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Judge's slip-up gets defendant new trial

Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper admits her alluding to the man being in custody may have prejudiced the jury.

By SEUNG MIN KIM
Published July 27, 2005

DADE CITY - A judge's slip of the tongue on Tuesday pushed back the trial for a Wesley Chapel man who authorities say has a history of attacking his neighbors.

Circuit Court Judge Lynn Tepper admitted she made a mistake when she tried to assure jurors by telling them Darin Salters "wouldn't be able to take your names and addresses back to his cell."

"A jury is not supposed to know that a defendant is in custody," Tepper said. "It's sometimes difficult with our mind-sets to keep a presumption of innocence."

On Tuesday, Salters was to be tried on charges of burglary, false imprisonment, tampering with a witness, battery, and exposure of sexual organs. In the last case, authorities said Salters approached a Wesley Chapel woman's home about 8 p.m., grabbed her and pushed her inside to the floor, where he held her against her will.

Three of the seven jurors had thought Salters was in custody, they told Tepper. But a couple of them had already told court officials that they were concerned about Salters having access to their names and addresses, prompting Assistant Public Defender Bob Focht to try to seek a mistrial, Focht later said.

"Why would they be voicing that concern unless they had decided that they were in danger?" Focht said.

The court took extra precaution to be sure that jurors didn't predetermine Salters' guilt, Tepper said. Salters, who is still in custody because Tepper said he couldn't afford to make bail, wore a light blue button-down shirt and khakis instead of jail-issued garb, and jurors also were not allowed to see Salters enter and leave the courtroom because he was wearing leg stiffeners that would prevent him from running away.

Salters, 36, will now be tried on Aug. 22 with a new jury. Salters is also accused of burglarizing a home in the same Wesley Chapel neighborhood and raping a 52-year-old woman while threatening her with a knife in 2003. That case will go to trial on Sept. 26.

[Last modified July 27, 2005, 01:04:17]