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Gaime's lawyer wants trial this year
By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, DADE CITY -- An attorney for jailed Land O'Lakes mother Kristina Gaime, accused of murdering her son and trying to kill the other in 1999, said Thursday that he wants the case to go to trial this year. Gaime, 37, has been jailed since she was released from a hospital after her May 1999 arrest. She is charged with the murder of her 6-year-old son Mathew Rotell, and the attempted murder of her other son, Adam Rotell, who was 8 at the time. Investigators say she drugged both boys, loaded them into her minivan in the garage at their Land O'Lakes home, climbed inside with them, then directed the van's exhaust into the passenger cabin. Gaime and Adam were found inside their home alive. Mathew was found dead inside the van. Prosecutor Phil Van Allen told Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson that fellow prosecutor Jim Hellickson would be unavailable for the proposed Dec. 10 trial date. Swanson said he would be out of town on the only available alternate date, Dec. 3, but offered to request a senior judge -- a judge who is retired but available in special circumstances -- for that day. Both sides said that might be acceptable, but Van Allen said he had to confirm the date with Hellickson. "I would very much like to get the trial done this year," defense attorney Bob Nutter said. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 9 on Nutter's bid to exclude from the trial some evidence found in Gaime's home, including syringes of morphine and letters she wrote. Gaime was in court for Thursday's hearing but did not address the court.
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