Northpinellas: Lawyer scuttles talk that boat was a fee

Lawyer scuttles talk that boat was a fee

By Times staff writer

THE BOAT CRIME BUILT: Clearwater attorney Denis de Vlaming is widely recognized as one of the Tampa Bay area's best and most-successful criminal defense lawyers.

He works in a 72-year-old restored home that he dubbed, "The House that Crime Built." He probably could give the same title to his new 40-foot yacht, a Silverton he instead calls, Knot Guilty II.

De Vlaming bought the boat about four months ago, replacing an older, 30-footer that was his first Knot Guilty.

De Vlaming recently docked the new yacht at a dock-side restaurant and laughed at the comment he overheard from another diner.

"Someone said it either belonged to a criminal defense attorney or a defendant that was acquitted," de Vlaming said.

De Vlaming is good. But high-quality legal representation isn't cheap. He once joked that he could not become a judge because he couldn't stand the pay cut.

Recently, some lawyers have jokingly suggested -- okay, maybe only half-jokingly -- that de Vlaming got the yacht as payment for a legal fee.

After all, just this March, de Vlaming won a not guilty verdict for Christopher Stamas, a defendant in the Tarpon Springs shovel-beating, road rage case. Stamas is a relation to the owners of Stamas Yachts, also in Tarpon.

De Vlaming wants to set the record straight: no, the new yacht wasn't payment for his fees in the case.

NOT HIM AGAIN: A blast from St. Pete Beach's past showed up last week, and city commissioners practically shuddered at the memory.

Commissioners, presented with a plan to launch a series of jazz and oldies concerts on Upham Beach, drifted down memory lane to relive their last memorable beach concert experience. On July 3, 1996, the Spin Doctors put on a free show in Pass-a-Grille, causing a traffic jam that stretched from the Don CeSar Beach Resort & Spa to Interstate 275.

St. Pete Beach police shut down access to Pass-a-Grille. Residents were angry. A feeble attempt to recall one commissioner was launched.

Last week, as commissioners vowed not to let the same thing happen again, a voice emerged from the audience.

"I," began Rich Tortorigi, "was the promoter for the Spin Doctors concert."

Tortorigi had been watching the commission meeting on television and when conversation turned toward his notorious concert, he headed to the meeting to offer some pointers about how not to repeat history.

Commissioners hope to have more say this time regarding which groups perform at Upham Beach. Back then, commissioners were oblivious to the Spin Doctors' popularity, and these days, most music fans are oblivious to the Spin Doctors.

Late last week, 23 copies of the Spin Doctors' blockbuster 1991 release, Pocket Full of Kryptonite, were available for purchase on eBay. Only one, priced at one cent, had netted a bidder.

IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING: St. Petersburg's new BayWalk entertainment, shopping and restaurant center was designed to mimic the Mediterranean architecture found in many of the city's historic buildings.

Of course, that means lots of pastel stucco. The restaurant and shopping buildings, built by the Sembler Co., are trimmed in cool white.

The cinema building, developed by another company, has dark brown trim against lemony stucco.

When Florida's Best Newspaper documented public dissatisfaction with some of the colors -- especially that brown -- in August, Sembler Co. chief executive Craig Sher said it was too early to judge. Lots of architectural elements would be added, completely changing the look, he said.

Thursday, he gave a tour of the project a month before it was to open. Sher finally acknowledged that the brown trim "is a tough color."

He is working with Muvico to repaint the trim in a subtler shade. Something nice. Maybe something like the white trim about his buildings, Sher said.

One unaffiliated architect described the whole development's pastels as "Disneyesque" in August, but Sher insisted the rest of the colors will stay.

"I think the light building walls look good with the white trim. You may disagree," Sher said. "But I don't care, because it's my project."

EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE: One hot topic was tossed off the agenda at Thursday's Clearwater City Commission meeting.

City staff had asked commissioners to adopt an ordinance outlawing the throwing of candy, beads and other goodies during parades.

The aging commission's throwing abilities don't seem to be a threat to parade spectators, explained Kevin Dunbar, the city's parks and recreation director.

("What a diplomat!" exclaimed Commissioner Bob Clark.)

City staff members are concerned someone will get hit or squished under a parade vehicle while angling for goodies.

Mayor Brian Aungst and Clark were willing to roll with the new rule, but the rest of the commission didn't want to ban the practice.

The gifts are what actually attract kids to city parades, said Commissioner Ed Hart. "They're surely not out there to wave to us!"

Instead of outlawing beads and candy, Dunbar said, the city will try to tighten crowd control at parades to make sure they're safe.

AND NOW, SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY MATTERS: While authorities sifted through the wreckage of a bombed U.S. destroyer on the other side of the world, the sailors were remembered at massive memorial ceremonies, presidential debates and a small-town commission meeting.

The invocation at the start of Tuesday's Tarpon Springs City Commission meeting, which normally is a generalized prayer, focused entirely on the sailors killed or injured aboard the USS Cole in an apparent terrorist attack.

City Attorney John Hubbard, who typically speaks at an auctioneer's pace, said the invocation slowly and with a preacher's zeal.

"We ask that you protect them . . . and bring them back safely to their country," he said. "We pray that their sacrifice for our country will be remembered."

- Times staff writers William R. Levesque, Amy Wimmer, Bryan Gilmer, Christina Headrick and Katherine Gazella contributed to this report.