Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 2-27-18

Features
State Attorney Responds To Community Concerns
ROSITA HOWELL HOWELL DONALDSON, III
DONALDSON DONALDSON, JR. ... Charged with 4 counts of first-degree murder
ANDREW WARREN Hillsborough County State Attorney
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Early last week, Rosita and Howell Donaldson, Jr., were in Court. This time to ensure that their GPS monitors had been placed on them.
Last Friday, Judge Mark Wolfe, placed them both on house arrest for contempt of court. They both have refused to re- spond to a subpoena from the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office.
Howell and Rosita Donaldson, Jr., are the parents of Howell Don- aldson, III, who is accused of killing four people in Seminole Heights last year. He is facing the death
penalty.
The house arrest will re-
main in effect until August 14th, but it can be lifted at any time if the couple de- cides to cooperate.
Attorney Andrew Warren
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren spoke with the Sentinel about concerns pertaining to the case.
“I know that there are concerns in the community and I understand the con- cerns. I am trying to be as transparent as much as I can in this case. There has been some talk that the par- ents are being singled out. We are not trying to punish the parents. We could have brought criminal charges against them, but we didn’t.
“All we are trying to do is to avoid having any new in- formation being introduced at trial.”
Attorney Warren said in every case the witnesses are subpoenaed and this case is no different. He said Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson are not being treated any differently. In fact, he said, the State has narrowed the scope of questions they want
to ask them.
“It is very unusual when
people don’t comply after the judge has ruled for them to answer the subpoena. The subpoena requires wit- nesses to meet with the de- fense or the state in any case.”
He further said that the State does not believe the Donaldsons are involved in any cover-up.
“I have a responsibility to the families of the victims and to protect our commu- nity to prosecute this case and I’m going to hold the defendant accountable, I’m not trying to punish his par- ents.
“I have sat with the fam- ilies of these victims, I have prayed with them, and I have cried with them. This is not about race. That is base- less and offensive to me. This is about my duty to the victims and their families,” Attorney Warren said.
He further said, “We em- pathize tremendously with Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson for their extremely difficult situation. We are not look- ing for Mr. and Mrs. Don- aldson to incriminate their son. We hope that the sanc- tions imposed by the court will persuade the parents to comply with their legal duty to provide truthful informa- tion.”
Attorney Warren said the contempt of court is a civil order and did not result in a criminal charge against them. His recommendation for punishment did not in- clude a criminal charge or jail.
Howell Donaldson, III is charged with killing Benjamin Mitchell, 22; Ms. Monica Hoffa, 32; Anthony Naiboa, 20; and 60-year-old Ronald Fel- ton during a killing spree that held the city captive for 51 days.
Donaldson, III, 24, was arrested on November 28th and charged with four- counts of first-degree mur- der.
Law School To Discuss Restoration Of Felon Rights
The Black Law Students Association, Western Michi- gan University, Cooley Law School, Tampa Campus and American Civil Liberties Union will host a discussion in recognition of Black His- tory Month. The event will take place on Thursday, March 1st.
The topic of the discus- sion is the “Restoration of Rights, Then And Now.”
The event will take place in the Auditorium at WMU- Cooley Law School, Tampa Bay Campus,9445 Camden Field Parkway, Riverview, FL 33578.
The event will include panelists Brendan Beery, Professor, WMU-Cooley Law School Professor; Je- remy McLymont, Attor- ney General, National Black
BRENDAN BERRY Professor, WMU-Cooley Law School Professor
Law Students Association;
Dr. K. Stephen Prince,
Professor and Historian, University of South Florida; and Attorney Antina Mobley, Public Defender’s Office, 13th Judicial Circuit.
The discussion will take place from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m.
JEREMY McLYMONT Attorney General, National Black Law Students Association
Under the Florida Con- stitution, a convicted felon cannot vote, serve on a jury or hold public office until his or her civil rights have been restored. National Black Law Students Association Director of Community Service and Tampa Bay President K. Gennelle
DR. K. STEPHEN PRINCE Professor and Historian, USF
Chatman said the State of Florida is notoriously tight fisted when it comes to restoration of felon’s rights.
“The event aims to dis- cuss what implications this has on communities and persons of color,” she said.
“Restoration of
Rights: Then and Now”
will include a viewing of the acclaimed documentary titled, “13th,” which chron- icles the struggles of Black men and women following the passage of the 13th Amendment, beginning at 4 p.m.
In the film, Director Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequal- ity in the United States, fo- cusing on how the nation’s prisons are disproportion- ately filled with African Americans.
Following the 4-6 p.m. documentary, dinner will be held. A panel discussion re- garding restoration of felon rights in Florida and beyond will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Anyone wishing to at- tend is asked to RSVP online at: http://bit.ly/2EF24KZ.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3