Thomas Lafoe is moving forward with his appeal of his first degree murder conviction in the death of Jeff Norton. According to the assistant state attorney, the conviction is solid and he is free to appeal. Personally, I wish he’d just serve his life sentence and let it be. Dragging this out is such a waste of taxpayer money. Does he recall that he confessed on videotape?
Posted after original post was written
I really try to be objective but it’s obvious that Thomas Lafoe is trying to work the system in the case of the murder of Jeff Norton. Today Thor White, his regional counsel for the trial, was withdrawn from the case and Bjorn Brunvand was appointed as his new regional counsel. Regional attorneys are specially qualified to deal with cases involving the death penalty so they usually represent violent offenders.
Today’s hearing was a Sheppard hearing which is held:
Once a defendant files a pro se motion alleging an adversarial relationship, the trial court must determine whether an adversarial relationship does exist. The trial court must hold a hearing at which the defendant, defense counsel, and the State are present. If the trial court determines that an adversarial relationship exists between the defendant and defense counsel, it must appoint conflict-free counsel to represent the defendant unless the record conclusively refutes the defendant’s allegations.
Regarding the new counsel he has a website called Acquitter.com and defends major drug dealers and violent criminals. He practices in the Pinellas County area and states that he knows the judges and prosecutors and presumably can use this knowledge to exploit the weaknesses of an accused’s case. He maintains a facebook profile. I sent him a friend request to see what he posts. You can bet he reads what we post.
I don’t know at this time where Lafoe will be housed while this is going on.
Brunvand is very media savvy and has so many links and backlinks to his web content and associates [I reluctantly gave him one above] that it wasn’t as easy for me to find a case he worked on as it was for Thor White.
He is aggressive and we need to watch him. At the same, we shouldn’t freak out. I’ll close by asking you to keep close and to keep Jeff’s friends in your thoughts and prayers.
Edit: The actual hearing to withdraw the plea will be held with Judge Ley presiding. The date is not on the docket yet.
Related Posts Regarding Thomas Lafoe and Jeff Norton’s Murder
Just when we think we’ve heard enough from Lafoe, I learned today that he has a hearing to request to withdraw his plea of “Guilty” for the first degree murder of Jeff Norton. It’s scheduled for July 19, 2012, exactly two years and one day after Steve and Rosemary found him.
For links from the time around the trial through this post, click here.
Jeff Norton was found murdered on July 18, 2010 and his yard man was charged with first degree murder.
What I’m about to share is my perception of the trial filtered through the lens of my experience. Certainly everyone who attended the trial saw it differently. Not that anyone thought that Lafoe was innocent, but at times what we were hearing seemed like too much to take in.
At times, I didn’t take notes, because it seemed so unnecessary. To me the evidence was clear and pointed to Lafoe’s guilt without question, so there was no need for them. Since I’m writing from my notes, some of which are really hard to decipher, some parts of the trial will not be discussed except in general terms.
Please feel free to make comments or corrections. In any event, the trial transcript will reflect the actual words used if someone wants to check. You may wonder why I didn’t write this post as it occurred. I was not willing to do anything to jeopardize this case including write about it before the trial was over. And to write about it without publishing seemed to risky as well. What if I accidently hit the publish button by accident?
June 12, 2012 was the day for jury selection. It was scheduled to be held in a huge courtroom instead of the usual courtroom. Judge Ley presided. The prosecution attorney William A Loughery and defense attorney John Thor White agreed that Jeff Norton was found murdered on July 18, 2010 before the jury pool was supposed to be brought in.
John Thor White then said that he had a paper his client wanted him to read because he had no reading glasses. Thor White said he was unaware of the contents and said it came out of the blue.
Thomas Lafoe asked for a continuance because:
Thomas Lafoe, defendant in the Jeff Norton Murder Trial, simultaneously wasted half of the day in court and cost Pinellas County taxpayers a bundle today. He complained of feeling “flu-like” symptoms including having a fever. Two jail nurses, the jail nursing supervisor and the adult court psychologist came to the court to check him out. His medical records were pulled.
The jail physician was called at least twice and it was determined that Lafoe refused to eat his diabetic meal last night and ate something else from the commissary. He did not have a fever. Additionally he has regularly refused prescribed medical treatment. The psychologist determined that he was competent for trial. The deputy responsible for transporting inmates to court stated that Lafoe initially refused to come to court today.
