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Tampa Uncuffed
Not enough time or too much time
By COLLEEN JENKINS and ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published January 27, 2007
Investiture season opened Jan. 19 with the formal swearing in of Circuit Judge Tracy Sheehan, one of five new circuit judges in Hillsborough County. Sheehan chose high-power defense attorney Barry Cohen, her mentor, to give the official remarks on her ascension to the bench. Then the priest enlisted for the invocation and benediction turned the tables on Cohen. Before the closing prayer, Father Ralph Argentino asked Chief Judge Manuel Menendez to offer the clergyman's services to Cohen. "I am available for confessions afterwards," joked Argentino, a priest at Christ the King Catholic Church. "How much time do you have?" Menendez said. "Not enough," the priest replied. - - - Circuit Judge Rex M. Barbas drew a parallel this week between military duty and jury duty during a wrongful death trial. Jurors were due back from lunch at 1 p.m. Legal volleying kept them out until 1:30 p.m. More delays for argument followed. Things got worse Wednesday, when a fire alarm emptied out the Edgecomb courthouse for about 45 minutes. Barbas asked if any of the jurors had ever served in the military. Two men raised their hands. "You ever heard of the term 'hurry up and wait?' " Barbas said. "You're back in government service." - - - Florida can do a lot more to inform the public about sex offenders online, according to a study by the University of Florida. The newly released study by the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project at the university's College of Journalism and Communications ranked Florida 35th in the nation for providing accessible information about sex offenders. Indiana ranked first for public access on the issue, and Hawaii, Nebraska and South Dakota came in last. Indiana won accolades for requiring sex offender information be posted online. Florida scored a four on a scale of one to seven, meaning that it is "neither more open nor more closed" than other states, researchers determined. Got a tip? For cops news, contact Abbie VanSickle at vansickle@sptimes.com or 813 226-3373. For courts news, contact Colleen Jenkins at cjenkins@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3337.
[Last modified January 27, 2007, 05:58:23]
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