HNS WEEKEND---SEPTEMBER 4-5, 2010
HERNANDO NEWS SOURCE COMMENTARY
TIME TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE ON SOUTH BROOKSVILLE
Just when we thought some real progress had been made in smoothing over community discord over south Brooksville improvement plans, there's fresh evidence of issues with the pace and scope of those plans.
There's always been some level of resentment and distrust from residents of the south Brooksville area about the role being played by those perceived as "outsiders." Two of the leaders and most of the white participants on the South Brooksville Community Initiatives Team did not live in the economically distressed area. And there is lingering doubt in the community about the intent of local governments, given the sad history of unmet promises going back more than 30 years. But it seemed a few months ago as though most of those concerns were either resolved or at least smoothed over.
However, another local activist has begun attending the Community Initiatives Team meetings and is asking questions about issues that most team members had thought long resolved. Paul Boston said at a meeting earlier in the summer that he was hearing from homeowners in the area who are opposed to paying assessments on their tax bill for new and improved street lights in the area. He raised those concerns despite the fact that the assessment unit for the lights has already been established and assessment rates approved by county commissioners. The donation of drug forfeiture money by Sheriff Rich Nugent, along with initial funding for installation of new lights aimed at deterrence in the high-crime area, is almost a year old now, with the first of the new lights already in place.
Then at this week's team meeting, Boston had new complaints about state grant money intended to start water and sewer improvements in the community. His concerns came as county officials announced that they expect formal approval of $750,000 to start the improvement process within the next ten days. Boston said local governments should make sure that community residents get jobs on the projects. He also said many of the people he speaks with in the community were not aware of the work of the Community Initiatives Team, even though dozens of community residents have attended team meetings that began more than a year and a half ago.
It's certainly true that the news media in general has been negligent in providing coverage of the activities of the South Brooksville Community Initiatives Team. At almost all the team meetings, Hernando News Source has been the sole media representative, and our stories on the sometimes slow progress of south Brooksville improvements are often the only reporting on the team's efforts. But as team chair Rose Rocco told Boston, notices of the Team's Sunshine Law meetings have been announced in the same manner as other county meetings, by media alert from county staff. In addition, meeting notices are posted at the new Community Center/Sheriff's Substation on Martin Luther King Blvd. Unfortunately, there remains a perception among too many in the community that the center is not truly "theirs," because it was built by the sheriff and is run by community outsiders. And finally, the community involvement with the team's efforts has been clear, from the active participants to the community meetings held by a group led by Brooksville councilman Frankie Burnett.
So if Boston says he and other residents of the south Brooksville area were not aware of the work of the Community Initiatives Team, it would seem they have only themselves to blame for the deafness he claimed at this week's meeting.
And while Boston's call for jobs within the community on the projects to be funded by the pending grants and potentially later with loan money is laudable, we think it ignores the restrictions that apply to state and federal grants. Local governments accepting these grants have to abide by specific requirements for hiring contractors to carry out the work. There's no room for additional requirements that those contractors hire from the community they will work in. That's not to say that perhaps state and federal officials ought to consider some flexibility on that count when awarding funds for work in disadvantaged communities. Boston says the unemployment rate in south Brooksville is at least 25 percent. But it's evident to us that his advocacy for the people in the community has blinded him to the legal realities of grant applications and government spending.
We agree with the Community Initiatives Team leaders who note that the intent of their efforts is not to provide immediate but short-term jobs for area residents, but is instead aimed at the kind of infrastructure improvements in the community that will encourage investment in and development of the community, which should mean a more stable, long-term employment base in south Brooksville. We hope Boston will listen to those in and out of south Brooksville who have been working diligently on getting these too-long delayed improvements, and that his advocacy for the community does not interfere with the solid steps toward revitalization that are now going forward.
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REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
JURY MEMBERS, THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE
We spent the better part of three days this week in Circuit Judge Jack Springstead's courtroom waiting for jury verdicts on the guilt of murder defendant Robert Jardin and the penalty for his conviction. The seven men and five women on the jury spent Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday deliberating Jardin's fate before returning with a verdict of guilt, after three and a half days of testimony in the trial. Then the same panel spent three hours Wednesday afternoon deciding on a recommendation for Jardin's penalty, with only two possibilities, life in prison without parole or death by lethal injection. The jury recommended life, and Judge Springstead imposed two consecutive life sentences for the two counts of first degree murder.
First, we salute the jury for clearly taking its awesome responsibilities so seriously. Frankly, after hearing much of the testimony, and particularly Jardin's riveting time on the stand in his own defense, we saw no real reasonable doubt in the case, and the time it took the careful jury panel to return the guilty verdict showed they wanted to make sure all the angles were discussed.
It was Jardin's misfortune to have left his DNA in the home where Patrick and Evelyn DePalma were brutally killed. Jardin's story, which changed in its details several times right up to his Friday testimony, was at least consistent in minimizing his role in the crime. He has insisted that he was just "in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people." The lack of physical evidence tying him to the actual killings of the DePalmas undoubtedly weighed more heavily on the jury's recommended life sentence, likely much more than the sad testimony of his mother and an aunt about the regrettable abuse in his childhood. In fact, the only physical hair and fiber evidence found around the bodies of the victims tended to support Jardin's story that the pair were killed by two other men and that his role was that of a bystander.
But the jury, after asking for and getting clarification on the law from the judge, seems to have ultimately applied the Florida felony murder rule correctly in its guilty verdict. They decided that Jardin was guilty of robbery and grand theft, because even he could not dispute that he was in the DePalma house, and that property stolen from the home ended up in his possession. Given those facts, the jury had little choice but to also find him guilty of murder, since the killing of a person while a suspect is engaged in another felony, even if he didn't take part in the killing, is felony murder in Florida and most states.
We don't mean to cast aspersions on any other citizen's jury service, but at least as compared with the relative speed of returning a verdict in other recent Hernando cases, this jury was more careful and more deliberate in deciding Jardin's fate than were the panels in some of those other cases, and for that we salute them for their service.
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PATTING OURSELVES ON THE BACK
Pardon the bragging, but as the chart above shows, you, our readers, have helped make Hernando News Source the fastest growing local news report in Hernando County. The chart shows that our readership has nearly doubled in the last three months, going from a little over 10,000 page views in the month of May to almost 20,000 in August. Thank you, readers, and thank you to our advertisers as well, for helping make Hernando News Source a success.
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Now time for a look back at stories this week that were reported first or only on the web at Hernando News Source, beginning with Friday and going back to Monday.
FRIDAY
MAN CHARGED IN CORTEZ BLVD. ROAD RAGE COLLISIONS
A Spring Hill man was arrested Thursday after a road rage incident in which he allegedly used his Jeep Cherokee to rear-end a Mitsubishi Eclipse and then followed the victim's car and hit it again. An arrest affidavit said 38-year old David Frederick Leopold of 11203 Linden Drive apparently was angered when Andrew Browning slowed his Mitsubishi before turning right from Mariner Blvd. onto eastbound Cortez and was talking with the occupants of another car. The affidavit says Leopold then rear-ended Browning's car and chased him east on Cortez to the Pinebook Medical Center, where Browning pulled in the parking lot and Leopold's Jeep allegedly hit Browning's car again. Deputies said Browning's car had damage estimated at $500, and Browning complained of neck pain but did not go to a hospital. Leopold was charged with aggravated battery and driving while under the influence. He reportedly admitted drinking a pitcher of beer, and deputies also said they found a small amount of marijuana in a baggie in the Jeep's ashtray.
JUDGE GIVES MAN 15-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR SEXUAL BATTERY
47-year old William Jeffrey McCutchen was sentenced to 15 years in prison by Judge Jack Springstead Friday. McCutchen pleaded no contest to two counts of sexual battery involving a familial relationship. According to an arrest report, McCutchen sought and obtained sexual favors from a teenage girl who was staying with him. Though McCutchen's attorney and family said the alleged incidents occurred seven to eight years ago, the defendant and his attorney waived any statute of limitations argument in the brief court appearance. Prosecutors said the victim was now living in Montana and had agreed to the plea and sentence. McCutchen was also officially designated a sexual predator as part of the sentence.
TRIAL OF BOYETT'S GROVE ROBBER FINALLY SET TO START NEXT WEEK
Lawyers said a final pre-trial conference in the Adrian House robbery case Friday cleared the way for trial to begin Tuesday in the case of the final of three men who allegedly robbed Boyett's Grove and shot the owner in a 2008 incident. House is charged with two counts of principal to armed robbery in the incident at the Spring Lake Highway citrus attraction and zoo. Shots fired during the robbery critically wounded the owner of the business.
The man who allegedly shot James Oleson in the chest already pleaded guilty and got a 25-year prison sentence. Damion Childs was charged with attempted murder and robbery. The third man in the group that burst into the attraction and robbed Oleson and his wife Kathy at gunpoint, Willie Cliatt, was killed two years ago in a shoot-out with police.
The House trial had been postponed twice in August, first for a child porn case and then two weeks ago for the Jardin trial.
DREDGE MEETING GOES INTO OVERTIME
County officials were tight-lipped Friday about the outcome of a meeting with representatives of Hernando Beach dredge contractor Orion Services. That meeting began Thursday afternoon and continued into Thursday evening in efforts to find some common ground on the cost of the project. About the only thing that could be learned Friday on the session was that the parties were talking to each other.
The dredge contractor wants an additional $7.8 million to finish the dredge project, because of what they call major changes in the scope of work. A modified dredge permit requires construction of additional settling ponds and more de-watering equipment to remove silt from the dredge discharge. Orion says the additional work is far beyond their original $5 million contract, and the parties met Thursday afternoon to try to hammer out some agreement on the change order that everyone agrees will be needed. County officials vowed to get the amount as low as possible to fit within the limited dredge budget, which combines three million local dollars and six million in state ports money.
THURSDAY
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS FOR S. BROOKVILLE GRANTS
South Brooksville Community Initiatives Team members learned Thursday night that one grant application for community improvements is virtually certain to get approved, while another won't. Hernando County's application for a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant has been ranked in the top ten of 42 submitted requests for funding. The money would go to first design and construction phases for a series of water and sewer improvements in the neglected, mainly African-American community.
County Community Services Director Jean Rags says she expects formal approval to arrive in the next ten days, but the high ranking is enough to proceed with preparing a bid package and requests for proposals from design firms.
City of Brooksville Community Development Director Bill Geiger had less encouraging news...the city's separate application for water and sewer improvements on the city side of Martin Lutheer King Blvd. won't be funded in this grant cycle, but he said he expects the city to submit a better application in the next cycle for this fall.
ACTIVIST CHALLENGES S. BROOKSVILLE PLANS
A community activist who claims he and others in the south Brooksville community didn't know about two years of planning for improvements challenged some of those plans Thursday. At the South Brooksville Community Initiatives Team meeting, Paul Boston said people in the African-American community did not have enough notice of the sessions the Team has been holding for almost two years now. He also said the grants that Brooksville and Hernando County have applied for won't do enough to provide jobs in the community. Local government officials say their funding priority is for infrastructure improvements, such as water, sewer and roads.
Team chair Rose Rocco told Boston that public notices were given of all the open meetings of the team. She and city councilman Frankie Burnett said those notices brought more than a dozen community residents to most of the meetings, where they were accorded full voting privileges on the team, which has endorsed efforts for infrastructure improvements. Burnett said improving the community will attract investment and development, which will lead to more jobs. But Boston insisted that any contractors hired with grant funds should be required to employ community resident. Officials say that is contrary to state and federal guidelines on use of the money.