Outside of the presence of the jury, defense attorney Thor White informed the judge that Lafoe plans to testify tomorrow. Lafoe will meet with Thor White in the morning.
I’ll leave the details of today’s testimony to Channel 10 news. After the jury was excused for the day, Lafoe told the judge he is “exhausted” and requested to be allowed to sleep late tomorrow. The judge granted his request and court will start at 9:30 am instead of 8:30 am.
After Lafoe testifies, closing arguments will start. The case is expected to go to the jury tomorrow. Jurors were once again asked to plan to stay late.
6/4/12 11:51 am Update: The trial will get going on Wednesday. There could be opening arguements started on Tuesday after jury selection. This isn’t really new but it was just confirmed today.
One week from today, we’ll most likely be hearing the opening arguments in the first degree murder case against Thomas J Lafoe for the murder of Jeffery Norton. The whole thing seems surreal at times. Can this actually be happening? I feel a plethera of emotions all jumbled together. I’m angry, sad and in shock. This can’t be happening. But it is. I can’t let myself get too angry or I won’t be able to write. I wonder if I’ll actually be able to make sense of this thing just to write about it. It seems impossible that I need to write this at all.
I am thankful for the people who will there as witnesses for the prosecution and in the courtroom as witnesses of the trial. We’ll figure this thing out as we go, I guess. The prosecution sits on the right side of the courtroom and the defense on the left. Once you enter the doors to the courtroom, we are subject to the rules of the court.
Judge Ley is a veteran of many murder trials and looks out for proper procedure so that verdicts won’t be reversed on appeal. Assistant State Attorney Bill Lowery will prosecute the case, most likely assisted by other attorneys from his office. The court knows that we care as does Mr. Lowery. We are in good hands, I think.
We will need to be careful of courthouse hallway conversations. You never know who’s listening or going to make something out of nothing. This sounds like paranoia on my part but this is advice I got from Jeanette, the victim’s advocate assigned to the case. I’ve heard restrooms are a sort of no man’s land as well, being shared by all parties to the case.
The time to pack the courtroom is the day of closing arguments, possibly on Friday. Updates will be posted as things change.
Have you ever wondered what is meant by “Notice Returned Served” when you look at the Pinellas County Case Progress Docket to check on Jeff’s case? {If you’ve not gone to this link before, simply click “Guest” and wait a moment and it will take you there without logging in. The first time you may have to type in a capucha.}
This is the best I’ve been able to find.
When any action is filed in court, all parties to that action have the legal right to know, in advance, the following information:
1) Notice of date and time of proceedings (when)
2) Nature and factual basis of filing (why)
3) The name of the entity making the filing (who)
4) The location to which you should report in order to make an answer, i.e. the courthouse (where); and
5) The requested plan designed to remediate the situation (what)The court is not allowed to proceed unless all parties have been properly served with all of the above information (service). Most service requires that parties be handed a copy of the above information (personal service). But it can also include registered mailings (service by certified mail), postings at the home (residential service), or even by placing information in the newspaper (service by publication).
Does anyone have anything to add to this? I wish the site would say WHO was served WHAT. Please comment if you know about this bit of jargon.
Thomas J. Lafoe must have a lot of family that are following his case from afar. How do I know this? Mostly because I can see who’s looking for what in the admin part of my blog. In fact, today (today is an exception) there have been more searches for Lafoe than for Jeff Norton. I know about how many people look for Jeff’s information, so I have a pretty good idea of how many folks are looking for Lafoe’s updates. I know how to use the internet too, and I know that most of you live in the northeast. A few of you have made comments various places on the web apologizing for his actions, disparaging his reputation or trying to redeem your family reputation.
I know some of you call him “Butch”and others “Tommy” or “Tom” but to me he is simply Thomas J. Lafoe, Case # CRC1015736CFANO in the Pinellas County jail. I cannot envision him as anyone else. He ripped an ugly wound in my life with his actions. Put yourself in my place as, once again, I have to explain to my employer that I need a day off to go to court because my friend was murdered. In my world, nice people don’t have friends who are murdered.
I realize we may have a lot in common, outside of our relationship with him, so I am sending you this open letter:
Dear Lafoe Family and Friends,
I’m sure that the last 14 months have been hard on you and that you’ve been in shock since learning that your son/brother/uncle/friend/cousin/co-worker/neighbor/former employer/Army buddy/etcetera is a murderer.
