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Jury went out and so did defendant - for months

By COLLEEN JENKINS AND ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published April 27, 2007

Jeremey Vincent Ray left his trial in February as the jury deliberated, and he never came back.

He finally turned himself in last week at the Orient Road Jail.

But first, he sent a letter to courthouse officials explaining why he "excused" himself from his misdemeanor battery trial. Ray, 24, said he left to visit his father, who was involved in a near-fatal, out-of-state ski accident the day before the proceedings began.

"It goes without saying that this unfortunate and disastrous turn of events added an overwhelming amount of mental anguish and stress to an already emotionally taxing week, reducing me to an almost unbearable state of duress," he wrote.

He professed gratitude for the country's legal system, "a system erected from the ashes of a history entailing human sacrifice and struggle dating back to England's Magna Carta, and reaching as far back to the antiquity of ancient Rome and Greece."

It remains to be seen if a judge will appreciate Ray's history lesson. He now faces additional jail time on top of his initial yearlong sentence.

* * *

A public records goof by the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office is going to cost taxpayers.

Wesley Gonzalez, who now lives in Deltona, is serving 20 years on probation after pleading guilty in Hillsborough in 1989 to racketeering and conspiracy to commit sexual battery on a victim under 12.

In 2002, concerned that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement made errors in his case, Gonzalez requested his case file from the prosecutor's office.

Ninety days passed without a response. Gonzalez's attorney sued for the records and attorney's fees and costs.

The lawsuit got the office's attention. Prosecutors immediately sent Gonzalez his records.

They blamed the delay on a simple mistake: Someone misplaced Gonzalez's request. They argued to Circuit Judge Gregory Holder that the defendant never paid for the records upfront, thus excusing their error and making it unnecessary for them to pay his attorney's fees.

But Holder ruled there had been an "unlawful delay" in Gonzalez's access to public records. He said the State Attorney's Office should pay the man's attorneys fees.

On April 20, the 2nd District Court of Appeal backed the judge, instructing him to charge the State Attorney's Office for reasonable appellate attorney's fees, too.

* * *

The courthouse is typically quiet on Fridays. But April 20, several judges and other court staff headed to a New Tampa golf course for a cause.

They were invitees to the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance's inaugural golf tournament, an event the organization plans to hold annually to raise money for the county's juvenile drug court program.

This year, the program is in dire need of bus passes, said Maritza Lopez, a juvenile drug court specialist.

The county used to fund bus passes for the court's 175 participants - ages 10 to 17 - to travel to weekly group sessions and drug screens, Lopez said. But the money dried up.

Program officials hoped to raise enough cash to also buy incentives that convince participants to stick with their treatment and remain drug-free.

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 April 27, 2007, 00:57:52]