| Subject: Found an article on Charlie Roberts that mentions Panitz trial |
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Date Posted: 18:48:47 09/05/02 Thu
Judge, 12th Judicial Circuit
By JENNIFER SULLIVAN
jennifer.sullivan@heraldtribune.com
posted 09/01/02
A prosecutor and a public defender with a long history of facing off in court and two private lawyers are vying to fill the seat Circuit Judge Stephen Dakan is retiring from after 31 years.
Assistant State Attorney Charlie Roberts, Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebrugge and private lawyers Laurie Zimmerman and Susan Chapman are running for Dakan's position in the 12th Judicial Circuit, Group 5.
With four candidates hitting the speaking circuit and spending thousands of dollars on mailings, colorful yard signs and billboards across the circuit, it's unlikely any one will receive more than half the votes needed to win the Sept. 10 primary. A runoff will be on Nov. 5.
While the seat will remain at the Sarasota County Judicial Center in Sarasota, the judge will also hear cases in Manatee and DeSoto counties. The circuit covers those three counties.
Chapman, 52, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, has practiced family, civil and criminal law in Sarasota since 1989. She has worked as an attorney for more than 20 years.
Chapman helped establish the Women's Legal Fund, which provides free legal services to poor families. She has also worked as an administrative hearing officer for the 12th Circuit, ruling on code enforcement issues.
Roberts, 46, has worked as the lead homicide prosecutor in the Sarasota state attorney's office for 15 years. He attended Duke University as an undergraduate and American University in Washington, D.C., for law school.
Roberts chalked up his 20th courtroom murder case victory earlier this year when former "Jerry Springer Show" guest Ralf Panitz was found guilty of second-degree murder.
He also worked closely with Texas and federal authorities in handling the high-profile Sheila Bellush case. Bellush's ex-husband was convicted of hiring someone to kill in her Sarasota home.
Tebrugge, 40, has worked for the 12th Judicial Circuit Public Defender's Office since graduating from Florida State University's law school in 1984. He attended New College in Sarasota as an undergraduate.
Tebrugge has spent the last 10 years representing clients charged with murder and rape. His most recent clients include 15-year-old Dominic Culpepper, who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering another Sarasota teen, and Mike Cordes, who was found not guilty of first-degree murder last year.
Cordes was accused of gunning down his lover's husband outside a Duette convenience store.
Laurie Zimmerman, 39, is a graduate of Florida State University. Though she has spent the past five years practicing civil and insurance law, she has also worked as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer.
Zimmerman is co-chairperson of the Sarasota County Bar Civil Circuit Committee. She directs an outreach program between the University of South Florida Sarasota Campus and Inn of Court, a legal mentoring society, and has served on the Early Education Committee for Michael's Learning Center for the past three years.
Last modified: September 01. 2002 12:00AM
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