A woman seeking leniency after being found guilty of hitting her victim in the back of the head with a cinder block, was instead sentenced to 7 years in prison Tuesday after the judge said the state’s case and jury’s verdict showed the assault could have been avoided, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Rachel Dianne Ladner, 34, who had been living in Marianna prior to the July 2017 attack, was found guilty of Attempted Second-Degree Murder after a one-day trial Sept. 30.

The defendant was found guilty of hitting the victim in the back of the head with a cinder block outside his home, leaving him there, and returning inside to spend the night in his bed.

At Tuesday’s sentencing before Circuit Court Judge Chris Patterson, Prosecutor Elizabeth Magee, who presented the case at trial, asked for a sentence of between 6 ½ and 10 years.

“Sitting here today, it struck me as somewhat frustrating Ms. Ladner’s lack of remorse and refusal to accept the jury’s verdict,” Magee said. She noted the blow was severe enough that in addition to the physical injuries – a large cut on the back of the victim’s head behind his right ear, which was split open, a swollen eye and bruises – it knocked out and broke the victim’s dentures.

The defendant’s father and two friends spoke on her behalf, asking for leniency. The defendant also addressed the court, seeking a lesser sentence.

Defense attorney Dana Morris and the defendant contended she was trying to get away from the victim because he had become aggressive.

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But Judge Patterson found the state’s case was clear, as were Ladner’s actions that night.

Patterson said the defendant, who worked at a club in Panama City while living in Marianna, essentially invited herself into the victim’s home on a night she was not working.

“Now, whatever happened inside, the jury does not believe your version of events,” Judge Patterson said. “But the crux of it is this: that you were leaving that house and the testimony that you gave was that the victim fell down and you struck him once with the cinder block.

“And instead of dropping that cinder block and running away, you struck him a second time while he was down and unable to defend himself,” Judge Patterson continued, noting the defendant went back inside after the attack and slept in the victim’s bed.

“I recognize that most people who come before this court have had a real bad day,” Patterson said. “But that real bad day has a consequence.”

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

A defendant found guilty of trafficking in more than 200 grams of Methamphetamine was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Reggie Gathers, 40, will also have to pay a $250,000 fine as part of the sentence handed down Tuesday by Circuit Court Judge Dedee Costello.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet presented evidence at trial Oct. 28 that the defendant was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over for a traffic violation on Oct. 5, 2018, by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The driver had a revoked driver’s license and BCSO Sgt. Raymond Scott said there was the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The State, through Sgt. Scott, also introduced a video from a convenience store that captured the driver and Gathers attempting to conceal the methamphetamine.

Deputies searched the vehicle and found the defendant in possession of more than 200 grams of methamphetamine.

Prosecutor Overstreet called Scott from the Special Investigative Division of the BCSO and a chemist from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to testify.

A jury deliberated for only 5 minutes before returning the guilty verdict.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

A Callaway man found guilty of Lewd and Lascivious Exhibition following his September trial was sentenced to 7 years in prison and designated as a sexual offender Thursday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Anthony Charles Chancellor, 49, was found guilty Sept. 21 after about four hours of deliberation by the jury. Circuit Judge Ana Maria Garcia sentenced him Thursday, and as a designated sexual offender he will not be allowed any unsupervised contact with children upon his release from prison.

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Prosecutor Barbara Beasley presented evidence at trial that in 2019 the defendant exposed himself to the teenaged victim and then ejaculated. The case was worked by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Cpl. Jacob McGowin, who also testified.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

An inmate found guilty last week of attacking a Gulf Correctional Institution officer during a 2017 riot was deemed a habitual felony offender Tuesday and sentenced to 20 years in prison,
State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Jose Moreira, 30, was found guilty by a jury of aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement officer Oct. 28. He was one of several prisoners charged in the attack that resulted
in a corrections officer suffering several stab wounds with a shank-type weapon. One co-defendant entered a plea and a third is awaiting trial.

Basford said the defendant faced the stiffer sentence after Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay agreed with Gulf County Chief Prosecutor Tracy Smith’s argument that Moreira qualified as
a habitual felony offender. Aggravated Battery carries a 15-year sentence, but as a habitual felony offender the defendant was facing up to 30 years.

Smith successfully argued that the defendant’s prior felony convictions – 2 for dealing in stolen property, 3 burglaries, 2 grand thefts, 1 possession of a controlled substance, and 1 felon in
possession of a firearm – qualified him as a habitual offender.

The defendant was in Gulf Correctional Institution in 2017 serving time for some of those charges when the attack on the correctional officer occurred.

Statements from the victim given during the investigation conducted by the Office of Inspector General, Department of Corrections, stated the victim became involved in the disturbance at the
facility and tried to create distance between himself and a group of inmates chasing him with weapons. Moreira was part of that group.

