The Office of the State Attorney is committed to transparency and responds to all records requests in a timely manner. If you wish to make a request, you can do so by contacting Paul Sessions, custodian of Public Records, at (863) 534-4844 or by clicking the button to submit a request.
Recent Press Releases
Please be advised that Florida has a broad Public Records law and all e-mail correspondence to this office or anyone employed here may be subject to disclosure. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this agency. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.
JURY VERDICT: McCauley guilty of 1987 murder, sentenced to life
/in SAO10 Blog /by Kaitlyn PearsonWhen Charles Watson Sr. got home from work on Mar. 24, 1987, he found his wife stabbed to death on their couch. Karen Ann Watson, 41, of Lake Wales, was sexually battered and brutally murdered the day before her twin sons’ 16th birthday. Nearly 30 years passed before her family saw the case come to […]
JURY VERDICT: Lakeland man guilty of attempted murder
/in SAO10 Blog /by Kaitlyn PearsonWhen law enforcement found Chauncey Rollins, he was lying in a pool of his own blood. He’d been shot in the back of the head and was mumbling incoherently. There was a spent shell casing on the ground next to him. A Lakeland Police officer crouched down next to Rollins and asked who shot him: […]
JURY VERDICT: Lake Wales man convicted of attempting to murder police officers
/in SAO10 Blog /by Kaitlyn PearsonJohn Goepferich lured Lake Wales Police Officers to his house and intended to kill them. Upon their arrival, Goepferich immediately began shooting at them – unloading more than 25 rounds in a 30-minute shootout that would injure two officers. After about seven hours of deliberation Friday, jurors found Goepferich guilty of six counts of attempted […]
SENTENCING UPDATE: Man gets 10 years for striking, killing bicyclist
/in SAO10 Blog /by Kaitlyn PearsonByers Levy was riding his bicycle around Lake Hollingsworth on a Sunday afternoon when Ronald Akins – who had been drinking – veered across the double yellow line and into the bike lane, striking and killing Levy. Akins, 78, pled guilty to DUI manslaughter on Jan. 13 and tried to convince Judge Durden at sentencing […]
JURY VERDICT: Broxterman convicted of faking PhD
/in SAO10 Blog /by Kaitlyn PearsonAfter about an hour of deliberation, David Broxterman, 57, was found guilty of scheme to defraud by a jury on Jan. 19. Broxterman, of Lakeland, lied about having a PhD in organizational management from the University of South Florida when he applied for a job as a professor at Polk State College in 2008. He […]
Haas administers oath for Polk Police Chiefs Association
/in SAO10 Blog /by Kaitlyn PearsonLAKELAND – Chief Larry Giddens, of the Lakeland Police Department, raised his right hand to be sworn in as President of the Polk County Police Chiefs Association Thursday evening by State Attorney Brian Haas. Giddens, Florida Polytechnic Police Chief Richard Holland, Auburndale Police Chief Chris Nelson and five other directors were sworn in at the […]