Certified Copy IN THE COUNTY COURT OF THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT STATE OF FLORIDA IN AND FOR CITRUS COUNTY STATE OF FLORIDA, Plaintiff ve. CASE NO. 2008-cT-3440 THERESE MARIE MARTIN, a CETTY STRIFLER Defendant. CLES OF CIRC / @ i[aho PROCEEDINGS: Pretrial Hearing BEFORE: HONORABLE MARK YERMAN County Judge Fifth Judicial Circuit DATE: January 26, 2009 TIME: 2:28:52 p.m. - 2 7:15 p.m. PLACE: Citrus County Courthouse 110 North Apopka Avenue Inverness, Florida’ RECORDED BY: Electronic Court Reporters TRANSCRIBED CAROLYN F. ENGEL, RPR FROM DIGITAL Registered Professional Reporter MEDIA B Notary Public State of Florida at Large Carolyn g. Engel & Associates Registered Professional and —] Certified Verbatim Reporters 309 South Main Street - Brooksville, Florida 34601 (352) 754-1182~, APPEARANCES: JOSKUA HOUSTON, ESQUIRE Office of the State Attorney Citrus County Courthouse 110 North Apopka Avenue Inverness, Florida Appearing on behalf of State of Florida AARON BAGHDADI, ESQUIRE Office of the Public Defender Citrus County Courthouse 110 North Apopka Avenue Inverness, Florida Appearing on behalf of Defendant ALSO PRESENT: Therese Marie Martin CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters12 13 14 15 16 a7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PROCEEDINGS (Hearing commenced at 2:28:52 p.m.) MR. HOUSTON: Therese Martin, 08-CT-003440. THE COURT: All right. Driving offense. MR. HOUSTON: At this time we're gonna set this for the 3-16 trial docket. THE COURT: Okay. Again, before it goes on the 3-16 trial docket, it shows an indefinite suspension for failure to pay child support on 8-4-08. That's what the record shows. And the defense is? MR. BAGHDADI: TI have no idea. THE COURT: All right. Well, it's not going on the trial docket if there's no defense. THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, the courts are charging me to -- and forcing me to pay a convicted child molester child support. THE COURT: Say again? I couldn't - THE DEFENDANT: The State of Florida is forcing me to pay a convicted child molester child support. The order that's put in place - THE COURT: I don't know what a convicted child molester child support is. THE DEFENDANT: The person that I'm being forced to pay child support is a four time CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 convicted child molester. The order that was put into place by Judge Renke has -- THE COURT: If you're ordered to pay -- THE DEFENDAN -- forced me -- THE COURT: If you're ordered to pay child support, then you're ordered to pay child support. THE DEFENDANT: It's a fraudulent order Your Honor. The state is enforcing it. THE COURT: If a judge signed it, it's not a fraudulent order. THE DEFENDANT: Since the signing of that order, the judge has been removed by Florida Supreme Court as unfit to hold bench THE COURT: That doesn't make it a fraudulent order. Do you think that because a judge is removed that every order the judge has ever signed is now a fraudulent order? THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I do think that - THE COURT: Well, that's not true. THE DEFENDANT: -- it's up to question now THE COURT: No. It's not true. I mean your case has to be tried in a different court on that issue. In this court, that's gonna be irrelevant. That's not even going to be CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 evidence. The only thing that they're gonna come in with is they're gonna say this order was signed by a judge and -- well, they're not even gonna say that. They're just gonna say you got notice that your license was suspended. It was sent to you. They're not gonna say you got notice. It was sent to you and you were driving That's all they're gonna prove and everything else is irrelevant. Nothing else has anything to do with this case. THE DEFENDANT: TI do believe I have a legal defense to this case, and I would like to have a jury trial. THE COURT: What legal defense? THE DEFENDANT: The fact that the State of Florida is enforcing a fraudulent order THE COURT: That's not a legal defense. THE DEFENDANT: How can there be a crime when there is no crime, Your Honor? THE COURT: The crime is driving while your license is suspended. If they can come in here and prove your license was suspended and you were driving and the proper notices were given, that's the end of the case. THE DEFENDANT: But my license was not - CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 aa 12 13 14 1s 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: There are no collateral issues to be tried on this case. That's a collateral issue. If you were in some other court and you were attacking the fraudulentness of an order then it -- and it was found in that other court that the order was fraudulent, it would kill this case, but it isn't gonna happen in this court ‘cause this court's not -- doesn't have that issue in front of it, and that's a collateral matter to this case. THE DEFENDANT: But the issue is that the child support -- THE COURT: Ma'am, that's not the issue here. You're not listening to me. The issue here is whether or not you were driving and whether or not your license was suspended That's the issue here. The information you want to get to the jury here is never gonna go to the jury here. It's not their issue. THE DEFENDANT: Okay. THE COURT: So are you going to attack this in some other court? THE DEFENDANT: No. I'm standing before you in your court. You're the one that wants to prosecute me on the charges CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: No, ma'am. You're the