The victim was knocked to the ground and another correctional officer testified that he saw the defendant making a stabbing like motion at the victim with a weapon. Other officers came to the victim’s aid and deployed chemical agents on the inmates and the weapon used by the defendant was recovered and shown at trial.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

A traffic stop three years ago turned into a 5-minute guilty verdict Thursday for a man charged with Trafficking in more than 200 grams of Methamphetamine, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

A jury deliberated for only 5 minutes before returning the guilty verdict against Reggie Gathers, 40, who now faces a minimum-mandatory 15 years in prison but could receive up to 30 years, prosecutors said. Circuit Court Judge Dedee Costello set sentencing for Nov. 9.

Prosecutor Peter Overstreet presented evidence that Gathers was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over for a traffic violation on Oct. 5, 2018, by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The driver had a revoked driver’s license and BCSO Sgt. Raymond Scott said there was the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle.  Sgt Scott also introduced a video from a convenience store that captured the driver and Gathers attempting to conceal the methamphetamine.

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Deputies searched the vehicle and found Gathers in possession of more than 200 grams of methamphetamine.

Prosecutor Overstreet called Scott from the Special Investigative Division of the BCSO  and a chemist from the Florida Department to testify.

In addition to the prison sentence, Overstreet said the defendant faces a mandatory $250,000 fine due the large amount of methamphetamine involved.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

A former Gulf Correctional Institute Annex inmate charged with stabbing a correctional officer during a riot in 2017 was found guilty of aggravated battery and battery on a law enforcement Wednesday, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

Basford said Jose Moreira, 30, was one of several prisoners charged in the attack that resulted in a corrections officer suffering several stab wounds with a shank-type weapon. One co-defendant entered a plea and a third is awaiting trial.

Circuit Court Judge Shonna Young Gay set sentencing for Nov. 2. Gulf County Chief Prosecutor Tracy Smith, who presented the case, has filed a motion seeking to have Moreira sentenced as a habitual offender, which could mean 30 years in prison if the motion is granted.

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Statements from the victim given during the investigation conducted by the Office of Inspector General, Department of Corrections, stated the victim became involved in the disturbance at the facility and tried to create distance between himself and a group of inmates chasing him with weapons. Moreira was part of that group.

The victim was knocked to the ground and another correctional officer testified that he saw Moreira making a stabbing like motion at the victim with a weapon.

Other officers came to the victim’s aid and deployed chemical agents on the inmates and the weapon used by Moreira was recovered and shown at trial.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

For the fourth time in two weeks, a jury returned a guilty verdict against a man charged with sexually battering a child, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

And for the third time in those two weeks, the defendant was sentenced to life in prison.

Nickolas Davison, 24, who has been in custody since his 2017 arrest, was found guilty of Sexual Battery on a Child under the Age of 12 and Lewd and Lascivious Molestation after less than an hour of deliberation on the case presented by prosecutors Peter Overstreet and Josh James.

Circuit Judge Dedee Costello gave Davison two life sentences and designated him as a sexual predator.

Testimony from the state’s three witnesses showed the victim, who was 6 at the time, reported the abuse to her mother, who then contacted Lynn Haven police. The victim, now 10, was interviewed by investigators at the Gulf Coast Child Advocacy Center and testified Wednesday, saying the defendant had used his fingers and his mouth on her vagina.

“She was just going on about her life like any child,” Overstreet told jurors, explaining the defendant often started the abuse with tickling. “But Mr. Davison, the defendant, did more than just tickle the victim.”

Retired Lynn Haven Police Department Lt. Tom Willoughby, who now lives in another state, interviewed the defendant before arresting him. He testified live via Zoom and his interview with the defendant was played for jurors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In it, while initially denying wrongdoing, Davison ultimately admitted to committing the acts over a period of 5-6 months.

“No child should have to endure that,” Overstreet told jurors in his closing statement. “The defendant needs to be held accountable; he is guilty as charged.”

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

A Bay County jury needed less than 15 minutes to return guilty verdicts Tuesday against a man the prosecutor described as a “monster” for repeatedly sexually battering a child over a 5-year-period, and he was then sentenced to life in prison.

Terry Lee Jacks, 53, was found guilty of three counts of Sexual Battery on a Person Under the Age of 12 and one count of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation on a Person less than 12 years of age. The jury reached its verdict in 14 minutes and 40 seconds after hearing the case presented by Prosecutor Peter Overstreet.

Circuit Court Judge Dedee Costello sentenced Jacks to four life sentences without the possibility of parole and designated him a sexual predator.

Overstreet told jurors in his opening statement that between the ages of 8 and 13 years of age, the victim was raped vaginally, anally, and orally, and “had to endure the abuse over and over again, it was repetitive, it was ongoing.”

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In 2018 the then-13-year-old victim was living in another county and reported the Bay County abuse. Authorities there contacted the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and Sgt. Christian Williams handled the case and attempted to interview Jacks.

