Fort Myers Names new Police Chief

Chief Derrick Diggs

Crimcourts would like to welcome and congratulate Derrick Diggs, who has just been named chief of FMPD. He previously capped his 37 years of law enforcement experience as chief of the Toledo, Ohio police department. The challenges are abundant, as Fort Myers has a major issue with violent crime, and there are issues regarding morale in the department. We hope that Chief Diggs is successful in reducing or eliminating these issues, and helping make Fort Myers a safer place to live.

 

Hey Lawyers, Never Talk $#!t About Your Clients

Former Browns QB Johnny Manziel

Johnny Manziel, who’s facing charges in Texas for allegedly striking his former girlfriend, was in court for a preliminary hearing. A reporter texted his attorney for a comment, and received a text back that appears kind of incriminating. The lawyer has indicated the text was meant for another attorney. Oops.

It’s bad practice to bad mouth your own clients… thought the temptation can be great on some criminal cases, but it’s a bad idea. It’s an even worse idea if you don’t pay attention who your texts are going to. Suggesting, say, that your client may have been doing something illegal might end up prejudicing your client if they decide to have him submit a pee test. That could be bad for the client, and for you.

FMPD Helps Make Way for Ducklings

FMPD, Making Way for Ducklings

My friend, Cameron Siggs, snapped this photo yesterday of an FMPD officer stopping traffic on 41 to allow mama duck and a dozen or so of her ducklings to safely cross the street. Kudos are in order to the patient motorists who waited for the duck family to cross and to do so safely.

from Robert McCloskey’s book

I love it, it’s a scene right of ‘Make Way for Ducklings’, the Caldecott-winning children’s book that recently celebrated its 75th anniversary.

We take for granted all the different things law enforcement are called upon to do. Just yesterday, CCSO escorted an aggregation of manatees, and CCPD recently shared this photo of Officer Keith Edinger helping a trapper remove a nuisance gator. Thank you all for your protection.

Officer K Edinger via CCPD

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State to Seek Death in Sievers Murder

Mark Sievers & Jimmy Rodgers

Yesterday the State Attorney’s office filed a notice that they intend to seek the death penalty against Jimmy “The Hammer” Rodgers and Mark Sievers for the death of Sievers’ wife Theresa. That the state intends to seek the death penalty is not altogether surprising, as there are potentially several aggravating factors present that could justify the death penalty if proven, including the brutal nature of the killing, that it was premeditated, and that it was done for financial gain. On the other hand, the State has been unsuccessful in the last several attempts to seek the death penalty in Lee County.

Theresa Sievers

To further complicate matters, the death penalty is very much in flux in Florida. Florida just amended its death penalty procedure, after the previous procedure was rejected by the Supreme Court in the Hurst decision. The new procedure, which increases the number of jurors that must vote to recommend the death penalty to 10 of 12, instead of unanimously, has already been rejected by some circuit-level judges. That matter will certainly be reviewed by the State Supreme Court.

This also means that Mark Sievers will have to get another attorney on his legal team, as his current lawyers are not death-penalty qualified. They can still represent him, but he will need a death penalty lawyer to join the team. Also keep in mind, the State has flipped Siever’s friend Curtis Wright to have him testify in the other prosecutions.

Bull Rider Lassos Bike Thief

Bull Rider Robert Borba and his Lasso

Full-time cowboy Robert Borba was in the parking lot of WalMart when he saw a bike thief escaping on his stolen wheels. Borba is clearly a gentleman who will help out a lady in distress. Borba acted quickly, saying, “Grabbed Old Grey from the trailer and went for him.” He was able to get a rope on the thief, and detain him until authorities arrived.

Borba is a professional rodeo rider… and soon to be the most popular cowboy on the circuit!

It was nice to read some good news instead of the bad…

Live Snake in a Courtroom

OK- go ahead and start the lawyer jokes now…

Photo via Dep. Mike Cundiff

A live, five-foot snake was found hanging out in a Texas courtroom this week. One of the deputies was tidying up at the end of the when he ran across this pretty sizable serpent. He called in a fellow deputy to corral the snake, described as a non-venomous chicken snake, and possibly extending more than 5 feet in length. He was sitting behind the bench where the judge had been sitting.

Why didn’t it bite the lawyers? Professional courtesy.

What do you call a snake in the courtroom? A member of the bar.

Why did it take them so long to spot the snake? They couldn’t distinguish him from all the lawyers!

Har har- have your laughs!