A judge has ruled that Marissa Alexander can remain free on bond after the Florida State Attorney filed a motion claiming that the defendant violated her release conditions numerous times, The Florida Times-Union reports. Circuit Court Judge James Daniel denied Assistant State Attorney Richard Mantei‘s request to revoke Alexander’s bail for “going out shopping for clothes, driving family members to the hair shop and airport, getting a new driver’s license, visiting the bank and seeing a sister-in-law.”
Mantei’s stated to the judge that Alexander, 33, was on home detention while performing her errands. The conditions of her detention prohibit her from leaving her residence except for court appearances, medical emergencies and to satisfy any requirements of her pretrial services program. She has been free on bond since Thanksgiving after getting a new trial in her aggravated assault case for firing a warning shot during an altercation with her husband, Rico Gray.
Alexander’s lawyer, Bruce Zimet, countered the state’s argument by saying that all of his client’s actions were approved by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, which angered Judge Daniel. Zimet said the court ordered Alexander to speak with Jacksonville authorities before making her trips, which they approved without checking with the judge. Since Alexander did not knowingly violate the bond, Judge Daniel saw fit to allow her to remain in home detention.
April Wilson, an 18-year veteran of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, was present for Friday’s hearing. Wilson approved all of Alexander’s trips, stating in her tearful testimony that her understanding of the court order would allow for these brief stops she made while under house arrest. After today’s hearing, however, it appears that both sides understand Judge Daniel’s orders and will move forward from there. “I think it was handled how it needed to be handled. The judge is now aware and everybody else is now aware of what was going on. Things got brought out in the open that’s always a good thing,” said Mantei, as reported by Florida Times-Union.
Posts tagged as “Florida”
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Davion Only, the 15-year-old Florida foster boy who made headlines with his heartfelt adoption plea in October, was a guest of Jets wide receiver David Nelson at New York’s game against the Cleveland Browns. Only, wearing a green Jets jersey with Nelson’s No. 86, was on the sideline before the game Sunday at MetLife Stadium with a friend and guardian during the players’ warmups. Nelson also posed for pictures with Only, who was hosted this weekend by Nelson and his charity organization i’mME.
Nelson, who formed i’mMe with his two brothers to aid orphaned children last January, invited Only to New York for “a crash course in Christmastime in the city” after hearing about how the boy stood in front of a church congregation and begged for a family to love him.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
A major coup has been won by the students at the controversial Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla. After 54 years of ignoring the wishes of protestors who argued that the school should not be named after an American Civil War Confederate lieutenant-general and later served as a Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, the educational facility will now finally be receiving a new moniker, reportsWPTV.
The Duval County School Board voted on Monday, 7-0 that the high school, which has a predominantly Black student body, will choose between the names of “Westside” and “Firestone” in January. When the high school opened its doors back in 1959 during the middle of the Civil Rights era, district school officials at the time chose to name it after Nathan B. Forrest (pictured), who had also been a slave trader. Under the Confederate lieutenant general’s orders, his troops massacred Black union soldiers at a Tennessee fort. Forrest then went on to serve as the first Grand Wizard of the KKK in 1867.
Under his leadership, he and his dragoons launched a campaign of midnight attacks, which included whipping and killing Black voters and White Republicans to scare them from voting and running for office.
The high school name change was actually spearheaded this go-round by Ty Richmond, a parent who set up a Change.org petition that garnered 162,150 signatures. Many attempts had been made previously to get board members to change the high school’s name but to no avail.
(CNN) — It’s one win for Darrell Wallace Jr., but what will it mean for other African-American race car drivers — present and future? The answer to that question might not come for years. Nonetheless, NASCAR wasted no time Saturday in hailing Wallace’s on-track success at Martinsville Speedway in southern Virginia.
“We congratulate Darrell Wallace Jr. on his first national series victory, one that will be remembered as a remarkable moment in our sport’s history,” said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France. Wallace took the Kroger 200 on the racing circuit’s Camping World Truck Series, which is on NASCAR’s third tier.
Still, it is notable given that no African-American has won any NASCAR national series race since December 1, 1963, when Wendell Scott became the first ever to win a race at NASCAR’s top level, in a victory at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida. Scott, a Virginia native who served in the Army during World War II, raced in more than 500 races during his career — finishing in the top five 20 times, though that would be his only victory.
Plus, the 20-year-old Wallace isn’t just any driver. He’s a highly touted graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity, having been featured in numerous local and national publications. The Mobile, Alabama, native — who lives in Concord, North Carolina — won in his 19th start on Camping World Truck circuit. In 10 of his first 18 starts, he finished in the top 10. Shortly after the Martinsville race ended, Wallace — using his twitter handle @BubbaWallace — reveled in the victory.
