SHE'S OUT!
RELEASED FROM JAIL AFTER 14 DAYS
Victoria Sando, paralyzed gunshot victim, jailed for six months just three days after
Christmas, by recently elected Broward Circuit Judge Marina Garcia-Wood,
after not appearing at a routine hearing for which she
had not been noticed.
SANDO 4TH DCA OPINION
4TH DCA ORDERS IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF VICTORIA SANDO SAYING
HER INCARCERATION WAS ILLEGAL AND THAT SHE WAS CLEARLY DENIED DUE PROCESS.
"Paralyzed woman in Dania Beach put in jail for missing court hearing"
Gunshot victim missed hearing
By Mike Clary | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
January 5, 2008
In the nearly 20 years since Victoria Sando was paralyzed by a suicidal ex-boss who shot her five times in a parking lot, the 55-year-old Dania Beach woman has had days when she thought life could not get any tougher.
But that was before she was rousted from bed at 5:30 a.m. last week and taken to the Broward County jail on orders of a circuit court judge who slapped Sando with a six-month sentence after she failed to show up for a hearing on a domestic battery complaint.
And in jail is where Sando remained Friday, without her motorized wheelchair, her service dog Fudge, her glasses or, as yet, any opportunity to appear in court and be represented by an attorney.
"This reminds me of a foreign country where there are no rights," said Broward Chief Assistant Public Defender Steve Michaelson. "Without a hearing, she went directly to jail, just like in Monopoly. Do not pass go, do not collect $200."
In a telephone interview Friday from the women's lock-up in Pompano Beach, Sando said, "I'm pretty strong. So if this is the worst thing that happens to me in the new year, I'll be grateful."
Sando's case is unusual not just because of her physical condition, according to Michaelson. Typically, when a defendant fails to appear for a civil court hearing, the judge orders the police to bring the missing person into court.
But along with her order to have Sando picked up, Judge Marina Garcia-Wood sentenced her to six months in jail. The judge added a provision that Sando could get out of jail in 60 days if she took a course on domestic violence.
In an emergency petition filed Thursday with the 4th District Appeals Court, Assistant Public Defender Sarah Sandler argued that Sando's incarceration is unlawful. Sandler said Garcia-Wood "failed to comply with each and every requirement" of a rule of criminal procedure written to protect individuals from being sentenced to jail even before they are arrested.
"She is in jail without due process," said Michaelson, adding that Sando was behind bars for at least three days before she even learned why she was there.
Within hours of the emergency petition filing, the 4th District sent the case to the state attorney general. The state has three days to respond to the public defender's argument that Sando "should be released immediately."
Despite a history of misfortune and a litany of current medical woes, Sando remained unbowed.
"I've had a hard life, but not a bad life," said Sando, who in addition to gall bladder and kidney ailments is due to have her right leg amputated.
Sando lost the use of her legs in 1988 when a former employer shot her in Boynton Beach. The man, apparently afraid of what Sando would tell investigators looking into his business dealings, then killed himself at his Deerfield Beach home.
Since then, Sando has undergone years of physical therapy. She has steel rods in her spine and one arm. With disability income of $785 a month, she lives in a trailer she owns in the Estates of Fort Lauderdale with Fudge and a pet rabbit called Buns.
In November, Sando sued Estates and its homeowners association, alleging they violated federal law against housing discrimination on the basis of physical disability. She said the association tried to evict her because Fudge weighed more than the 20-pound limit for dogs. And, she alleged, the association also refused to grant her permission to repair a rotted access ramp.
"She is shot; she is paralyzed, and to her credit she has been living independently all these years," said Randall C. Berg, Jr., an attorney with the Florida Justice Institute, which filed the pending lawsuit against the Estates homeowners association and its manager, Kathryn Sajdak. "As a society we should be encouraging this, not making it harder on them."
Charles Otto, a lawyer for Estates, called the lawsuit "a manufactured claim." He denied any effort to evict Sando because of Fudge. "If she registers the dog, it shouldn't be a problem," he said.
Sando's more pressing predicament began in 2006 when a neighbor, Richard Godbout, 46 and also disabled, won a court order barring Sando from coming near him after he alleged she threatened him with a knife. Godbout said he feared for his life.
Godbout recently said Sando violated the order by making harassing phone calls and denting his van with her wheelchair.
Ordered to appear in court Dec. 11, Sando said she wrote down the wrong date. When she did not appear, Garcia-Wood ordered her arrest.
"I cry every day because my pets have never been without me," said Sando. "But I can take it. I can pretty much take anything."
SEE ALSO:
JAABLOG COMMENTS:
http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/01/05/welcome-to-the-blog-marina.aspx
SUPPORT FUDGE & BUNS:
http://jaablog.jaablaw.com/2008/01/05/jaablog-charity-drive.aspx
Routine hearing? Since when is a final hearing on an alleged violation of an order against repeat violence a "routine hearing"?
When are you guys who claim to be media going to post the supposed offending order?
You are engaged in political hackery and exploting this disabled woman.
