Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

Four people were arrested in New Port Richey this week and charged with first-degree murder, two weeks after the November 10th beating death of Samuel Martinez Pratts in a vacant house. Adam Ekdahl, Courtney Ann Keeven, Zoraina Castillo and Staci Gurney are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with Pratts' death. Ekdahl is also charged with two counts of dealing in stolen property for pawning Pratts' bicycle and cellphone. According to law enforcement, the four suspects (all of whom are 18 and 19 years old with the exception of Ekdahl, who is 24)...

In 2009, Ryan Carll caused a car crash in Hillsborough County that killed Tina Harrison, a Clearwater choir director. Carll was intoxicated at the time of the crash and ultimately charged with DUI manslaughter.Carll allegedly mixed prescription pain killers with alcohol the night of the crash. He hit Harrison's car at a red light on Dale Mabry Highway at about 80 mph, sending her vehicle airborne. Harrison was pronounced dead at the hospital later.According to the accident report, Harrison and her passenger were on Dale Mabry Highway, stopped at a red light at Mapledale Drive, when Ryan...

Christian Lee Hancock and Tina Inez Schneider of Riverview were convicted by a Tampa federal jury earlier this month of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and structuring financial transactions to evade currency transaction reporting requirements.There were several alleged co-conspirators who previously pled guilty for their roles in these activities.Hancock was president and Schneider was vice president of Gator Core Inc., a secondary metal recycling company. Federal prosecutors accused them of conspiring to steal hundreds of tractor-trailer loads of used auto batteries...

Two capital murder trials are under way today in the Hillsborough County Courthouse. Local media has noted the large number of people on hand as two separate, large jury pools have been assembled for jury selection in the two cases. Humberto Delgado, Jr. is accused of killing Tampa police officer Michael Roberts. Vincent Brown is accused of killing Jennifer Johnson, the mother of his child.The court has called 150 people for each jury pool. The 300 potential jurors are reportedly occupying entire lobbies on the first and sixth floors of the courthouse, managed by more than a dozen bailiffs....

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office arrested two men in conjunction with raids at two separate alleged marijuana grow houses in Port Richey last week. Whiskell Escandell and Jose Ramon-Escandell were both arrested and charged.The first house was at 10811 Oldham Road. The sheriff's office reports that 28 live marijuana plants over five feet high were found at the Oldham Road house, along with 22 additional marijuana stalks with root balls that had just been harvested. Detectives also seized about 25 pounds of what they believe to be loose unprocessed marijuana. They also claim that Whiskell...

A Brooksville mother and son were arrested last week by Hernando County sheriff's deputies for dealing marijuana. Johanna Jorgensen and her 19-year-old son Ryan were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a church and possession of drug paraphernalia after a bust by the Hernando County sheriff's SWAT team.According to police reports, authorities seized 163.2 grams of marijuana, over $3,000 in cash, several items of drug paraphernalia and several firearms. The elder Jorgensen is allegedly a British citizen with an expired visa. She was also...

James Robertson gave information to prosecutors in 2003 regarding two then-unsolved 1998 homicides in downtown Tampa. He cooperated in an investigation in return for a grant of immunity, something that the government denies. Robertson admitted having witnessed the killing of two homeless men and assisted in disposing of evidence. He identified three other men who were involved. All four men were ultimately charged with the murders. Two of Robertson's co-defendants later agreed to cooperate with investigators and a case was then built against Robertson, despite the fact that he was the one...

59-year-old William Hurst was arrested this week in Kentucky, charged with first-degree murder in Pasco County. He awaits extradition to Florida to face the charges. He is accused of killing his wife Amy Rose Hurst. None of that is altogether unusual.What is unusual about the case is that the alleged homicide occurred in 1982. And authorities were not even aware that Amy Rose Hurst had been killed until this summer - 29 years later.Back in September, 1982, however, authorities were alerted to a dead body floating in the ocean off of Anna Maria Island. The woman's body was wrapped in a...

Earlier this month, the country was astonished when a not-guilty verdict was returned by a Hillsborough County jury (in an Orange County courtroom) in the murder case against Casey Anthony. Anthony was notoriously charged with the killing of her two-year-old daughter Caylee three years ago.The media coverage of the case has been staggering since before the child's body was even recovered. Many times, it appeared as if Anthony had been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion - even before a single juror was seated, before a single piece of evidence was presented.And yet, a...