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Extensive expert testimony at a hearing last week did not lead to a ruling about whether Mark Deffendall can walk free in the killing of his brother under the provisions of Florida’s revised Stand Your Ground law. After testimony was complete, the prosecutor and defense attorney elected to file written closing arguments, instead of making their final arguments in court, and Judge Cynthia Cox said she will rule on the matter after receiving the written filings.
The 2014 homicide was revisited after Deffendall and his attorney sought immunity under Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ statute for the second time. Deffendall previously was denied the defense, but Cox granted him a new hearing this year after Florida lawmakers reversed the burden of proof in Stand Your Ground cases. Before, defendants had to prove they had good reason to be in fear for their life. Now, prosecutors are required to demonstrate a defendant is not entitled to immunity under the statue by proving that he or she was not acting out of fear for their life. The revised law also eliminates a mandate to retreat before shooting. Read more here. A middle-of-the-night decision by two Indian River Shores Police Officers to go back to the shoreline and look again may have saved a missing John’s Island woman’s life. The Alzheimer’s patient had wandered away from her home on Coconut Palm Road around 11 p.m. last Saturday. Officers searched for her for hours without success.
They brought out a helicopter and police dogs. They scanned the shoreline. They went to a property nearby she was known to frequent. Then, thankfully, they scanned the shoreline again – this time from the vantage point of a backyard deck, shining their flashlights inland toward the water’s bank. The woman, whose name is not being released, was standing waist deep in the canal hiding among the mangroves. It was almost 2 a.m. when police spotted her. She had been struggling to get out of the water, and when she heard the officers calling to her, she fell and went under. Read more here. A federal jury last week found the lawyer who performed escrow work a decade ago for luxury condominium units at the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa guilty of conspiracy and bank fraud. Unlike hotel developer George Heaton and another co-defendant, Eric Granitur, 60, maintained his innocence and took his case to trial. He now faces up to 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors alleged Granitur, Heaton and others lied to lenders about incentive programs, such as cash-to-close rebates, used to lure prospective buyers to the Ocean Drive development during the real-estate slow down. This gave banks a false impression of the viability of the project and allowed developers to secure the funds they needed to complete construction of Vero’s most luxurious hotel without proper scrutiny, argued Joseph Capone, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. The prosecutor specializes in real-estate fraud and travelled from Washington, D.C. to West Palm Beach for the trial. Read more here. Vero Beach lawyer Eric Granitur went on trial Monday at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, charged with conspiracy and making false statements in connection with mortgage loans that helped developer George Heaton keep moving ahead a decade ago with construction of the Vero Beach Hotel & Spa.
Among those set to testify against him was Heaton, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a plea deal that will limit his own sentence to no more than five years in prison. Granitur, 60, who performed escrow work in 2008 and 2009 for condominium units at the hotel, maintains his innocence, but prosecutors allege he and others lied to lenders about incentive programs, such as cash-to-close rebates, used to lure prospective buyers to the Ocean Drive development during the real estate slowdown. Read more here. INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A lack of DNA evidence and the prospect of questionable witness testimony helped a Kentucky man accused of sexual misconduct with a 21-year-old schizophrenic woman stay out of jail.
Judge Cynthia Cox sentenced Farhad Zakerhaghighi, 61, to one-year probation on May 21, months after the defendant plead no contest to misdemeanor battery during a stay at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. The man was originally charged with felony sexual battery on a person with a mental defect. That offense comes with a maximum 30-year prison sentence. “I did not go to the extent of what these folks are claiming I have done,” Zakerhaghighi told Judge Cynthia Cox during his sentencing hearing last week. “I am throwing myself at your mercy.” Read more here. A circuit court judge is likely to weigh in on whether Florida’s evolving Stand Your Ground statute can be applied retroactively as she revisits an alleged fratricide from more than three years ago. Judge Cynthia Cox, who presides over the felony court bench in Indian River County, has granted Mark Deffendall and his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Alan Hunt, a second chance to apply Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute to his defense.
Deffendall, 43, was arrested in October 2014 after police say he shot and killed his brother, Eric, at their father’s home and airplane hangar on De Havilland Court in Vero Beach. Months after his arrest, Cox denied Mark Deffendall’s initial request to have his case dismissed under Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute. The burden of proof at the time was on the defendant to show the act was in self-defense, and after hearing testimony from several people, including the Deffendall, his family and friends, Cox said he failed to prove his case. Read more here. All Aboard Florida got another break from an indulgent federal government last week when the U.S. Department of Transportation granted the company more time to issue $1.15 billion of Private Activity Bonds to finance the second phase of its high-speed passenger rail service.
“This propels our project as we extend Brightline to Orlando, developing a transportation network that will benefit the entire state,” said Brightline President Patrick Goddard. The tax-exempt bonds were allocated in December and set to expire May 31. So far, investors have not rushed to buy the bonds. The seven-month extension through the end of the year was granted on the condition that the company continue to seek alternative financing. Read more here. |
Beth WaltonWriter, World Traveler, Mother. These are my stories. Archives
August 2018
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