TBO.com News

Home Isn't Sweet If You're Doing A Sentence

By THOMAS W. KRAUSE tkrause@tampatrib.com

Published: Dec 5, 2005

TAMPA - -- Many who followed the legal cases of Jennifer Porter and Debra Lafave -- two local teachers charged with separate felonies -- felt the two caught lucky breaks when they were sentenced to house arrest.

It's not much of a break, though, for many of the offenders who receive this alternative punishment. The Florida Department of Corrections reports that nearly a third of them will have their house arrest revoked.Often, that means prison.

"I always caution people that you're going home, but you're not at home," defense lawyer Patrick Courtney said. "You're in jail. You're just doing it from your house."

House arrest, called community control in legal circles, first was used in Florida in 1983 as a way to divert first-time offenders from crowded state prisons. Although the sentence is common for local drug offenders and other nonviolent criminals, many of the cases never make the front page or the evening news.

In November, however, two of the most publicized cases in Hillsborough County ended in house arrests.

Porter, a 29-year-old former Muller Elementary School dance teacher, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident where two children died. In the plea agreement, the judge was given discretion to sentence Porter to up to three years in prison. On Nov. 4, she was given two years of house arrest, followed by three years of probation.

Eighteen days later, Lafave, an English teacher at Greco Middle School, pleaded guilty to committing lewd and lascivious acts by having sex with a 14-year-old student. Under the terms of her deal, 25-year-old Lafave received three years of house arrest and seven years of probation.

Over the next few years, both women will have to endure rigorous schedules and frequent random visits by probation officers, said Courtney, who does not represent either.

'Put Your Bed Next To The Door'

Many offenders cannot handle the routine.

Courtney said he had one client, convicted of a sex offense, who served his house arrest from a small building behind his parents' house. A probation officer came by one night while the young man was using the restroom in his parents' house. She knocked on his door, and no one answered. She did not knock on his parents' door.

A judge ordered the man to wear an electronic monitor for the remainder of his house arrest.

Others haven't been as lucky.

A woman Courtney represented, on house arrest for causing serious bodily injury while driving under the influence, fell asleep on her couch, Courtney said. She didn't hear her probation officer knock in the middle of the night.

The woman is serving five years in prison, Courtney said.

"I've told some clients, 'If you sleep hard, put your bed next to the door,' " he said. "If they knock and you don't answer, they're going to come get you the next day."

Several clients have completed house arrest with no violations, Courtney said.

State officials agree that house arrest is not an easy sentence.

"Your house is technically your prison, except for a few approved exceptions," said John Edwards, regional director for Probation and Parole Services.

Those on house arrest can go to the grocery store, they can attend church services, they can work or go to school and they can attend treatment programs. Other than those exceptions, or unforeseen emergencies, the offenders must remain at home.

Working With The Officer

Every week, Edwards said, the offender must meet with a probation officer to write up the next week's schedule. The probation officer needs to know when the offender will go to the grocery store, how long he or she needs to shop and when he or she will return home.

At least once during the week, the probation officer will show up at the person's home at random. Usually, the officer appears more often. The probation officer can show up in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning.

"We don't want to tell them when we come over," Edwards said. "Those officers, actually, have a seven-day week to work 40 hours. They are encouraged to stagger those hours to keep from forming a pattern."

In the month of November alone, 48 of the 734 offenders serving house arrest in Hillsborough County have violated the terms of their house arrest, according to the department of corrections. Statewide, 690 of the 7,368 Florida residents serving house arrest have violated. Over a year, the number of violations grows significantly.

After the violation is reported, a judge can ignore it, order an electronic monitor or sentence the offender to prison.

According to probation records, Porter must meet with her probation officer weekly if she has a job. If unemployed, she must meet with the officer daily. Porter also must keep a log with an hourly accounting of her activities.

Lafave's court records list the conditions of sex-offender house arrest. For example: she cannot live within 1,000 feet of a school, she can have no contact with children, she must keep a driving log and she must submit to annual polygraph tests. Special conditions might be imposed if recommended by a probation officer.

Porter's attorney, Barry Cohen, declined to comment.

John Fitzgibbons, Lafave's attorney, said his main worry is that someone might try to make a name for himself by falsely accusing Lafave of an inappropriate act.

Other than that, Fitzgibbons said, he thinks Lafave will handle house arrest well. Of course, he said, with any system that includes a long list of rules, staying within the guidelines will be difficult.

"Sometimes, it's like a building inspector," Fitzgibbons said. "If you look hard enough, you can find a violation or two."