Grapski Defense - Action Alert for 9AM tomorrow, 12/17

 

Grapski Defense - Action Alert - December 16, 2008

As most of you know, Charlie has been held in the Alachua County Jail without bond since October 12, when he was arrested at 2 A.M. on misdemeanor trespass charges at a friend's house, following a misunderstanding at a post-game party. He is currently on Lock Down status as punishment for filing a grievance and cannot receive visitors or make phone calls until December 21.

At 9:00 A.M. tomorrow morning (Wednesday December 17) Charlie is scheduled for arraignment in the misdemeanor case. He will be appearing before Judge Davis in courtroom 1A of the Alachua County Criminal Justice Center, 220 South Main Street in Gainesville. 

The complainant has made it clear to the State Attorney's office on several occasions since the arrest that he didn't wish to press charges.

In fact, on December 15 the alleged victim in the October 12 non-incident - upset about Charlie's continued incarceration - again contacted the State Attorney's office, this time with a formal request directed to Geoffrey Fleck, as follows:

Mr. Fleck,
 
Please relay this message to the Court regarding Charles James Grapski:

You Honor,
 
I, Mark Kiester, the victim is case # 01-2008-MM-008669-A,  want the Court to drop the charges against Charles James Grapski.

I was in a panic when I first spoke with the DA's office, and my thinking was compromised as a result.  I, therefore, would like to rescind all that was said.  Looking back, I believe Charlie had no ill intentions, and he simply became frustrated when he could not find his glasses.  I know now that Charlie had no intention of bodily harm, and his thinking was simply compromised by alcohol and and his medications.
 
I have asked Geoffrey Fleck twice to drop the charges.  I now ask the Court the same.  Please drop the charges in case  #01-2008-MM-008669-A.
 
Thank you,
Mark Kiester

Instead of dropping the case however, the State Attorney's office has used it as a pretext to have the Court revoke Charlie's bond on felony charges resulting from an incident at the Alachua Police Department in August 2007, thus keeping Charlie incarcerated indefinitely.

Prosecutor Geoffrey Fleck was embarrassed when he lost a trumped-up felony wiretapping case against Charlie in November 2006, when Judge Buck Curtain dismissed the charges in a pre-trial hearing, agreeing with Charlie's motion to dismiss, which argued that he has violated no law and that the charge had no legal basis.

This time, Fleck has made every effort to keep Charlie behind bars since Oct. 12, despite the notorious overcrowding at the jail, and despite the fact that Charlie is not a flight risk and poses no danger to the community.

After his Oct. 12 arrest, Fleck asked the court to order a psychiatric evaluation for Charlie, and it was done. When the result was not what Fleck wanted to hear, the court ordered another evaluation. Both evaluations cleared Charlie for release, but when he finally got a bond hearing on November 19, Fleck ignored the results of the court-ordered evaluations and argued before Judge Phyllis Rozier that Charlie poses a "threat to the community." Despite the lack of any evidence to substantiate such a claim, the judge agreed to keep Grapski locked up without bail indefinitely.

It is clear that Geoffrey Fleck  is abusing the power of the State Attorney's Office to pursue what appears to be a personal vendetta against Grapski.

This vindictive prosecution and the continued incarceration of Charles Grapski are a waste of taxpayers' dollars and an abuse of the criminal justice system.

Those concerned about justice for Charlie Grapski should contact the State Attorney's Office and request that the misdemeanor charges against him be immediately dropped, and that he be released from jail under the same bond conditions that were in place before the October 12 incident.

Call, fax or email the State Attorney today:

State Attorney Bill Cervone
Tel.  (352) 374-3670
Fax:  (352) 491-4553
Email:  cervonew@SAO8.ORG

Assistant State Attorney Geoffrey Fleck
(352) 374-3674

PS -- Charlie is also scheduled for a case management hearing on the August 2007 felony charges at 9:00 A.M. on Thursday morning, in Judge Phyllis Rozier's court. It is important that supporters be present for this hearing, so if anyone can spare the time, please consider attending!

Thanks,

Michael Canney
for Grapski Defense  
grapskidefense@gmail.com