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Without an attorney, boy falters before judge
By KATHRYN WEXLER, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- The 16-year-old boy sat before the Hillsborough County judge, asking for an attorney. He didn't understand what was going on, he kept saying.
But Elias said he didn't know what restitution meant. His frustrated mother repeatedly rose from the first row, instructing her son in Spanish. Judge Richard Nielsen, relatively new to the bench, had her tossed out of his courtroom. "You don't have a lawyer, Mr. Elias," Nielsen said. "So you're going to represent yourself in this matter." And so, for more than two hours on May 6, the 16-year-old struggled to deal with the arcane language and procedures of a courtroom. It was a scene unfamiliar to some observers. Under Florida law, juveniles are entitled to legal counsel unless they and their parents waive that right. "Mr. Elias, any objection to these exhibits?" Nielsen asked at one point, referring to car repair bills submitted as evidence. "I don't have nobody representing me?" said Elias. "I don't understand these things." "Show these to Mr. Elias," Nielsen instructed the prosecutor. Soon after, Nielsen asked Elias whether he had trouble understanding English. "No, but sometimes the words you all use, like, um, I don't really get 'em that much. But I understand English," said Elias, whose family is Puerto Rican. Restitution hearings are routine and are rarely covered by the press. A reporter for the St. Petersburg Times chanced upon Elias' hearing. His mother later gave a tape recording of the proceeding to the reporter. Nielsen did not return repeated calls from the Times. Nor did officials at the Hillsborough County Public Defender's Office. Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said he has never seen a juvenile represent himself during such a hearing. "That would really bother me," he said, when told that Elias had asked for a lawyer and had said he didn't understand the proceedings. "I would be surprised if our judges (in the Pinellas-Pasco circuit) wouldn't give him a lawyer." Nielsen, 52, built his reputation in civil litigation with an emphasis on business law. He was head of the litigation department at a Tampa firm, Salem, Saxon & Nielsen, when Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to the bench in November 2000. Nielsen graduated from the University of New Mexico and got a law degree from the University of Florida. He had no judicial experience before his appointment. In his application for nomination to the circuit court, Nielsen wrote that certain traits would serve him well on the bench, including honesty, integrity and fairness. Elias' mother, Evangeline Castillo, had hired a private attorney to hammer out a plea agreement weeks earlier. But she could not afford to retain the lawyer, Tina Dampf, any longer. She figured her son would be assigned to a public defender for the restitution hearing. "Mr. Elias, do you have a lawyer representing you in this matter?" Nielsen asked the youth at the beginning of the hearing. He said he did not. "So, Ms. Dampf is no longer representing you in this matter, is that correct?" Nielsen asked. Yes, Elias said. "All right, well we're going to proceed . . . at this time," Nielsen said. Elias, lanky and wearing a shirt that showed off his abdomen, said nothing. Nearby was a co-defendant represented by Public Defender Elizabeth Beardsley. At one point during the proceedings, Elias asked whether the prosecutor was representing him. "No, sir, she's not . . . she is handling that case on behalf of the state," Nielsen said. "On my behalf?" Elias asked. "Not on your behalf. Against you, sir. Now, in a moment, you'll get an opportunity to ask questions of the witness." "I don't know what to say," Elias said. His mother spoke up. "You want me to say it for you?" she asked her son in English. "No, if you're going to do anything, you need to tell him what to say," Nielsen told her. "You're not the attorney." Several attorneys sounded perplexed when told of Elias' travails. George Richards, deputy chief of the juvenile division at the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office, said indigent youths are appointed an attorney unless they specifically decline one. "A judge has to find that it's a knowing waiver," Richards said. "If the child understands, the parent understands that they're waiving their right, and they say, "No, we don't want an attorney,' then (an attorney) won't be appointed." Judy Estren, executive assistant public defender at the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office, said the co-defendant's attorney should have intervened. "I would have instructed my attorney to jump in." Castillo, 36, was a janitor at the Hillsborough courthouse for years until she was injured a few years ago. She got to the courthouse an hour before the hearing May 6, she said, to line up a public defender. Castillo said a bailiff she knew told her not to worry, that the judge would handle everything. Nielsen ordered restitution of $4,608.94. Elias, who has dropped out of school, is on probation. He is doing his court-ordered public service at a youth center, Castillo said. On Monday, Elias said he was still reeling from his day in court. "They were acting like I was a lawyer and I know how to speak," he said. "I'm like, dang. The way they speak and the way they put their words, I don't understand." -- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at wexler@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3383.
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