Whatever happened to . . . ? #33

Today we're featuring domestic violence related cases.  Note that only one individual was sentenced to time in DOC....

Johnson, Carla

2009-CF-012133-A-O

2nd Degree Murder

Defendant allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death at a boarding house

Pled to manslaughter w/weapon, adjudicated guilty.  Sentenced to 15 yrs DOC w/credit 1 year 319 days time served

Harp, Cedric

2009-CF-018200-A-O

Manslaughter; Battery DV

Defendant (age 33) turned himself in to OPD after he allegedly killed his wife - Defendant has had 47 felony arrests. Two children in the home at the time were sleeping.

Pled no contest to Manslaughter – adjudicated guilty.  Battery DV charge dropped.  Sentenced to 6 months jail w/credit 80 days time served; 5 yrs probation.  See previous blog here

Garcia, Reyes

2011-CF-000711-A-O

Shoot/Throw Missile into Dwelling; Improper Exhibition of Weapon; Att Agg Assault w/Deadly Weapon.

Defendant allegedly almost shot his 8-yr old grandson during an argument with his 2 adult sons

Pled no contest to Count 1 – adjudication was withheld; other counts dropped; sentenced to 24 months probation.

Ertel, Allen M

2011-CF-000631-A-O

Agg Assault w/Deadly Weapon; Resist Officer w/o Violence (2cts); Criminal Mischief

Defendant allegedly kicked his way out of an OCSO patrol car window & briefly escaped after being arrested for a DV-related Agg Assault w/Firearm

Pled no contest to Resist Officer w/o Violence & Criminal Mischief – adjudicated guilty; other counts dropped.  Sentenced to 153 days jail w/credit 153 days time served; 6 months probation.

Johnson, Bryant

1994-CF-003095-A-O

1st Degree Murder; Armed Burglary

Defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity two years after the 1994 the ax murder of his 75-yr old father after the father evicted him from the home

Case was dismissed – defendant adjudged insane.

Cabrera, Sonia

2011-CF-008826-A-O

Agg Battery

Defendant & her boyfriend (former NFL player Daryl Gardener 2011MM294E) were arrested at UCF after she allegedly threw a bottle at him & hit him with a tire iron when arguing about another woman.

No information notice filed – case dropped.

Reiger, George C Jr

2011-CF-009134-A-O

False Imprisonment; Battery Dating Violence; Criminal Mischief

Defendant, known as the "Disney Guy" because of 2200+ head-to-toe Diseny tattoos, allegedly assaulted assaulted his girlfriend while at a Disney hotel

No information notice filed – case dropped.

Phillips, Dion Jordain

2011-CF-007783-A-O

Att Assault w/Firearm; Att Kidnapping

Defendant allegedly threatened his girlfriend and attempted to kidnap her after she found a text message from another woman on his phone

No information notice filed – case dropped.

Another DV Murder Suspect Out on Bond - Part 2

As I blogged earlier this week, Cedric Harp was granted a $5,000 bond in the case where he is charged with the 2nd degree murder of his wife.

Judge Walter Komanski is the judge who granted the bond on January 5th. The defendant posted his 10% (or $500) and walked out of jail the following day.

I found no other conditions (like GPS monitoring or home confinement, etc.) on the Court's Order. The motion filed by defense counsel indicated that the State stipulated to the amount of $5000 plus home confinement. There is no metion of home confinement on the Order, nor is it on the bond paperwork in the Clerk's file.

It makes me wonder if Judge Komanski read the Order when he signed it.

That same day, Administrative Judge Reginald Whitehead transferred the case from Komanski's division to another judge. No reason for the transfer was indicated in the file.

All of this causes me to ask a couple of other questions. The following defendants, also accused of 2nd degree murder, are still in jail. Take a look at their photos and tell me why their bond amounts are as noted:

Michelle Wheeler
2009-CF-000808-A-O
No Bond
Arrested 1/16/09

Ocoee police identify man who was stabbed to death by girlfriend

Sarah Lundy
Sentinel Staff Writer
January 18, 2009


OCOEE - Ocoee police late Saturday released the name of a man who was fatally stabbed early Friday.

Jerry Cisco, 37, died after he was taken to Health Central hospital.

Investigators arrested Michelle D. Wheeler, 44, his girlfriend of four years, and charged her with second-degree murder. She remained in the Orange County Jail on Saturday night without bail.

A third party called officers about 1 a.m. Friday to report a domestic incident at the Floral Street residence. They found Cisco stabbed in the upper left side of the chest, police said. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.



Rosalinda Norma Vargas a/k/a Rosalinda Norma Boyd
2009-CF-015714-A-O
No Bond
Arrested 10/26/09

Woman accused of killing boyfriend ordered held without bond
Bianca Prieto Sentinel Staff Writer
8:59 p.m. EDT, October 27, 2009

Murder suspect Rosalinda Vargas is in jail, but family members say she needs to be in a mental hospital.

