Triggar
2004-11-30, 05:28 PM
http://www.local6.com/news/3959436/detail.html
A middle school teacher in Tampa, Fla., accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student will be pleading insanity, according to her lawyer.
Debora LaFave, 23, faces two charges of lewd and lascivious behavior.
LaFave's lawyer also said Tuesday that he is not objecting to the release of possibly incriminating phone calls recorded by Hillsborough County Sheriff's investigators between LaFave and the 14-year-old boy.
"As I told the court we will shortly be filing a notice of sanity defense on behalf of Debbie," attorney John Fitzgibbons said. "We've had doctors evaluate Debbie and also review a number of medical records going back a number of years. Debbie has a history of profound medical issues that are not her fault. I think once anyone reads what the doctors have to say they'll understand a lot more about what happened here."
In a case that garnered international attention, investigators have said that Lafave had sex with the boy at her Riverview town house, in a portable classroom at Greco Middle School and in the back of her sport utility vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around the Ocala area.
The affair cost LaFave her career as a teacher as well as her marriage, according to the report.
LaFave was in court Tuesday with her parents, who are no strangers to the courthouse. They spent months attending the trial of a man convicted in the DUI death of another daughter. The emotional trauma of that ordeal is to be part of defense to be presented by LaFave's attorney.
The insanity defense will almost assuredly mean the 14-year old will have to testify at trial, something the boy's parents were hoping to avoid. But they say their son will do what it takes for justice to be done.
The trial is now set to begin next spring.
http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0628/3469173.jpg
http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0628/3469967.jpg
A middle school teacher in Tampa, Fla., accused of having sex with a 14-year-old student will be pleading insanity, according to her lawyer.
Debora LaFave, 23, faces two charges of lewd and lascivious behavior.
LaFave's lawyer also said Tuesday that he is not objecting to the release of possibly incriminating phone calls recorded by Hillsborough County Sheriff's investigators between LaFave and the 14-year-old boy.
"As I told the court we will shortly be filing a notice of sanity defense on behalf of Debbie," attorney John Fitzgibbons said. "We've had doctors evaluate Debbie and also review a number of medical records going back a number of years. Debbie has a history of profound medical issues that are not her fault. I think once anyone reads what the doctors have to say they'll understand a lot more about what happened here."
In a case that garnered international attention, investigators have said that Lafave had sex with the boy at her Riverview town house, in a portable classroom at Greco Middle School and in the back of her sport utility vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around the Ocala area.
The affair cost LaFave her career as a teacher as well as her marriage, according to the report.
LaFave was in court Tuesday with her parents, who are no strangers to the courthouse. They spent months attending the trial of a man convicted in the DUI death of another daughter. The emotional trauma of that ordeal is to be part of defense to be presented by LaFave's attorney.
The insanity defense will almost assuredly mean the 14-year old will have to testify at trial, something the boy's parents were hoping to avoid. But they say their son will do what it takes for justice to be done.
The trial is now set to begin next spring.
http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0628/3469173.jpg
http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0628/3469967.jpg