COME ON IN, THE WATER'S FINE
Just in time for Labor Day weekend, officials are saying it's okay to swim again at Hernando County's only Gulf beach at Pine Island. According to a media release Thursday, bacteriological test results received by the Hernando County Health Department indicate the water quality at Pine Island Beach is now in the good range. Officials said the swimming advisory issued on August 26 has been rescinded.
NEW RECYCLING OPERATOR MAKING MORE TRIPS WITH RECYCLE BINS
Although the new private operator of Hernando County's recycling center is making more than twice as many truck trips with recycle bins as expected, officials say there will still be big savings over the county running the program itself. Privatizing the recycling center led to layoffs for almost a dozen workers, only a few of whom got jobs with SP Recycling, the Atlanta-based operator. But SP bid on the recycling takeover based in part on an estimated 1000 annual "pulls," or truck trips with the contents of full (or nearly so) recycling bins placed in strategic locations throughout the county. According to a memo from Utilities Director Joe Stapf to Administrator David Hamilton, at the current pace, SP will have 2200 pulls in its first year. That excess potentially means more cost to the county under its contract with SP. But Stapf says even at the higher rate, the county would be out only about $44,000, compared with the previous year's loss of almost $800,000 in the last year of county operation.
Stapf also noted in the memo that the total annual shipments of recyclables is on a 4800 ton pace, whicch would mark the second year in a row for a drop in tonnage. He notes the trend "in the wrong direction" bears watching. He said county officials should discuss strategies to increase the recycling rate, pending the outcome of a November referendum, which could spread the current limited recycling program in Spring Hill throughout the county.
NEW LANDFILL CELL OPENS ON TIME, UNDER BUDGET
County officials held an open house at the Northwest Solid Waste Facility Thursday to mark the opening of a new landfill cell, designated No. 3.
Solid Waste manager Scott Harper noted proudly as he stood in front of the 20-plus acres of four holes in the ground that the project came in on time and under budget. In fact, concerns last year that some garbage would have to be trucked out of the county turned out not to be the case, though the life of the still-active old cell was extended by having commercial solid waste hauled elsewhere. In fact, residential garbage will continue going into the old cell until a final technical approval from state regulators, which is expected in a couple of weeks. Harper says he's looking forward to resuming the revenue from the commercial waste soon.
After the formal opening, solid waste staff and the new private company running the recycling center, SP Recycling, hosted an open house in the center, with tours of the facility. Several dozen visitors had stopped by as of midday.
DIESEL SPILL FOULS HERNANDO BEACH CANALS
The oily odor wafting over Hernando Beach this week is coming from what's left of hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel that spewed from a sunken shrimp boat. Coast Guard Auxiliary Commander Paul Pellitier told the Hernando County Port Authority Wednesday night that only quick action by the Cast Guard and county waterways staff saved more of the beach canals from pollution when the vessel sank on Saturday. He said the fuel was heaviest in the Tarpon and Grouper Canals at the north end of the Hernando Beach community. First responders boomed the area to contain the spilled fuel, which also got into the mouth of Minnow Creek near the channel entrance.
Pellitier said he expects heavy fines from state regulators and the Coast Guard for violations, as well as a bill from reimbursement for the county time spent on booming and clean-up. He said the vessel's owner first claimed there was only a small amount of fuel in the tanks but later admitted they had just been filled when the boat sank.
WEDNESDAY
JARDIN JURY RECOMMENDS LIFE IN PRISON
The jury that convicted Robert Jardin for first degree murder returned Wednesday and recommended a sentence of life in prison without parole.
The panel had returned Wednesday morning to hear testimony and render the advisory sentence, based on evidence of "aggravating" and "mitigating" factors from penalty phase witnesses.
Two of the grandchildren of victims Patrick and Evelyn DePalma, Sonsee Sanders and Kyle DePalma read victim impact statements over what the loss of their grandparents meant to them and their families.
