ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — New documents show juror 370 of the Bessman Okafor resentencing trial is Kayla Maria De Pena, and she now has a court date set for Nov. 9.
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The state is asking the court to find De Pena in violation of indirect criminal contempt of court and direct contempt for lying to the court because she waited through nearly three days of the trial before bringing the issue up to the judge.
“Based upon the reports that have come out,” said Former Judge Belvin Perry. “She basically has no defense.”
Perry said he’s never seen anything like it. The judge declared a mistrial.
The state is asking the judge to sentence De Pena jailtime for the contempt charges, order her to pay costs incurred by the state and defense during the proceedings, and grant any relief the court deems just and equitable. Those costs could be hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on what the judge decides to add on. That is considering lawyer fees, court deputies, expert witnesses and even flight hotels. Although, Perry has doubts the likelihood of that fee actually going through
“I know of no statutory basis to assess those particular costs in view to administer,” said Perry. “The question is whether or not the judge is going to use incarceration as a tool.”
Read: Juror set to face contempt charges, cover court costs for Okafor mistrial
The judge also filed an order to interview the other jurors involved in the case, stating it’s part of the criminal investigation relating to juror misconduct.
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