By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER and Christopher Goffard
Published August 26, 2004
It's probably a grim sign of the times when a man goes on trial in the ax murder of his mother and no one shows up.
In a less blood-drenched epoch, it's easy to imagine a gory matricide case, with its shades of Greek tragedy, making for a lurid media sensation, particularly in the tabloids.
But this week in Hillsborough court, as Mark Allen Lawson stood trial in the murder of his 71-year-old mom, Patricia Smith, the case played out before empty benches.
Lawson, 49, who had previously served 20 years in prison for rape and kidnapping, had been staying with his mother at Glen Oaks Mobile Home Park on N Florida Avenue. According to witnesses, they argued a lot. He was broke. She would not let him use her car.
The murder weapon was never found, but prosecutors said Lawson hefted a heavy, sharp weapon - possibly a hatchet - and chopped through his mother's skull. Detectives said they found Lawson's jeans, which he had thrown in the trash, covered with his mother's blood.
"Why are there splatters of blood all around the bottom of those jeans, and why are they mom's?" prosecutor John Terry asked the jury.
Arguing that the case against his client was based on speculation, defense attorney Ken Littman said prosecutors failed to produce a motive, such as jealousy, hatred, or greed. "Here, it's a total mystery," he said.
Nevertheless, a jury of six men took less than two hours to find Lawson guilty of second-degree murder. He could receive life in prison when Hillsborough Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett sentences him Sept. 20.
LEAD-FOOT DEPUTIES WARNED: It's one thing for sheriff's deputies to speed through traffic to get to an emergency call. But to get to court, or just to hurry back to the station? That's a big no-no, say higher-ups in the department.
In a stern memo from Col. Jose Docobo sent throughout the agency last week, deputies were warned that their supervisors will monitor their driving habits "and take necessary action when required."
Docobo sent the memo after a recent increase in complaints from civilian motorists concerned about the driving habits of patrol deputies. In particular, people reported seeing deputies speed through traffic, in some cases without emergency lights on, said sheriff's spokesman Lt. Rod Reder.
Reder said Docobo's warning doesn't mean deputies are going to start ticketing each other.
"We're just sending the word out, slow down," Reder said. "We're encouraging them, if you're going to have to speed to go to a call, use your lights. And two, if you can, slow down. If they're late for court, they're late for court."
Deputy David Abella died in a traffic crash on his way to an emergency call April 21. Abella swerved around a slow-moving truck. His patrol car hit a curb and crashed into two utility poles. He was the first Hillsborough deputy to die in the line of duty in 17 years.
Investigators could not determine exactly how fast he was going, but Reder said "speed was a factor.
"We don't want to go through that again," Reder said.
The memo cites this Sheriff's Office policy: "In normal (non-emergency) operations, personnel shall strictly adhere to traffic laws and shall drive defensively in a safe and courteous manner."
But Reder said the issue of officers speeding is "an age-old problem."
"You tend to race from call to call, so you get in that mode," he said. "We tend to drive more aggressively, but we're trained to be professional drivers.
"To this day, my wife thinks I'm the worst driver in Hillsborough County. I tell her, "Well, I've always gotten us there.' "
Still, even Reder finds himself checking his speedometer more often since the memo went out.
FIRST-DEGREE MURDER: Sylvester Brown, a 19-year-old Tampa man accused of killing a preschool teacher's assistant, was indicted Wednesday on a charge of first-degree murder, an upgrade from an earlier second-degree murder charge.
Brown is accused in the June shooting of Ian Lynne, 24, a teacher's assistant at Congregation Schaarai Zedek's Amy Gail Buchman Preschool on Swann Avenue. Tampa police said Brown confessed to shooting Lynn following a dispute over money.
SHERIFF'S OFFICE PITCHES IN: In the five days since Reder announced a fundraiser for Hardee County sheriff's deputies facing financial woes because of Hurricane Charley, Hillsborough sheriff's employees have donated more than $6,000.
Reder said he anticipates the pot will reach $7,000 by the time a check is presented next week to Hardee County sheriff's officials.
The one-time fundraiser is being done through the Lynn Sowers Memorial Foundation, established in 1995 to help Hillsborough sheriff's personnel in times of need. To date, $750,000 in help has gone out to employees. Children have gotten wheelchairs, financially strapped families have had their power turned back on and their refrigerators filled.
Most of the foundation's money comes from employee payroll deductions, now about $3,800 an month, Reder said. International Plaza also hosts a wine and food tasting every year at Bay Street and gives proceeds to the Sowers foundation.
The Hardee County drive is just for deputies there whose homes were damaged by the storm or whose finances are in disarray for other storm-related reasons.
"We wanted to make sure law enforcement got this," Reder said.
