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Stew Lilker’s

Columbia County Observer

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Kevin KirbyKirby DUI: Arraignment took under one minute. "Not guilty" plea already filed

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The Kevin Kirby DUI incident arrived in the Misdemeanor and Traffic Arraignments courtroom of County Court Judge Tom Coleman early yesterday morning. On April 19, 2013, the plea of not guilty was filed with the court by one of Mr. Kirby's attorneys of record, Lake City attorney Travis Koon. While the court docket is not clear regarding when Mr. Koon entered the case, Judge Coleman made it clear from the bench when Mr. Kirby's attorney, Jimmy Hunt of Lake City, withdrew from the case.

The prosecutor, according to the court docket, was Quentin Humphrey. Mr. Humphrey works for State Attorney Jeff Siegmeister.

Mr. Humphrey announced the case to the court, "The state will call Kevin Kirby, 13568CT."

Mr. Humphrey continued, “Your Honor, in this case Mr. Hunt filed a motion to withdraw from this case and Mr. Koon has filed a motion of appearance."

Judge Coleman from the bench, "In the order presented and in a motion to withdraw by Mr. Hunt the second to Mr. Koon had been retained. I signed an order granting that motion on the 25th of April, so Mr. Hunt is withdrawing this case and Mr. Koon’s Notice of Appearance is of record."

In plain English, County Court Judge Tom Coleman advised that he had signed an order granting Mr. Hunt’s motion to withdraw from the defense of Mr. Kirby on the 25th of April. Judge Coleman told the court that Mr. Koon’s Notice of Appearance is on the record.

The court docket is not clear when Mr. Koon filed his Notice of Appearance to represent Mr. Kirby, as there are two notices of appearances on the Case Progress Docket, one on 4/17 and another on 4/19; neither one with the name of an attorney.

The Case Progress Docket also lists two pleas of not guilty, one on 4/17 and one on 4/19.

The Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure allow a plea of not guilty to be entered in writing by the defendant's (Mr. Kirby) attorney.

Judge Coleman continued, “He entered a written plea of not guilty; a demand for jury trial.”  

Assistant State Attorney Humphrey interjected, “And discovery and waiver of appearance, Your Honor.”

Judge Coleman continued, “This is set up on the pre-trial docket. The pre trial is June 6th at one-thirty. June 6th at one-thirty is the next time he’s due in a court or unless (unintelligible).”

Judge Coleman's Courtroom
Judge Coleman's misdemeanor and traffic arraignment court is a busy place with a lot going on. Moments before Mr. Kirby's case was called, the Prosecutor, Public Defender and defendant are ready to answer the Judge's questions.

Between now and June 6th

Mr. Kirby, through his attorney will obtain all the evidence that the State Attorney, the prosecution, has in its files. This is called discovery. There may also be ongoing negotiations and talks between the prosecuting and defense attorneys as more information comes to light, information the prosecution and defense learned during depositions, witness statements, photographs, 9-1-1 tapes, and the in car video both the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol, etc.

If Mr. Kirby's attorney finds legal issues in the way he was charged or arrested, then he will likely file a motion to suppress or a motion to dismiss.

While this case is scheduled to be back in court on June 6, the judge may or may not have an actual hearing on the issue.

It is also expected that sometime before June 6, Judge Coleman will recuse himself from the case. It is reported that he has gone hunting with Mr. Kirby. 

Update: Judge Coleman's remarks were updated

Comments (to add a comment go here)

On May 1, 2013, NameWithheld from Lake City wrote:

Stew, You need to stay very close to the Kevin Kirby case.  Please follow and report every detail, otherwise no one will know anything about it.  Obviously, Todd Wilson is afraid to touch it...   Not guilty??!!  He's actually going to try to beat it.   There's huge money and influence behind Kirby.   Follow the money... it's literally on the roads.   Many years ago, a Columbia County Judge ended up in prison due to bribery in a case involving a DUI and big money...  Could this become as bad?

You're the only one that can watch out for the rest of us. 

This work by the Columbia County Observer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

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