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High Bail Set In Beating Case

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By BILLY TOWNSEND

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 12, 2008

BARTOW - A beating recorded for posting on the Internet was "egregious and prolonged," a judge said Friday in setting double the normal bail for the eight teens accused in the attack.

Judge Angela Cowden set bail at $30,000 to $37,000 after prosecutors Thursday decided to try the teenagers as adults on charges that include kidnapping and misdemeanor battery.

If convicted, the teens - one of them only 14 - could be sentenced to life in prison.

The beating was videotaped for posting on the MySpace and YouTube social-networking sites, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Sunday. It was meant as retaliation for trash-talking online by the beating victim, 16-year-old Victoria Lindsay, he said.

Cowden limited the eight teenagers' movements as a condition of their release on bail. They are prohibited from:

•Contacting one another, the victim or the victim's family.

•Visiting Mulberry High School or any school-related functions.

•Visiting MySpace or any other social-networking site, chat room or forum on the Internet.

•Visiting the Wing House restaurant in Lakeland, where Lindsay has worked as a hostess for the past month.

Cindy Sarcen, Wing House general counsel, said from the company's Pinellas County headquarters that Wing House will comply with the judge's order and is considering whether additional security will be required.

"The Wing House does not condone any of these actions," Sarcen said. "We think they are horrible, especially in light of the fact that our organization's charitable efforts focuses on helping women and children in need.

"Our primary concern is for our employee and her safety. We will do whatever we can to support Tori and do whatever we can do to see that she gets back to work."

Thursday, a spokesman for YouTube said the company is removing copies of the beating video from the Web site as well as any videos that provide personal information about anyone connected to the case.

The sheriff's office made the arrests Sunday and released a three-minute clip of the video Monday.

All eight teens face kidnapping charges. The six girls are accused of taking turns beating Lindsay at a Lakewood home on the night of March 30. Three of the girls also face charges of witness tampering: Brittni Hardcastle, Brittany Mayes and Mercades Nichols, all 17. They are accused of driving Lindsay around after the incident and threatening to beat her again if she talked to law enforcement.

The other three girls are April Cooper, 14; Kayla Hassell, 15; and Cara Murphy, 16.

Stephen Schumaker, 18, and Zachary Ashley, 17, are accused of acting as lookouts.

Four of the defendants were seen leaving the jail Friday evening between 6 and 8:30. One was Hardcastle, but the others could not be identified. Bail information for the teens was not available on the Polk County Jail's Web site. Sheriff's spokesman Scott Wilder would not say which of the defendants made bail, citing a gag order by the court.

Some of the defendants attended Mulberry High, said Polk school board attorney Wes Bridges, but he wouldn't say who because of privacy restrictions.

Bridges said the school district has fielded many calls from across the country demanding to know what school officials will do about the teens in the video.

The district did not seek the judge's order to have the teens barred from Mulberry High and its functions, "but it's not something we object to," Bridges said.

The district is following the lead of law enforcement authorities in dealing with the case, he said.

Since their arrests, the teens who were students have been withdrawn from their schools, Bridges said.

The responsibility for their education has been turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice, he said.

News Channel 8 reporter Natalie Shepherd and Editor Howard Altman contributed to this report. Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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