Syndrome. That new judge was inexperienced. And inept in his oversight of pushing
the kid into defending himself.
Posted on 05/28/2002 5:04:16 PM PDT by marshmallow
TAMPA -- The 16-year-old boy sat before the Hillsborough County judge, asking for an attorney. He didn't understand what was going on, he kept saying.
Juan Carlos Elias was in the middle of a restitution hearing. He had pleaded guilty to stealing one car and burglarizing another. Reimbursing the victim was the issue at hand now.
But Elias said he didn't know what restitution meant. His frustrated mother repeatedly rose from the first row, instructing her son in Spanish.
Judge Richard Nielsen, relatively new to the bench, had her tossed out of his courtroom.
"You don't have a lawyer, Mr. Elias," Nielsen said. "So you're going to represent yourself in this matter."
And so, for more than two hours on May 6, the 16-year-old struggled to deal with the arcane language and procedures of a courtroom. It was a scene unfamiliar to some observers. Under Florida law, juveniles are entitled to legal counsel unless they and their parents waive that right.
"Mr. Elias, any objection to these exhibits?" Nielsen asked at one point, referring to car repair bills submitted as evidence.
"I don't have nobody representing me?" said Elias. "I don't understand these things."
"Show these to Mr. Elias," Nielsen instructed the prosecutor.
Soon after, Nielsen asked Elias whether he had trouble understanding English.
"No, but sometimes the words you all use, like, um, I don't really get 'em that much. But I understand English," said Elias, whose family is Puerto Rican.
Restitution hearings are routine and are rarely covered by the press. A reporter for the St. Petersburg Times chanced upon Elias' hearing. His mother later gave a tape recording of the proceeding to the reporter.
Nielsen did not return repeated calls from the Times. Nor did officials at the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office.
Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said he has never seen a juvenile represent himself during such a hearing.
"That would really bother me," he said, when told that Elias had asked for a lawyer and had said he didn't understand the proceedings. "I would be surprised if our judges (in the Pinellas-Pasco circuit) wouldn't give him a lawyer."
Nielsen, 52, built his reputation in civil litigation with an emphasis on business law. He was head of the litigation department at a Tampa firm, Salem, Saxon & Nielsen, when Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to the bench in November 2000.
Nielsen graduated from the University of New Mexico and got a law degree from the University of Florida. He had no judicial experience before his appointment. In his application for nomination to the circuit court, Nielsen wrote that certain traits would serve him well on the bench, including honesty, integrity and fairness.
Elias' mother, Evangeline Castillo, had hired a private attorney to hammer out a plea agreement weeks earlier. But she could not afford to retain the lawyer, Tina Dampf, any longer.
She figured her son would be assigned to a public defender for the restitution hearing.
"Mr. Elias, do you have a lawyer representing you in this matter?" Nielsen asked the youth at the beginning of the hearing. He said he did not.
"So, Ms. Dampf is no longer representing you in this matter, is that correct?" Nielsen asked.
Yes, Elias said.
"All right, well we're going to proceed . . . at this time," Nielsen said.
Elias, lanky and wearing a shirt that showed off his abdomen, said nothing. Nearby was a co-defendant represented by Public Defender Elizabeth Beardsley.
At one point during the proceedings, Elias asked whether the prosecutor was representing him.
"No, sir, she's not . . . she is handling that case on behalf of the state," Nielsen said.
"On my behalf?" Elias asked.
"Not on your behalf. Against you, sir. Now, in a moment, you'll get an opportunity to ask questions of the witness."
"I don't know what to say," Elias said.
His mother spoke up. "You want me to say it for you?" she asked her son in English.
"No, if you're going to do anything, you need to tell him what to say," Nielsen told her. "You're not the attorney."
Several attorneys sounded perplexed when told of Elias' travails. George Richards, deputy chief of the juvenile division at the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office, said indigent youths are appointed an attorney unless they specifically decline one.
"A judge has to find that it's a knowing waiver," Richards said. "If the child understands, the parent understands that they're waiving their right, and they say, "No, we don't want an attorney,' then (an attorney) won't be appointed."