Prosecutor Pete Magrino also called Dr. Kyle Shaw from the medical examiner's office, who described the pain suffered by the victims when they were each stabbed multiple times.
Jardin's mother, Janice Link, and an aunt both testified about abuse and lack of parental caring and affection when Jardin was a child.
And a clinical psychologist, Dr. Peter Bursten, said he found a history of hyper-activity, substance dependence and "anti-social personality disorder" in his evaluation of Jardin and interviews with family members. Bursten also said Jardin's age suggested that he would adjust to life in prison without risk of anti-social behavior.
In his closing argument, prosecutor Pete Magrino again made use of a portrait of the victims as he asked the jury to find enough aggravating factors to sentence "this defendant" to the death penalty.
Assistant Public Defender Devon Sharkey countered with the evidence of Jardin's upbringing as a mitigating factor, but he also said the jury should consider the lack of any direct evidence that the defendant took part in the killings of the DePalmas.
ORION, COUNTY OFFICIALS MEET THURSDAY ON "CHANGE ORDER"
Officials from Orion Dredging Services will sit down with top county staff on Thursday to talk about how to finish the problem-plagued Hernando Beach channnel dredge. Orion told the county in a letter ten days ago that it needed $7.8 million more, on top of its $5 million low bid contract, to finish the project under the requirements of a modified state permit. They say additional settling ponds and de-watering equipment went far beyond the original contract scope. Orion has blamed the county's $2 million dredge consultant Halcrow for the failure of the original de-watering equipment, which didn't remove enough silt from the dredge discharge and led state officials to halt the project last January.
County officials ordered Orion back to work when the modified permit was issued, and some equipment and workers were returned to the site. Now that the modified permit has become final without challenge, county officials say Orion should be moving forward with new construction at the spoil site. And early indications are that work is going forward while talks to resolve the $7.8 million "change order" are ongoing. In a letter to Orion requesting the meeting, county staff said they wanted to negotiate a "mutually agreeable" resolution to the cost issue. They're working with a budget of $9 million, but Orion's "change order" would bring the contract cost alone to almost $13 million.
SCHOOL BOARD READY TO DISCUSS NEW SCHOOL SITES
Despite the downturn in the economy and surplus housing, school planning manager Amber Wheeler says its time to plan ahead for new schools. In a memo for next week's school board workshop, Wheeler says long-range planning has increased in importance with the level of service requirements of school concurrency legislation. She says the school district is responsible for implementing a five-year work plan to support state growth projections, And even though a new K-8 is set to open next year plus classroom additions at two other schools, Wheeler says "elementary school capacity district wide is still needed in the long range planning period" and the school board "must look at potential growth areas" in creating a plan for future needs.
Wheeler's memo puts out for board discussion three possibilities. She's asking for consideration of a property near the Lake Hideaway development north of Weeki Wachee, giving staff direction on actively pursuing school sites in other areas, and establishment of an informal school siting committee. She will make a presentation to the board at Tuesday's workshop.
SHERIFF'S ENFORCEMENT OF BOAT SPEEDS LAUDED
Hernando Beach Property Owners' Association president Valerie Shelter was as pleased Wednesday night as she was unhappy last month. After telling Port Authority members that excessive boat speeds threatened to erode her canal bank and drop her pool into the water, authority members wrote to the Sheriff's Office to seek stricter speed enforcement. Wednesday night, Marine Deputy Roger Butts said he was back to full staff on the Marine Unit and had been writing tickets for speeding watercraft in the canals at Hernando Beach. And from the Port Authority audience, Shelter said, "We appreciate it, it's a big improvement and we definitely noticed it."
Butts said the marine deputies plan to sit down soon with shrimpers and other commercial captains soon to explain the "zero tolerance" policies for excessive speed in the canals. He said deputies will continue random speed enforcement operations in the canals, as well as occasional checks at the boat ramp for intoxicated operators who have been piloting watercraft.
