Naples man accused of possessing child pornArrest report for volunteer softball coach accused of inappropriate behavior released
NAPLES Naples man accused of possessing child porn After an investigation, a Naples man has been arrested after allegedly having child pornography in his home.
CAPE CORAL Arrest report for volunteer softball coach accused of inappropriate behavior released New details have been released about the arrest of a Cape Coral volunteer softball coach accused of sending nude photos and touching a 17-year-old student.
the weather authority Dry, warm, and humid morning before isolated storms pop up this afternoon and evening The Weather Authority is tracking a dry and humid Wednesday morning before afternoon isolated storms in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach to test hurricane emergency messaging alert The Town of Fort Myers Beach is set to test its CodeRED alert system as hurricane season begins in 31 days.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence seen at park in Tice Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and K-9s were seen investigating at Schindler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
NAPLES Naples man accused of possessing child porn After an investigation, a Naples man has been arrested after allegedly having child pornography in his home.
CAPE CORAL Arrest report for volunteer softball coach accused of inappropriate behavior released New details have been released about the arrest of a Cape Coral volunteer softball coach accused of sending nude photos and touching a 17-year-old student.
the weather authority Dry, warm, and humid morning before isolated storms pop up this afternoon and evening The Weather Authority is tracking a dry and humid Wednesday morning before afternoon isolated storms in Southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Fort Myers Beach to test hurricane emergency messaging alert The Town of Fort Myers Beach is set to test its CodeRED alert system as hurricane season begins in 31 days.
FORT MYERS Students make goodie bags for kids fighting Cancer A special delivery, straight from the heart, to Galisano’s Children’s Hospital. Three 8th graders from Lexington Middle School delivered 100 goodie bags to bring smiles to kids fighting cancer.
TICE Large police presence seen at park in Tice Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies and K-9s were seen investigating at Schindler Hall Community Park on Palm Beach Boulevard in Tice.
CAPE CORAL Lee County superintendent candidates face off in debate These three people, Denise Carlin, Morgan Wright and Sheridan Chester, are making it clear that they want the job.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA DEA to reclassify Marijuana as Schedule Three drug When you think of marijuana in Florida, You might think of an illegal drug seized by law enforcement. Kim Rivers, the CEO of Florida-based cannabis retailer Trulieve, says when used medicinally, it can help a lot of people.
FORT MYERS Expect more delays on Colonial and Fowler due to intersection project Work on the Colonial Fowler intersection in Fort Myers is underway, and there are many moving parts.
FORT MYERS Possible pay-by-text scam in downtown Fort Myers may have cost woman nearly $1,000 Pay-by-text parking may have cost one woman nearly a thousand dollars after her credit card was hacked.
FORT MYERS Lee County STET team protecting our schools with cameras There are cameras in our kid’s schools, dozens of them, but did you know that Lee County Schools sends those live video feeds to the sheriff’s office, and it’s someone’s job to watch them?
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Six-week abortion ban to take effect soon A stricter abortion ban will take effect in Florida on Wednesday.
Estero’s Golf Coast Driving Range shuts down, visitors devastated A place to relax, let loose and hit a few drives, has come to the end of an era for this community. “This is the first place we came to,” said Roxanne Henningsen, a Bonita Springs resident. “And it like became our second home. The people are wonderful. It’s just a great atmosphere. And we’ve […]
CAPE CORAL Business owners reeling after massive fire in Cape Coral “Very scary” are the words Denise Creacy used to describe what she felt when she saw plumes of black smoke, firefighters, and police fill her neighborhood.
LEHIGH ACRES Changing how you are represented in Lee County Leaders want to hear your thoughts this week at a town hall on how you elect county commissioners.
