Good Lawyering Saves Defendant Arrested for Violating Protective Order That Didn't Exist
After her relationship with Jesse Almond deteriorated, Sandra Bogden sought a protective order against the 75-year-old Florida retiree.
Judge Lorraine Kelly denied Bogden’s request. But somehow a protective order was issued, perhaps because parts of two different orders got mixed together during the Pinellas County jurist’s call that day in December 2009, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
And Almond was arrested–four times–for violating it over a nine month period, by allegedly driving past the 40-year-old Bogden’s home, calling her on her cell phone and visiting her workplace.
The mix-up came to light when his lawyer, Lucas Fleming, ordered a transcript of the court hearing and discovered what the judge had actually said.
He himself didn’t realize the protective order hadn’t been granted, Almond tells the newspaper, because he couldn’t hear the judge when he attended the hearing.
Pinellas-Pasco court officials expressed concern about the mix-up, which they said was unique, and will consider whether new procedures should be adopted to prevent such a situation from occurring again.