PORT AUTHORITY, BEACH RESIDENTS ASK FEE QUESTIONS
With the beginning of parking fees at boat ramps and coastal parks less than a month away, waterways manager Pat Fagan was peppered with questions from Port Authority members and coastal residents Wednesday night. County commissioners have approved $60,000 for the purchase of three machines for Pine Island and Rogers Park which will require payment of parking fees. Additional "honor system" boxes will go in at the Bayport and Hernando Beach boat ramps.
Authority member Wayne Dukes cited recent vandalism problems at coastal parks and asked Fagan how the machines would stand up to similar issues. Fagan said the 300-pound machines were going to be installed in a way to deter vandalism and that his staff were going to be trained for fixing and maintaining the machines as needed, as well as getting certified to issue tickets for non-payment. Planned fines would start at $25 for a first offense, escalating to $35 for a second offense and $100 for a third time violator. He also said staff would remove the machines in advance of any storms.
Fagan admitted that the initial phase of parking fee collection would likely involve "trial and error," noting the county commissioners' decision to install the machines to save money on park staffing. He also said he would follow whatever the law requires when asked about a state statute that exempts disabled veterans from many parks fees.
UTILITIES DIRECTOR SAYS HE CAN HANDLE NEW ROLES
Utilities Director Joe Stapf, who becomes chief of "Environmental Services" as part of a re-organization, says the move of the stormwater management job to his office fits into the traditional water, sewer and solid waste activities at Utilities. Stapf says transfer of Mosquito Control is really more a public health issue, but he vowed to work with whatever the County Board approves. The county Health Department, as a quasi-state agency, can't be ordered to take over the bug-spraying program.
Stapf says concerns about water and sewer rate-payers subsidizing his time with new programs aren't valid, given the cost allocation formula that already applies to his salary. He noted that funding for his pay is already divided between the water/sewer and solid waste enterprise funds, which are kept separate, and that he expects the same can be done with the general fund Mosquito Control and special tax unit stormwater changes.
TUESDAY
QUARRY PRESERVE WINS COUNTY BOARD APPROVAL
After more than two hours of presentation and debate among public speakers and commissioners, the County Board voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve the controversial Quarry Preserve development. Commissioners adopted a comprehensive plan amendment and development order for the so-called "new town." The development on U.S. 98 east of Citrus Way would cover 6.7 square miles and could eventually have a population of more than 11,000 in 5800 units. The project would also have a mix of business and industrial sites, along with two golf courses.
Lawyer Jake Varn said his client's project "raises the development bar" in Hernando County. A number of public speakers opposed the project and questioned the developer's owner saying that the project would pay for itself. In fact, as Commissioner Rose Rocco pointed out. the Quarry Preserve's "fair share" of transportation improvement costs would still leave the county needing millions of dollars to fund new roads, but Varn noted that those road plans are already part of the county's long-range planning. And on the final vote, even Rocco said she thought the project was "a good choice" for the county. Commissioner David Russell was the only "no" vote.
COUNTY PLANS HOLD-BACK FOR LAST CCA JAIL PAYMENT
County officials say they want to hold back more than $1.8 million due to Corrections Corporation of America for July and August. The recommendation says $34,000 has been spent on repairs to the jail facilities, as well as a $239,000 commitment for an engineering firm to see what other repairs are needed. A memo to commissioners says that the CCA jail contract provides for CCA responsibility for routine jail maintenance and asks that commissioners agree to withhold the last $1,858,056 due under the contract for the last two months. The funds would be paid less costs of taking care of repairs that may have been CCA's responsibility. A letter to CCA drew a harsh response, with a vice president for the private jail operator saying that the CCA contract did not permit withholding payment and asking for documentation of expenses.
