TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Barnett trial will not begin Monday

ADVERTISEMENT

By BRAD DICKERSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 28, 2009

BARTOW - Jury selection was supposed to start Monday in the trial of Highlands County inmate Terrence Barnett, but it had nothing to do with his connection to the death of Polk County Detention Sgt. Ronnie Brown.

Instead, the trial stemmed from allegations that Barnett beat up another inmate while in jail in Polk County, according to Chip Thulberry with the state attorney's office in Bartow.

Barnett, 28, is charged with battery in a county jail or detention facility, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, Thulberry said. The incident is said to have happened on Feb. 8 of this year.

Thulberry said the case was continued because of some trouble they were having deposing some of the deputies who witnessed the beating.

As for Barnett's murder trial, Thulberry doesn't expect it to go before a jury until at least 2011.

"The case is so new, it's not even scheduled on the trial calendars yet," he said.

In that case, Barnett is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence.

On Aug. 30, Barnett, who was being held in Polk County for a Highlands County murder charge, reportedly became unruly and Brown was called into the cell. The prisoner is said to have shoved the deputy, who fell against the wall and then on the floor.

Brown underwent surgery at Winter Haven Hospital on Sept. 2 to fix a broken vertebrate he suffered in the scuffle. The sergeant, a nearly 20-year veteran of the Polk County Sheriff's Office, later died in his hospital bed on Sept. 8.
Barnett has a third case still open. He pleaded no contest on June 12 to second-degree murder for his role in the 2007 death of Highlands County resident Bryan "Red" Fanning. The agreement called for him to serve 30 years in prison.

Since then, Barnett filed a motion to withdraw from the plea by claiming inefficient counsel. That motion will be discussed at a Feb. 9 hearing before Polk County Judge J. Michael Hunter.

Highlands Today reporter Brad Dickerson can be reached at 863-386-5838 or bdickerson@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

ADVERTISEMENT