THANKS to GateHouse, Jared Keever and St. Augustine Record for shedding light on the case-fixing proclivities of Seventh Circuit State's Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA, a/k/a "LaLIZARD." It's time for him to go.
SEA COLONY: Man who beat guard with assault rifle gets probation
The man arrested for beating a security guard with an assault rifle at the gated Anastasia Island community where his parents lived in March 2017 received probation Wednesday after pleading to lesser charges.
Jake Andrew Dewerth pleaded no contest during a morning session at the St. Johns County courthouse to charges of burglary of an unoccupied structure and felony battery.
Per the terms of a plea agreement in the case, Circuit Judge Howard Maltz withheld adjudication on the charges and sentenced Dewerth, 20, to 10 years of probation (consecutive 5-year terms for each count) with special conditions.
Those conditions, listed in court by Dewerth’s attorney, Patrick Canan, include his attendance at Aspiro, which was described as an “outdoor behavioral health program.” He will also not be allowed to have contact with the victim, will not be allowed to visit the Sea Colony neighborhood where the incident occurred, and will not be allowed to ingest drugs or alcohol or possess any firearms. He is required to pay restitution to his victim — which court documents show have already been paid — and will be required to complete any other recommended mental health treatment.
St. Augustine Beach Police officers arrested Dewerth the night of March 5, 2017 after they, along with St. Johns County sheriff’s deputies responded to the gates of the Sea Colony neighborhood and found the guard there badly injured from an apparent beating.
Police reports of the incident said the guard was taken to Flagler Hospital and was later determined to have suffered a dislocated jaw, broken nose and a fractured cheekbone.
Dewerth, who was 19 at the time, was taken into custody not far from the neighborhood’s guard shack where he was found walking barefoot, wearing only red shorts and a gray tank top with blood on them.
According to one of the arrest reports in the case, surveillance video recovered from the area, and later released to the media, showed Dewerth approaching the guard shack with a rifle.
According to the report, the video later “displays [the guard] on the ground and Dewerth with a rifle in his hands.”
“It appears as though [the guard] had already been injured inside the office and was already showing fatigue,” the report says. “Dewerth then strikes [the guard] with the butt of his rifle repeatedly in the face and the back of his head.”
“Dewerth then points the rifle at [the guard’s] head and it appears like he could fire the gun at any moment,” it continues.
The guard told officers the night of the incident that he didn’t know what had precipitated the beating and said that the man who attacked him was talking about the governor and at one point asked him “What did you tell the governor?”
The gun, parts of which were found near the guard shack and outside of Dewerth’s parents’ home, was later determined to be an AK-47. His parents, who had also called 911 the night of the incident to report that their son was acting strange, told authorities during that call that he had taken the gun with him when he left their house.
Dewerth was originally facing charges of burglary with an assault or battery, aggravated battery on a security officer and two counts of possession of similitude of drivers license.
The 7th Circuit State Attorney’s Office did not file a single count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for which Dewerth had also been arrested, and later dropped the two drivers license charges.
The charges to which he pleaded no contest were lesser included offenses of the burglary and aggravated battery charges.
Assistant State Attorney Rebecca Emert, who only recently took over the case, said the victim is “in absolute agreement with the disposition” which was arrived at after “extensive review of discovery” by the case’s previous prosecutor and division chief Chris Ferebee as well as “numerous psychological evaluations” by defense and state doctors.
“You are getting a big break here ... ” Maltz told Dewerth after handing down the sentence. “Take advantage of it and don’t come back here. Hopefully we don’t see you back here on violation of probation.”
The guard sued Dewerth and his father, Henry Dewerth, in civil court seeking damages for, among other things, medical expenses and “loss of wages in the past and/or loss of earning capacity in the future.” The complaint alleges, in part, that Dewerth had inflicted emotional distress and and that the father had “negligently entrusted” the gun to his son “due to mental health issues and other behaviors that made it foreseeable” that the son would use the gun “for nefarious purposes.”
The father, the complaint goes on, “owed a duty to those who might be injured” by his son “to exercise reasonable control over the firearm so as to ensure that he did not create an unreasonable foreseeable zone of risk of bodily harm to others.”
Court records show that case was settled in mediation on Feb. 21.
27 comments
2. This would allow Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT to name a special prosecutor to review whether there has been any fraud upon the court, or an obstruction of justice, or other crimes NOT resolved by this stinky plea.
3. Possible precedent?: Governor SCOTT and the Florida Supreme Court divested another elected prosecutor of jurisdiction over all capital crimes because she opposed capital punishment. (Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala later dropped her generic opposition after the Florida Supreme Court ruled the Governor had the right to replace her in death penalty cases.)