COUNTY SEEKS MEETING WITH ORION TO NEGOTIATE DREDGE COSTS
Interim county Public Works Director Susan Goebel is asking officials of Orion Services to join county staff in a meeting later this week to negotiate the cost terms of Orion's contract under the modified state dredge permit. Orion says the changes required by the new permit, involving more and larger settling ponds and equipment needed for a coagulant to remove sediment from dredge spoil, will cost almost eight million dollars more than their original five million low bid for the dredge contract. County officials say the nearly $13 million total is more than the Hernando Beach dredge project budget. Goebel said in her letter that "it may still be in everyone's best interest to sit down , . . and negotiate a mutually agreeable 'change order'." She asked Orion officials to work on setting up a meeting later this week.
COMMISSIONERS APPROVE POWELL ROAD DEVELOPMENT
On the second try, realtor Buddy Selph won approval for a mixed-use residential development on Powell Road. The project with 252 apartment units and 12 single-family estate home lots failed two weeks ago when commissioners tied 2-2, with Jeff Stabins absent. With a full board Tuesday, Selph got his project approved, 4-1, with Rose Rocco voting no. While several public speakers and Rocco noted the current housing surplus in Hernando and wondered how the project could go forward with so many vacant homes on the market, Selph argued that his project was long-term thinking and that it likely would not start for several years. He and other realtors have said they are "cautiously optimistic" that current conditions will start to turn around and say developers want to have approved projects ready to go when the market recovers.
ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO BE REVIEWED BY FLORIDA BAR GROUP
County commissioners voted Tuesday to have the County Attorney's Office analyzed by a Florida Bar group that specializes in advising private lawyers how to be efficient. County Attorney Garth Coller made the recommendation. He said the Bar group would have more expertise than having a local Chamber of Commerce focus group conduct a recommended time study. The County Board took no action on a set of sample proposals. Two weeks ago the board talked about putting out proposals for private law firms to represent the county, but board consensus in approving the Bar analysis was that the office review was needed first before determining what would go into a request for proposals.
MONDAY
JARDIN JURY HAS NO VERDICT MONDAY, TO RESUME WORK TUESDAY
The twelve-member jury hearing the murder case of Robert Jardin spent almost seven hours deliberating Monday before adjourning for the night to a local motel. The sequestered panel will return Tuesday morning to resume the task of deciding Jardin's fate.
Earlier Monday evening, the jury returned to the courtroom to hear the cross-examination of Jardin read back to them by a court reporter after they asked to hear the testimony again. Then the seven men and five women said they wanted to eat dinner and return for another hour or so of deliberations.
Jardin is charged in the 2006 slayings of Patrick and Evelyn DePalma of Marsaryktown.
Monday morning prosecutor Pete Magrino asked jurors to find Jardin guilty in a closing argument with a portrait of murder victims Evelyn and Patrick DePalma as a backdrop. Magrino went through dozens of items in evidence as he recounted testimony connecting Jardin to the murder scene, asking each time "What else?' as he reminded the jury panel of yet another item. He also asked the jurors to recall Jardin's testimony in his own defense on Friday, noting Jardin's admission that he lied to law enforcement when first questioned about the DePalmas' slayings in 2006. Magrino said he counted six admitted lies before he stopped counting. And the prosecutor reminded the jury that the 35-year old mason and one-time strip club bouncer could be convicted of felony murder even if there was no direct evidence that Jardin participated in the killings, if the defendant participated in another crime at the scene. He pointed to the vacuum and stereo that were found in Jardin's possession and which witnesses identified as missing from the DePalma home.
Defense attorney Alan Fanter asked jurors to hold the prosecution to their burden of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He said the evidence was consistent with Jardin's testimony and that there was no direct evidence tying Jardin to the murders themselves and arguing that even possession of the vacuum and stereo did not show he committed a crime at the murder scene.
Jardin admitted being in the home in his testimony Friday but claimed he was sickened when he saw the murder victims and found the stolen property in his truck the next day, after two other men threatened Jardin's children if he did not keep quiet.
If Jardin is convicted, the panel will then hear evidence on aggravating and mitigating circumstances in deciding on a recommended sentence of death or life in prison.
