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Gaime's attorney leaves case

Kristina Gaime pleaded guilty in her son's death, but her lawyer disagrees with her intention to appeal the plea.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published September 2, 2006

DADE CITY - Kristina Gaime is moving forward alone.

A judge Thursday granted a motion by attorney Mark Ware, with Barry Cohen's Tampa firm, to withdraw from the case of the Land O'Lakes mother who pleaded guilty last year to killing one son and trying to kill the other in 1999.

Cohen's high-priced firm engineered the deal for Gaime, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison but will likely serve about 12. She could have faced a life sentence if convicted at trial.

But in April, Gaime signaled a change of heart. In a handwritten motion sent from the Ocala prison, she said she intended to appeal the plea and sentence.

Ware then asked to withdraw from representing her.

"Our position is that based upon her statements, we have a fundamental disagreement with her position," Ware told Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper on Thursday. "Withdrawing would be in her best interest."

In the midst of a custody dispute with ex-husband Stephen Rotell, Gaime was accused of drugging their sons, ages 6 and 8, loading them into her minivan with her and starting the engine in a closed garage.

Mathew, the younger boy, died. Adam, now 15, survived.

Wearing a prison jumpsuit and handcuffs Thursday, Gaime read from her motion objecting to Ware's withdrawal. In it, she says she is not arguing ineffective assistance of counsel, a claim many defendants make that says their lawyer did not adequately represent them. She added, however, that she was not made aware of "a lot of evidence and a lot of circumstances in my case."

Her motion, instead, claims that she was not mentally competent when she entered the guilty plea.

Even on Thursday Gaime said she was confused. She was at a disadvantage because she didn't understand much of what was being argued, she said.

"I have no representation," she said. "I do have some brain damage."

Gaime hoped to retain Ware in a separate dispute over property seized during the criminal investigation. That evidence - papers, medical records and the minivan authorities say she used in the crime - is also at play in a wrongful death civil suit filed by Rotell on behalf of Adam and Mathew.

Tepper said the state can hold the evidence, pending the outcomes of the civil suit and the appeal of the plea agreement.

"I can't rule out the possibility that you would be successful and receive a new trial," Tepper said, adding that the property could be used in the trial.

Gaime objected in writing to Ware's withdrawing from the case, and Tepper questioned the objection, which Gaime called a "harmless notice."

"I have never heard of a friendly letter," the judge said. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, your honor," Gaime said. "I had some of the law clerks help me write this."

Tepper agreed with Ware that the possibility of an appeal makes it impossible for him to represent her.

The judge also reiterated that she believes Gaime knew what she was doing when she pleaded guilty on Oct. 5.

"I'm confident that I adequately took your plea," Tepper said.

Assistant State Attorney Phil Van Allen agreed.

"I have confidence in the court's colloquy during Ms. Gaime's change of plea," he said.

Rotell attended Thursday's hearing, as did Gaime's father, Gary McDuffie. Neither spoke to reporters afterward.

[Last modified September 2, 2006, 06:36:26]