When Amanda I scheduled ourselves to go to a public meeting, we were not eager to really go. But… when we got there and it began, we were truly surprised at what we were sitting in on. It was a public Nuisance hearing Case NO PNAB2009-2. The hearing was about the Luxury Motel located on 4608 Hillsborough Avenue and the activity that went on at the motel. The lawyer had brought forth evidence of prostitution and drug activity and was trying to get the judge and committee to shut down the property all together.
The property owner Charles Grubbs was arrested on 05/07/08 with charge being that of “Renting space for the purpose of prostitution.” The lawyer had a witness to help his case. On May 7th, 2008 Officer Amy Jones was an undercover cop that posed as a prostitute and Jones’ statement was that she asked Grubbs if she could rent a room for 30 minutes because she had a friend coming through. Grubbs then told Jones that the room was going to be $35 but the Jones said she only had $20. Grubbs agreed and took the money. Then…he got arrested.
The lawyer, the judge, and committee argued for a bit about statue 796.06 and 796.07. The judge, Susan Long, questioned Jones and asked if Grubbs really knew what you wanted the room for. Jones replied, “Yeah, he knew. I was undercover, so if I just came out and said, ‘I am a prostitute and I need a room to go… he would have knew something was up. That’s not how is done out there, he knew.”
The lawyer then said that Grubbs had pleaded guilty to the charges on 05/07. The trial/meeting then moved into the narcotics part and witness Officer Vincent Layto approached the stand. July 27th, 2008 Layto had sold cocaine to Joe Fason Anderson, who was temporarily living at the motel with his girlfriend for an extended period. The lawyer, judge, and committee began to argue again about statues so we had left.
But overall the meeting/trial was very disorganized. The judge and committee seemed to have no idea about this case. They had their own attorney on the panel looking up statues in a large book. And the questions that they were asking to establish Grubbs was just crazy. Grubbs did not show up or anybody to represent him, but yet they were trying to establish character for Grubbs.
I did my own research when I got home and I found:
· Charles Grubbs arrest report
· Article about trial and the Luxury Motel : http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/nov/24/tampa-goes-after-owners-run-down-drug-infested-mot/
· Public Records on Grubbs: http://publicrecord.hillsclerk.com/oridev/criminal_pack.sbn?pcRadio=actual&pcLastName=GRUBBS&pcFirstname=&pcMiddle=&pcBirthYear=1955&pnStart=1&pcCourtType=ALL&submit=Search
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