WHEN IS THIS POOR WOMAN GOING TO BE RELEASED? JUDGE GARCIA WOOD SHOULD BE ASHAMED.
Bill is working on it - it will be titled Day 14
I heard the judge didn't know she was in a chair when she issued the order. Now she must know. Why is this woman still in custody?
Who represents this lady? Has there been a hearing? Or a request of one? Whose her lawyer?
i think about the corruption of those werar those robes and then see what they do to this lady, very sad. i hope people are helping with the two animals while this is going on-what a crazy system-she will do more time than jennys
ross was accused of rape and there was no investigation.
Is it me or maybe Garcia Wood has aspirations for the criminal bench? If so, this must be her application. She must not have heard that Ross is not Chief Judge anymore.
I don't think the 4th DCA will let her sit in jail over the weekend. They are actually human up there. I predict a scathing opinion tomorrow.
IS THIS POOR WOMAN STILL IN JAIL? THIS JUDGE SHOULD TENDER HER RESIGNATION IMMEDIATELY
Victoria Sando for campaign manager of the hispanic woman who runs against Wood next time she's up.
The opaper says she knew the lady was in a chair:
"Despite the fact that the trial court was aware Â… that [Sando] was a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair who has several other health issues, the trial court failed to advise [her] of the accusation against her, failed to give [her] any opportunity to show cause why she should not be held in contemptÂ…" wrote assistant public defender Sarah Sandler."
What is wrong with Broward judges?
So she sits in jail. Has anyone talked to the victim who showed up for the hearing this woman missed?
Seems she plays on the sympathy of her wheelchair to her advantage. If this is true, let her stay where she is.
I guess Judge Marina Garcia Wood's name implies she's as thick as a plank or what? What does she think she's doing? Have read the comments on the paper's blog? She could be looking for a new job next time around.
Too much Judge Woody. Really stupid if you ask me. You really do have some pretty warped judges up there in Broward. What kind of law did this woman practice before becoming one of Broward's Finest?
Judge Wood is just jealous Aleman is getting all the press. That's a hell of a whack to start with, but this Marina Garcia Wood as well as seemingly a whack is also one of Ross' Hacks. What's with this woman? Flexing her judicial muscle may get a firm admonition from the 4th and more baggage when it's her turn up to bat again. People don't forget things like this.
What's with judges in Broward? Didn't they get enough attention as children?
What a way to make a name for yourself!
I'll stand by MGW. When you're on the bench too - if you're qualified enough, maybe I'll back you too.
Can't Broward County create yet another specialty court for people in Wheel chairs who are accused of threatening people? A handicap person would have
to have a pretty fast wheel chair to catch me? Has anyone tested her wheelchair to find out top speeds?
Perhaps they should have stopped by her trailer and taken her scooter as a way to protect Godbout.
When will this woman be released? This is a travesty and Tobin should step in.
how is she qualified? she won an election. ran a better campaign. maybe had more money than the opponent. does that mean she is smarter? better lawyer? or maybe as a politically appointed magistrate (her prior experience) she had the incumbency machine behind her?
these judges think they are gods. they are not. they are politicos. i know 500 lawyers who could do a better job than the majority of them. they won't seek the job because they actually make a living well beyond a judge salary or they have spent their careers performing their duties to their clients instead of sucking political connections. why do they act so recklessly and in such meanspirited fashion when they really are nothing?
Poor Little Gm. Toiling away for years. Some day I'll make it, she says. Someday I'll be a real judge. I'll have my own contempt powers, just like the big kids. And then I'll show these miserable dirtbags.
DISRESPECT ME? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM. THE BUS WAS WHAT? YOU ARE IN A WHEELCHAIR? DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT? I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE THREE CATHETERS FOR URINE. IF I COULD GIVE YOU TEN YEARS I WOULD. I HAD TO WORK AS A GM FOR YEARS TO GET THIS JOB YOU SUBHUMAN. ME THE MOST IMPORTANT SMARTEST PERSON IN THE WORLD HAVING TO WAIT TO CLAIM MY MANIFEST DESTINY AS A JUDGE. YOU'LL ALL PAY. PAY PAY PAY!!!!!
Etc.
BY LAUDER MAN:
THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST BIZARRE AND OUTLANDISH EXAMPLE OF JUDICIAL STUPIDITY THAT HAS GRACED THE HEADLINES IN..... DAYS.
THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST ARGUMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES ON MERIT THAT EXISTS....AND I DON'T MEAN THE GOVERNORS APPOINTMENTS OF POLITICAL HACKS AS TAKES PLACE IN FLORIDA EVERY DAY.
BROWARD'S JUDICIARY IS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO US ALL.
BY ANGELPIEHILL:
Give me a break already your honor, what ever this poor woman is acused of I think she is already being punished. I hardly think she is a flight risk, send her home, her chair is already her prison!!!!
BY DUKE MAN:
the only thing i think is judge is up for re-election and wants to appear tough on crime. not the real criminals but the wheelchair bound kind, they are a menace to society.
