Will the Alleged Zombicon Killer get a Bond?

Jose Bonilla

At first appearance yesterday, Jose Bonilla’s attorney David Brener asked the judge to continue the case to today’s first appearance so he could have an opportunity to review the 17-page Motion for Pretrial Detention that the state filed. The motion is essentially a request to hold the Defendant without a bond, and will need to be scheduled for a hearing before the soon-to-be-assigned trial judge within five days.  That motion hasn’t been released yet, so we do not yet know the facts from the investigation that makes the State believe that Mr. Bonilla was the Zombicon shooter: which Mr. Brener will likely argue either at today’s first appearance, or at the pretrial detention motion hearing in a few days.

 

I gave some comments to the news the other day: though at this point, we don’t know much until the underlying facts are released. FMPD has said that Bonilla was identified early in their investigation, but we don’t know what changed that caused them to move now, but they are still actively requesting any additional information.

Here’s the NBC-2 story:

UPDATE: No Bond for now, to be reconsidered at hearing next week.

Arrest Made in Zombicon Case in Fort Myers

 

Fort Myers police have arrested a man they say is the shooter in the Zombicon shooting case from downtown Fort Myers in 2015. Police have arrested Jose Bonilla from Immokalee and charged him with Second Degree Murder of  Expavious ‘Tyrell’ Taylor. He is charged with 5 additional aggravated battery counts and a count of evidence tampering for the other people injured in the shooting. FMPD has not said much beyond the arrest, but more details will be coming out in the days to follow.

You can see from the photo, multiple agencies are involved- FMPD, State Attorney, LSCO, FBI and Collier Cty SO. He was identified as a subject early, but it is unknown yet why action was taken now. FMPD is still asking more people to come forward if they have details.

BREAKING: Fort Myers police announces arrest in 2015 Zombicon shooting. pic.twitter.com/xCeNb77RtW

— Peter Busch (@peterbuschTV) February 26, 2018

UPDATE: Here’s a link to the video of the press conference (albeit very limited statements)

A Dose of Basic Copyright Law

Deborah and Baby

It shouldn’t have to be said, but if you use someone else’s work: you need to get permission. The Hollywood Reporter’s legal roundup today included two copyright cases that probably shouldn’t have had to be litigated. The first was in regard to Baby Drive, the excellent 2017 action film from Edgar Wright that makes extensive use of music to drive the story. It’s great, and it’s up for a few Oscars. The main love interest is named Debora, played by Lily James, and so the film naturally included a 1968 song called “Debora” by T.Rex. Except they didn’t clear it first. The oversight was discovered when they went to get permission to use it on the Soundtrack, and the son of the songwriter sued Sony (T.Rex frontman Marc Bolan had passed away). The matter was resolved at mediation, suggesting that his heir received just compensation for using the song.

 

And further down in that same article, THR reports that Beyoncé settled with the estate of Anthony Barré, whose spoken word recorded under the name “Messy Mya” was used in her hit song “Formation“. Both of these instances are pretty straightforward copyright infringements, and I suspect the fault is not on Beyoncé or Wright, rather it was likely the studios who failed to get clearance and to compensate the original artists before going forward. Both suits have been settled, and you can resume listening to “Formation” and watching Baby Driver” guilt-free.

Seriously, go watch Baby Driver if you haven’t, it’s excellent.

I guess I’ll throw in a little criminal law- if Baby had been charged in Florida state court (the movie is set in Atlanta, GA), he would’ve been facing mandatory life in prison without parole for Felony Murder (even though he didn’t do the shootings). Regardless of the people who spoke up for him, the movie would not have ended on a positive note if it had been set in Miami…

Lisa Troemner Found Not Guilty in Marco Island Stabbing Case

Lisa Troemner

After nearly a month of trial, and a second day of deliberation (the jury went home after a couple hours of deliberations yesterday evening), Lisa Troemner has been found not guilty of second degree murder. There was a chance the jury could have given her a lesser charge, but the Defense’s justifiable use of force case persuaded them, or at least gave them a reasonable doubt. In addition to Ms. Troemner testifying to her relationship with Trevor Smith, she stated that she was scared of him, that he was abusive and controlling, even violent the evening leading up to the killing (he had a BAC over .30). The Defense also presented expert testimony that she was suffering from battered spouse syndrome and even forensic expert testimony that indicated there had been a struggle at the apartment. The State countered with a week’s worth of rebuttal testimony, including counter-experts regarding battered spouse syndrome, and testimony from friends and family of Trevor Smith that in fact Troemner was the jealous, controlling party.

