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

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)

House arrest lifted for Brittany Mayes

It appears that Brittany Mayes has just had her house arrest lifted.

07/01/2008 MODIFY COND OF PRETRIAL REL STIPULATED MOTION 07/01/2008 GRANTING STIPULATED MOTION TO MODIFY ORDER 07/01/2008 CONDITIONS OF PRE-TRIAL RELEASE 07/01/2008 CONDITION THAT DEFT REMAIN IN RESIDENCE 07/01/2008 EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN CONDITIONS IS LIFTED 07/01/2008 KEITH SPOTO PRESIDING JUDGE

Five more days left until the pre-trial.

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.

Focus: Zachary James Ashley

Charges (now Nolle Prosequi/dropped):
Felony Kidnapping with intent to terrorize and/or cause bodily injury
Misdemeanor battery

Facts:
17-years old.

Neighbor of Mercades Nichols and Stephen Schumaker.

Alleged to have been a lookout.

Alleged to have notified the girls that they were making too much noise.

Called Mercades to inform her that the police were at her house according to the police report.

Was visibly angry at his bond appearance.

His sister, Crystal, has denied that he was at the incident location during the beating.

His sister claims that Zachary saw the girls arguing in front of the house but thought things "were cool" once the girls went inside the house. She claims that he and Stephen Schumaker then went to a convenience store.

His sister claims to have seen all of the case evidence, including information that hasn't been released to the public, and says that none of it links Zachary or Stephen to the crime.

Analysis and speculation:
Likely knew about the beating after the fact, but not before or during. His failure to report the crime to the police in a prompt and timely manner should not go unnoticed.

Most likely was not a lookout based on statements that have been released.

Links:
His MySpace

Focus: Stephen Thomas Schumaker

Charges (now Nolle Prosequi/dropped):
Felony Kidnapping with intent to terrorize and/or cause bodily injury
Misdemeanor battery

Facts:
18-years old.

A neighbor of Mercades Nichols and Zachary Ashley.

Was alleged to have been a lookout.

Was not seen or heard on the released portions of the video.

Quickly denied involvement shortly after posting bond.

Initially claimed he overheard the girls discussing "jumping" the victim.

Initially claimed he was sitting on the porch of Zachary Ashley's residence during the beating.

Initially claimed he witnessed the victim get into Mercades Nichols' car.

Some of the girls got into a car with him as the driver and he followed Mercades' car.

Initially claimed that Kayla Hassall, Cara Murphy, and April Cooper showed him five different videos of the incident as well as still photos while they were in the car with him.

He changed his story after the interrogation recorder was turned on according to the police report.

Claims after the recorder was turned on that they did not plan the beating in advance.

Family claims that he went to get gas before the beating started, and therefore was not present during the beating.

The surveillance tape of the gas station he claimed to be at was recorded over by the time police tried to obtain it.

Analysis and speculation:
Seemed to be deceptive and evasive to police, which is an indicator of guilt.

Links:
His MySpace (public)

Focus: Cara Lynn Murphy

Charges (now Nolle Prosequi/dropped):
Felony Kidnapping with intent to terrorize and/or cause bodily injury
Misdemeanor battery

Facts:
16-years old.

Seen very briefly in the couch part of the video as the camera turns.

Wearing a red tank top in video.

Slept over at April Cooper's residence after the incident.

Expressed a light amount of remorse in a press conference after her charges were dropped.

Was not seen hitting the victim in the released portions of the video.

She says she did not take the situation seriously because she witnessed acts of violence at school before.

Victim alleges that she at one point held the video device (although she did not film any of the released video).

Analysis and speculation:
Most likely was not part of the planning of the beating.

Most likely did not actively aid in the battery or kidnapping.

Was the least culpable of the six girls.


Links:
Her MySpace
Old MySpace