based upon a recommendation by the Department of Juvenile Justice that is usually much more compatible with the schedules of working parents. In addition, in 2009, the SAOs juvenile division opened 6,184 cases. In 2013, that number dropped to 3,226. This also contributed to the drop in referrals, and it should be noted that last year nearly half of the cases the SAO referred to JDC were rejected by JDC. Some have claimed the SAO refuses to send cases to drug court diversion, but this is simp-ly not true. Juveniles who have already received an opportunity at Diversion are generally not referred to the drug court diver-sion program. However, the SAO does make exceptions to this in appropriate cases. You can read more about those cas-es and the JDC on our website www.sao4th.com.

With all of the talk about Juve-nile Drug Court (JDC) lately, it is unfortunate that only some of the information about this program has been reported by the me-dia. What you may not realize is that in order for a juvenile to be sent to JDC, the juvenile must be arrested. An arrest is re-quired so the case can be tracked through the Clerk of the Courts because the JDC is fund-ed by a federal grant. Although some special interest groups publicly support non-arrest methods, these same indi-viduals are now claiming to be upset that more juveniles have not been sent to JDC. The SAO routinely diverts juvenile drug cases to the appropriate diver-sion program, which may include JDC, but the SAO will not arrest a juvenile just so we can send the juvenile to JDC because the SAO is committed to using non-arrest methods when appropriate in juvenile cases. That is why juveniles are routinely sent to other diversion programs by the SAO which also provide sub-

stance abuse treatment and do not require an arrest. It is important to note that the SAO is not the only party respon-sible for requesting a case be sent to JDC. In fact, Florida law states that the juveniles defense attorney, the court and the SAO can request a referral to JDC in certain cases. Last year, court administration, judges and members of the Pub-lic Defenders Office (PDO) met to discuss how to send more ju-veniles to JDC. The PDO and court administration agreed to review cases and send the SAO information on cases which were appropriate for JDC. Seven months after that meeting, the SAO still has not received infor-mation on potential cases from the PDO or court administration. This year-long program re-quires the juvenile and his or her parents to be in court several times a month. As a result, many juveniles and their parents de-cline to accept the rigorous drug court offer due to the fact they can receive a shorter sentence

The Rebuttal

The State Attorney Sidebar J U N E 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 6

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:

A message from the State Attor-ney

Recent SAO trial victories

Featured SAO em-ployee

Tips for par-ents on leav-ing your kid home alone

A Message From the State Attorney Summer is right around the corner and that means kids are out of school! While kids are excited about the free-dom, parents now have the task of deciding what to do with their children during the summer months. While younger children need constant supervision, some parents will allow their teenagers to stay home alone while they are at work. If a

parent chooses to give their teens a little more independ-ence, there are some things every mom and dad should consider. On page four of the newsletter, you will find a list of tips from SAO Investiga-tors on what parents can do to keep their kids safe when they are home alone. God bless and stay safe!~Angela

P A G E 2 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 6

Albaum and Janeen Kirch

Joe L. Kemp was found guilty of Possession of a Fire-arm by a Convicted Felon. ~ASAs Aaron Feuer and Brett Mereness

Richard S. Pearson, III was convicted of Murder in the First Degree. ~ASAs Bri-an Brady and Joel Cooper

Tawana L. Harvey was found guilty of Murder in the Second Degree. ~ASAs Pe-ter Overstreet and Garrett Hill

Mark Salameh was found guilty of Robbery. ~ASAs Mai Tran and Cyrus Zomorodian

Tirell A. Cross was sen-tenced to 12 years in prison for DUI Manslaughter. ~ASA Lee Smith

Zavon D. Taylor was convicted of Armed Car-jacking. ~ASAs Vanessa Al-baum and Tim Miller

Karium Hammond was found guilty of Burglary (Occupied Dwelling). ~ASAs Sandra Rosendale and Ashley Young

Yvonne M. Johnson was sentenced to three years in prison for three counts of Criminal Use of Personal Identification. ~ASAs Joe Licandro and Jacob McCrea

William H. Davis, III was convicted of two counts of Armed Robbery. ~ASAs Vanessa Albaum and Janeen Kirch

Labarfield Bryant, Jr. was found guilty of Burglary (Dwelling). ~ASAs Sandra Rosendale and Mark Hulsey

Sandy V. Alston was sen-tenced to life in prison for Sexual Battery on a Child Under 12, Child Abuse, and Sexual Battery on a Child Over 12. ~ASA Terence Martin

Terry L. Dixon was con-victed of Accessory After the Fact. ~ASAs Vanessa

Justice Promised, Justice Delivered

Hearings and Cheerings Each year, our community comes together on Police Memorial Day to honor and pay tribute to the law enforcement officers who have lost their lives while protecting this com-munity. In May, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office (JSO) held their Police Memorial Day ser-vice, which included the Presentation of Colors, 21 Gun Salute and a flyover by JSOs avia-tion unit, to honor the 60 JSO officers who have died in the line of duty since 1840. The Clay County Sheriffs Office (CCSO) and the Nassau County law enforce-ment agencies also held memorial services to pay tribute to the fallen offic-ers within their agencies. In addition to attending the ceremonies, the SAO also shows support by wearing blue C.O.P.S. ribbons, which stand for Concerns Of Police Survi-vors. We strongly support the work of all of our law enforcement agencies and appreciate the relationships that we have built working alongside them. We believe it is important to honor these brave men and women for their dedication and commitment to helping keep this community safe.

