Hey there, readers. Sorry for the lack of updates, but there wasn't many developments and I was too occupied to find time to post. Now for some updates.
Today is yet another pre-trial hearing. Sources tell a network in Orlando, FL, a Fox affiliate, that plea deals are in the works.
The victim, Victoria "Tori" Lindsay, gave a deposition where the defense team grilled her. From various accounts it did not end well.
An article in The Ledger, a paper local to where the beating took place, gives more details about what led up to the beating and discusses what was said in the victim's deposition.
Victoria Lindsay gave an interview to Good Morning America and Inside Edition recently.
The mother of Mercades Nichols, Christina Garcia, has been commenting in another blog. She posts under her own name. She says among other things that Mercades is ready to be sentenced and does not seek further delay in the trial.
Note: The e-mail address listed in my contact info post is defunct. I will be replacing it soon. Until then, don't send any e-mail as I won't be able to read it.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Friday, August 8, 2008
Mercades' Aug 7 arrest: The affidavit
Bond has been set at $81,500 in the new charges against Mercades Nichols.
The affidavit documents have also been made available with some redactions. This post will list the notable findings in the document.
- Mercades is still unemployed, according to the CAPIAS. Mercades asked a few months ago for her house arrest to be lifted so she could find a job, so apparently she couldn't find one.
- The stalking, harassment, other crime occurred between 10/31/2007 and 03/28/2008.
- Mercades also harassed, stalked, threatened the girlfriend of the victim.
- Mercades tried to run the victim off the road with her car on 3/28/2008 (just two days before the infamous beating of Victoria Lindsay happened!) Brittini Hardcastle was also in the car during the attempted assault with the car.
- Three victims are named in the Polk County Sheriff affidavit (one name is redacted and is presumably Jacob Johns, former boyfriend of Nichols who filed a restraining order against her last fall).
- Mercades contacted someone via the internet and asked him to beat the victim up. She offered the male $50.00 to beat the victim. Mercades gave him $40.00 and said she would give the other $10.00 once the job was complete.
- Mercades sent several text messages to the victim while the restraining order was active. These messages are listed in the affidavit.
- Mercades was arrested on 2/14/2008 for violating the restraining order.
Probable cause (first paragraph only): On 10/31/2007 at approximately 0725 hours the suspect, Mercades Nichols, intentionally and unlawfully battered [redacted] against his will. The suspect and [redacted] were writing notes back and forth while attending class at Mulberry High School. The suspect began making threats to [redacted] in the note advising she was going to have a group of boys beat him up after school. When [redacted] attempted to keep the note to show the school officials the suspect stabbed [redacted] three times in the hand with a pen she had been using to write the note. [redacted] advised the incident did not cause any permanent damage but left several marks where the pen had left ink behind. The incident was reported to school officials but no actions were taken in reference to the incident.
The affidavit documents have also been made available with some redactions. This post will list the notable findings in the document.
- Mercades is still unemployed, according to the CAPIAS. Mercades asked a few months ago for her house arrest to be lifted so she could find a job, so apparently she couldn't find one.
- The stalking, harassment, other crime occurred between 10/31/2007 and 03/28/2008.
- Mercades also harassed, stalked, threatened the girlfriend of the victim.
- Mercades tried to run the victim off the road with her car on 3/28/2008 (just two days before the infamous beating of Victoria Lindsay happened!) Brittini Hardcastle was also in the car during the attempted assault with the car.
- Three victims are named in the Polk County Sheriff affidavit (one name is redacted and is presumably Jacob Johns, former boyfriend of Nichols who filed a restraining order against her last fall).
- Mercades contacted someone via the internet and asked him to beat the victim up. She offered the male $50.00 to beat the victim. Mercades gave him $40.00 and said she would give the other $10.00 once the job was complete.
- Mercades sent several text messages to the victim while the restraining order was active. These messages are listed in the affidavit.
- Mercades was arrested on 2/14/2008 for violating the restraining order.
Probable cause (first paragraph only): On 10/31/2007 at approximately 0725 hours the suspect, Mercades Nichols, intentionally and unlawfully battered [redacted] against his will. The suspect and [redacted] were writing notes back and forth while attending class at Mulberry High School. The suspect began making threats to [redacted] in the note advising she was going to have a group of boys beat him up after school. When [redacted] attempted to keep the note to show the school officials the suspect stabbed [redacted] three times in the hand with a pen she had been using to write the note. [redacted] advised the incident did not cause any permanent damage but left several marks where the pen had left ink behind. The incident was reported to school officials but no actions were taken in reference to the incident.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Mercades Nichols back in jail
Mercades Nichols has just been arrested for aggravated stalking, battery, cyberstalking, and assault with a deadly weapon. These charges stem from a case where Mercades allegedly stalked a former boyfriend last fall. At the time of this posting, Mercades remains in the Polk County jail. A bond hearing is set for Friday morning. It is likely that she will be denied bond, because she already posted bond for an existing case.Christina Garcia, Mercades' mother, says the charges are in retaliation for her filing a lawsuit against Polk County sheriff Grady Judd. The arrest warrant, however, was put out by the Florida State Attorney's Office, and not Grady Judd, according to a spokeswoman for the PCSO.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Christina Garcia to sue Sheriff Judd
The lawyer of Mercades Nichols' mother, Christina Garcia, has served notice of intent to sue Sheriff Grady Judd for defamation. She wants compensation (money) for damages. Both Christina and Mercades are named as claimants. Developing...
Full text of the notice
Full text of the notice
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Today's developments
The pretrial was held today in Bartow, FL. The assailants were not required to appear, but two did. April Cooper and Brittany Mayes appeared
The proceeding lasted about five minutes.
Mayes' mother claims that her daughter did not do anything. Brittany Mayes was in fact the person filming the incident most of the time, and the one who said "seventeen seconds left make it good."
A second pretrial hearing has been set for August 26th.
There are reports circulating that Cara Murphy has received offers from the Oprah Winfrey show. Her attorney claims that she has declined such offers so far.
If/when video of today's pretrial becomes available I will add the link(s) to this post.
Video - News Report Channel 2 (Direct Video Link)
Thursday, July 3, 2008
House arrest lifted for Brittany Mayes
It appears that Brittany Mayes has just had her house arrest lifted.
Five more days left until the pre-trial.
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Breaking developments - Kayla Hassall
I have just received e-mails from several people telling me that Kayla Hassall's lawyer and the prosecutor have mutually agreed to drop all of her pretrial release restrictions. This means she is allowed on MySpace, there is no house arrest, she can speak about the case, and more. The judge does not have to approve the change it seems if both sides agree to it.
I looked up her name on the Polk County court records search site and I saw this at the end of her case file:
"06/30/2008 PARTIES-JOINT STIPULATION TO AMEND PTR COND"
Her record still show the charges as active, but I'm guessing this is a forecast that her charges will be dropped or at the very least the kidnapping charge will be dropped.
I looked up her name on the Polk County court records search site and I saw this at the end of her case file:
"06/30/2008 PARTIES-JOINT STIPULATION TO AMEND PTR COND"
Her record still show the charges as active, but I'm guessing this is a forecast that her charges will be dropped or at the very least the kidnapping charge will be dropped.
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