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25 years or life? It's same to ill man

By JOHN FRANK
Published January 4, 2007

INVERNESS - It's an unusual day in court when a defendant actually wants to go to prison.

But that was the case Wednesday when James F. Couch, 55, rolled his wheelchair before Circuit Judge Ric Howard and laid his future at the judge's feet with an open plea.

Couch didn't care what happened. With his terminal illness, he said, any sentence was a life sentence.

Not to mention, the medical treatment in prison is better than he could afford on his own. Couch has no insurance and his Social Security disability benefit was recently canceled, his attorney said.

Moments after Couch was judged guilty and taken into custody, his attorney appeared relieved.

"I don't look at this so much as a sentencing than as a life upgrade for him," said Charles Holloman of Ocala.

Couch, a convicted sex offender, faced a combined 166 years in prison for 33 counts of possessing child pornography and two counts of driving under the influence from a crash that seriously injured a Citrus County Sheriff's deputy.

Howard gave him 25 years in prison: five for the accident that injured Deputy Dale Johnson on Thanksgiving Day 2005 and 20 for the combined counts of having child pornography on his computer, which was discovered in an online sting operation by a New Hampshire detective.

At the minimum, Couch was looking at about 16 years behind bars. Holloman barely even presented a reason to reduce the sentence. "You can read between the lines," he told the judge.

Couch was a free man before his hearing Wednesday because Howard let him out of jail for the holidays so he could spend time with his elderly mother.

"I'll be surprised to see him make it through the next year," Holloman said. "It might as well have been a million-year sentence."

Also in court Wednesday:

- The vehicular homicide trial of Lorie M. Norris, who is charged in the death of a well-known Floral City artist, is scheduled to start Monday after a judge found Norris competent to stand trial.

Three separate psychological exams showed mixed results, all confirming that Norris suffers from a substantial psychotic disturbance but disagreeing on whether she could assist her attorney at trial.

Howard relied on the two most recent opinions from two more esteemed psychiatrists to find her competent. "She may have some impairment but it does not rise to the level of incompetency," Howard said.

Norris is charged in a Sept. 19, 2004, crash on U.S. 41 where she swerved into a lane of oncoming traffic and hit head-on with a car driven by Anita Roy and her husband, David.

Mrs. Roy, 86, was known for her vibrant paintings. She suffered serious injuries and died a month later at the hospital.

Norris' attorney, Paul Militello of Inverness, said he would present evidence at trial that his client suffered previous head injuries that contributed to the accident.

- Lawrence Allen Eno, a 46-year-old Inverness resident, was sentenced to nine years in prison and given a $50,000 fine as part of a plea deal offered by the judge.

Eno faced up to 66 years in prison for three counts of drug possession, one count trafficking in methamphetamine, one count possession of drug paraphernalia, one count of burglary of a structure and one count of grand theft. Under the deal, Eno pleaded no contest to the charges and his sentence was capped at 10 years.

Eno's attorney said his client wasn't one of the major drug players in the county, but prosecutors said he was closely connected to some well-known methamphetamine producers.

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 860-7312.

[Last modified January 3, 2007, 19:33:42]