Bernie de la Rionda and
Jessica Klingensmith

Omar Santiago was found

guilty of Murder in the First Degree and Solicitation to Commit
First Degree Murder. ~ASAs London Kite and Peter Overstreet

to life in prison for Lewd or

Hearings and Cheerings

Asproudasweareofthehardworkthatouremployeesdo,weareespeciallyproudofthose
whoarerecognizedfortheirworkoutsideofthisoce.
Recently,ASAsLondonKiteandBrookeBradywerebothselectedtoserveonboardswithinour
community.
LondonwasappointedtoserveontheBoardofDirectorsforFloridaCoastalSchoolofLaws
CoastalLawFounda on.ThemainpurposeoftheCoastalLawFounda onistoraise,investand
managefundsforscholarshipsandeduca onalprogramstobenefitthestudentsofFloridaCoastal
SchoolofLawandtheircommunity.
BrookewasselectedasViceChairfortheJuvenileJus ceCircuitAdvisoryBoard.Thepurposeof
thisBoardistoprovideadviceanddirec ontotheDepartmentofJuvenileJus ce(DJJ)inthede
velopmentandimplementa onofjuvenilejus ceprograms.

PAGE 3

Special Acknowledgement Opportunity

Linda Nelson has
been part of the SAO for
26 years.
In October 1987, she
was hired as a Fiscal
Administrator in the
Business Office. In
1998, Linda was pro-

these victims
with counseling,
food and
clothing, or even
just a safe place
to stay, the
Hubbard House
continues to
positively impact
those in our
community.

she currently works as a

Prosecution Support Specialist.
Lindas granddaughter
Jaiden is the inspiration for
the SAOs motto - Smile.
No Complaints.

Victims Voice

LindaNelson

By providing

moted as a second level

Administrator and then
later promoted as a level
three Fiscal Administrator.
In June 2010, Linda
transferred to our Youth
Offender Program where

The SAO understands that

being a victim of a crime can
have a serious impact on
ones life. We also know how
important it is for our victims
to have the support they need
during this difficult time. With
the help of our victim advocates and other agencies in
the community, we are able
to provide victims with the
services they need.
One of the agencies that
the SAO works closely with is
the Hubbard House. The
Hubbard House is an awardwinning organization that
works with those affected by
domestic violence. In the early 1970s, a group of women
started a rape crisis hotline
for women experiencing domestic violence. As the calls
continued to pour in, these
women began to realize that

there were not services for

these victims. So in 1976,
the Hubbard House was
purchased and opened its
doors, becoming the first
shelter in Florida that was
specifically designed for
victims of domestic violence.
Today, the Hubbard
House is a nationally recognized, full-service domestic
violence center that provides support to this community, as well as guidance
to other communities that
want to develop their own
domestic violence centers.
The Hubbard House
serves as a safe haven for
women, men and children
that have been exposed to
domestic violence by
providing them with all the

support and counseling

they need in order to move
forward and make positive
changes in their lives.
They aim to provide safety,
empowerment and social
change for victims and their
children through education
and advocacy.
By providing these victims with counseling, food
and clothing, or even just a
safe place to stay, the Hubbard House continues to
positively impact the lives
of those within our community. Their hard work shows
that they are dedicated to
helping victims of domestic
violence and are determined to accomplish their
mission, which is that every
relationship be violencefree.

Off The Record

Recently,

SAOEmployeesMonicaBainand
SummerSonsonwiththeirWounded
Warrior

the State
Attorneys Office took
time to honor those
who
have
been
wounded while fighting
for our country. Members of our staff collected a variety of
items to deliver to

these men and women.

As part of the project, the SAO adopted
21 Wounded Warriors.
The SAO collected and
then donated to these
brave men and women
gifts such as golf trips,

food, gift cards, and

family games. The
SAO thanks all of
those who serve in
our military and risk
their lives for our
country.

PAGE 4

SafetyZone
HomeSafetyTipsfromyourSAOInves gators
Beextracau ousaboutlockingdoorsandwindowswhenleavingthehouse,evenifitsonlyforafewminutes.
Whenleavingyourhomeforanextended me,haveatrustedneighbororfamilymember
watchyourhouseandcollectyournewspaperandmail.
Seta merforyourindoorandoutdoorlightstoturnonando.Thiswillgivetheillusion
thatthehouseisoccupied.
Besuretokeepallvaluableslockedinasafeorothersecuredarea.
Donotleavekeyshiddenoutsidethehome.Instead,leaveasparekeywithatrusted
neighbororfamilymember.

www.sao4th.com

Setting the Record Straight

All murders are homicides,
however not all homicides are
murder. Many times, we hear the
terms homicide and murder
used interchangeably, when in
actuality, the circumstances can
be quite different.
By definition, a homicide is
the killing of another human being. Murder, on the other hand,
is a killing of a human being that
has been deemed illegal by the
Legislature. Manslaughter is
also defined as an illegal killing. Basically, all three terms
refer to the death of a human being. The big difference is the motive and manner in which the
death occurred.
Under Florida law, some homicides are deemed justifiable. An
example of this would be when
an individual is protecting himself

from imminent danger, such as

in a robbery or burglary or in a
case of self-defense. A homicide
can be considered excusable
when the death occurs by accident or misfortune. Murder, on
the other hand, is a deliberate
act and is classified at many different levels. Murder in the First
Degree is the highest level offense and is a capital felony. One type of first degree murder is premeditated murder. What some may not realize
is that premeditation can happen
within a few seconds of time or it
can be a carefully mapped out
plan. The other type of first degree murder is called Felony
Murder, which is a death that
occurs during the commission of
certain dangerous felonies such
as robbery or sexual battery.

Murder in the Second Degree

involves a death where an individual kills another human being
without premeditation, but say
rather out of anger or with ill will
or reckless disregard. There is
also the charge of Manslaughter,
which is the killing of a human
being by intentional act or negligence. For example, if an individual is killed by a drunk driver,
that driver could be charged with
manslaughter.
The SAO reviews each and
every homicide case carefully
and then decides which charge
we believe can be proven beyond
a reasonable doubt. The final
determination is left up to a jury.