Listening to Homicide Director Paul Wallace, it’s easy to forget he’s put away some of the most cruel and brutal killers during the last 30 years. He’s direct, kind-hearted, soft-spoken and has a knack for mentoring sharp attorneys in the most high-profile division at the State Attorney’s Office. Wallace, 62, is also one of the […]
A longtime Lakeland veterinarian convicted earlier this year of animal cruelty for mistreating her horses was sentenced to 90 days in jail earlier this week and can no longer treat animals. Circuit Court Judge Wayne Durden also sentenced Gail Nichols to 10 years of probation for four animal cruelty convictions, which centered around a lack […]
A 26-year-old Lakeland man convicted of killing a construction worker in a hit-and-run crash on South Florida Avenue was sent to prison Tuesday days after an appeals court ruled against him. Dustin Halstead was found guilty of vehicular homicide in 2018, but Circuit Judge Kevin Abdoney, spurred by the 2nd District Court of Appeals, […]
Monica Smith was 16 credit hours short of receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology when she dropped out, took the LSAT and enrolled in Florida Coastal School of Law. Smith had learned much during training for family custody disputes and ways to evaluate sex offenders, but she faced tedious therapy classes to earn a […]