RAINFALL HELPS CONTINUE AQUIFER REBOUND
Rainfall levels well above normal helped spur a continuing rebound in aquifer levels last week, according to figures from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. After falling to levels near the bottom of the normal range earlier in the summer, aquifers in the district's northern region, which includes Hernando County, were up again last week. The district's rainfall statistics suggested a good reason why:
With almost a week left in the month at the time, last week's rainfall amounts for August were nearing a half-inch above the historic average for the month. Yearly rainfall for the first six months of the year totaled more than two inches ahead of normal, signalling at least a temporary hiatus in the three-year drought.
COUNTY BUDGET CUTS HIT PET SPAY AND NEUTER PROGRAM
County officials say that a program to get rebates for sterilizing pets is the latest victim of county budget cuts. According to a county media release, Hernando County Animal Services is discontinuing the Pet Sterilization Rebate Program effective September 20, "due to a lack of funding in the FY 2010 / 2011 budget." The program allows eligible pet owners to receive up to $50 back for spaying or neutering pets.
Animal Services manager Liana League said, "The Pet Sterilization Rebate Program has been very popular with our residents, and we regret having to discontinue it." Hernando County Animal Services will process all rebate requests received by Animal Services by 4:30 p.m. on September 20, but any rebate requests received after September 20 will not be processed regardless of the sterilization date.
COUNTY OFFICIALS HUDDLE ON DREDGE STRATEGY
With interim Public Works Director Susan Goebel back Monday from furlough, County Administrator David Hamilton and county lawyers plan to hold a strategy meeting in advance of Tuesday's County Board meeting. Hamilton has said he will brief commissioners at the meeting on the status of the troubled project.
According to e-mails exchanged last week with dredge contractor Orion Services, some of the equipment that arrived back on scene last week was being removed again. But an Orion official said only equipment needed for actual dredging work was being removed. Equipment for working at the spoil site would remain,
Under a modified dredge permit, actual digging in the channel can't begin again until new settling ponds are built at the spoil site off Shoal Line Blvd. and additional de-watering equipment and supplies, including a coagulant, are ready to receive dredged material. That modified permit was due to become final Friday if no challenge was filed, and lawyers said they would check Monday morning to make sure none was submitted at the last minute.
Monday's closed staff meeting is aimed at deciding how to respond to Orion's request for a change order that is more than 150 percent of their original project bid. The contractor says the scope of the project is now very different from what was expected when their bid was submitted last year.
The sad thing was that the attorneys kepts asking Kyle and Sonsee if they knew a Mr. Bostick and they said no, they LIED! After reading that he was a relative this makes me irritated that the jury did not hear this. I don't care that he was innocent, he was still there and based on the law he is just as guilty as Jardin! I don't think Jardin did it, but he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I am sorry for the family and their loss, but I feel it was really wrong for the relatives that took the stand to lie! Didn't they have to put their right hand up and swear to the tell the truth.
Also, since we are talking about the law, how come the woman that drove Dontae Morris is not being charged with murder? She was at the wrong place at the wrong time when 2 deputies were shot and later died.
How come the law works for some, but not for others. Not a very good law if you ask me.
I feel bad for the jurors since now that they are able to read everything about the case, I'm sure they are a little upset with the relatives that took the stand as I am.
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CONGRATULATIONS, KENT!!!
It is great to see your hard work is getting results.
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I find your synopsis of the Jardin trial very interesting in light of Tony Holt's article in Hernando Today. Mr. Holt apparently wasn't impressed by the familys child abuse of Mr. Jardin, and failed to mention his being tied up and hung on the door, or other such oddities. Maybe this is normal in the Holt home?. Instead he told his readers how Jardins Mother never went to any of his HS football games.
Is it any wonder why people on the Street want to criticize Judge Springstead, the Jury, and the Defense Attorneys, for not killing Jardin. Far be it for the physical evidence to get in the way of Mr. Holt's convictions, which I think is to misrepresent the news, in order to drum up more news.
Thank you again for your accurate reporting of the facts.
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