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Former Teacher to Use Insanity Plea Against Charges of Sex with Student
ABC News ^ | 11/30/2004 | ABC News

Posted on 11/30/2004 12:41:43 PM PST by Prime Choice

TAMPA - When a young Hillsborough County teacher was accused this summer of having a sexual affair with a 14-year-old student, many people's first reaction to the notorious case was, 'She's crazy.' Tuesday, Debra Lafave's attorney announced that his client would indeed be using an insanity defense.

Lafave, 24, is facing charges of lewd and lascivious behavior, stemming from accusations that the former Greco Middle School teacher had sex with the student both at school and in a car driven by the student's cousin in Ocala.

The case has garnered international attention, but since turning herself in to police in June, Lafave has kept a low profile. She was ordered to appear at today's pre-trial hearing, but did not say anything.

In her place, attorney John Fitzgibbons asked the court for a delay because of a shift in his defense tactics.

"To give the court a sense of the case, I anticipate that in the near future, I will be filing a notice of insanity defense. There is some work being done by a doctor…we have accumulated medical records," he told the judge.

Lafave's trial was originally scheduled for December 6. Prosecutors had been forewarned of the new defense tactic, but still said it could push the trial back "a couple months," possibly into next summer.

It was not clear, either from Fitzgibbons' comments or court documents, what the reasoning behind the move was.

"Debbie has some profound emotional issues that are not her fault. I think once anyone reads what the doctors have to say, they will understand a lot more about what happened here," Fitzgibbons said outside court, as Lafave stood silently next to him.

One factor the defense might use to invoke an insanity defense is the recent trauma Lafave's family has been through. Her pregnant sister was killed in a high-profile drunk driving accident three years ago, and Lafave was in court for that trial alongside the rest of her family, who also turned out for today's hearing.

Her soon-to-be former husband, Owen Lafave, was not there, however. Owen filed for divorce in August and told Action News previously that the case has been like "living a nightmare" for him.

Debbie Lafave also faces similar charges in Marion County.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: insanity; maleraped; malevictim; molestation; nutjob; pedophilia; rape; sexteachers; teacher; womanrapist
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See also:
Husband of teacher facing sex charges files for divorce
http://www.abcactionnews.com/stories/archive/040826lafave.shtml

Photos of the perp:

Yeah...I'd say she's nucking futs.

1 posted on 11/30/2004 12:41:43 PM PST by Prime Choice
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To: Prime Choice

She is nuts. I just wish my 6th grade teacher, a real hottie, had been so crazy!


2 posted on 11/30/2004 12:43:21 PM PST by pissant
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To: Prime Choice

She may be crazy, but they SURE didn't make teachers who looked like that when I was 14!!!


3 posted on 11/30/2004 12:44:01 PM PST by JustPlainJoe
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To: JustPlainJoe

I never had a good looking teacher in school...wonder why?


4 posted on 11/30/2004 12:45:09 PM PST by Armedanddangerous (I'm not sorry)
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To: pissant
She is nuts. I just wish my 6th grade teacher, a real hottie, had been so crazy!

You were 14 in the 6th grade? :)
5 posted on 11/30/2004 12:46:25 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Dan Rather called Saddam "Mister President and President Bush "bush")
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To: pissant

Can't say I really blame the 14 year old. Wonder if the other kids teased him about being the "teacher's pet"? lol


6 posted on 11/30/2004 12:46:31 PM PST by Bluegrass Conservative
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To: Prime Choice

she just wanted to boink a 14 year old


7 posted on 11/30/2004 12:46:38 PM PST by NoClones
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To: Prime Choice

Hey. Where are the libertarians, Prime Choice? After all, she's not hurting anybody. It's her body. Right?

I see you're enduring the multiple assaults as well as I am. Just say to yourself while flexing your biceps: "There's nothing like conservatism. There's nothing like conservatism." :)

I know it's hard for you libertarians, but morality is part of our Judeo-Christian ethic. And she is nuts. All deemed in the eyes of the American morale compass. Thank God for conservatives.


8 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:02 PM PST by writer33 (The U.S. Constitution defines a conservative)
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To: Prime Choice
Former Teacher to Use Insanity Plea Against Charges of Sex with Student

Perhaps in the sense of "she was crazy about him".

9 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:16 PM PST by Ichneumon
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

Let's not knock those that had to "repeat" grades. : )


10 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:22 PM PST by Bluegrass Conservative
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To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

14 in the 6th grade? Jethro? Is that You???


11 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:27 PM PST by JustPlainJoe
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To: pissant

In my school the hotties were the French teachers.


12 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:33 PM PST by Squawk 8888 (I like knowing a second language because I can get away with swearing a lot)
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To: pissant

Hehe...my 6th grade teacher was hot too!

The woman is nuts. As much as I know what she did was morally wrong, the testosterone flowing through my veins makes it hard for me to feel sorry for the kid...at 14 I could only have dreamed of such a scenario!


13 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:47 PM PST by RockinRight (Liberals are OK with racism and sexism, as long as it is aimed at a Republican.)
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To: Prime Choice

She does seem to have that "come hither" look in the top photo (as well as a much better hairdo than in the bottom photo).


14 posted on 11/30/2004 12:47:48 PM PST by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
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To: writer33

I bet the 14 year old will be a Libertarian now. I can hear him now, "Hey, she wasn't hurting anyone. In fact, she was making some guys feel REEEAAALLY good!" lol


15 posted on 11/30/2004 12:48:39 PM PST by Bluegrass Conservative
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To: Prime Choice
Her soon-to-be former husband, Owen Lafave, was not there, however. Owen filed for divorce in August and told Action News previously that the case has been like "living a nightmare" for him.

I'm glad he filed for divorce. That's got to be awful-your wife cheating on you with a 14 year old KID!

16 posted on 11/30/2004 12:49:03 PM PST by RockinRight (Liberals are OK with racism and sexism, as long as it is aimed at a Republican.)
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To: Prime Choice

Expect her "Biography" on A&E soon, a la Mary Kay LaTourneau.


17 posted on 11/30/2004 12:50:09 PM PST by MisterRepublican ("I must go. I must be elusive.")
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: Squawk 8888

In high school, we had two French teachers. One was 50ish, with a short butch hair cut and horrible coffee breath. The other was a hot 26-year-old blonde. I, unfortunately, had the former for all 3 years I took French.


19 posted on 11/30/2004 12:50:38 PM PST by RockinRight (Liberals are OK with racism and sexism, as long as it is aimed at a Republican.)
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To: Prime Choice

Heaven knows insanity was disreputable enough, long ago; but now that the lawyers have got to cutting every gallows rope and picking every prison lock with it, it is become a sneaking villainy that ought to hang and keep on hanging its sudden possessors until evil-doers should conclude that the safest plan was to never claim to have it until they came by it legitimately. The very calibre of the people the lawyers most frequently try to save by the insanity subterfuge ought to laugh the plea out of the courts, one would think.

MARK TWAIN


20 posted on 11/30/2004 12:50:54 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (Dan Rather called Saddam "Mister President and President Bush "bush")
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