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Trial reset in teacher sex case

Plea deal efforts snag on the issue of prison time for Debra Lafave, accused of having sex with a student.

By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published July 19, 2005

TAMPA - All eyes were on her, and she didn't flinch as photographers fired away.

Monday was supposed to be a big day for Debra Lafave, talk show tantalizer and tabloid tidbit. The trial of the former Greco Middle School reading teacher accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student was supposed to begin.

But it will be months before that happens.

On Monday, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Wayne Timmerman set a Dec. 5 trial date for Lafave, 24, after negotiations broke off between her defense attorney and state prosecutors.

Weeks after Lafave's attorney said he would rely on an insanity defense, the judge also ordered further psychological evaluations of Lafave.

"We had hoped to resolve this case without a trial but obviously we were unsuccessful," said Lafave's attorney, John Fitzgibbons.

Fitzgibbons said plea negotiations broke down because prosecutors were demanding too much state prison time for his client.

"To place an attractive young woman in that kind of hell hole is like placing a piece of raw meat in with the lions," Fitzgibbons said. "I don't think Debbie could survive it."

Lafave was arrested in the driveway of the teenage boy's Temple Terrace home in June 2004. Charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery, she could face up to 15 years on each felony charge.

Hillsborough County prosecutor Mike Sinacore said Monday his office offered the best deal it could. He declined, however, to discuss the details.

Referring to Fitzgibbons' comment that the prison term proffered by the state was too long, Sinacore hinted that the defense attorney overstated the harshness of the state's position.

"I think it could be construed as us asking for the maximum penalty when we made what we thought was a reasonable offer," Sinacore said.

Sinacore and Fitzgibbons said they had hoped to reach an agreement to save the teenage boy the stress and embarrassment of testifying in such a high-profile trial.

Monday's court order means he will likely testify.

It also means jurors will get a chance to hear more about the emotional distress that Lafave's attorney has said might have led her to seduce the boy.

A state psychologist said in a 37-page report that Lafave was not insane when she allegedly had sex with the boy. But a psychologist hired by the defense said Lafave has "issues" that may have influenced her thinking at the time.

Timmerman's order calls for Lafave to meet with two additional court-appointed doctors for further psychological review. If the two sides can't agree on which doctors, the judge will appoint them.

Lafave is also facing a charge of lewd and lascivious exhibition in Marion County.

Authorities there say she and the teenager had sex in the back of her sport utility vehicle while the teen's cousin, 15, drove them around Ocala.

Her trial in that case is expected to follow the close of court proceedings in Hillsborough County, Fitzgibbons said.

--Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 813 226-3337 or rondeaux@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 19, 2005, 01:08:15]