Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2004
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2004 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://connect.sptimes.com/contactus/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.sptimes.com/
Author: William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer

WOMAN TRADES CAR TO DEPUTIES

Pinellas Deputies Signed the Agreement Promising No Charges. A Sheriff's 
Spokeswoman Says It Was a Misunderstanding.

ST. PETERSBURG - Days after two Pinellas sheriff's deputies found a
pound of marijuana in her car, a 31-year-old woman says they offered
her an unusual way to stay out of jail.

Give them the car.

Deputies told her last week that they would not charge her with a
felony if she agreed to give the Sheriff's Office her vintage 1968
Buick Skylark, according to an agreement signed by the woman and the
deputies. Sheriff's officials deny that they offered her that choice.

Tomeca L. Demps said she stores the car away from her home on 53rd
Avenue S in St. Petersburg. She didn't notice it missing when police
seized it on Feb. 13 in a drug investigation.

Four days later, Demps said, deputies arrived at her home and asked
about the car, holding an agreement ready for her signature. "They
told me the best thing I could do was just sign the paper, and I
wouldn't get charged with anything," said Demps, who valued the car at
$12,000. "What could I do? I signed."

Deputies seized her car under provisions of the Florida Contraband
Forfeiture Act, which allows police to confiscate and sell property
used in the commission of a felony.

But lawyers familiar with the act say it doesn't allow authorities to
offer the choice that Demps said she was given.

"Actually, that borders on extortion," said St. Petersburg attorney
Bruce Howie, who is not involved in the case. "I'm not
exaggerating."

After the St. Petersburg Times asked about the agreement Monday, the
Sheriff's Office said it would give the car back to Demps because they
had no information linking her to the marijuana.

Deputies said an acquaintance of Demps placed the marijuana in the car
without her knowledge. The car was returned to Demps late Monday.

"Our legal staff did not feel this was an appropriate use of this
process when it is apparent there was no action going forward against
Mrs. Demps," said Marianne Pasha, a spokesman for Sheriff Everett Rice.

The decision to return the car, Pasha said, would have been made
without the newspaper inquiry.

Pasha denied that deputies threatened Demps with jail if she didn't
give up the car. Pasha said a deputy made a mistake by writing in the
agreement that Demps would not be charged with a felony.

Pasha said deputies never intended to charge Demps and wrote that in
the agreement simply to reassure her.

"It wasn't an either or thing," Pasha said. "She would not have been
arrested."

Pasha also denied that Demps signed over ownership of the car to the
Sheriff's Office, though the agreement says she did.

Pasha said even after the agreement was signed, the Sheriff's Office
had planned to review the case before confiscating the car or just
returning it.

To confiscate property under state law, police must show the owner
knew or should have known it was being used in the commission of a
felony.

That determination, Pasha said, had not been made when Demps and
deputies Mark Douglas and Kris Lutz signed the agreement last week.

"We don't stipulate seizure as a condition of not being arrested,"
Pasha said. "That doesn't happen. That's not a practice here." If the
Sheriff's Office had decided to confiscate the car, it would have
filed suit in Pinellas-Pasco court, as usually happens in such cases,
she said.

Demps hired attorneys Craig Epifanio and John Trevena after having
doubts that the Sheriff's Office acted properly.

"This is like a mob shakedown," said Trevena. "The document's language
is clear. It appears to be extortion and official misconduct." Demps
said that when deputies arrived, she was babysitting three children,
all under 2 years old, in addition to her own 3-year-old son.

Demps, whose birthday came the day she signed the agreement, earns a
living as a babysitter.

"One of the deputies told me I had a nice stereo system in the car,"
Demps said. "I didn't have much choice. I signed it over to them, and
they left me alone. I didn't want to go to jail."

Lawyers familiar with forfeiture law said police agencies are usually
careful about the appearance of offering such deals to stay out of
jail.

"I've never seen an agreement like that," said Clearwater criminal
defense attorney Denis de Vlaming. "That strikes me as cash-register
justice. It's like being offered the opportunity to buy your way out
of trouble."

Robert Surette, an assistant city attorney who handles forfeiture
cases for Clearwater police, said Clearwater police are not allowed to
negotiate away criminal charges to obtain property.

"It fails to pass the smell test," Surette said, noting he was not
commenting on the St. Petersburg case. "We don't approve that for our
agency because I don't like the appearance of impropriety it creates."
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