I don’t know if you’ve had nightmares or lost sleep thinking about what may have happened the night he murdered Jeff Norton. I have.
I don’t know if you’ve experienced the sheer terror of knowing exactly what he did. No one but the prosecutor and the defense can see anything except the “sanitized” file but I have a pretty good idea of what pictures and reports it contains.
I don’t know if you now wonder if a loved one is in harm’s way when phone calls are unanswered for more than a few hours as I do.
For years I’ve supported the ideals of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s work to help the wrongly accused. And I still do. I understand the constitutional protections of the accused. But I also understand the anguish of the friends who found Jeff’s body and those who are witnesses in one way or another. And I understand the visceral stillness of my body’s organs when another horrible detail comes my way. Time stops and my world is simply this horrific event.
So I am asking you to encourage your son/brother/uncle/friend/cousin/co-worker/neighbor/former employer/Army buddy/etcetera to take a plea deal the next time one is offered.
As you know, the whole judicial process, excepting the depositions, will start again with a new attorney in a couple of weeks. All of you have or had mothers and hopefully you loved them and they got to or will enjoy their last years.
Well, Jeff’s mother just turned ninety years old. Will you deny her peace at her age?
I won’t post anything that will interfere with Lafoe’s right to a fair trial but there is evidence that points directly at him. He will not be walking into free life again with or without a trial. No attorney can convince a jury otherwise. The evidence is too strong. And this trial will not be of the dragged out Casey Anthony variety.
It will last no more than one week and Judge Ley doesn’t fool around. She isn’t going to let any defense attorney make the mistakes that Jose Baez made. This case will have only one outcome and that outcome is “guilty.” Along the way, your family name will be dragged through the mud. Is this what you want?
So I ask you to do the right thing and convince your son/brother/uncle/friend/cousin/co-worker/neighbor/former employer/Army buddy/etcetera to take a plea deal if for no other reason than to give a grieving mother some closure. He knows he’s guilty and the police have his confession and other evidence on digital media.
All comments on this blog are private until they are approved. If you wish to make a comment for my eyes only as a way of sharing information, your request to do so will be honored.
I wish there was no need for this post and that we’d met in happier circumstances.
Sincerely,
Jeff’s friend.
Distribution of surname "Lafoe" in United States
Despite leaving Tangerine early this morning, we missed today’s pretrial hearing by minutes due to a traffic jam in Clearwater. I opened the courtroom door at 8:40 [the hearing was scheduled for 8:30] and saw what appeared to be the first two rows heading out. The hearing had just ended. Three people plus the victim’s advocate for Jeff’s mom were there for the hearing and three of us were late and missed it.*
However, the prosecutor was kind enough to spend 10-15 minutes with the group and those who attended filled me in on the rest. Judge Ley brought up the possibility of a plea deal saying that “Any plea offer must be approved by Mr. Lafoe.” She also admonished him “not to wait until the last minute.”
According to the Pinellas County Clerk of the Court website, Judge Ley granted a defense motion to continue. The next pre-trial hearing will be September 21, 2011 at 8:30. If the case goes to trial a possible trial date was mentioned for December.
via Facebook:
Today in court ANOTHER pre-trial hearing was set for September 21st, two months from now. The Judge informed [Lafoe] that the next time he appears before her, he will either take some sort of deal or they will set a date for the trial. It appears that the defense is building a case to discredit one of the homicide detectives, Anthony V. Foster, who initially took Lafoe’s testimony, but last month was indicted for six counts of wire fraud to deprive the public of honest services and one count of extortion.** For now it appears the defense is continuing to stall in the hopes that more police corruption come out. Tomorrow at 7pm will mark Lafoe’s first full year behind bars. Editor: Luckily another detective was present for the interrogation according to a source so the defense attempt won’t work.
I usually try to be objective when I write about the hearings but hearing about a plea deal makes me want to gag. The defendant doesn’t have a long criminal history and is a military vet. However he killed my friend and has hurt innumerable people by his actions. I especially don’t want to see a December trial date. Juries are known to be kind before Christmas and Lafoe is not deserving of any special consideration. Additionally, Jeff’s mother should not have to have her remaining Christmas holidays tarnished by the memory of a trial for her son’s murder.
* There was at least one additional person whom we did not know, possibly more
**Article in St Petersburg Times Additional Article
{I will probably come back and edit this so if you’re getting this by e-mail subscription, please go to the article url in a day or so to see possible revisions.}
