Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 9

3b SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 12. 1987 ST. PETERSBURG TIMES Lawyer accused of blowing kiss at defendant suncaast DIGEST By MARK JOURNEY Tune Start Wrttar Crystal Inverness CITRUS Brook(vlil Spring Hill That's not seeking truth." One witness testified Smith raised his eyebrows while questioning the defendant about homosexual sex. "I observed him to flare his eyes," said Henry Scheid, a private investigator who has worked for defense attorneys on the case.

It was sort of flirtatious or an agitation. Maybe it was something in his eye." Smith, a burly ex-police officer who is more than 6 feet tall, sometimes smiled during testimony Friday. He denied blowing Rhue a kiss. "It's unprofessional conduct," Smith said after the more than four-hour hearing, adding that such an action could "inflame" jurors. Court spectators chuckled at times during the hearing.

At one point, defense attorneys, prosecutors and Rhue re-enacted the August trial, partly to determine whether jurors might have witnessed Smith's "puckered" lips. None of the jurors in the case attended Friday's hearing. Rhue also took the stand. "Is it possible you were mistaken about Mr. Smith blowing a kiss?" Assistant State Attorney Helen Zanetakos asked.

"No," Rhue replied. Defense attorneys said they also want another trial because one of the jurors apparently didn't pay much attention. H. R. Peterson, a spectator at the August trial, testified that a juror stared at him during the trial, sometimes mouthed words and once appeared to be watching a fly or mosquito flying around the courtroom.

'1 observed the juror making facial gestures as though someone was communicating with him," Peterson said. "He was raising his eyebrows and smiling. That bothered me specifically." O'Brien did not rule in the case and scheduled legal arguments for later this month. 1 HERNANDOf ,1 Dade City pasco New Port Richey CLEARWATER Did Assistant State Attorney Ron Smith blow a kiss at a defendant during a trial? That is one of the questions Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Gerard O'Brien Jr. was asked to consider Friday before deciding whether a man convicted of the sexual battery of a child deserves a new trial.

A six-member jury convicted Ronald Anderson Rhue, 24, of the sexual battery of a 5-year-old Largo boy in August after a three-day trial. He faces a mandatory 25-year prison sentence, defense attorney Robert W. Pope said. Pope and several other defense attorneys asked O'Brien for a new trial, arguing that, among other things, Smith misbehaved in court. "You don't sit in there and taunt a defendant," he said.

"You don't blow kisses at him. Fund set to aid capture of rapists ST. PETERSBURG A St. Petersburg man on Friday started a reward fund to help police make arrests in 14 rapes committed in one area ot the city. Dan Schramek, who started the fund with $25, is involved in Neighborhood Crime Watch where the rapes occurred an area bounded by 30th and 70th avenues on the north and south and by Fourth and 34th streets on the east and west.

The attacks all happened at night and have been attributed to two men. Lutz HILLSBOROUGH Clear Tampa Largo wyV Brandon .1 YhSL Petersburg PINELLAS 3 Burglars blamed in slaying of tomato farm manager Governor travels to Tampa Bay area OLDSMAR Gov. Bob Martinez made a quick swing through Oldsmar in North Pinellas on Friday to accept the deed to land By KAREN DATKO Tin! Staff Writer Raymond James Associates and Carillon where State Road 580 will be widened someday. The road eventually will be four to eight lanes all the way from Alt. 19 on the Detectives are searching for an orange van seen at the house.

western eago or rinenas uouniy inrougn 1 Clearwater and Oldsmar into Tampa. At Fridav's oatherina. Martinez acceded the deed Cordially Invite -r-lri You to Attend. i i i to a $1 -million right-of-way needed for part of the widening project in Hillsborough County. Later Friday, Martinez traveled to Tampa for dedication ceremonies at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

The governor also is scheduled to attend tonight's $500-a-seat THE RAYMOND JAMES "CARILLON MARTINEZ BRADENTON The manager of a large tomato farm found shot to death in a field was killed when he walked in on a burglary at his home, the Manatee County Sheriffs Department said Friday. Detectives are searching for an orange van seen at the house shortly before the Aug. 17 shooting, a department spokesman said. Witnesses told detectives they saw a van of the same description carrying three people and a firearm in Myakka City on Aug. 17.

