Judge recuses herself from Times lawsuit

By Times staff writer

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 20, 2000

INVERNESS -- A judge recused herself Wednesday from hearing a lawsuit brought by the Times Publishing Co. against Citrus County over the way the county awarded its contract for legal advertisements in 1999. Circuit Judge Barbara Gurrola said that since the lawsuit is against the county and affects both of its daily newspapers, it would be best that the case be heard outside its borders. William Swigert, the administrative judge for this circuit, will assign the case to another judge. The St. Petersburg-based Times Publishing Co. is the parent company of the St. Petersburg Times. The company contends Citrus County wrongly awarded a contract for legal ads to the Citrus County Chronicle despite a lower bid from the Times, after secretly meeting with a Chronicle representative. On Wednesday, the Times agreed without argument to let Landmark Communications, the Virginia-based parent of the Chronicle, intervene in the case. Wednesday's hearing was to hear Citrus County's motion to dismiss the case, but those arguments will be heard by the new judge.

Man accepts plea deal in rape case

INVERNESS -- A man sentenced to 12 years for raping and holding a woman hostage in 1996 was released this week after winning a new trial and accepting a plea deal. Citrus County sheriff's deputies said Frederick Brian Layman, 49, held a woman hostage for two days, repeatedly raping and beating her. But the 5th District Court of Appeal overturned his conviction last year, ruling that Circuit Judge Michael Blackstone wrongly denied Layman's request during his September 1997 trial to play a videotaped statement he gave to investigators after his arrest. Instead, Blackstone allowed one of the investigators to recount the statement. The DCA also found Blackstone wrongly prevented Layman from testifying about conversations with the woman, with whom Layman contends he had a consensual relationship, calling it hearsay. The case is one of the ones the Judicial Qualifications Commission has cited in accusing Blackstone of misconduct. Under terms of his no contest plea accepted last week by Circuit Judge Patricia Thomas, Layman was found guilty and given credit for the more than two years he has spent in prison since his conviction, and will submit to eight years of probation.

Man gets 17 years in molestation case

INVERNESS -- A Homosassa man will serve 17 years in prison after pleading no contest last week to three counts of attempted sexual battery on someone younger than 12. Keith Allen Eberhardt, 33, pleaded no contest to the charges that he molested two girls, one of them twice, on separate occasions in April and May of last year. Two other charges of lewd and lascivious behavior in the presence of someone younger than 12 were not processed, under terms of the deal. In addition to prison time, Eberhardt faces 15 years of probation when he is released from prison and will be labeled a sexual predator.

Grandmother arrested after boy fires BB gun

HOMOSASSA -- The grandmother of an 8-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday after the child accidentally shot a female friend with a BB gun. Mildred May McCloud, 44, of 6833 W Ray Court is charged with allowing a child younger than 16 to use a firearm or BB gun, which is a felony. The boy, whose name is being withheld because of his age, told deputies that he was shooting at a tree when his 6-year-old friend stepped from behind it. The girl was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa as a precaution, after suffering a penetrating wound to the chest. Because the Sheriff's Office did not release her name, her condition was not available Wednesday. McCloud, the boy's legal guardian, acknowledged not supervising the 8-year-old as he used the gun, her arrest report said.

Man accused of beating pregnant woman

INVERNESS -- A Brooksville man is accused of beating a pregnant woman because she refused to have an abortion. Emmanual Gerald Mobley, 30, is being held at the Citrus County Detention Facility without bond. Police and deputies responded to an anonymous call Tuesday about an altercation on Dampier Street in Inverness. The woman told officers that she and Mobley were arguing over her pregnancy and Mobley hit her several times, threw a table at her and, at one point, kicked her in the abdomen. The victim declined to be taken to the hospital, though officers noted an abrasion on her neck.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.