Mistrial Declared in Tampa Murder Case

Alexander Cote Ferre was tried this week in Tampa for the 2010 death of Danitza Fonseca. Fonseca was hacked to death with a machete. Ferre was charged with second-degree murder. On Wednesday, after two days of trial, a Hillsborough County... [Read More]

Pasco Death Penalty Trial Continues; DNA Evidence Presented

The capital murder trial of Derral Wayne Hodgkins continued in Pasco County on Friday. Prosecutors presented DNA evidence to the jury that they argue proves Hodgkins killed Teresa Lodge in her Land O’Lakes apartment in September 2006. Hodgkins wasn’t charged... [Read More]

Pasco Death Penalty Retrial Begins

In a murder trial in Pasco County this week, prosecutors told jurors that Teresa Lodge scratched the person who attacked and killed her in Land O’Lakes in September 2006. A year later, law enforcement decided that DNA evidence contained in... [Read More]

Understanding the West Memphis 3 Plea Agreement

The national story of the West Memphis 3 this week is too interesting to ignore. Three young men – Jessie Misskelley, Jr., Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols – convicted in 1994 of killing three 8-year-olds in Arkansas were released from... [Read More]

St. Petersburg Man Pleads Guilty to Bankruptcy Fraud Charge

Jon Jerald Hammill of St. Petersburg pleaded guilty in a Tampa federal court earlier this month to bankruptcy fraud. According to court documents, Hammill failed to disclose any investment or employment with a company named Botfly, LLC when he filed... [Read More]

Covington Defense Attorneys Arguing Mental State to Avoid Death Penalty

Defense attorneys for Edward Covington were in court in Tampa last week, presenting evidence to a judge to prove that Covington did not intend to harm his girlfriend and her children on Mother’s Day 2008, when they were killed. Covington... [Read More]

Hillsborough Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty Against Schenecker

Prosecutors in Hillsborough County officially notified the court and Julie Schenecker’s public defender this week that they will seek the death penalty in Schenecker’s murder trial. Schenecker is accused of killing her two teenage children last January. The filing is... [Read More]

Federal Ruling Raises Questions in Many Tampa Bay Area Drug Cases

Many Tampa Bay drug cases are now in question after a federal judge ruled a Florida drug law unconstitutional. Many area defense attorneys have already filed motions to dismiss some pending drug cases, citing the new ruling. U.S. District Judge... [Read More]