He wrote: “We Came. We Saw. We Conquered.”
article by Greg Botelho via cnn.com
Fifteen-year-old Davion Navar Henry Only stood before a packed crowd at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla., three weeks ago, his hands sweating and fidgeting, and for good reason: He was about to tell hundreds of congregants that he was looking for his “forever family.”
Only was born in prison and has spent his entire life in foster care. He lives at Eckerd’s Carlton Manor, a group home in St. Petersburg, where he has struggled to come into his own, often losing focus in school, fighting anger issues, and alienating himself from everyone he knows. His mother, LaDwina Ilene “Big Dust” McCloud, who served time for petty theft and drug charges, died on June 5, 2013, at the age of 55. It wasn’t until Only found his mother’s mug shot online just weeks after she died that he decided to take control of his future.
“Davion required some specialized recruitment efforts,” Connie Going, Only’s caseworker and an adoption specialist for Eckerd Community Alternatives, told Newsweek. She has known Only since he was five years old, and while she may be his fiercest advocate, she is also personally invested in his future. “I’m connected to him through my own adoptive son, who is 13; they met in a residential program together,” she said. “My own son was in care from three-and-a-half and he was adopted at 13 — and he was a return adopted child — so I know you can make a difference in these children’s lives.”
Navigating traditional channels has not helped Only find his adoptive family. Indeed, his photo was one of the first portraits to appear in the Heart Gallery, which showcases portraits of local foster children looking for adoptive parents — not with mug shot-style snapshots but with the kinds of pictures that parents pay professionals to produce. Only’s photo shows him in gray pants and a white T-shirt tossing a basketball on the beach; his profile, which reads “I am available,” reveals that he loves dogs, Chinese food and studying science, and wants to be a police officer when he grows up. His first portrait was posted when he was 7 years old (he has had two more taken since then), but the Heart Gallery has yet to lead to a permanent home.
“There is a family out there for him; we just needed to do more to find that family,” Going said. “So many children age out of foster care and we did not want that to happen to Davion.”
When Only attended his mother’s funeral earlier this year, he met some of his relatives. They weren’t appropriate adoptive parents for him — Going explained that finding the right family means looking for certain strengths, including strong parenting skills and the ability to understand what a foster child needs for her or her future — but they did care about him. “One of the things they told Davion was that he was loved,” Going explained. “He got in the car and said, ‘I didn’t know I was loved, Miss Connie.’ That began the turning point.”
Great news was delivered to two students last week who made history as the first-ever seniors with Down syndrome to be crowned homecoming king and queen in Florida. The night marked a momentous occasion for Travjuan Hunter and Semone Adkins, who celebrated with their families after they were announced winners during Friday night’s homecoming football game at West Orange High School in Orange County, Fl.
According to WKMG, Hunter and Adkins were among 12 other students up for the honor and the winning candidates were announced based on the number of votes submitted by the school’s student body.
The results were kept hidden until the coronation ceremony on the school’s football field where they were later revealed and dubbed Hunter and Adkins as homecoming royalty. The crowd cheered in support. The two students have reportedly been friends for many years — and their parents were overwhelmed by the news and glad they were able to share the honor together.
Adkin’s mother, Karen McNeil told WKMG: “It was a dream come true, because I always knew that she was going to be something great in this world and this is just the beginning for us.”
article by Lilly Workneh via thegrio.com
Congratulations go out to Pharrell Williams and his model wife Helen Lasichanh, who tied the knot in Miami yesterday (Oct. 12). The musician and his beautiful wife enjoyed music by pals Usher and Busta Rhymes, Us Weekly reports, and the Daily Mail adds that Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke were also rumored to perform.
The couple’s wedding photographer was none other than Terry Richardson, photographer to the stars, adds Just Jared. Never one to play by the rules, Williams, 40, ditched the conventional tux and instead opted for a red tartan suit. Lasichanh, looking gorgeous, skipped the white dress and instead wore a voluminous blue and green plaid gown. The two have a son together, 4-year-old Rocket.
article via huffingtonpost.com
article via huffingtonpost.com
Florida Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill that made some changes to the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law. The bill, which was passed by a vote of 7-2, has been strongly supported by the family of Trayvon Martin. The 17-year-old was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder and was acquitted by a Florida jury in July.
“Tracy and I have said from the beginning that our hope is that the tragedy of Trayvon’s death can be turned into real change so that other parents don’t have to experience the grief we have endured” Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, said following the announcement of the bill’s advancement.
“The work here is not done, and we fear an uphill battle going forward to achieve real change in our son’s name.” Stand Your Ground allows citizens to use deadly force if they feel their life is in danger. New changes to the bill would include providing proper training for neighborhood watch programs, ensuring a proper investigation is conducted after Stand Your Ground is claimed, allowing lawsuits against people acting in self-defense if they negligently injure or kill an innocent bystander and limit the use of the law when aggressors claim it.