Vargas is accused of stabbing her boyfriend of two years, Jozel Laster, in the chest during an argument in their apartment early Monday. Laster, 51, died at the hospital after Orlando police officers at the scene could not revive him. A judge on Tuesday ordered Vargas, 51, held without bail at the Orange County Jail on a second-degree murder charge. Vargas, who also goes by Rosalinda Boyd, said little during the short hearing.

Three of her six living children -- Sandra Rivera, Olivia Betanco, 30, and Nancy Vargas, 34 -- attended the hearing and were audibly upset to learn that their mother would remain behind bars rather than get into a mental-health program.

"This is not my mama," Rivera, 23, said after the hearing. "This escalated from this man beating on my mama and she just got tired."

Police have not disclosed what they think led to the fatal stabbing, but court records document a violent relationship between the two that often left Vargas bloody and bruised.

Court records show that in July 2008 Laster arrived at their motel room possibly drunk and on drugs about 3:30 a.m. and demanded to have sex with Vargas. When she refused him, he forced himself on her and then punched her in the face, reports show.

She was able to run from the room and flag down an Orange County deputy for help. The deputy noted "a large swollen area" near Vargas' eye and cheek bone and that blood had started appear on her eyeball. Vargas later declined to press charges against her boyfriend for the sexual attack.

Laster was arrested for battery, resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia -- the deputy found a crack pipe in his pocket. He later pleaded guilty to resisting arrest.

In January Eatonville officers arrested Laster after Vargas called police to report he'd been beating her, reports show. The two were arguing when Laster began punching Vargas in the face and ribs, report show. She ran to a neighbor’s house to call police. Officers found a crack pipe in Laster's pocket. He was charged with domestic violence battery and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In June he pleaded no contest and sentenced to 131 days in jail, time served and placed on one year of probation, records show. Laster had an extensive criminal history that spans 30 years and includes drug, theft and battery charges, records show.

The beatings were no surprise to Vargas' daughters, who said they knew their mother was abused but said she could not leave Laster because he "brainwashed" her. They claim Laster threatened to kill Vargas if she left him, and he isolated her from her family.

This was not the first time Vargas had suffered abuse, her daughters said. The 51-year-old Chicago native was beaten and raped as a teen, sexually abused by an uncle and had been homeless. She was suicidal, often suffered from illusions and thought her dead husband and a dead former boyfriend "hunted" her at night, Rivera said.

It's also not the first time Vargas stabbed someone. In 2005, Vargas was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery in the stabbing of her boyfriend of 19 years with a kitchen knife, reports show. The victim, Wesley Contrad Stewart, was asleep on the couch when Vargas attacked him for calling her a bad name, records show. Betanco witnessed the stabbing and said the relationship between her mom and Stewart was never violent before then.

In January 2006, Vargas pleaded no contest to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She was sentenced to a year in jail with time served. She also was ordered on probation for 18 months and was told to avoid places where alcohol is the "primary source of revenue."

Stewart died of cancer in April 2007, Rivera said. Shortly after that, she met Laster and the beatings began, her daughters said.

"We love her and we're not giving up on her," Nancy Vargas said. "We don't want her to feel like she is by herself."

All three defendants have criminal histories. Both women have lengthy histories of being victimized by their partners. The man is out of jail after 3 weeks. Wheeler has been in jail for a year. Vargas, nearly 3 months. Why the disparity?

Another DV Murder Suspect Out on Bond

WFTV reports that Cedric Harp, accused in the December 17th death of his wife Demetria, was released today on $5,000 bond.

I'd like to know why the judge who set this bond wasn't named in their report.

I'd like to know why a defendant with an extensive felony record, dating back to 1993 in Orange County, only had a $5,000 bond for this serious offense.

I'd like to know why this confessed killer isn't still in jail.


Orlando man charged in death of wife

By Alan Schmadtke and Willoughby Mariano, Orlando Sentinel
5:11 PM EST, December 17, 2009

Cedric Harp walked into the Orlando Police Department 8:30 a.m. Thursday with a confession.

Harp said he thought he'd seriously injured his wife, Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson said.

He did more than that. He killed her, investigators think.

Harp was arrested on a second-degree murder count in the death of his wife Demetria Harp, 35. She was found unconscious by deputies and pronounced dead at the scene by medical rescue personnel, Williamson said.

Deputies said the Harps were separating and that Cedric Harp, 33, was trying to stop his wife from leaving their home in the 1200 block of Ferndell Road

A violent argument followed and she died in the attack, Williamson said. Afterwards, he reported the attack at the Orlando police substation on Silver Star Road near Pine Hills Road.

When deputy sheriffs arrived, they woke two teens who were sleeping in the home, Williamson said.

They told detectives they were asleep and did not hear any altercation.

Harp has a lengthy arrest record that includes counts of robbery and sale or delivery of cocaine, but has been sentenced to jail time only twice, according to court records.


Finally, I'd like to know who the judge was so that we, the public, can let him or her know what we think of their decision.