Hillsborough County Circuit Court

After federal judge dismisses wrongful-death suit against Tampa police, widow sues city again

Published on April 25, 2017 in Local Courts/Top Headlines by Phil Ammann

Last month, a federal court dismissed the wrongful-death lawsuit against the Tampa Police Department after a diabetic man died in 2014 during a police stop. The man’s widow is now suing the city of Tampa and in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. On April 16, 2014, Tampa police stopped Arthur “Art” Green Jr., a 63-year-old community activist, after responding to a call about a wrong-way driver. Officers pulled over Green, who was visibly disoriented and forcibly removed him from the vehicle…

Keep Reading

Models accuse Tampa strip club of using photos without permission, payment

Published on April 13, 2017 in Local Courts by Phil Ammann

Six models are accusing Skin Tampa strip club of using photos in various online promotions without permission or payment. The women are Kimberly Cozzens of San Jose, California; Cielo Jean Gibson of Santa Monica, California; Irina Voronina of Los Angeles; Sara Underwood of Columbia County, Oregon; Kara Monaco of Orange County, California and Alison Waite Jordan of Los Angeles County, California. SKN Trading LLC, doing business as Skin Tampa, is at 1620 E. Adamo Drive, is owned by Maytham Zahedi.…

Keep Reading

Polk County civil rights activists sue USF over public records

Published on April 10, 2017 in Local Courts/Top Headlines by Phil Ammann

A Winter Garden civil-rights activist group is suing the University of South Florida over access to public records. Among the requests made by the Poor and Minority Justice Association Inc. (PMJA) to the USF board of trustees include University President Judy Genshaft‘s travel expenses, police use of derogatory words and others. According to its website, PMJA, is a nonprofit civil-rights group founded in 2012 to protect minority communities in Polk County from “profiling, harassment and abuse by police” and to…

Keep Reading

HART, trucking company face off over public records for evidence in 2015 crash

Published on April 3, 2017 in Local Courts/Top Headlines by Staff Reports

A 2015 accident between a tractor-trailer and a Hillsborough County bus has set off a legal dispute over the right to access public records. As part of the disagreement, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority Agency is claiming footage shot inside the bus during the crash, necessary to help exonerate the owner of the tractor-trailer, is confidential and cannot be released. ArcBest is an Arkansas-based publicly traded transportation logistics company, with revenues of $2.7-billion in fiscal year 2016. On Sept. 2,…

Keep Reading

Tampa man with lengthy criminal record sues prison for $250K, says table ‘fell on him’

Published on March 9, 2017 in Local Courts/Top Headlines by Staff Reports

A Tampa man with a lengthy criminal record, which includes kicking an arresting officer in the face, is now suing the prison for $250,000. He claims a mess hall table “fell on him.” Jules Rashard Smith is a 32-year-old Tampa resident and father with a significant criminal and prison record. In 2006, Smith was sent to prison for burglary and threatening harm; and in 2012, he was imprisoned for child abuse and domestic battery by strangulation. In 2015, Smith was…

Keep Reading

Three boys accuse security guards of ‘terrorizing’ them near Tampa construction site

Published on March 8, 2017 in Local Courts/Top Headlines by Staff Reports

Three African-American boys are suing a Tampa security company for harassment and false arrest after being “terrorized” near a construction site. Francisco E. and Francesco L. Bradshaw Jr. – also known as Junior Bradshaw – are 17-year-old twins from Hillsborough County. The boy’s mother is Kaytura S. Finley; their father is Francesco Levando Bradshaw, Sr. Ruskin resident Caleb McDonald, also 17, is the twins’ first cousin. According to a lawsuit filed March 2 in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, in 2013,…

Keep Reading

Tampa woman claims false arrest over warrant with wrong name, race

Published on January 31, 2017 in Local Courts by Phil Ammann

A Tampa woman claims she was falsely arrested on a Virginia warrant, despite it having the wrong name and race. Pamela Elaine Orellana, a 49-year-old Tampa woman formerly known as Pamela Elaine Mullins, was arrested in Pinellas County in 1996 on a charge of performing a lewd and lascivious act in the presence of a minor under the age of 16. Mullins eventually pleaded “no contest.” Adjudication was withheld, but she was required to register as a sex offender. Since…

Keep Reading