Credit: The Associated Press When the first batch of potential jurors was brought in for Donald Trump’s criminal trial this week, all the lawyers had to go on to size them up — at first — were their names and the answers they gave in court to a set of screening questions. Then the lawyers went to work, scouring social media for posts that might reveal whether people in the jury pool had hidden biases or extreme views. One potential juror was dismissed by the judge after the former president’s lawyers found a 2017 online post about Trump that said “Lock him up!” Trump’s lawyers rejected another potential juror after discovering she had posted a video of New Yorkers celebrating President Joe Biden’s election win. It’s all part of an effort by both sides to get a competent jury that — just maybe — might slant slightly in their favor. Even experts in the art of jury selection say there are limits to what any lawyer can do. “We never pick a jury. We unpick jurors,” said Tama Kudman, a veteran West Palm Beach, Florida, criminal defense lawyer who also practices in New Jersey and New York. “We never get who we want. We are just careful to get rid of who we think are dangerous to our clients,” she said. “You know you’ve picked a good jury when nobody’s happy. The prosecution hasn’t gotten who they want. The defense hasn’t gotten who they want. But everybody’s kind of gotten rid of the people who really raise the hair on the back of our neck.” Jury selection in Trump’s trial resumes Thursday. So far, seven jurors have been chosen for the trial over allegations that Trump falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign. Ultimately, 12 jurors will determine the verdict, with six alternates on standby. Nearly 200 potential jurors have been brought in so far. All potential jurors will be asked whether they can serve and be fair and impartial. Those who have said “no” so far have all been sent home. Lawyers on both sides then comb through answers prospective jurors provide orally in court to a set of 42 questions that probe whether they have been part of various extremist groups, have attended pro- or anti-Trump rallies, or have been involved with Trump’s political campaigns, among other things. The judge can dismiss people that don’t seem likely to be impartial. Under state law, each side also gets to “strike” up to 10 potential jurors they don’t like. A jury consultant has helped Trump’s lawyers research the backgrounds of prospective jurors whose names are provided to lawyers on both sides, but not to the public. Jo-Ellan Dimitrius, a jury consultant who worked on the O.J. Simpson trial team in the mid-1990s and remains employed in that capacity today, said a social media check has become critical in recent years. She likened it to a “juror polygraph” that can reveal whether a potential juror’s answers to questions in court are false. Still, Dimitrius said, such checks aren’t foolproof. Potential jurors can scrub their online footprint before they show up or make their social media accounts private. Some people considered but not selected for Trump’s jury had things on their social media that looked problematic. Some had shared inflammatory posts, including a meme showing Trump beheaded. In each case, the person was brought into the courtroom alone to confirm the posts indeed appeared or originated on their account — and, in one case, the account of a spouse. They were asked again about their feelings about Trump and whether they could act impartially. A bookseller who’d previously declined to share his feelings about the former president admitted holding a “highly unfavorable overall impression” of him after being confronted by a series of Facebook posts, including a video mocking Trump. In that case, the judge agreed with Trump’s attorneys that the prospective juror should be dismissed with cause. But in other instances, Judge Juan M. Merchan said the posts did not rise to that level, forcing Trump’s attorneys to use their limited number of strikes to have the prospective jurors removed. “The question is not whether someone agrees with your client politically or not, the question is whether or not they can be fair and impartial,” Merchan told Trump’s attorneys. The process led Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s presidential race, to say in a Truth Social post Wednesday that he thought strikes were supposed to be unlimited, not capped at 10, “as the Witch Hunt continues! ELECTION INTERFERENCE!” Among six people struck by the Manhattan district attorney’s office was a prosecutor who works for the district attorney in the Bronx and a man who works in real estate and said he read Trump’s book, “The Art of the Deal.” Perhaps the most memorable was a former corrections officer who said he may have once served on a jury for a case involving Trump and Merv Griffin. He was dismissed by prosecutors after acknowledging that he appreciated Trump’s style of humor. That man had also expressed reservations about Trump, noting that he’d known relatives of the wrongly accused teenagers in the Central Park Five case — a group that Trump famously said should face the death penalty. Sabrina Shroff, a criminal defense attorney, said she considers the jury selection process one of the “most stressful and fun” parts of any trial. “It’s like setting up a blind date with 12 people and you’re hoping that the blind date is at least a friendship at the end. It’s such a roll of the dice,” she said. Shroff said she goes by her gut when choosing jurors. Scrutinizing social media profiles, she said, can be challenging because what people put online “isn’t who they are.” “Maybe their affiliations are telling,” she said. “You’re still guessing. We make the wrong call all the time. Sometimes, you really think the juror was pulling for you and then you find he was leading the charge to convict.” Shroff added: “You’re always worried you have it wrong. You’ve misread the scowl or the smile. Maybe they aren’t smiling at you; just thinking about a movie they saw and liked.”