Mother fires lawyer in handcuffing case
By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published April 25, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - The mother of the 5-year-old girl who was handcuffed by police last month at her school has fired the lawyer representing her in the matter.
Largo attorney John Travena said Monday that the mother, Inga Akins of St. Petersburg, notified him of the firing by a faxed letter shortly before 9 a.m. today. The fax contained a heading from the tabloid television show, A Current Affair. Trevena had just completed interviews on five network morning shows when he received the message.
It was a bizarre twist in a case that has grabbed international media attention since Friday, when a video of the handcuffing and the events leading up to it became public.
Educators at Fairmount Park Elementary in St. Petersburg created the video March 14. It showed the girl defying an assistant principal and another school staff member as she tore items off walls and swung her fists at the educators. It later shows the girl in the assistant principal's office tearing items off a bulletin board, climbing on a table and swinging at the assistant principal numerous times.
The video ends after about 28 minutes with the girl crying as three St. Petersburg police officers place her in handcuffs.
Trevena said a producer from A Current Affair "raged" at him last Friday after the St. Petersburg Times published a story and photos of the video. The Times also placed an edited version of the video on its Web site. Trevena then released the video to numerous other media outlets locally and nationally.
Trevena said the producer told him A Current Affair had exclusive rights to the woman's story. The woman granted the show an interview several weeks ago, shortly after the handcuffing. She appeared on the show with her daughter.
Trevena said Akins had not told him about the exclusive deal. He said she did not express any dissatisfaction with his services during a phone call Saturday from New York.
He said he learned Friday that the program paid to have Akins flown to New York over the weekend and paid for her lodging.
He called the show's actions "highly unethical and possibly illegal."
A spokeswoman for A Current Affair, Daniella Cracknell, said the show had no comment. She would not say how much the show is paying Akins under the agreement.
Click for video from the assistant principal's office and arrival of the police
Click for video from the kindergarten classroom