Porter's Situation Unique
Published: Nov 8, 2005
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TAMPA - -- Although the sentence of house arrest for Jennifer Porter ignited local outrage, a survey of other Florida hit-and-run cases shows that defendants in similar situations also have avoided prison.
Still others were locked up for their crimes.
Porter's case, however, is markedly different from any of them.
On Saturday, the former Muller Elementary School dance teacher received two years of house arrest and three years of probation, to be served consecutively, for leaving the scene of an accident involving death. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Porter could have served up to three years in prison.
Out of scores of phone calls and e-mailmessages to The Tampa Tribune, the majority said Porter got off light.
A search of media reports turned up about a half-dozen cases where defendants entered plea agreements for the same charge. Details in each were unique.
In 1996, The Miami Herald reported on the five-year probation sentence of William Dandy, a popular educator with a school named for him. Dandy struck and killed a woman, then fled.
In Dandy's case, the judge pointed out that Dandy was 69 years old, diabetic and a community leader. Porter, although also an educator, is 29 years old and was relatively unknown before the crash.
The Orlando Sentinel described a plea deal for Robert Krebs, who fled after he was struck by a motorcyclist, who died. Krebs received 60 days in jail and five years of probation, to be served consecutively. Some criticized the sentence, saying Krebs got a break because he was a police informant.
A Brooksville man received five years in prison for leaving a scene, but he had been on probation when the accident occurred.
In a Fort Lauderdale case, a man received two years in prison for fleeing, but he was found with an illegal machine gun.
On Monday, Judge Lamar Battles declined to comment on Porter's sentence. Judges are prohibited from discussing ongoing cases. He said he has to assume more motions will be filed, and he deferred to a statement he made at the sentencing.
Battles had pointed out that Porter was charged with leaving, not with killing the children. He said he believed psychiatrists who said Porter was emotionally devastated by the accident and was not lucid.
Charles Rose, a professor at Stetson University College of Law, said the sentence was just from a legal perspective. Florida law allows a reduced sentence if the defendant's mental capacity is diminished.
"The disconnect comes in our minds when we see her leaving the scene of the accident where two children died," he said. "The problem with this one is everyone is outraged morally, but you don't always have a legal recourse for moral outrage."
