PORT ST. LUCIE — A known gang member accused in connection with a violent confrontation last month at the Minsky gym faces several charges, according to records released Wednesday.

James Palmer, 20, was identified in a police investigation as one of several people involved in the attack in which he and others approached a pickup truck with five people inside and smashed windows. At least some of the vehicle’s occupants were hit with a pipe and/or a stick.

The attack apparently happened after the pickup truck drove off and got stuck.

At least one of the truck occupants said Palmer, also referred to as “PJ/OG,” jumped in the truck bed and broke the rear glass with a stick. He threw a pipe through the window, hitting this occupant in the back of the head. Palmer then is accused of trying to enter the broken window and pull that person from the vehicle.

Two of the other attackers reportedly smashed the driver’s window with a pipe. These other attackers also tried to pull the driver out of the truck as they hit him with a stick.

One of the truck occupants told investigators he’d gotten in a fight with Palmer last summer.

Allegations also were made that at least one of the assailants pulled a gun during the incident.

The assailants fled when someone yelled “cops.”

Palmer, of the 3200 block of Southwest Ronlea Court, and two others involved in the incident were identified in records as “known gang members within our city.”

Palmer faces charges including two counts of burglary of a conveyance with assault or battery, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery and criminal mischief.

It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday whether any of the other alleged attackers have been arrested.

By Will Greenlee, TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — The Personhood anti-abortion organization has announced it will bring its Personhood FL Spring Break Tour 2010 to the Treasure Coast.

The tour, coming to Port St. Lucie March 16, includes “two ‘truth trucks’ with large signs of born, preborn, and aborted babies along with 45 pro-lifers with large signs of born, pre-born, and aborted babies,” the group said in a news release.

The protest is planned for the intersection of U.S. Highway 1 and Port St. Lucie Boulevard, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The tour started Tuesday in Panama City Beach and is headed to Tallahassee, Gainesville, Ocala, Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm, Port St. Lucie, Orlando, Daytona Beach, and Jacksonville.

For detailed times and locations, visit the Personhood FL Facebook Event Page, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=app_2344061033&ref=search&gid=103394659903.

The group plans to distribute 30,000 constitutional amendment petitions seeking to challenge the constitutionality of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortions.

“Our goal is to gather 676,811 petition signatures from registered Floridian voters by February 1, 2012 to enable Florida voters the right to vote in the General Election of 2012 for the Personhood Amendment so that all Floridians are protected from the moment of biological beginning to natural death,’’ the group said in a news release. “Citizens can download, print, and distribute the Florida Personhood Amendment at the Personhood FL Web site. http://personhoodfl.com/resource-kits/.”

One of the organizers is Pastor Bryan Longworth, director of Personhood FL and associate pastor of Covenant Tabernacle in Port St. Lucie, according to the news release.

By Tyler Treadway

FORT PIERCE — Circuit Judge James McCann called the scene “pretty grotesque”: dead and malnourished dogs and a black wolf as well as other animals in filthy conditions at the home of Michele Edna Nunziata in the 900 block of North Kings Highway in northern St. Lucie County.

Charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of unlawful confinement of animals, six felony counts of cruelty to animals and one misdemeanor count of possessing wildlife without a permit, Nunziata pleaded no contest Monday to one count each of cruelty and unlawful confinement.

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A federal judge overseeing the Kobie Gary pot-growing case handed his attorneys a defeat by refusing to order the government to hand over materials they’ve said were needed to prepare for his April sentencing in Miami.

In his order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch Jr. ruled Gary’s lawyers had not shown proof the government had failed to provide all evidence he is legally entitled to, including the statements of co-defendants and witnesses, and copies of surveillance video. (more…)

STUART — All 139 charges filed against an attorney’s legal assistant arrested in June 2008 on suspicion of stealing from her boss were dropped Monday, according to the Martin County Clerk of Court Web site.

Port St. Lucie resident Wandalyn Jackson of Port St. Lucie was arrested by Stuart Police Department detectives on suspicion of writing herself more than 50 checks totaling more than $15,000 from her employer’s probate law firm in Stuart. The case was scheduled to go to trial Monday.

The 139 counts against Jackson were a combination of charges of grand theft, petit theft, forgery and uttering, or using, a forged document.

Updated March 4, 2010, 2:15pm

By Melissa E. Holsman

STUART — A judge this week ordered a Stuart man arrested in July for possessing 20,000 pounds of fireworks inside his garage to spend 25 years behind bars for trafficking in morphine.

James Buhs, 46. a convicted felon with a history that includes possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a machine gun, was arrested at his East Ocean Boulevard home in Stuart as state and federal authorities seized about $100,000 in illegal fireworks, explosive materials and several weapons.

Members of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, Tactical Unit, SWAT Team, Bomb Disposal Team and Special Investigations Section served a search warrant at the address.

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FORT PIERCE — The mystery of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein’s whereabouts may be solved.

