Sebring Realtor charged with kidnapping

The co-owner of Ridge Realty will be arraigned Jan. 25 on a charge of kidnapping/false imprisonment.

Robert Lee Shepard, 60, was arrested Christmas Eve and released Christmas Day on a $1,000 bond. The charge, which was domestic violence related, is a third-degree felony.

On Dec. 24, Shepard reportedly walked into the victim's office and demanded she pay him $2,500. A telephone conversation between the suspect and his attorney included him saying, "She'll write it (the check) if I put a gun to her head," according to the arrest report.

The woman still refused to pay and Shepard allegedly said, "Desperate people do desperate things." When she asked what he meant, he said he would, "start breaking things," the report stated.

At that point, the woman tried to leave her office, but Shepard reportedly stood in front of the door, blocking her way out. The two "did a little dance" for the next 30 seconds, she told authorities, before she said she was going to call the police. At that point, the suspect moved away from the door and left the building, according to the report.

"The victim advised she was in fear due to the defendant's statements (and/or) threats and was 'blocked' from the exit against her will," Highlands County Sheriff's Deputy Jared Futch wrote in the arrest report.

Could those threats, including the alleged statement made by Shepard to his attorney, be used against him if the case goes to trial? Possibly.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin said a defendant can pretty much discuss anything with their attorney after a crime has taken place and those discussions will be protected by the attorney-client privilege.

"Beforehand, it gets a little more iffy," Houchin said.

This issue came up prior to the 2007 Michael Branham murder trial.

Florida's Second District Court of Appeals reversed an earlier court ruling that said Branham's conversations with his personal friend and attorney prior to the death of his wife, Heartland attorney Janette Branham, constitute the notion of attorney-client privilege, according to a March 31, 2007 Highlands Today report.

W. James Kelly said in response to a state subpoena that Branham told him he intended to kill his wife one week before she was eventually found murdered.

The appeals court's decision allowed those conversations with Kelly to be used as evidence during Branham's trial.

Branham was eventually found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.