“I see this as an important first step in making sure that Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law properly protects victims and applaud the committee for taking this first step,” said Martin family attorney Ben Crump in a press release. “In light of current events in Washington D.C., It is refreshing to see legislators compromising and working together so that Florida’s citizens are protected.”
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida woman serving 20 years in prison for firing a shot at her estranged husband during an argument will get a new trial, though she will not be able to invoke a “stand your ground” defense, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
The case of Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville mother of three, has been used by critics of Florida’s “stand your ground” law and mandatory minimum sentences to argue that the state’s justice system is skewed against defendants who are black.
The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that Alexander deserves a new trial because the trial judge handling her case did not properly instruct the jury regarding what is needed to prove self-defense.
The ruling, written by Judge Robert Benton, said the instructions constituted a “fundamental error” and required Alexander to prove self-defense “beyond a reasonable doubt.” But the court also made it clear in its ruling that the judge was right to block Alexander from using the state’s “stand your ground” law as a way to defend her actions. That law generally removes people’s duty to retreat in the face of possible danger and allows them to use of deadly force if they believe their lives are in danger.
Faith Gay, one of the attorneys representing the 33-year-old Alexander, said she was grateful for the “thorough consideration” provided by the appeals court. “We are looking forward to taking the case back to trial,” Gay said.
The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that Alexander deserves a new trial because the trial judge handling her case did not properly instruct the jury regarding what is needed to prove self-defense.
The ruling, written by Judge Robert Benton, said the instructions constituted a “fundamental error” and required Alexander to prove self-defense “beyond a reasonable doubt.” But the court also made it clear in its ruling that the judge was right to block Alexander from using the state’s “stand your ground” law as a way to defend her actions. That law generally removes people’s duty to retreat in the face of possible danger and allows them to use of deadly force if they believe their lives are in danger.
Faith Gay, one of the attorneys representing the 33-year-old Alexander, said she was grateful for the “thorough consideration” provided by the appeals court. “We are looking forward to taking the case back to trial,” Gay said.
“We are the advance guard of a massive moral revolution for jobs and freedom. This revolution reverberates throughout the land, touching every village where black men are segregated, oppressed and exploited,” the 74-year-old A. Philip Randolph told the estimated 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom fifty years ago on August 28, 1963.
Although today Dr. King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech often symbolizes the March for many, it was very much a stand for black workers with longtime labor leader Randolph at the forefront. He was so committed that neither advanced age nor the death of his wife shortly before the March could keep him home.
More than twenty years before, it was Randolph who had conceived the massive demonstration. Scheduled to take place July 1, 1941, the original March was intended to protest discrimination against black employment in defense industries and federal bureaus and demand that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issue an Executive Order to end such practices.
So, on June 25, 1941, when Roosevelt, after exhausting all means, including personal appeals from his wife Eleanor to Randolph, to call off the march which anticipated 100,000 participants, issued Executive Order 8802 creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee and barring discrimination in defense industries and federal bureaus, Randolph called off the March in victory. Merging the philosophies of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois by setting economic justice as the foundation of civil rights, Randolph would not stop or even begin here.
Born Asa Philip Randolph, the second of his parents’ two sons, on April 15, 1889 in Crescent, Fla, near Jacksonville where he later grew up, service was a consistent message in his childhood. His father, the Rev. James W. Randolph, in keeping with the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) philosophy, ministered to his congregation’s social and spiritual needs. Rev. Randolph and his wife Elizabeth, who hailed from a once enslaved family who were also AME members, taught their sons racial pride and self-respect. Encouraging young Asa Randolph’s healthy thirst for knowledge, Rev. Randolph filled the family’s home.
Tall, handsome, popular and smart, Randolph sang in the choir, was a star baseball player and a great speaker. Despite graduating valedictorian from Cookman Institute (later incorporated into Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla.) in 1907, there was not suitable employment for him in Jacksonville. Not wishing to follow in his father’s footsteps as minister, Randolph hired himself out as a hand on a steamship and headed for New York City in 1911, shortly after he turned 22, with dreams of becoming an actor.
In New York, he worked several jobs, including elevator operator, porter and waiter, while also studying English Literature and Sociology at City College at night. Despite organizing the Shakespearean Society in Harlem and playing several roles, including Hamlet, Othello and Romeo, Randolph was clearly destined to make his mark on a different stage. With kindred spirit Chandler Owen, a Columbia University student, Randolph founded the employment agency, the Brotherhood of Labor, where the two tried to unionize black workers.