In addition to Sgt. Williams, Overstreet called three other witnesses, including a neighbor who witnessed the abuse on one occasion and a member of the Department of Children and Families involved in interviewing the victim.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

 

Recruiting, training, and retaining skilled prosecutors and law enforcement officers, and focusing resources on the opioid epidemic topped the discussion Monday as Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody met with State Attorney Larry Basford and staff.

Moody, who earlier this month launched a nationwide law enforcement recruitment initiative, “Be A Florida Hero,” said her time with the state’s lead prosecutors is crucial.

“It’s important the Attorney General and State Attorneys of every individual circuit have a strong working relationship to best serve the needs of each individual area,” Moody said Monday in Panama City. “It helps us identify parallel issues between circuits.

“I think our state attorneys work as a team and they all work well together.”

Basford said the commitment of support and resources from the state is invaluable as the system continues to catch up from a court docket ravaged by Hurricane Michael and COVID while taking new cases as well.

“She’s going to be a very valuable partner in trying to keep our communities safe, especially in crimes against the elderly which I know she has a particular interest in,” Basford said. “Getting and retaining talented prosecutors and law enforcement officers is a key element of that.”

Moody and Basford both believe her efforts through, “Be A Florida Hero” will attract talented attorneys and law enforcement officers from across the country. It is a one-stop shopping recruitment website that includes a list of Florida’s law enforcement agencies with information on career opportunities and a pitch on why Florida is the place to be a hero. It includes information on cost of living, recreation opportunities and more.

“I think as to law enforcement and prosecutors we’re seeing a need to step up and recruit and refer and make potential job seekers aware of our areas,” Moody said. “We have some talented people who are career prosecutors but there are a lot of talented attorneys out there. I started out as a private attorney before making the switch.”

Laying the groundwork for a growing and improving workforce will pay dividends as the state, circuits, counties, and municipalities continue work toward making communities safer.

“We think these are very noble and important positions that allow someone to be a part of their community and in making them safer and better places to live,” Moody said.

On Monday Moody said the focus right now is on the types of crimes occurring here that share commonalities with other areas of the state so resources can be pooled, like the opioid epidemic and the growing number of overdose deaths from fentanyl.

“As we see the gross amount of illegal fentanyl flooding our country and state, it’s important that our law enforcement and prosecutors focus on those drugs,” Moody said, noting that the Bay County Sheriff’s Office has made arrests for people who supplied the drugs that led to overdose deaths and that the State Attorney’s Office is prosecuting them.

Basford agreed and noted a case Sheriff Tommy Ford’s office investigated that resulted with the successful prosecution of a drug dealer earlier this year.

Moody is no stranger to Bay County or area prosecutors, saying she has a fondness for the area.

“My mom grew up here, I’ve been coming here since I was an infant,” she said. “Bay County holds a very special place in my heart.”

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov or (850) 381-7454.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 70-year-old man was found guilty of Sexual Battery on a Child Under the Age of 12 and two other charges by a Bay County jury Friday and faces life in prison at his Dec. 7 sentencing, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.

A jury found Kenneth Ray Hunley guilty as charged on the sexual battery, a capital offense, and two counts of Lewd and Lascivious Molestation after the case was presented by prosecutors Barbara Beasley and Jae Hee Kim. Circuit Judge Ana Maria Garcia set sentencing for Dec. 7.

It is the second time this week Beasley has handled a capital sexual battery offense that resulted in a guilty verdict. Tuesday, Ashden Pippins, 25, was found guilty of sexual battery on a child under the age of 12 and sentenced to life in prison by Judge Garcia.

Beasley and Kim presented evidence to jurors that the victim was between 6 and 8 years old at the time of the abuse.

Beasley and the victim, who was the state’s first witness, told jurors the offenses began with molestation and escalated to intercourse. The victim testified she was too frightened to say anything because the defendant warned her not to, saying no one would believe her.

When contact between the defendant and the victim ended, Beasley said, the girl was still too frightened to say anything and in a 2017 interview at the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center she said nothing had happened.

“She doesn’t tell, and she tells you she doesn’t tell because the defendant told her, ‘Nobody is going to believe you,’ ” Beasley said. “She keeps that secret buried deep down inside.”

“But in 2018 it becomes too much for her,” Beasley added. “This time she’s ready to tell. It’s not an easy thing to talk about.”

On that day she finally told what had happened, Beasley said. That led to a forensics interview at GCCAC in which she disclosed the abuse.

Bay County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Christian Williams then interviewed the defendant, who told a story that did not hold up under questioning and made incriminating and contradictory statements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beasley told jurors that as the defendant realized Williams was not believing his version of events, he reversed direction and denied ever touching the victim. Hunley did not testify.

To end her closing arguments, Beasley replayed the audio of that interview for jurors and then rested her case.

For additional information contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov.