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.

FORT PIERCE — Two co-defendants arrested in the Kobie Gary marijuana growing case were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.

David Jeffrey Grant of Jensen Beach was sentenced to five years in prison followed by four years’ supervised release, and Steven Shepherd of Hobe Sound was sentenced to 15 months in prison followed by three years’ supervised release, both after pleading guilty to similar charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 100 or more marijuana plants.

Grant was arrested in December after authorities matched his fingerprints to light tubes found in a Hobe Sound house that were part of a lighting system used to grow pot plants. Shepherd and Gary, 30, the son of prominent Stuart attorney Willie Gary, were arrested Oct. 27 at the same house.

Gary pleaded guilty in January to a similar charge of conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana as part of a deal in which federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss two charges related to maintaining a place to cultivate, possess and distribute more than 100 pot plants.

He faces at least five years in prison when he’s sentenced April 7 in Miami by U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who sentenced Grant and Shepherd.

Gary’s attorney, Richard Kibbey has filed paperwork claiming his client was singled out for prosecution and has said he’ll ask for a “safety valve exception” that would allow a shorter prison term by showing Gary wasn’t a ringleader or used guns in the offenses.

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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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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Martin County residents near Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound may have seen or smelled smoke on Sunday, according to Martin County Fire Rescue.

The U.S. Department of Forestry started a 550-acre controlled burn in the morning in the northwest corner of the park. Officials are monitoring the burn of the area, which is all scrub and bush and not near homes, until the fire dies.

The Florida Highway Patrol has turned over to the State Attorney’s Office a months-long investigation into the late-night crash in August that killed three Martin County teenagers, State Attorney Bruce Colton confirmed.

Colton on Friday said he hadn’t seen the report, but state prosecutors soon will meet to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant filing criminal charges in the case.

He said he wasn’t sure how long the review would take.

“There is no normal on something like this,” he said. “Sometimes we can go off just the report, and sometimes we have to do independent interviews.

“There’s always some research that has to be done, so it’s hard to say how long it will take,” he added. “It could be another week or so.”

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That little survey is all about quality of life.

Starting Monday, the 2010 Census form will be mailed to households and its results could impact the future of the Treasure Coast.

The federal government counts everyone in its borders every 10 years as required by the U.S. Constitution. The results impact roads, schools, hospitals and Congressional seats.

The most immediate impact is the near 1,200 temporary jobs locally the census is providing to the region that in December had an unemployment rate of 13.7 percent.

The 10-question survey, with a postage-paid return envelope, will be mailed to households asking questions about number of people residing there.

Forms should be returned by April 1, when federal officials will release the country’s population for that day.

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By Will Greenlee

Brady Charles Gainer

PORT ST. LUCIE — St. Lucie County Sheriff’s investigators arrested two family members and found about one-quarter pound of marijuana after searching a residence in the 1500 block of Southeast Royal Green Circle, according to affidavits released Thursday and a sheriff’s lieutenant.

Investigators Wednesday executed a search warrant at the apartment and found about one-quarter pound of pot in Nicholas Stanley Bourne’s bedroom. Bourne, 18, said he’d been selling marijuana for two weeks.

Nicholas Stanley Bourne

Bourne, of the 1500 block of Southeast Royal Green Circle, faces charges including possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Brady Charles Gainer, 38, also of the 1500 block of Southeast Royal Green Circle, was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. Gainer, identified as Bourne’s uncle, was sitting next to half of a rolled marijuana cigar.

Sheriff’s officials began investigating after receiving complaints about the smell of marijuana coming from the apartment and about the number of people frequenting the apartment, sheriff’s Lt. Charlie Scavuzzo said Thursday.

Bourne and Gainer are listed as unemployed.

Alvin Tumblin is shown during opening statements in his first-degree murder, death penalty trial in January of 2007.

FORT PIERCE — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a new trial for convicted murderer Alwin Tumblin and threw out the death sentence he received for the 2004 shooting death of Fort Pierce auto shop owner Jimmy Johns.

In a 25-page order, the high court ruled that in June 2007 Tumblin was denied a fair trial when a judge improperly allowed St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Smith to testify about the truthfulness of a state witness.

The jury that convicted Tumblin in June 2007 voted 12-0 to recommend he be put to death, the punishment imposed by Circuit Judge James McCann. (more…)