P A G E 3

While we knew that these victims could never fully overcome what they suffered, we fought our hardest to put this defendant away so that these victims would not live in fear of this defendant any longer.

Victims Voice

Off The Record

Special Acknowledgement Opportunity PatJoneshasbeenpartoftheSAOsinceNovember2007.In2007,PatwashiredasaSwitchboardOperator.ShethenbecameanIntakeClerkinourDiversionDivision.

Patsinfectioussmileandpleasantdispositionradiatethroughouttheofficeasshegreetsthewalkinsanddiversionprogramparticipants.

InthefewyearsthatPathasbeenhereattheSAO,shehasmadeanimpressiononmanypeoplebothinsideandoutsidethisofficebyworkinghardandalwayshavingapositiveattitude.

which led him across the county to Washington State. Darryl joined the SAO in 2009 and worked as a Clerk in the Felony Filing Division.

Former SAO employ-ee Darryl Bickley stopped by the office recently to visit his SAO family. Last year, Darryl made the decision to join the U.S. Navy,

We are grateful for all the work that Darryl has done for our office and we support his coura-geous decision to be-come part of those that protect our country.

kidnapped the victims, se-verely beat and raped them and stole their belongings. In 1984, Franklin was found guilty as charged on multiple counts of Kidnapping, Rob-bery, Sexual Battery, and Aggravated Assault a total of 20 felony charges. Each of the victims testi-fied during the sentencing hearing and it was clear to see that this horrific experi-ence had significantly affect-ed them both physically and mentally. The women ex-plained that they now live in fear because of the attack and how this fear had caused a tremendous amount of strain on their lives and relationships. One of the victims even said that she was permanently crip-pled from the attack. Franklin was ultimately

sentenced to 1,000 years in prison for his convic-tions, which he later ap-pealed claiming that this sentence was unconstitu-tional. After a review of the case, the court agreed with the State and affirmed the 1,000 year sentence. While we knew that these victims could never fully overcome what they suffered, we fought our hardest to put this defend-ant away so that these vic-tims would not live in fear of this defendant any long-er. We hope that this courts decision will be able to provide these victims with the peace and closure that theyve long needed.

Our number one priority at the SAO is to help seek justice for our victims here in the Fourth Judicial Cir-cuit. Being a victim of a crime, especially a violent one, is not something that is easily overcome. In fact, it is an experience that many say affects them for the rest of their lives. Know-ing this, we try to do every-thing we possibly can in order to help bring these victims some closure and peace of mind. Recently, the 1st DCA upheld the 1,000 year pris-on sentence for Arthur O. Franklin, a Jacksonville man who was convicted for his brutal sexual attacks on three women. In 1983, Franklin, who was 17-years-old at the time, committed a series of acts in which he

PatriciaJones

DarrylBickley

in cases the SAO is handling. In general, PRRs come from area defense attorneys, in-mates, the public, and mem-bers of the local and national media. You have no doubt seen sto-ries in the news regarding the thousands of cases this office handles. Many times, the me-dia will report The State Attor-neys Office just released these records about a specific case. In actuality, the records you are hearing or reading about were not issued in a random release by the SAO, but instead the documents were a response to a PRR. The perception is the SAO wanted the documents re-leased when in fact, the SAO

There is a big misconception out there that the State Attor-neys Office just randomly re-leases documents to the me-dia about a pending criminal case. Nothing could be further from the truth! We hope to Set the Record Straight with this article. The SAO does not release records unless there is what is called a Public Records Re-quest or PRR. In fact, the SAO receives PRRs on a daily basis. More than 1,000 Public Records Requests are re-ceived each year. The num-ber of PRRs has tripled since 2009. That number continues to grow since more individuals are becoming aware of their right to access public records

strives to preserve the integri-ty of every case we handle. In fact, we would prefer the information to just come out at the appropriate time in the courtroom. However, Chap-ter 119 of the Florida State Statutes, which deals with Public Records, mandates the SAO to release public records to the media when a request is made. So, the next time you hear or read a media report on new information in a SAO case, please remember that the information was released in response to the media filing a request for that specific information.

Setting the Record Straight

SafetyZoneSafetypsforparentsonleavingkidshomealone

Whenleavingyourchildrenhomealone,itisimportanttoestablishasetofrulesandsafetyguidelinesforthemtofollow.Besuretocoverallareasfromfoodpreparaontohowtohandleanemergencysituaon.

Makesureyourchildrenunderstandyourexpectaonsforcheckingin,answeringphonesanddoors,andtechnologyusage.Ideally,theyshouldnotanswerthephoneoropenthedoorunlessforatrustedindividual.Ulmately,stayinginsidewithallthedoorsandwindowslockedisthesafestsoluon.

Besurethatyourkidsareawareofwhereyouaregoingandwhoyouwillbewith.Itmaybeagoodideatoalsoprovidethemwithalistoftheotherparescontactnumbersincaseanemergencyarises.

Itisimportanttorememberthatevenwiththemostresponsiblechild,anaccidentcanoccur.Haveplentyofemergencysuppliesonhandandmakesurethelistofemergencycontactsiseasilyaccessible.

www.sao4th.com

PAGE 4

The RebuttalThe State Attorney Sidebarjune 2014VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6Special points of interest:Page #VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6Justice Promised, Justice Delivered Hearings and CheeringsPage #Victims Voice Off The RecordSpecial Acknowledgement OpportunitySetting the Record Straight

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