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Tampa Uncuffed

Attorney's parents sure to be proud after this one

By COLLEEN JENKINS and ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published May 25, 2006

Defense attorney Paul S. Carr had a tough task this week trying to convince a judge that Crystal Chavez wasn't a bad mother.

The 22-year-old Seffner woman faced child neglect charges after deputies found her four naked and dirty children locked in a bedroom with no air conditioner, in a mobile home with flies and human feces on the floor.

So how did Carr argue that his client, found sitting in a bedroom with air conditioning, should get a minimal bail? He equated her parenting skills with his own upbringing.

"If no air conditioning is neglect," the Ruskin attorney said in his Southern drawl, "my folks are habitual offenders."

Calling himself "a Florida cracker," Carr said he was one of four children and grew up without the luxury of a home cooling system.

He acknowledged deputies' concern about finding Chavez's 7-month-old son with a plastic bag over his face but said otherwise his client just appeared to be a bad housekeeper.

"Now, a little feces on the floor," he said, "might be cats and dogs."

Circuit Judge Gregory Holder wasn't buying it.

"I don't care if it's dog, cat or possum feces," the judge said, adding he meant no disrespect to Carr's childhood. "The court views these as very serious allegations."

Then he stamped a $100,000 bail on the case.

*   *   *

The father of Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee is expected to be released from a hospital this week, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter.

Arthur "A.C." Gee, 74, of Lithia was seriously injured in early May when his Chevy was run off the road, deputies say.

Deputies say a Honda driven by a 16-year-old girl hit Gee's vehicle on Causeway Boulevard near 45th Street, sending him into a utility pole.

Gee suffered multiple injuries and was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he's been hospitalized since the accident.

It will likely take Gee a while before he's fully healed, she said.

"He's going to have a lengthy recovery," Carter said.

*   *   *

There's a new face this week at the Tampa law firm of Cohen, Jayson & Foster.

Folks at the courthouse know Darla Whistler as an assistant state attorney who has been prosecuting cases since August 2004. TV reality show junkies may remember her from season four of the Bachelor on ABC.

Viewers got only a glimpse of the blond, green-eyed lawyer during the fall 2003 season. Bachelor Bob Guiney decided not to give her a rose after the first episode, sending her back to her Gainesville practice.

But don't dare suggest her good looks had anything to do with getting hired by the prestigious firm.

"She was hired because judges and lawyers were totally consistent in their opinion of what an excellent trial lawyer she is," lawyer Barry Cohen said Wednesday.

The firm's clients are "not looking for a bachelorette," he said. "They're looking for a very skilled lawyer."

A Google search turned up Whistler's bachelorette profile. Producers asked her what made her most proud.

"Being a good trial lawyer," she said.

Surely, her new bosses won't quibble with that.

This week's Uncuffed column is the first by writers Abbie VanSickle and Colleen Jenkins, who recently began covering crime and courts for the Times in Tampa. Got a tip? For crime news, contact VanSickle at 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com For courts, contact Jenkins at 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.

[Last modified May 25, 2006, 07:12:33]