TAMPA A federal judge is scheduled to decide today whether an undercover agent who posed as a hit man known as "Reaper" can testify behind a screen to protect his identify. The agent is a key witness in the trial of Randy Nowak, 49, a construction company owner from Mulberry who is accused of plotting to kill IRS officer Christine Brand. ...more

December 11, 2008

William Carro and Willie Hall were wearing matching buttons while sitting in a Highlands County courtroom Wednesday afternoon. ...more

December 11, 2008

Seven members of a ring that smuggled hundreds of guns from Florida and sold them to street gangs in Puerto Rico have received prison sentences ranging from one to 14 years. ...more

December 5, 2008

A federal judge has granted a motion by attorneys for John "Junior" Gotti to transfer his racketeering case to New York, saying allowing the case to proceed in Florida "stands athwart the manifest interests of justice." ...more

December 2, 2008

In a Highlands Today article dated Nov. 20 "Evidence Problem Spoiled Highlands Court Cases" it was reported that grow-house marijuana evidence in the Jose Miguel Rosales case was lost because of improper storage while in the custody of the sheriff. This caused the state attorney's office to have to reduce the drug trafficking charges against Rosales on "what should have been a solid case." ...more

November 29, 2008

A judge today delayed ruling on a wide-ranging gag order in the case of a Florida mom charged with killing her 3-year-old daughter. ...more

November 25, 2008

Cheryl Maria Riemann, facing DUI manslaughter charges in a fatal head-on crash on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa, waived her right to a speedy trial today. ...more

November 25, 2008

An 8-year-old boy accused in the deaths of his father and another man gave police conflicting accounts about the shootings, at one point saying, "I wasn't shooting any guns" before admitting to firing at least two shots at each of the men. ...more

November 19, 2008

Jurors were of two opinions Monday about the weight of the evidence against men accused of propositioning a prostitute. ...more

November 18, 2008

Larik Cholak insisted this morning that Alex Shevgert telephoned him to let him know his parents-in-law were home the night of Dec. 12. ...more

November 10, 2008