Troemner was facing life in prison if convicted of second degree murder, but she will likely be out of jail this afternoon. This is a huge win for Donald Day and the defense team, and another big Collier County loss for the State already this year…  and expensive after a month of trial. Troemner had been in custody since the date of the arrest, in December, 2014. There was the possibility of a lesser charge, but the jury decided completely in her favor, complete acquittal. There is no appeal on a not guilty verdict.

First reported by Hot Story: https://twitter.com/hotstorycrime/status/962027561055219713

 

State Counters Lisa Troemner’s Battered Spouse Defense in Ongoing Murder Trial

Lisa Troemner

After about a week of testimony demonstrating that Lisa Troemner killed her then boyfriend, Trevor Smith, she then testified and her attorneys put on a week or so worth of testimony, including experts, that argued she was justified due to hear fear of Mr. Smith. That’s usually about where a case would normally wrap up, but the State has now spent a about a week on their rebuttal case. The have put on their own expert testimony countering the battered spouse claims, and testimony from friends and family that counter Troemner’s claims that Smith was abusive and controlling. The state countered with evidence that Troemner was jealous, and introduced test messages support their theory. Troemner testified the other day that Smith hulked out with rage, and the investigating officer saw a door that had been broken from its hinges, and it was determined he had a blood alcohol level over .300.

The State rested yesterday afternoon, and closing arguments will being this morning. The State is pushing for second degree murder, and the Defense is claiming that she should be acquitted under justifiable use of force (self defense). The jury could find her guilty as charged, which would mean up to life in prison, they could find her guilty of a lesser, such as manslaughter, which would likely result in a shorter prison sentence, or they could find her not guilty. After nearly a month-long trial, the jury may be out for a while, but a resolution is nearly at hand.

A Look at the Ramifications of Florida’s Death Penalty Issues

The procedure for Florida’s Death Penalty was found to be unconstitutional, despite efforts to rework it, until March of last year, when a procedure that meets Constitutional muster was approved and signed into law. But what to do with the cases that had been sentenced under the old procedure. Florida’s Supreme Court ended up splitting the baby, basing their decision on when the US Supreme Court issued their controlling decision in Ring v. Arizona back in 2002. The Florida Court decided that the rule would be applied retroactively to cases decided after the Ring decision, but that individuals sentenced before then are out of luck: even though the Court had already decided the procedure used to sentence them was unconstitutional.

The decision is based on the rule that decisions based on procedure will not be retroactive. In the last several weeks, the Court has been busy issuing ruling after ruling that declines to apply the rule announced in the Hurst case to pre-2002 convictions. This column from the Tampa Bay Times takes a look at the spate of opinions that have recently been released, and the sometimes incongruous results. It’s definitely worth a read.

Via: Tampabay.com

Video from DUI Arrest at the McDonald’s Drive Thru

Christopher Bidzinski

ABC-7 tracked down the body cam video of the guy who passed out in the McDonald’s drive thru a few weeks ago. It is his third DUI arrest in the last three years. Employees called cops after Christopher Bidzinski fell asleep in the parking lot, waiting for the food he had ordered. When officers arrived, he told them to take him to jail, and at one point, attempted a cartwheel while officers were trying to conduct field sobriety tests. The entire interaction with the cops was caught on bodycam, and even they can’t help laughing.

Not only does Bidzinski have his own arrests, it appears he was struck by a vehicle a couple years ago while crossing the street when he was intoxicated. It’s clear he has a major alcohol problem: he tells the cops that he deserves to go to jail. He’s been in for three weeks right now, and some time in jail is a major part of getting him sober, but punishment alone is not enough: he will need major, long-term counseling help to stop being a danger to himself and to others.