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When big cases finally got a hearing

In 2005, several key cases were resolved, including that of Kristina Gaime. Hers was settled with a plea deal.

By JAMAL THALJI and COLLEEN JENKINS
Published January 3, 2006

It was the year that was years in the making.

Some of Pasco County's most infamous crimes finally had their day in court in 2005, while the county's youngest judge fought to stay on the bench.

It would have been Pasco's biggest trial in years. Instead, it was the biggest surprise: Kristina Gaime, the Land O'Lakes mother accused of killing one son and trying to kill the other in 1999, agreed to a plea deal in October after 61/2 years of legal wrangling.

In April, the 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper's decision to throw out much of the evidence against Gaime, including her suicide letters and the hose she used to poison the boys with carbon monoxide.

Their case gutted, prosecutors had to call upon the one witness they swore they'd never use: surviving son Adam Rotell. To keep his mother from being released on bail, the 14-year-old offered in May written testimony of the night that brother Mathew died at age 6.

The defense didn't want to face the son as a witness; the prosecution didn't want him to risk the trauma of testifying. Both sides started talking plea deal in August. It happened Oct. 5 at a clandestine hearing, held without prior public announcement, an hour after the Pasco County Courthouse closed.

Gaime, who faced life in prison, got 20 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. With credit for time served, she could be released in 10 years.

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that those convicted of capital crimes cannot be executed if they were juveniles when the crimes occurred. That spared the life of Gary Steven Cannon, who will spend life in prison for one of Pasco's most notorious murders: the 1997 gang rape and stabbing of 9-year-old Sharra Ferger. Cannon was 17 at the time.

In September, a jury convicted Cannon after a week of forensic evidence and graphic testimony from former cellmates who said Cannon bragged about the pleasure he derived from assaulting her.

Co-defendant Gary Elishi Cochran, who faces the death penalty, is set for trial in March.

Another figure forever linked to the Ferger case, Dale Morris Jr., died at age 52 in April at his parents' Lakeland home. Once charged in the girl's death, Morris spent four months in jail until his exoneration. He died of a heart ailment, ex-wife Sandi Christy said, after forgiving the detectives in the case.

Accusations haunt a judge and a bailiff

Defendants weren't the only ones making headlines in 2005.

The campaign misconduct case against Circuit Judge John Renke III went to trial in September. Proceedings lasted three days and included testimony about how little Renke was paid during his seven years working for his father's New Port Richey law firm.

Two months later, a Judicial Qualifications Commission hearing panel ruled that Renke, 36, had deliberately misrepresented his qualifications during the 2002 campaign and accepted illegal contributions from his father, former Republican state legislator John Renke II.

But because the younger Renke has been a good judge, the JQC said, panel members recommended against removing him from the bench. Instead, the panel suggested a public reprimand and a $40,000 fine. The final decision rests with the Florida Supreme Court. Its ruling could come any time.

The Nov. 29 arrest of Rodney C. Rupe, bailiff to Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray, sent shock waves through the New Port Richey courthouse. Authorities accused Rupe of beating his 16-year-old son.

Rupe was released without having to spend the night in jail or post bail on the child abuse charge. Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis objected to what he perceived as special treatment and persuaded a judge to rehold the bailiff's advisory hearing.

Rupe, 41, is on paid administrative leave while the charge is pending. He has pleaded not guilty and is undergoing weekly mental health counseling.

For 4 murder suspects: 3 guilty verdicts, 1 new trial

Halkitis also convinced three west Pasco juries that three men were guilty of murder.

Scott Dykstra, 38, received a life prison sentence in January for strangling, then burning his estranged wife, Lisa Marie Simpson.

May brought the conviction of 18-year-old Randolph Wang for killing one man and seriously injuring another over $100 worth of marijuana. Wang, a former Trinity resident and Mitchell High School student, received two concurrent life prison sentences.

And Adam Calcote, 34, will spend the rest of his life in prison for smothering his neighbor, Kimberly Delancey, at the Carlton Arms apartment complex in December 2004. Delancey, 27, taught special needs students at Anclote Elementary School.

Appellate judges ruled in September that David Brozey, convicted in 2003 of killing a father of six, should get a new trial due to errant jury instructions. The Shady Hills man currently is serving life in prison for second-degree murder.

The man accused of bilking the now defunct Deerwood Academy charter school of $80,000 likely will avoid a decadeslong prison sentence thanks to a plea agreement. If Jeffrey Ryan Alcantara comes up with the money by his Jan. 24 hearing date, he will receive a 22-month sentence.

If not, he'll spend no more than 30 months behind bars.

Coughing up $120,000 and the rights to the Lakes in Regency Park Civic Association clubhouse helped Estel "Zeke" Blevins. After cutting short his trial on swindling charges in March and throwing himself on the mercy of the court, Blevins, 61, got a hefty sentence.

But that meant the mostly elderly club members would have to wait a long time to get their property and money back. When Blevins agreed to repay them within a week of a deal made with prosecutors, Circuit Judge Joe Bulone shortened Blevins' sentence to three years in prison and five years of probation.

[Last modified January 3, 2006, 12:09:15]