one who wante to show that there's a fraudulent order out there. THE DEFENDANT: Exactly. THE COURT: That's in another court. THE DEFENDANT: No. That's in this court. COURT: No, it's not, ma'am. THE DEFENDANT: The order is about -- THE COURT: No, it's not, ma'am, because your license is suspended and you cannot drive ever anywhere, no matter what happens with the jury that goes here. THE DEFENDANT: Okay. THE COURT: So it's obviously not in this court. You're never gonna be able to drive regardless of what happens in this court on this case because your license is suspended, so you obviously have to go to a different court. THE DEFENDANT: Well, I do agree that the child support order that's in place needs to be rectified back in the Pasco County court, however, it is that order that is causing my license to be suspended. THE COURT: That will never get to this jury. If you want to attack that order, you need CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 to attack that order in Pasco County where it was issued. THE DEFENDANT: But Pasco County isn't picking me up for driving while license is suspended -- THE COURT: That's because you weren't driving in Pasco County with your license suspended. You were driving here with your license suspended. Go drive down there with your license suspended and tell the officers you're driving down there and you'll get arrested down there, too. Go to Lee County and do it. You'll get arrested there, too. THE DEFENDANT: I understand that the order as long as it's in place, is gonna be -- I cannot drive until that order is rectified. 1 understand that. THE COURT: You can't present your defense until another court rules on the fact that the order's fraudulent or this -- THE DEFENDANT: I do believe I have a legal defense, Your Honor, and I would request a jury trial for this case. THE COURT: That legal defense does not go to the jury. You understand that. You cannot CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 1s 16 17 18 22 23 24 25 present that defense. THE DEPENDANT: TI don't understand that THE COURT: Well, listen very closely. You cannot present that defense to the jury. It is not a jury issue. It will not go to the jury and so your defense will be useless to you in that context. It doesn't go to that forum THE DEFENDANT: Well, I really don't know what you want me to do. Like I said, I think that the State of Florida is forcing me to pay a criminal -- THE COURT: I told you what you want to do, ma'am. THE DEFENDANT: -- so - THE COURT: You want to go attack this where it's supposedly fraudulent. . THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, I have tried to attack this where this is supposed to be fraudulent. Everybody just keeps covering up one thing over another. THE COURT: Which means it isn't fraudulent Okay. I'll set it for trial, ma'am, but you're looking at 60 days in jail when the jury comes back since you don't have a defense to it. THE DEFENDANT: I'm willing to take that CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 1s 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 10 chance, Your Honor. THE COURT: It's not a chance, ma'am. It's a certainty. You have no defense. You cannot get that information to the jury. THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, I don't know of any person that is obligated to pay a convicted child molester to keep children THE COURT: Ma'am -- THE DEFENDANT: I don't know of anybody that has to do that. THE COURT: Ma'am, what you know about and don't know about is irrelevant to what's going to that jury. What I just told you is your defense will not go to that jury. It will not. You will not be able to take the stand. You will not be able to testify about a child molester who you've been ordered to pay child support to as being a defense to driving while license suspended -- THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor - THE COURT: -- because it is not an issue THE DEFENDANT: -- you're telling me that T don't have -- THE COURT: Ma'am -- THE DEFENDANT: -- the right - THE COURT: -- ma'am, if you don't listen to CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 me, you're gonna be held in contempt right here and you're gonna go to jail ectly. You cannot testify to that to the jury. It's not an issue for them. is not a defense to be raised to the jury. All right. Set it down. It's not gonna go to the jury, though. Your case will go to the jury, but that defense won't. I'm not gonna try a case of whether or not the recipient of child support by you was or was not a child molester whether or not you were fraudulently ordered to pay it through a judge doing some kind of an illegal act in front of a jury. That's just not a jury issue. (Hearing concluded at 2:37:15 p.m. CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1s 20 a1 22 23 24 25 12 CERTIFICATE STATE OF FLORIDA ) COUNTY OF HERNANDO I, CAROLYN F. ENGEL, Registered Professional Reporter, certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate transcription, to the best of my ability, of the electronic recording prepared and provided by the ice of the Electronic Court Reporters for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida in and for Citrus County. I FURTHER CERTIFY that I am not a relative employee, attorney, or counsel of any of the parties, nor am I a relative or employee of any of the parties' attorney or counsel connected with the action, nor am I financially interested in the action. DATED this 2ist day of December, 290 Aly Bes ee ~ ies CAROLYN F. ENGEL & ASSOCIATES Registered Professional Reporters