Todd McAfee, 27, manager of Bonita Farms, was killed about 6:45 p.m. that day, said sheriffs spokesman Dave Bristow. McAfee's body was found the next day in a field on the tomato farm, about seven miles east of Myakka City. Bristow said the suspects used McAfee's pickup truck to drive the body to the field. The van sought by deputies is a mid- to late-1970s model with a tinted porthole near the rear.

It has no other side windows. Two white men and a white woman were with the van in Myak- ka City, witnesses told police. One man was described as 5 feet 8 and 180 pounds with a light growth of beard and curly, sandy brown hair. He appeared to be in his early to mid-30s. The second man was 6 feet to 6 feet 2 with a thin build and straight, brown, shoulder-length hair.

The woman was described as 5 feet 6 with a very thin build. She was in her mid- to late 20s and had a light complexion and light brown shoulder-length hair, witnesses said. Bristow declined to say what type of firearm was seen. Private citizens have set up a reward fund to aid police in the search for McAfee's killers, Bristow said. Donations totaling $1,000 have been made to the Todd McAfee Reward Fund at First State Bank, he said.

Featuring award-winning Florida artists. September 12, 1987 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the grounds of The Raymond James Financial Center at Carillon (intersection of Ulmcrton Road and Roosevelt Blvd.) opening gala, which is to showcase the new center's three performance halls. Elderly man, wife jailed for drug offense TAMPA A 73-year-old Sicilian man and his 71-year-old wife were sentenced Friday to 364 days in the Hillsborough County Jail for possession of cocaine.

The sentence came from Circuit Judge Donald C. Evans despite pleas for probation from defense attorney Norman S. Cannella, who implored Evans: "Please, have mercy." Since their August 1986 arrest, Giuseppe and Francesca Ippolito have insisted they knew nothing about more than 650 grams of cocaine found by detectives in their Tampa home. But, Evans said Friday, testimony about how Mrs. Ippolito stood in front of a closet during a search convinced him she and "presumably" Ippolito knew about the cocaine even if it belonged to someone else.

Ippolito, a retired school system janitor, had surgery in July and could die in jail, Cannella warned. "I don't believe this sentence will result in his death," Evans said. Compiled by KAY MASTERS from staff reports Refreshments Free Admission Lawyer faces grand theft charge By PAT MEISOL TNnei Staff Writer theft," he said. "It has to do with whether a bill was paid properly." Robbins represented Barburth which sold the restaurant at 10 Corey Ave. in 1984 to its current owners, Richard A.

Tappan and John E. Stross, for $745,899, according to an affidavit signed by Ernie Kirstein, a Florida Bar investigator. Under the sales agreement, the seller was supposed to pay $2,425 for title insurance. Robbins deposited the purchase price CLEARWATER A St. Petersburg lawyer involved in the 1984 sale of a seafood restaurant has been accused of grand theft over an unpaid title insurance bill.

Pinellas prosecutors charged Noel Rob-bins, 57, with stealing money intended to pay for a title insurance policy on Leverock's Seafood House on St, Petersburg Beach. He was released from jail Friday after posting a ROBBINS into his trust account in July 1984, the affidavit says. His wife, Karen, subsequently withdrew $3,690 and transferred it to an operating fund to pay for the insurance, according to writing on the check. Robbins listed the insurance fee as paid on his ledgers, according to the affidavit, but the company never received its fee. $25,000 bond and surrendering his passport.

The charges resulted from an investigation by the Florida Bar. "These charges are not only totally false, they are trumped up," Robbins said, adding he was amazed the case had turned into a criminal charge. "It's obviously a civil matter and not a grand I THIS CtViy a I VnTTmniv PH-i Lc A w. v3j'jjjir msh 1 (I EUROPE'S ULTIMATE DESIGNER FURNITURE Quality and Styh A. -1 EA5Y-CARE RESIN pW, AtcouMl and bought a bunchl I fj 4 tfiC A tea, pr' Iff S.V?iJ loooV buying powar JfJu cSTs 7 in stock merchandise only Jl Ji A At lllWl-j CUSHIONS AVAILABLE! $1 48 oldlng tackmg ZNX S239.93V fHAIBt5ft rHAIR28 GROUP $44g I 5-PIECE DINING IncludM 48" round tabW and four choirs $699 9 Votu.

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