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Chamber puts group together for young execs

By TIMES STAFF
Published January 23, 2007

Chamber puts group together for young execs 

The Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce has started a young executive group that will focus on providing tools for future executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. This group will also focus on developing leadership skills for executives between ages 21 and 35, as well as providing a great outlet for networking. The first informational meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the chamber office, 29142 Chapel Park Drive. For more information, call the chamber at (813) 994-8534.

'01 murder trial being examined

Prosecutors will use the next several weeks to search records and memories from the 2001 murder trial of Lawrence Joey Smith. Smith was convicted and sentenced to death in the September 1999 shootings of 17-year-old Robert Crawford, who died, and his friend, Stephen Tuttle, then 16, on State Road 54 in Land O'Lakes. Authorities said the shootings were revenge for a soured drug deal. An appeals court had already granted Smith, 29, a new sentencing phase, but last week he presented evidence that could win him a whole new trial. The trial transcript, he argues, shows his jury was never sworn in, making the entire proceeding null. Prosecutors plan to listen to the tape of the trial and question clerks and bailiffs to see if they remember the pool of prospective jurors taking an oath. A hearing is set for March 14 before Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper. Tepper also recently granted a new trial to Smith's co-defendant, Faunce Pearce, after finding that his trial attorneys made legal errors.

Parents sue over fall at tryouts

The parents of a girl injured during cheerleading tryouts at Land O'Lakes High School in 2003 are suing the Pasco County School District. David and Harriet Boyd say their daughter, Haryjoivid, was unsupervised while performing vaults and flips on a hardwood floor. As a result, the lawsuit says, no one was there to break their daughter's fall, and she has suffered permanent physical injury, pain and suffering and loss of earning capacity. The family seeks damages in excess of $15,000.

Correction

Brooksville City Council member Joe Bernardini was never arrested or charged in connection with his wife's domestic abuse complaint. The information was incorrect in a column Sunday.

[Last modified January 23, 2007, 07:25:22]