 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Murder suspect's bail brings scrutiny
By CHASE SQUIRES © St. Petersburg Times, published May 23, 2001 DADE CITY -- Accused of a murder he says he didn't commit, Jonathan Dye Jones swore he didn't have the money for an attorney. So the county provided one. But when his bail was set at $110,500 last week, Jones was able to get out of jail. It's a situation that a court official says will trigger a closer look by a circuit judge, but Jones' attorney says it probably won't cost Jones his court-appointed legal representation. Jones, 34, was arrested Jan. 8, charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say he shot Florention Cano, 47, to death in a robbery scam that led to gunfire. Investigators say Jones was working with three prostitutes when they concocted a scheme for the women to have sex with Cano and then rob him. When something went wrong, witnesses say, Jones burst in and shot Cano with a .22-caliber pistol, killing him. Jones has pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence in an interview with the Times. His court-appointed attorney, Sam Williams, told a judge last week the evidence against his client is weak and the credibility of the witnesses -- Williams labeled them crack addicts and prostitutes -- is suspect. When Jones was released from the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes Friday night, it was his family who raised the money to hire a bail bond company, not Jones himself, Williams said Tuesday. "He didn't come up with it, his family did," Williams said. "He doesn't have any anything." Anyone facing felony charges is entitled to an attorney, and judges routinely advise suspects that they have a right to representation. If they tell the judge they don't have enough money to hire an attorney, and they sign a form swearing to that, the court either appoints a public defender or a private attorney. Lafayette Miller represents the Pasco-Pinellas court circuit in examining indigency claims and making sure taxpayers aren't paying for an attorney when the client can afford his own. Posting bail of $5,000 or more automatically triggers a resolvency hearing by law, he said. At a hearing, anyone who has posted bail and also has a court-appointed attorney must explain himself to a judge. Miller said putting money up for a big bail doesn't necessarily mean losing a court-appointed attorney. "That's something for the judge to decide," he said. The next Pasco County resolvency hearing date is scheduled for Friday, and Jones is not on the list. He will likely be scheduled for a hearing in June, Miller said. PREVIOUS COVERAGE:'Not guilty,' says murder defendant
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
