We've launched the new forums! Read more here

The Florida Crime Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
What do you call jean shants?
Spoiler
shorts_MAIN.jpg
 
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/1386521.html

Florida man exonerated after 35 years behind bars

BY MITCH STACY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

BARTOW, Fla. -- James Bain used a cell phone for the first time Thursday, calling his elderly mother to tell her he had been freed after 35 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Mobile devices didn't exist in 1974, the year he was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old boy and raping him in a nearby field. Neither did the sophisticated DNA testing that officials more recently used to determine he could not have been the rapist.

"Nothing can replace the years Jamie has lost," said Seth Miller, a lawyer for the Florida Innocence Project, which helped Bain win freedom. "Today is a day of renewal."

Bain spent more time in prison than any of the 246 inmates previously exonerated by DNA evidence nationwide, according to the project. The longest-serving before him was James Lee Woodard of Dallas, who was released last year after spending more than 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. As Bain walked out of the Polk County courthouse Thursday, wearing a black T-shirt that said "not guilty," he spoke of his deep faith and said he does not harbor any anger.

"No, I'm not angry," he said. "Because I've got God."

The 54-year-old said he looks forward to eating fried turkey and drinking Dr Pepper. He said he also hopes to go back to school. Friends and family surrounded him as he left the courthouse after Judge James Yancey ordered him freed. His 77-year-old mother, who is in poor health, preferred to wait for him at home. With a broad smile, he said he looks forward to spending time with her and the rest of his family.

"That's the most important thing in my life right now, besides God," he said.

Earlier, the courtroom erupted in applause after Yancey ruled.

"Mr. Bain, I'm now signing the order," Yancey said. "You're a free man. Congratulations."

Thursday's hearing was delayed 40 minutes because prosecutors were on the phone with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. DNA tests were expedited at the department's lab and ultimately proved Bain innocent. Prosecutors filed a motion to vacate the conviction and the sentence.

"He's just not connected to this particular incident," State Attorney Jerry Hill told the judge.

Attorneys from the Innocence Project of Florida got involved in Bain's case earlier this year after he had filed several previous petitions asking for DNA testing, all of which were thrown out. A judge finally ordered the tests and the results from a respected private lab in Cincinnati came in last week, setting the wheels in motion for Thursday's hearing. The Innocence Project had called for Bain's release by Christmas.

He was convicted largely on the strength of the victim's eyewitness identification, though testing available at the time did not definitively link him to the crime. The boy said his attacker had bushy sideburns and a mustache. The boy's uncle, a former assistant principal at a high school, said it sounded like Bain, a former student. The boy picked Bain out of a photo lineup, although there are lingering questions about whether detectives steered him.

The jury rejected Bain's story that he was home watching TV with his twin sister when the crime was committed, an alibi she repeated at a news conference last week. He was 19 when he was sentenced. Ed Threadgill, who prosecuted the case originally, said he didn't recall all the specifics, but the conviction seemed right at the time.

"I wish we had had that evidence back when we were prosecuting cases. I'm ecstatic the man has been released," said Threadgill, now a 77-year-old retired appeals court judge. "The whole system is set up to keep that from happening. It failed."

Eric Ferrero, spokesman for the Innocence Project, said a DNA profile can be extracted from decades-old evidence if it has been preserved properly. That means sealed in a bag and stored in a climate-controlled place, which is how most evidence is handled as a matter of routine. The project has a bigger problem with lost or destroyed evidence than getting usable DNA profiles from existing evidence, he said. Florida last year passed a law that automatically grants former inmates found innocent $50,000 for each year they spent in prison. No legislative approval is needed. That means Bain is entitled to $1.75 million.
Click to expand...
 
11 year old and Boyfriend try to kill Mother

CLEARWATER, Fla.—An 11-year-old girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend tried to kill the girl’s mother this morning by burning her alive as she slept, Clearwater police say.
Click to expand...


Since when does an 11 year old need a 15 year old boyfriend? And since when does an 11 year old need a boyfriend PERIOD???
 