BY KUKO:
Just the usual Nazi tactics by BOTH Broward Sheriff's Office and the Broward Courts
BY NOT UNUSUAL:
Judges in Broward SUCK! Its absolutely insane how they act, the Anna Nicole Smith judge was just the tip of the iceberg. The federal government should take a look at Broward, ask any local attorney.
BY OAKLAND PARK:
Even if jailing this lady is lawful, the judge is plain cruel to do so. The judge had other ways to make this lady comply with the law. Let's remember this one at election time.
DR SHRILL:
Florida judges are simple wacky
BY EINSTEIN:
Judge Marina Garcia-Wood needs to be seriously admonished. And, what's more, I think we should suspend her broom-flying license immediately! Even better, throw water on her and watch her melt and go up in a poof of green smoke as Toto pees on her ashes!
BY SANTIPOKER:
What is troubling here is that a Judge, on her own, has sentenced someone to jail without being convicted of anything as per the article.
She hasn't been accused, charged, tried, convicted. All that has happenned is she has been sentenced.
Is this judge's name Fidel or Saddam?
BY JUST:
They let the robbers child molestors and murders go an lock up the helpless gotta love broward!
BY RUBICKS CUBE:
i have had to testify in cases before judge garcia wood before. How this person got on the bench is beyond me.
her decision making is really questionable sometimes. i hope when this person gets out of prison, she sues her personally. Garcia-wood needs to be removed from the bench.
BY WHATTHEHEY:
The judge should be held in contempt of humanity!
BY KHALEED MOSSEINI:
Isn't there another solution?? Of course their must be an alternitive to incarcerating an elderly woman who is wheel chair bound. Aren't their court appointed advocates who can help explain the court proceedings to disabled people? This Judge is an unjust person who needs to be investigated.
To those of you who took part in putting this crippled woman in jail. A day will come whn you will need Mercy ,Justice and forgiveness. A day will come when you will need a break, just a little bending of the rules to help you in your darkest hour. In that day your sin will revisit you because of your hard heartedness. God Hates the person who oppresses the weak in their hour of need. If you can not forgive a person of their infraction then you will not be forgiven for yours. Saying that you were just doing your job will not save you. I refuse to believe that this poor woman had to be jailed. You operate in a system that releases the evil people and afflicts the poor and weakest. How can you sleep at night knowing that you are part of such an evil system?
BY CONCERNED:
Thank god they handcuffed, arrested and confined this women to jail. She is a definite threat to society and her risk factors of running away are huge...NOT!!! What has happened to good old fashion common sense and compassion? I wonder how that judge would feel if she was his family member?
BY BROWARD COUNTY TAXPAYER:
Our judicial system is incredible. Remember the d*bag you miami officer's chased last month and tackled!!! He was out of jail in 2 hours. This issue is definitely a judge out of control and a loose cannon. Our chief judge, by not stepping in is only letting his kangaroo courts become more of a joke. Larry the weed, Larry the crying, when will someone step up to the plate and bring respect to our court system so that we the tax paying citizens of broward county will not be afraid of our own system.
BY BRI:
This story disgusts me....... How bad could the domestic violence crime be with a parapalegic? Most times, the judge orders the person before them for an explanation, but this piece of heartless crap sentences her to SIX MONTHS??
This world is going to hell in a hand basket, and this judge is part of the problem, not the solution.
BY JUDGES ALEMAN-NOT:
Marina - Thank you so much for getting me off the front page for a while. I really needed a break. When I locked up the guy with AIDS so he could die in jail, the press and public really got upset with me. Now it's your turn. Good luck. Don't worry. You won't be in the press for long. The JQC will rule soon in my case and if I'm convicted, you'll be old news.
The order of Judge Marina Garcia-Wood is nothing less than a travesty of justice. Wood lost her get out of hell card with this one.
"No matter how blessed out lives, how charmed our existence, things still inevitably, irrevocably go wrong. Your mother swindled out of her savings. Your estranged husband runs off with your kids. Your best friend goes on vacation in a foreign land and disappears. Eventually, bad things find us all. At some point in your life, God forbid you have nowhere else to turn ..."
Maybe she worked for Wolfram & Hart, the law firm on the Angel TV series.
IS THIS POOR WOMAN STILL INCARCERATED? JUDGE MARINA GARCIA WOOD SHOULD REMAIN ASHAMED OF HERSELF ALL THE WAY TO RE ELECTION TIME.
Which picture is this Judge Garcia Wood? I want to know who NOT to vote for for judge. Isn't Broward messed up enough, now this? Is she the old woman, or the one that's smiling? Bet she's not smiling now. She shouldn't be. She's really out of it for a judge.
What makes you think our judges are in any way with it? Don't you read the papers?
Is she another one mentored by blood and guts Gardiner?
Godbout is handicapped too and that Sando woman is a known drug addict. The story of her past excludes that she was blackmailing her boss which is why he shot her and then himself. She has used people around her until they have nothing left to give, ignoring their concerns and continuing to do her drugs. She need to be committed!