Stephanie Jefferson, 9, accused of stealing a rabbit, "was nervous and a little scared." Her mother, Star Spearel, "was devastated."
By STEVE THOMPSON
Published April 10, 2004
[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer]
Stephanie Jefferson, 9, and her mother, Star Spearel, took questions Friday from reporters who filled the front yard of their home in New Port Richey. Stephanie was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing a neighbor's rabbit.
NEW PORT RICHEY - Stephanie Jefferson, 9, watched nervously as the judge asked each of the other juveniles ahead of her if they wanted a lawyer.
"Should I say yes or no?" Stephanie asked her mother, Star Spearel. "Well," her mom responded, "did you take the rabbit?"
"Yes," Stephanie replied.
"Then you don't need a lawyer," her mother said.
Spearel said Friday that she knows her daughter did wrong and should face the consequences. But the mother said she was horrified by her child's arrest Tuesday on a burglary charge and her appearance in court the next day.
Stephanie was accused of stealing a rabbit, two $5 bills and some change from a neighbor's home in Veterans Village. After questioning Stephanie on Tuesday, Pasco sheriff's Deputy Matthew Cohen read the girl her rights, handcuffed her and drove her away in the back of his patrol car.
Spearel could only watch.
"I didn't know what to do. I was devastated," Spearel said. "I want to know how this officer would have felt if I had handcuffed his child, being 9."
Stephanie and her mom have been subjected to an onslaught of media attention since the child's case was featured Friday in the Times. The story was picked up by newspapers, TV and radio across the country and as far away as London and Sydney, Australia.
Television crews swarmed the front yard Friday. A producer for NBC's Today show begged her to appear this weekend. On the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather commented that a lot of people were "hopping mad" about the arrest.
Sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll has defended the arrest. He said the victim of the theft wanted charges pressed. Because he had enough evidence, Doll said, the officer was obliged to arrest the child.
Many legal experts say a more common approach in a situation such as Stephanie's would be for the deputy to take a report and refer it to the state attorney. But it is not uncommon for a 9-year-old to be arrested in Florida, they say.
Stephanie said Friday that she did not think it was wrong to take the rabbit.
"I thought that we could give it a good home here," said Stephanie, who told the Times she went into her neighbor's home through an unlocked back door.
Stephanie's opinion of the deputy has softened with time.
"He was kind of nice," she said Friday. But she still was bothered by the arrest.
"I was nervous," Stephanie said, "and a little scared."
Deputy Cohen came to their front door about 7:30 p.m.
It didn't take him long to notice the black and white rabbit, Oreo, hopping around in the living room. Stephanie admitted to taking the rabbit, then was asked about the money.
"Stephanie, I'm asking you one time and one time only, where's the money you took from that home," Cohen asked the girl, according to her mother. He said he had witnesses, Spearel said.
Stephanie began crying, then adamantly denied taking the money, the arrest report said.
"Can you please turn around," Stephanie said he asked her.
"I turned around, and then he took out his handcuffs," Stephanie said. "Then he took my arm like this, not tight."
He read the girl her rights. Stephanie said Friday that she didn't understand them, wasn't even really listening.
"I was too nervous," she said. Cohen told her mom she would be contacted shortly by someone at the juvenile assessment center.
Barefooted in the back of the patrol car, she sat quietly while Cohen busied himself with other things, Stephanie said. He listened to music, talked on his radio and checked on her in the rear-view mirror. At stoplights he would type on his computer.
At the juvenile assessment center, Stephanie said, a woman at a desk asked her a bunch of questions.
"What's your name?"
"How old are you?"
Among other questions, she said, she was asked, "Have you ever fallen down when you were high or drunk?"
Stephanie was taken into a room and told to have a seat on the bench inside.
"And they just asked me questions, and I just sat on the bench waiting for my mom to get there," Stephanie said.
Later, they took her fingerprints.
"It felt yucky and stuff. It was a little wet," she said.
The woman had her sign some papers, Stephanie said.
"She told me what they were, but I didn't understand her."
Stephanie's mom came for her in about an hour or so.
The next day, mother and child appeared before the judge, who put the girl on the juvenile version of house arrest.
It's a legal form of being grounded. She can go to school and play in the yard if her mom is supervising, but she cannot go anywhere else. A case worker from the Department of Juvenile Justice might look in on her occasionally.
In a matter of weeks or months, the case worker will make a recommendation to the State Attorney's Office, courtroom experts say.
The state attorney may pursue the burglary charge or more likely send the case to a diversionary program. There, Stephanie could undergo counseling, be ordered to perform community service or any combination of remedies.
Reporters asked Stephanie on Friday whether she has learned a lesson she could pass along to other 9-year-olds.
"Yes," she said. "Respect your parents, and don't go through what I went through."
