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Judge orders life sentences in shootout with 2 officers
Dodrick Porteus wounded an officer and was shot by one of them during a N ovember fracas .
By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published October 20, 2006
TAMPA - Tampa police Officer Brian Trlak said he will never forget the eyes of the man who shot him in November. "The gaze that he had," Trlak told a judge, "that will stick with me." On Thursday, Dodrick Jevon Porteus, 25, received two consecutive life sentences for the attempted murders of Trlak and police Sgt. John Hocker. A jury convicted the Tampa man in September. The officers had gone looking for Porteus at his home to investigate a pool hall fight and found him sitting in a Cadillac with a .38-caliber handgun. When they ordered him to get out, he started shooting. Officers fired back. One bullet hit Trlak in the chest and another hit Porteus in his right arm. Police officials said Trlak's life likely was spared by his protective vest. Hocker was not injured. About two dozen police officers and Tampa police Chief Steve Hogue filled a courtroom Thursday to seek the maximum sentence for Porteus. "This sort of behavior will not be tolerated, will not be treated lightly," said Detective Brent Holder, who investigated the shooting. Porteus, his mother and brother said officers had endangered the adults and children inside their home by exchanging gunfire. "I got shot, too," Porteus said. "I don't hold any grudges against anybody, and I hope they don't hold any grudges against me." His attorney, Marcia Perlin, argued for a new trial Thursday based on information from an alternate juror that the jury had discussed Porteus' guilt before they were instructed to deliberate. Judge Nick Nazaretian denied the motion. Because Porteus was released from prison in July 2004 after serving time for drug charges and battery on a law enforcement officer, Nazaretian could impose the harshest penalties for Porteus' latest crimes. Hogue said the stiff punishment was appropriate. "It's reassuring to police officers," he said. Colleen Jenkins can be reached at 813 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.
[Last modified October 20, 2006, 01:50:58]
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by Johnny
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10/20/06 12:40 PM
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Yeah, poor Dodrick. He was just kidding aroung when he fired his weapon at the cop. Somebody call the ACLU! No hard feelings, right? WRONG! Prisons were made for two time losers (probably more if his juvie record was made public) like this.
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Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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