The court of second chances sits and listens

An appeals court based in Lakeland makes a rare stop in Pasco to hear arguments on cases still in dispute.

DADE CITY - A panel of judges from the 2nd District Court of Appeal ventured into Pasco County on Thursday, making a rare visit to the county seat to hear arguments in cases ranging from a billing dispute to murder.

The appeals court, based in Lakeland with a branch office in Tampa, rules on legal arguments arising from court cases in 14 counties, covering courthouses from Naples to Dade City. Thursday's Dade City session was the first in Pasco County since the late 1990s.

For students in attendance from Zephyrhills High School, Pasco Middle School and Saint Leo University, the visit was a chance to learn about the court system firsthand. For Clerk of the Circuit Court Jed Pittman, it was the first opportunity in his 28 years on the job to see the appeals court in action. And for attorneys representing clients, it was an opportunity to argue for a second chance.

"Our job is to determine whether or not the trial court acted correctly," Judge Douglas Wallace told spectators crowded onto benches in the Pasco County Commission room at the historic courthouse.

The court learns about the trial it is ruling on by reading transcripts, Wallace said. There is no new evidence, no new witnesses presented. Instead, attorneys challenge the record of the trial and arguments on how the law was applied.

A panel of three judges listens to arguments, then issues rulings in writing, usually months later. Sometimes they uphold the original rulings from lower courts, and other times they may force courts to rehear issues or give convicted criminals a new trial.

Pittman said he thought inviting the appeals panel to Dade City would be educational for attorneys, court officials and students in east Pasco. He said he asked Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper to arrange the visit.

Pittman said despite his lengthy career in running the county's court system, he had never had cause to travel to Lakeland for a session of the appeals process.

Wallace was joined on the bench by Judges Charles Canady and Patricia Kelly for arguments Thursday. Judge Craig Villanti, a former circuit judge in Pasco County, attended but won't be ruling on the cases presented.

Among the cases reviewed Thursday was the 2002 murder conviction of Samantha Beach, 29, found guilty of helping arrange the 2001 beating and suffocation death of her former boyfriend at his home.

Beach is serving a life sentence at Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, but her appointed defense attorney, John Fisher, contended that she was improperly barred from presenting some evidence, and the instructions given to the jury weren't comprehensive. Fisher asked for a new trial.

"There are facts in this case that should be going to a jury," Fisher said.

In another case Thursday, attorney David Olsen wanted to overturn a local court's ruling that effectively closed a case against New Port Richey attorney John Renke II. In that case, filed in 1998, former client Joyce Kwiecinski challenged $130,000 Renke charged her for legal work.

Renke represented himself. Kwiecinski has never had the bill analyzed by an expert on legal billing, he said. The case should remain closed, he said.

Introducing the panel before arguments began, Villanti said a visit to outlying areas in the circuit is a reminder of earlier times when judges toured their area, holding court at regular intervals.

"This is kind of a throwback," he said.

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