4. In the wake of the JAKE GEWERTH plea bargain, the PBA, NAACP, ACLU, Tea Party, Democrats, Republicans and other concerned citizens might work TOGETHER, for a change. Libertarians, moderates, liberals and conservatives ALL agree the criminal injustice system is not working. The libertarian Cato Institute and the Koch brothers have led this discussion for years. It’s time to learn from our mistakes and stop wasting money.
5. Let’s consider asking State’s Atty RALPH LARIZZA to hold a Town Hall meeting in EACH of the four counties in the Seventh Judicial Circuit on sentencing, plea bargains and unequal justice. Now.
6. Let’s ask ALL Florida candidates to talk to us about the criminal injustice system like they were grownups (NOT Pander Bears).
7. Let’s ask SCOTT to join us for a PUBLIC discussion with State’s Attorney LARIZZA about inequality, favoritism, and desuetude (nonenforcement) of criminal laws whenever the rich and powerful are involved. Now.
8. Is that too much to ask?
9. The truth will set us free.
10. What do you reckon?« less
2. After five months, LARIZZA suddenly recused himself, with Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT appointing as special prosecutor, BRADLEY KING -- whose son (19 years old) was later hired as a deputy by Sheriff DAVID SHOAR
3. Sheriff DAVID SHOAR was the number one reference on KING’s list of ten references when KING applied for a vacancy on our Florida Supreme Court.
4. LARIZZA and SHOAR have a lot to answer for -- looking for more courageous coverage by reporter Jared Keever in the SAR.« less
2. Dune destruction by rich guys in St. Augustine Beach.
3. LARIZZA has NEVER prosecuted ANY environmental crimes.
4. Developers rule.
5. LARIZZA and SHOAR are developer puppets.
2. No prosecution by the State’s Attorney before LARIZZA. HARRISS now works for Sheriff DAVID SHOAR.
3. No standards. No ethics. No justice. Inequality rules.
4. Over the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., carved in marble, it says, “Equal Justice Under Law.”
5. What should it say over the office of our maladroit State’s Attorney’s office at our St. Johns County Courthouse? You tell me.
2. IF Defendant drank at Conch House, THEN he broke the law.
3. Where is the evidence to support your assertions about this case?
4. Why wasn’t father charged with allowing someone under 21 to have access to an AK-47? Was AK-47 returned to the Defendant’s family when the case was closed?
5. Defendant and his family are residents of gated community, who hired a high--priced ex-prosecutor as their counsel.
6. Who else would have gotten such a deal of a plea bargain? What if defendant were a low-income person, represented by. Public Defender?
7. Once again, a double-standard appears to exist for criminal “justice” in corrupt St. Johns County, Florida, emanating from the odious office of State’s Attorney RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA. Like Putin, rebarbative reprobate Republican LARIZZA was re-elected in 2016 without opposition, without even being on the ballot, because NO attorney in four (4) counties filed to run for the job. Democracy?
8. Unequal justice starts with a criminal injustice system where State’s Attorney LARIZZA, ,President of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Assn., refuses to follow distribute copies of the National District Attorneys Assn. National Prosecution Standards. https://www.ndaa.org/pdf/NDAA%20NPS%203rd%20Ed.%20w%20Revised%20Commentary.pdf
9. GateHouse, Record, Jared Keever, Craig Richardson, et al. -- please keep up the good work! We need more coverage of injustice in our local Courthouses.Let freedom ring!
10. Let us know what LARIZZA and 82 prosecutors are doing in four (4) counties, where political machine’s systemic corruption culminated in the Michelle O’Connell shooting coverup, 2010-2018. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, w/o fear or favor.« less
1) Not voluntary. Since that’s all that really matters and is a central point of fact in this case, your other rhetoric may be dismissed. But...
2) This is not a case about drinking underage. It’s about something else. Facts matter. Trying to distract from those facts with tangential and irrelevant facts is self-discrediting.
3) In the court record
4) Because that isn’t a crime. For a former lawyer, you should go learn the law. The age required to posses a long gun in Florida is 18.
5) As is their right
6) Who else went into court with the same factual elements in play?
7) Your own personal agenda. Blah, blah blah...
8) See 7« less
Reminds me of the case in South Florida of the cannibal attacks on people just sitting in their garage. That attacker was supposedly drugged unknowingly too. He was a good student and well liked too. In his case two people were murdered and mutilated.
Here’s what the St. Augustine Record editorialized on November 19, 2006:
Editorial: Always important to stick to your guns
From Staff
Published Sunday, November 19, 2006
Soon-to-be-former-Mayor George Gardner let one rip at the St. Augustine City Commission meeting last week when he went after city gadfly Ed Slavin.
For those of you who dont know, Slavin is a regular at City Commission meetings. He is quick to point out what he thinks is wrong with city government, which is plenty.
Slavin is not subtle. If he thinks youre a crook, hell tell you to your face.