Reviving this one. We have a new "Fail" thread, but the Florida Crime fails belong here.


epic-fail-photos-probably-bad-news-how-far-robin-has-fallen.jpg
 
epic-fail-photos-probably-bad-news-getaway-fail1.jpg
 
Ah dont you love the intelligence.
 
WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — The truth is sometimes stranger than the fiction you see at the movies. Deputies in Florida say a man stole a woman's car while they were on a date at a Tampa area movie theater.

The St. Petersburg Times reports that 27-year-old Michael Pratt told the woman he needed to get something from the car while they were watching the movie. She gave him her keys. When he didn't return, she called him. Authorities say Pratt laughed, then told the woman he had stolen her car.

Pasco County Sheriff's deputies say he now faces grand theft charges.

The victim, who is 35, tried contacting Pratt for two days before calling the sheriff's office, according to the paper. Pratt called her four days after the movie outing and said he dumped the car in a Walmart parking lot in New Port Richey, authorities said. Deputies found it and arrested Pratt on Wednesday. The car, a silver 2012 Ford Focus, was a rental.

According to the Times, Pratt previously served more than a year in prison for the same charge, as well as fraud, uttering forged bills and failing to return rental property. He is in the Pasco County Jail. No attorney was listed on Pratt's jail records.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45695569/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
 
Police: Man fatally shot roommate over pork chop

Posted by Chris Oberholtz, Multimedia Producer - email


HOLLY HILL, Fla. (AP) - Police in central Florida say a man fatally shot his roommate during an argument over how to prepare pork chops. Holly Hill Police Chief Mark Barker told the Daytona Beach News-Journal (http://bit.ly/SbDaVi) the shooting happened about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Barker says another roommate called 911 and 55-year-old Thomas Matthew Hahn confessed to responding officers. Barker says the roommate was shot twice in the head. His name has not been released.

Hahn told officers that his roommate had come home drunk and the two began arguing about dinner. He says they've argued in the past, with the arguments often becoming physical. Hahn was charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond at the jail.


http://www.kctv5.com/story/20338685/police-man-fatally-shot-roommate-over-pork-chop
 
I know it is sad that someone died over that, but I can only imagine seeing the whole situation play out. It is pretty funny.

Reminds me of the "I SAID OVER-EASY" scene in Anger Management.
 
Police: Man Tried to Force Fiancee to Swallow Engagement Ring

Posted on: 11:46 am, January 23, 2013, by Barrett Tryon

ORLANDO, Fla. — A 29-year-old Florida man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of trying to force his fiancee to swallow her diamond engagement ring because she wanted to move out.

Faron Thompson was arrested on charges of battery via strangulation and child neglect, WKMG-TV reported. Thompson’s girlfriend said the two got into an argument about her moving out of their home and left the ring on the kitchen counter, deputies said.

When she went to get it, she realized Thompson had the ring — and tried to force it down her throat while holding her down, the sheriff’s office said. He also threatened to burn the home down, she told deputies. Thompson also allegedly pushed his fiancee against a wall while holding a one-year-old, covering her mouth and preventing her from breathing, deputies said.

Thompson was later arrested and told ClickOrlando.com “women always claim assault, but never accept responsibility for provoking someone.”

At last check, he was in the Orange County, Fla., jail.


http://fox4kc.com/2013/01/23/police-man-tried-to-force-fiancee-to-swallow-engagement-ring/
 
Florida man shot by his dog, police say

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

A Florida man was shot and wounded over the weekend by his dog, who walked away without charges, police said.

Gregory Dale Lanier, 35, of Frostproof, Fla., told police Saturday that he and his dog were in their truck in nearby Sebring when the dog kicked a gun that was on the truck's floor, the Highlands Tribune newspaper reported. The gun went off, shooting Lanier in the leg, Sebring police said.

Lanier wasn't seriously injured, said Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr, who actually said police didn't arrest the dog because the investigation was pending, the Tribune reported. He also said he had never heard of a similar case.

According to the police report, Lanier said he was driving along State Road 17 North when the dog kicked "the unloaded .380 pistol." It went on to say that Lanier was "surprised" to learn not only that the gun was loaded, but also that it was actually a 9mm weapon, not a .380.

The incident is only the latest in a string of bizarre shootings in Florida. Just last week, a woman in St. Petersburg was wounded when she was shot by a friend's oven.


http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17107343-florida-man-shot-by-his-dog-police-say?lite=
 
Smallville said:
Florida man shot by his dog, police say

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

A Florida man was shot and wounded over the weekend by his dog, who walked away without charges, police said.

Gregory Dale Lanier, 35, of Frostproof, Fla., told police Saturday that he and his dog were in their truck in nearby Sebring when the dog kicked a gun that was on the truck's floor, the Highlands Tribune newspaper reported. The gun went off, shooting Lanier in the leg, Sebring police said.

Lanier wasn't seriously injured, said Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr, who actually said police didn't arrest the dog because the investigation was pending, the Tribune reported. He also said he had never heard of a similar case.

According to the police report, Lanier said he was driving along State Road 17 North when the dog kicked "the unloaded .380 pistol." It went on to say that Lanier was "surprised" to learn not only that the gun was loaded, but also that it was actually a 9mm weapon, not a .380.

The incident is only the latest in a string of bizarre shootings in Florida. Just last week, a woman in St. Petersburg was wounded when she was shot by a friend's oven.


http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17107343-florida-man-shot-by-his-dog-police-say?lite=
Click to expand...

hahahahaha

I witnessed my first high speed chase in florida
 
Hilarious!
 
Smallville said:
Florida man shot by his dog, police say

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

A Florida man was shot and wounded over the weekend by his dog, who walked away without charges, police said.

Gregory Dale Lanier, 35, of Frostproof, Fla., told police Saturday that he and his dog were in their truck in nearby Sebring when the dog kicked a gun that was on the truck's floor, the Highlands Tribune newspaper reported. The gun went off, shooting Lanier in the leg, Sebring police said.

Lanier wasn't seriously injured, said Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr, who actually said police didn't arrest the dog because the investigation was pending, the Tribune reported. He also said he had never heard of a similar case.

According to the police report, Lanier said he was driving along State Road 17 North when the dog kicked "the unloaded .380 pistol." It went on to say that Lanier was "surprised" to learn not only that the gun was loaded, but also that it was actually a 9mm weapon, not a .380.

The incident is only the latest in a string of bizarre shootings in Florida. Just last week, a woman in St. Petersburg was wounded when she was shot by a friend's oven.


http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17107343-florida-man-shot-by-his-dog-police-say?lite=
Click to expand...

I work the area if Frostproof, and yes they really are this stupid.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2
 
24892576_BG2.jpg




Man accused of sex with pit bull

Photo courtesy HCSO.
TAMPA (FOX 13) - Police have arrested a Tampa man after his neighbors reported that he was having sex with a dog. According to TPD, officers were flagged down by the man's neighbors on N. Marks Street yesterday afternoon.

"When officers arrived on scene, they were greeted by a small crowd of residents who were disturbed by their neighbor's activity with the dog," a police spokeswoman explained. "Several of the witnesses stated that they yelled at the suspect to stop, but he ignored their commands."

Officers, along with Hillsborough County Animal Services, searched the home and questioned the suspect, identified as Bernard Marsonek. During the search, officers say they found a gun and with ammunition belonging to Marsonek, who is a convicted felon. Animal Services investigators took custody of eight large pit bulls that were found on the property.

Marsonek, who is just a few days shy of his 58th birthday, faces charges of cruelty to animals, sex with animals, and illegal gun possession. He was released Wednesday on a $17,500 bond while the investigation continues.


http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/...ed-of-sex-with-pit-bull#.Uxj9JOu8sNc.facebook
 
Why is it always Florida lol.
 
FloriDUH!!
 
Why would anybody not want to move to Florida.
 
Who the hell posted that bail?! The pit bull?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top