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Courthouse sometimes a merry-go-round

By COLLEEN JENKINS and ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published July 27, 2006

It's a small, small world at the Tampa courthouse. A victim one day may be a defendant the next.

Example No. 1: Last week, Kenny Kirkendall was a witness in a murder trial. The 25-year-old was beaten, stabbed and shot last year during a robbery in his family's Odessa home.

But when he returned to court Tuesday, Kirkendall was on the docket himself. He faces felony and misdemeanor drug possession charges and has pleaded not guilty.

Example No. 2: On Monday, Gary Payne sobbed during the sentencing of the man who fatally stabbed his stepson, Tommy Laskas, at an Ybor City nightclub in June 2005.

Oddly, when Payne stepped forward to talk about Laskas' life, his family and stepson's supporters walked away. For the rest of the hearing, they sat apart from Payne. Outside the courtroom, Payne's wife said she and her husband were estranged.

Court records provide the explanation. Payne, 57, was arrested last August and charged with two counts of sexual battery, one count of lewd and lascivious molestation and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct. The charges stem from accusations he abused a 12-year-old female victim in 2004.

He was back in court Wednesday for a hearing of his own.

SNAKE IN THE COURTROOM: There was a story waiting for Circuit Judge William Levens when he showed up for work at the Plant City courthouse Monday morning.

According to a security guard, a cleaning crew had found a snake in the judge's courtroom as workers made their rounds Friday evening.

"Don't worry. We got that one," the security guard told Levens. "But in case any of his friends came along, you'd better watch where you put your feet."

Levens' response: "Only in Plant City."

A HIT-and-RUN tale: On July 22, deputies arrested Theodore Gaines Hartzog, 45, accusing him of banging into a flashing speed limit sign on Skipper Road with a white Ford Bronco, then hightailing it away.

Someone saw the crash and called deputies, who found Hartzog and questioned him.

He told deputies that, yes, he did run into the sign and drive off, according to an arrest report.

He added that he was taking a "multitude of prescription drugs," said sheriff's spokeswoman Vida Morgan.

When he was arrested on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident, he told jail employees where he worked: We Care Inc.

Got a tip? For cops news, contact Abbie VanSickle at 813 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com For courts news, contact Colleen Jenkins at (813) 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 27, 2006, 06:29:34]