Authorities at the St. Lucie County Jail in Fort Pierce confirmed Tuesday that an inmate with Rothstein’s name and date of birth is being held there “for housing only.” The jail database does not list what charges the inmate is being held on.

The federal Bureau of Prisons Web site listed Rothstein as having been “released” from the Miami Federal Detention Center on Friday. However, federal authorities said he’s still in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Rothstein pleaded guilty in January to masterminding a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme and he is facing up to life in prison when he is sentenced on May 6.

Rothstein’s defense attorney Marc Nurik said Monday that Rothstein had an unspecified “medical incident” last week and was taken to a hospital for treatment, and that Rothstein was either still receiving medical treatment or is being moved between detention centers.

“I was advised he’s in transit, that he’s in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service,” Nurik said Monday. “He’s not with prosecutors, he’s not talking to the government. He had a medical incident last week and he was taken out to the hospital.”

Nurik was able to provide only a few more details Tuesday morning. He said he still had not learned what medical condition Rothstein had, but that it was not life threatening.

“He was not beaten up, attacked, or whatever,” Nurik said. “He had some kind of medical incident. I have not seen the records yet, but apparently it was not life threatening. He was experiencing some distress and was taken out of the facility for tests and observations.”

Rothstein has said in court that he is taking medication for high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He is also taking Zoloft for “anxiety,” he has told the judge in his case.

Federal prosecutors and marshals are typically tight-lipped when it comes to the movements of federal detainees and inmates, for security reasons. Alicia Valle, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Barry Golden, a spokesman for the Marshals Service, would say only that Rothstein remains in federal custody, without offering any more details.

The federal government contracts with jails to hold detainees, and Nurik said Rothstein may have been moved to free up space at the Miami detention center.

“It could be as simple of bed space. He is not needed again until May,” said Nurik, before making light of the situation with a reference to Rothstein’s expensive taste in cars, including a $1.5 million Bugatti seized by authorities.

“I am not overjoyed that he is now in St. Lucie County because now I have to take my Bugatti, and I don’t want to put the mileage on my Bugatti,” Nurik joked. “If he were cooperating, he would be at the Fountainebleau, or the W. at least. He is not cooperating. He is out of sight and out of mind, right now.”

STUART — A judge Tuesday ruled that women in court papers known as “Jane Does” who have accused famed attorney Willie Gary of sexual misconduct will be allowed to be deposed as part of the sexual battery lawsuit filed against him by a former secretary.

Attorneys representing Jillian Nedd, 28, a former employee of Gary’s law firm who in her lawsuit accuses him of raping her at a Stuart hotel in 2007, claimed that years before that incident other women were similar victims of Gary’s sexual conduct, with some signing confidential settlement agreements.

That’s the case with Jane Doe No. 5, argued Nedd’s Stuart attorneys Linda Capobianco and Jerome Stone, who said she entered into a confidential agreement with Gary about 11 years ago.

Capobianco in court said they tried to depose Jane Doe No. 5, but when they inquired into the basis of her settlement, she refused to comply, citing a confidential agreement she entered into with Gary and his firm under the direction of Gary’s law partner, Lorenzo Williams.

“It’s our understanding she had an incident similar to the plaintiff’s incident,” Capobianco said.

She said they want to depose Jane Doe No. 5, and several other Jane Does and one John Doe “to be able to establish that … the firm had knowledge of the prior instances.”

“And as to the defendant Gary,” Capobianco said, “to establish his modus operandi (and) common plan or scheme.”

Attorney Craig Hudson, who represents Gary’s firm — Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis, Watson and Speranado — strongly objected to the move.

He argued the events involving Jane Doe No. 5 occurred 11 years ago, making her information too “remote” to be relevant.

“The purpose is to show propensity and to show bad acts, which is specifically excluded under the law,” Hudson argued.

“They want this because they figure this will make Mr. Gary look bad and make the firm look bad,” he continued, “so because there is a confidential settlement agreement, I think the court should take a step back and say ‘wait a second, let’s take a hard look at the admissibility issue before we violate a confidential settlement.’”

Martin Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger, though, said based on her review of Jane Doe No. 5’s confidential settlement, she determined Nedd’s lawyers could depose the women and others like her, but she forbid any inquiry into specific terms of any agreements, including any cash amounts paid by Gary or the firm.

“But other than that,” Metzger ruled, “I do find that the testimony sought from Jane Doe No. 5 is potentially relevant; it’s reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence in this case, so I am going to allow it.”

STUART — John E. Pierson, owner of Toyota of Stuart, in court Monday was granted a temporary restraining order against his estranged wife Amy, after alleging that she’d abused their two young boys, including accusations of repeatedly striking their toddler son.

An emotional Amy Pierson, 37, who denied ever harming her children, left the courthouse in tears.

Following the contentious three-hour hearing, John Pierson, 55, immediately left court and later couldn’t be reached for comment.
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FORT PIERCE — A 32-year-old resident who was injured in a fall outside her apartment was awarded a judgment of slightly more than $1 million last week against a landlord who failed to fix faulty handrails.

Tags: handrails, lawsuit, slum lord
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