Judy Estren, executive assistant public defender at the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office, said the co-defendant's attorney should have intervened. "I would have instructed my attorney to jump in."
Castillo, 36, was a janitor at the Hillsborough courthouse for years until she was injured a few years ago. She got to the courthouse an hour before the hearing May 6, she said, to line up a public defender. Castillo said a bailiff she knew told her not to worry, that the judge would handle everything.
Nielsen ordered restitution of $4,608.94. Elias, who has dropped out of school, is on probation. He is doing his court-ordered public service at a youth center, Castillo said.
On Monday, Elias said he was still reeling from his day in court.
"They were acting like I was a lawyer and I know how to speak," he said.
"I'm like, dang. The way they speak and the way they put their words, I don't understand
"So, Ms. Dampf is no longer representing you in this matter, is that correct?" Nielsen asked.
Yes, Elias said.
"All right, well we're going to proceed . . . at this time," Nielsen said.
Looks like he understood that he wasn't going to have representation and STATED that the previous attorney was no longer representing him.
Soon after, Nielsen asked Elias whether he had trouble understanding English.
"No, but sometimes the words you all use, like, um, I don't really get 'em that much. But I understand English," said Elias, whose family is Puerto Rican.
He knew what was being said. He knew from the get go he would be facing restitution. He and his mother were trying to play the system, just like you court types like because it pays you more.
Go bleed for real injustice.
No, but the Courts legally tape. All she had to do was buy a copy of the tape of the proceeding from the appropriate court official.
Here's the order from the Hillsborough County courts in PDF format.
http://www.fljud13.org/AO/DOCS/95-069.pdf
The text of the order is below:
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Ah, so the Constitution is optional? How nice. Does that also apply to the 2nd Amendment? Are you willing to have your 2nd Amendment rights abridged because some judge feels like it on that particular day and time? How about your 1st Amendment rights? If a judge feels like it on that particular day and time, can he abridge your freedom of religion and speech?
Which parts of the Constitution are you willing to have abridged? Which rights are you willing to give up?
No part of the Constitution was abridged. He was paying civil restitution.
The kid just learned a valuable life-lesson: DO NOT piss off somebody who has the ability to make your life a living hell, unless you really need to.
Also, there is a difference between "having respect" and "showing respect". I "show respect" to managers at work, even if I think they're complete idiots. I "show respect" to people I meet on the street, saying "please", "excuse me", and "thank you", even if I don't know them and don't expect to ever meet them again.
Only someone with their head in the clouds would condesend to believe some great travesty of justice occurred here. Juan Carlos Elias and his frustrated mother/enabler attempted to play the judicial system like some cheap board game. Well, guess what? They didn't win at their little contest of "Beat The System", in spite of all the assistance given to them by this jerkoff reporter, Kathryn Wexler.
I, for one, will not lose a moment of sleep fretting over this scumbag's lack of counsel. My only regret is I probably won't have an opportunity to defecate on Kathryn Wexler's desk . . .
Not that this has anything to do with civil restitution.....
OOOooo, I'm soooo stung by your personal attack, I really am.
I'm talking about the Constitution. What part of that don't you understand?
And it was criminal restitution in a criminal case.
They want to give up anyone's Constitutional rights that is different,or doesn't agree with them, or isn't a member of their "club.
Ah, so the Constitution only applies to *THEM* because their rights stand far above others, but the Constitution doesn't apply to the masses. Now I get it. The Constitution is only applicable to those who dress nicely and can afford a lawyer.
But hey, what do I know--I'm just a lowly paralegal. I'll let the lawyers I work for know that the next time they ask me a question about criminal law they don't know but I do. I'll tell them, "hey, I'm just a lowly paralegal. I can't possibly know this. You're the lawyer. You went to law school. You know all." Of course, in order to unlock my brain and lips, it might take a hefty bonus, a really big fat bonus. And more vacation time. And a new computer. And...and...and....
Thats even sadder. He is obviously the product of ineffective NEA dominated schooling, parents that are not motivated to motivate him, and the stupidity of those who thought he could be his own lawyer.
My statement still stands - son, you better learn the ways and rules of the country you live in....citizen or not!!
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