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Bondi 'Loves Being Prosecutor'

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

Updated: 10/06/2007 11:56 pm

TAMPA - Pam Bondi spends much of her time speaking for law enforcement in Hillsborough County, a role she has turned into a national platform as a legal affairs commentator on news talk shows.

This month, a different kind of spotlight is shining on the 41-year-old assistant state attorney. Bondi is back in the trenches as a prosecutor on a case that's drawing its own national attention: the boot camp death last October of teenager Martin Lee Anderson.

'Once they see how articulate she is, how knowledgeable she is, the news stations compete for her presence,' said Bondi's boss, Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober, whose office was appointed by the governor to take the Panama City, Fla., case.

'She's walked the walk. She's somebody who's been in the courtroom, who knows the business.'

As a prosecutor for 16 years, Bondi provides a law enforcement perspective on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, through shows such as 'Hannity & Colmes,' 'Scarborough Country' and 'On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.'

Last week, she delivered the opening statement in the trial of seven drill instructors and a nurse charged in Anderson's death at a Panhandle boot camp for juvenile offenders. Bondi is one of three Hillsborough prosecutors trying the case.

Her partners are Mike Sinacore, a Duke University graduate with extensive trial skills who was an assistant public defender before becoming a prosecutor, and Scott Harman, a veteran in the major crimes division who is practiced at trying homicide cases.

All three volunteered to take the case, Ober said.

Her Specialty: The Notorious

The state attorney considers Bondi one of his top trial lawyers. She prosecutes cases that generate a good deal of public attention - typically, one homicide case a year as well as other violent felony cases.

Bondi put Adam Davis on death row for the 1998 murder of Vicki Robinson and argued to send Dwight Gooden to jail last year after he was arrested for violating his probation because of drug charges. She also persuaded the court to hand down a life sentence three years ago to Melvin Givens in the stabbing death of WFLA, News Channel 8, producer Danielle Cipriani.

Bondi, Ober said, 'has never shied away from anything. She's not afraid of anything. ... Many times, people are fooled when they first meet her. But, she's a tigress in the courtroom. She's not afraid of anything.'

Bondi, born and raised in Hillsborough County and the daughter of a former Temple Terrace mayor, couldn't break away to speak with a reporter for this story, Ober said. So he did the talking for the attorney, who usually does the talking for him.

'People don't appreciate the great strain of a trial like this, the preparation, the national spotlight and the living away from home,' Ober said. His lawyers in the Panhandle are 'living out of a suitcase.'

Bondi is a key player in the prosecutor's office beyond the courtroom and TV studio, Ober said.

She travels to Tallahassee on a regular basis to fight the release of convicted murderers who come up for parole. She also serves on an executive committee for the state attorney's office panel that Ober likens to his board of directors.

The six-member committee, which meets once a week, discusses budget, personnel and other office issues. Bondi also serves on the office's homicide committee, which meets regularly on charges and strategies in death penalty cases.

Reputation Has Grown

Ober said a visiting state attorney once cornered him in his office. 'We were having a conversation. He knew Pam and what an asset she was to my office,' Ober said. 'He said, 'I'll trade you two very seasoned prosecutors for Pam Bondi.' I chuckled and I told him, 'Pam has a no-trade clause in her contract.''

Still, she trades on the work of the office in building a reputation that transcends it. Bondi has discussed such high-profile defendants as Debra Lafave, the Tampa school teacher who had sex with a 14-year-old student, and John Evander Couey, a child killer from a neighboring district whose case sparked a national debate on sex offenders.

Bondi also provides expert TV commentary on out-of-state issues, such as the false allegations of rape involving the Duke University lacrosse team and the JonBenet Ramsey homicide in Colorado. She doesn't get paid for any of this, Ober said.

Hurricane Katrina Refugee

Bondi found herself in the middle of a news story recently when she adopted a Louisiana St. Bernard that was lost after Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans two years ago. The dog was found and shipped to a shelter in Pinellas County, where Bondi found him, adopted him and named him Noah.

Then the former owners showed up saying they wanted the dog back. Bondi ended up settling with the family, shipping the dog back but retaining 'visitation rights.'

Well-known Tampa defense lawyer Barry Cohen represented Bondi in her legal battle to keep the dog. Cohen is constantly crossing swords with local prosecutors, being on the other side of the legal fence, but he said he has nothing but admiration for Bondi.

'I think Pam is fiercely loyal to the people she works with,' Cohen said, 'and she's got an innate sense of fairness about her.'

From what he saw of her in the dog case, Cohen said, 'she's a very sensitive and loving lady. When she saw Noah on TV and he had just come back from Louisiana, she went out and sat on a cement floor and, when he was filthy dirty from that hurricane, hugged him and kissed him and let him drool all over her.'

He has never faced off in court against Bondi, but if he did, Cohen said, 'I'd run away.'

Ober said he expects Bondi will remain a prosecutor, and continue scaring defense attorneys, despite the lure of private practice with its higher pay and lower caseload.

'She loves being prosecutor,' Ober said. 'She loves this office and I believe she's found her niche in life.'

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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