Arrest of woman in sheriff T-shirt ruled justified

LARGO -- An appeals court ruled Friday that the 2001 arrest of a woman charged with wearing a Pinellas Sheriff's Office T-shirt was justified.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal said the state law that makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to wear any item that might dupe a reasonable person into thinking they work for a law enforcement agency was constitutional.

But the court took the unusual step of certifying a question "of great public importance" to the Florida Supreme Court. It asked the high court to have a look at the case and make the final decision on whether the law is proper.

Kimberly Sult, 26, was arrested in June 2001 by a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy as she visited a convenience store in St. Petersburg. She was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words: "Pinellas County Sheriff's Office." A deputy said he asked Sult if she worked for the Sheriff's Office. He said Sult lied, saying she did and displaying an old ID. In fact, Sult had been fired as a civilian detention employee in 1999.

A jury later found her guilty. But County Judge Michael Andrews imposed one of the most-lenient sentences available: $300 in fines and court costs and withholding of a formal finding of guilt.

Sult could not be reached for comment. But her attorney, John Trevena, said, "I'm confident the Supreme Court will see the absurdity of this decision."

Sgt. Greg Tita, a spokesman for Sheriff Everett Rice, said he was happy with the decision. "We knew the deputy was acting within the letter of the law," Tita said.

After Sult's conviction, which drew national attention, Rice told his deputies to stop enforcing the state law. Though he thought his deputies made a proper arrest, he said the offense wasn't worth the trouble. Tita said the court's decision wouldn't change that policy.

The misdemeanor Sult was charged with is not the same as the felony charge of impersonating a police officer.

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