It's Time to Fight for Something Worth Fighting For!
SIX-MONTH PREGNANT MOTHER AND WIFE, GIVEN (3) YEAR PRISON TERM BY FLORIDA JUDGE CONTRARY TO ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PROSECUTION, DEFENSE COUNSEL AND PROBATION SERVICES
The cruel and unusual sentence imposed by Judge Stacey D. Glick, appointed in January 2009 to the 11th Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade, will frighten mothers and wives everywhere who possess the instincts to protect their loved ones when perceived danger is evident and shock the consciousness of any advocate struggling for the justice and welfare of children and families.
On February 6, 2010, National Football League (NFL) employee Richard Logue and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Eduardo Escobar approached Nicole Dunson-Bowen as she put her 3-year-old daughter and mother in the car during the 2010 Super Bowl weekend in Miami, Florida. Both men were dressed in plain clothes and did not have any visible identification nor did the men verbally identify themselves to Dunson-Bowen as they reached over her shoulder and began pulling items out of her car while shoving and elbowing her.
Logue, the NFL employee shouted out racial epithets and knocked her to the ground where she sustained injuries (as indicated in Medical Records).
Without knowing the identity of these men, Dunson-Bowen became frightened and assertively questioned the men in an attempt to protect her child, mother, and belongings. This action was later identified in court documents as an “aggressive stance”.
When Nicole got her footing she fled to the driver-side door of her vehicle and drove off. She went one block and saw an officer; she immediately stopped the vehicle and requested help. After Dunson-Bowen explained the situation that took place with the two men, it was initially thought by police to have been a mix-up and miscommunication of sorts, when Dunson-Bowen attempted to press charges on both the NFL employee and ICE agent for their aggressive actions and bodily harm, she was in-turn detained and arrested despite the fact she initiated the complaint with the police.
The two men later said their suspicion of Nicole selling t-shirts justified their conduct.
Nicole was charged with one-count of felony battery against a police officer and a misdemeanor battery against the NFL representative. The case was tried before a jury. The weight of the evidence during the trial was heavy in Dunson-Bowen’s favor. However, over the objection from her public defense attorney, a bicycle cop, Officer Molina, gave the final testimony of the day to jurors against Dunson-Bowen. The defense was not made aware of Molina until the day of trial nor was he even the officer on-duty the day the incident occurred.
However, Molina is the husband of Judge Glick’s judicial assistant.
The jury found Nicole guilty on all counts. During sentencing the prosecutor agreed with the recommendation of Pre-Sentencing Investigation that she should receive “less than 364 days.” The public defender requested probation. However, Judge Stacy Glick imposed a three year prison sentence and two years of community control (house arrest after prison).
The defense asked that a bond be set for Dunson-Bowen so that the pregnant wife and mother of a toddler could be released while the case was appealed. However, Judge Glick said she was a “flight risk and danger to society” and denied the request.
Dunson-Bowen is 6 ½ months pregnant and suffers from placenta previa. Due to complications and the premature birth of her 3-year-old daughter, her current high-risk pregnancy will require a C-section for the delivery of her baby. She has been to the emergency room six times and in outpatient care12 times, and needs daily medical attention.
In the time Dunson-Bowen has been in the Dade County Women’s Detention Center three inmates have miscarried in the sixth month of their pregnancies. Dunson-Bowen is frightened that without the proper medical attention she needs that the loss of her baby will be her fate as well.
Nicole is a graduate of Whitney Young High School in Chicago, Illinois, the alma mater of First Lady Michelle Obama. She is a biology pre-med graduate of Florida A&M University; and she has held positions with the Florida Department of Children and Family Services, Early Learning Coalition and Florida A&M University. She is not a criminal. The officers were not injured during the incident. She is not a danger to herself or society. So if there is NO VICTIM how could there be a crime deserving of a three-year sentence that removes a devoted mother from her family and community, causes suffering and a severe sense of loss to her young child and husband and forcing her to give birth to her second child in a prison?
There have been previous cases when Judge Glick removed herself from court proceedings because the testimony of Officer Molina, posed a conflict due to his marriage to her subordinate. Though requested by the defense, this did not happen in Dunson-Bowen’s case and Glick’s demeanor throughout seemed to be one of displaced loathing for Dunson-Bowen.
In 2009, NFL player Donte Stallworth was sentenced to a 30 day jail term after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter in the death of Mario Reyes, who was struck and killed by Stallworth in Dade County.
So one must ask, why would Judge Glick impose such a harsh sentence on a mother with no prior criminal history and in spite of the recommendation of an independent pre-sentencing investigator and the prosecution?
This is the type of justice that has destroyed the lives of so many African American families. We must demand justice because no person can be free so long as one innocent person is being persecuted. We cannot sit quietly by and let judicial incompetency destroy so many lives.
We must demand the Florida legal system reverse the decision of this judge. If the Lindsey Lohan's, Donte Stallworth’s and Paris Hilton's of the world can get justice, we must demand justice here.
“A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, you must become a part of the solution because this could be you or your loved one.
How Can You Help
(1) Join Our Facebook Group and Invite All Your Friends to Join –
Nicole Dunson Bowen’s Fight for Justice
(2) Go To Website and Donate http://www.nicoledunsonbowen.bbnow.org/
(3) Sign Petitions:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/fb/1/nicole-dunson-bowens-fight-for-freedom/
(4) Write Letters to Nicole Encouraging Her
Women's Dentention Center – W4A3
Nicole Dunson Bowen 10-0057739
1401 NW 7th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136
(5) Forward Press Release to Media Contacts
(6) Write Letters to the Supervising Judge Demanding Justice.
Bertila Soto
Circuit Court Judge – Criminal Division
Associate Administrative Judge
Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building
1351 N.W. 12th Street
Section CF 61 Room 423
Miami, FL 33125
Recent News
2/06/2010 - Nicole was assaulted by an NFL worker and I.C.E agent during Super Bowl weekend on South Beach, Miami
7/19/2010 - Jury Selected & Trial began
7/21/2010 - Found Guilty (Against greater weight of evidence/failed to receive a fair trial)
8/03/2010 - Pre-Sentencing Investigation Issued
9/16/2010 - Sentenced to 3 yrs prison & 2 yrs community control
10/01/2010 - Judge vacated sentence for 9 months for Nicole to have the baby and take "anger management" and come back for re-sentencing at that time.