Laura C Morel, Tampa Bay Times Published: March 20th, 2017 Frank McDermott remembers the picture his father showed him when he was a teenager. It was a school photo of a thin boy in a collared shirt with dark, straight hair framing his pale face. The 15-year-old, David Michaud, had been charged with murder. McDermott's [...]
By Andrew Meacham, St. Petersburg Times Published: January 27th, 2009 ST. PETE BEACH — Joe McDermott believed every defendant accused of a crime deserved his very best. For 47 years, that's exactly what he gave them. Known to colleagues as "the Cocky Buffalo" for his courtroom demeanor, he championed the rights of people accused of [...]
By Chris Tisch, Times staff writer In print: Friday, May 23, 2008 ST. PETERSBURG — Officer Michael Jockers thought the man in the Ford Explorer was under the influence of something. Michael Loui's eyes were bloodshot. His speech was slurred. He swayed on his feet. Loui told Jockers he had muscular dystrophy. Loui says the [...]
By Stephen Thompson, The Tampa Tribune Published: May 22, 2008 CLEARWATER -- Prosecutors have dropped a drunken driving charge against a man afflicted with muscular dystrophy after the man's urine test came back negative for any illegal substances. Michael Loui, 48, of St. Petersburg, was arrested by a St. Petersburg police officer on March 4. [...]
Aaron Sharockman, St. Petersburg Times Published: Nov 27, 2003 Gov. Jeb Bush reinstated suspended council member Marcelo Caruso late Tuesday, less than a week after a jury cleared him on a pair of criminal charges. Caruso will take his seat with the council at its next regular meeting Tuesday night. "I was relieved more than [...]
Ricardo Thomas, 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, spent 19 months in jail after a witness identified him as a carjacking suspect. But a bank robbery suspect later confessed to the crime and told Thomas' lawyer Frank McDermott, left, that Thomas is innocent. William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer Published: April 24, 2002 LARGO — The [...]
By William R. Levesque, St. Petersburg Times Published: May 22, 2008 LARGO — Rodney L. Corbitt looked on nervously as the six jurors filed out of the courtroom late Thursday to begin deliberating his fate. Accused of raping a tourist in a Largo hotel, he faced life in prison. Prosecutors were confident. Detectives said Corbitt [...]
By William R. Levesque, St. Petersburg Times Published: July 13, 2000 A man who stole from the elderly pleads guilty after opening arguments. Terry Lee Statton listened impassively Wednesday morning as prosecutors told jurors how he stole nearly $1-million from more than 30 elderly victims from Brevard County to St. Petersburg. After prosecutors Glenn Martin [...]
By William R. Levesque, St. Petersburg Times Published: May 20, 2000 A co-defendant in one of the largest insurance scams in recent Pinellas history raises restitution money and gets house arrest. Kevin J. Smith came to court Friday expecting he would be led away in shackles to spend the next 15 months in prison. Instead, [...]