And, yes, Hizzoner is correct that Slavin can be abrasive, although hes always polite when he calls us, even if he is questioning our competency, which means hes not always alone in his views.
Hizzoner pointed out that Slavin has asked the City Commission about 200 questions, which the mayor thinks is an abuse of the public comment section of its meetings.
And he went after Slavin, pointing out that he was disbarred in Tennessee in part because of his harassment and intimidation of officers of the court. Slavin questioned judges competency in court and hurled insults at other lawyers.
Well, thats true.
Its also true that without Slavin the citizens of St Augustine would not have known the city was illegally dumping waste material in a borrow pit off Homes Boulevard.
After the mayor spoke, he got a standing ovation from almost everyone in the room. Only our reporter and Slavin remained seated.
(continued)« less
Were here to tell you this. Ed Slavin is brilliant. Not just bright, brilliant. The Supreme Court of Tennessee, in finding fault with him, acknowledged his intellect and legal skills.
Heres some stuff you may not know about Slavin. As the editor of the Appalachian Observer in 1982, he filed a request to get some federal documents declassified. Because of his persistence, he found out and shared with the world that the Department of Energy Oak Ridge (Tenn.) Operations had lost 2.4 million pounds of mercury in Oak Ridge. Later it turned out they had actually lost 4.2 million pounds of mercury.
His work discovered widespread DOE and contractor misconduct. That became a national story.
He went on to become a public interest attorney, armed with his view of never giving up because individuals can change history.
Yes, Slavin is persistent. Yes, he overplays his hand a lot. Yes, he can be obnoxious. And, yes, we would not want to be on the receiving end of Slavins barbs any more than we already are.
But were happy that there are gadflies like Slavin in our world. They add texture to our public forums and, as in the case of the illegal dumping, get it right sometimes.
So, to our public officials, we suggest you get thicker skins.
To those of you who stood up to applaud the mayor after he lambasted Slavin, shame on you for trying to stifle free speech. All of us should defend peoples right to express their views, even when they are unpopular.
And to Slavin, you may want to soften your delivery, but dont be hushed. Remember that its not important to be popular; it is important to stick to your guns.« less
2. Record editorial and story are spot on. Thank you, Jim and Jared.
3. So, Jack Tigman, do you defend RALPH JOSPEH LARIZZA’s plea bargain in this case, defend LARIZZA’s ineptitude and institutional racism, and defend LARIZZA’s feckless, reckless failure and refusal to follow the NDAA’s National Prosecution Standards or distribute to 82 nearly all-white State’s Attorneys in four counties?
4. You may read about me and my disbarment in 2006 St. Augustine Record columns and letters from retired U.S. Department of Labor Chief Administrative Law Judge Nahum Litt, retired Special Agent Robert E. Tyndall, and Hanford nuclear weapons plant whistleblower Edwin L. Bricker, et al. http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2017/08/st-augustine-record-prints-ode-to.html:
5. I wear your scorn as a badge of honor, Jack Tigman. What have you done to help others?« less
2. Don’t take my word for it, do your research.
3. My friend and mentor, James Nelson Ramsey, the elected DA in Anderson County, Tennessee, and his Assistant, Janice Grabowski Hicks, both explained it to me when I was Appalachian Observer Editor, 1981-1983.
4. Anyone who has ever watched American criminal courts as a reporter, anywhere, knows this to be true.
5. Anyone who denies it lacks either knowledge or empathy, or both. See http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-racial-justice-florida-scott-maxwell-20161214-column.html« less
2. IF State’s Attorney R.J. LARIZZA is not a feckless fungible Florida State’s Attorney, IF he has a conscience, he WILL study DA Larry Krasner memo, and adapt it to SA07, and come clean about costs and benefits to the taxpayers. Now.
3. In this case, the benefit of incarcerating the young man who attempted to murder the security guard would have greatly EXCEEDED the costs.
4. It would have sent a message that rich kids don’t get off easily, as is so often the case in our unAmerican criminal injustice system.
5. The fact that such sweet plea bargains are NEVER available to low-income clients of the Public Defender’s office is indicative of a flawed system of criminal injustice in St. Johns County.
6. We need a culture change in our 7th Circuit State’s Attorney’s office. Now.
7. We need an ETHICAL State’s Attorney. As Justice Brandeis said, “Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.”
8. If RALPH JOSEPH LARIZZA resigns before the end of August, we can have an. election to replace him. If he quits later, the Governor will pick a successor to serve until 2020.
9. NONE of LARIZZA’s predecessors apparently distributed copies of NDAA National Prosecution Standards, either.
10. End buddy system w/ favorable plea deals ONLY for favored ex-prosecutors like PATRICK CANAN. Now.« less
Agree! What a shame to read a day after the kids in SJC voiced their opinion to uphold gun laws!