TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

'Dr. Phil' Staff Erred In Helping With Beating Suspect's Bail, Show Says

News Channel 8 image by CHRIS COYNER

An unidentifed man claiming to be a producer for the Dr. Phil show leads the family of Mercades Nichols, 17, away from news reporters.

ADVERTISEMENT

By BILLY TOWNSEND

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 13, 2008

Updated: 04/13/2008 10:53 am

BARTOW - The Polk County video beating case may have passed through its "Dr. Phil" phase.

Staff members from the television psychologist's show helped post bail Friday night for Mercades Nichols, one of the teens accused in the high-profile attack on a 16-year-old Mulberry High School student.

Saturday, though, another representative of the show said the staff members had made a mistake and were being reprimanded for overstepping the show's rules.

"We have helped guests and potential guests in the past when they need financial assistance to come on the show," Louis DiCenzo, manager of communications for "Dr. Phil," wrote in an e-mail to a reporter.

"In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines re: the bail being paid. These staff members have been reprimanded and our policies reiterated," DiCenzo said. "In addition, we have decided not to go forward with the story as our guidelines have been compromised."

A producer for the show told a News Channel 8 reporter Friday night that Nichols' mother had signed an exclusivity agreement with the show and would no longer be commenting to other media.

Messages left for Nichols, her grandmother, Mary Nichols, and her mother, Christina Garcia, were not returned.

Six of the eight teens charged in the beating posted bail as of midday Saturday.

Nichols, April Cooper, Cara Murphy, Kayla Hassell, Brittni Hardcastle and Zachary Ashley all posted bail Friday between 7 and 10 p.m., according to the Polk County jail.

Stephen Thomas Schumaker and Brittany Mayes remained in the Polk County jail as of 5 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

Bail ranging from $30,000 to $37,000 was set Friday for all suspects, who range in age from 14 to 18. The amounts were more than double the standard for the charges the teens face: kidnapping, misdemeanor battery and tampering with a witness. Each is charged with the first two crimes, but three also were charged with tampering. The teens are accused of beating 16-year-old Victoria Lindsay on March 30 at the home of one of their grandparents, where Lindsay had been staying.

The case has become a sensation, in part because the suspects filmed the attack to post on the Web sites YouTube and MySpace, the Polk sheriff's office has said.

As a condition of their release, all suspects are barred from using Internet social network sites or opinion forums. They are confined to their homes and must stay away from one another and Lindsay.

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

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT