TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Experience Isn't Issue For 6th Circuit Hopefuls

ADVERTISEMENT

By TODD LESKANIC

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

The race to replace outgoing Circuit Judge Marion Fleming has shaped up to be one of the more interesting local electoral contests.

The three candidates have nearly 70 years of collective legal experience, have tried hundreds of cases and, along the way, have earned the respect of the circuit's legal community.

•Violet Assaid, 51, has worked in the 6th Judicial Circuit's public defender's office since 1988.

•Mary Handsel, 44, has been a prosecutor in the Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office since 1990.

•Bruce Howie, 55, has 30 years of legal experience and his own practice doing criminal defense and appellate work.

With so much experience to choose from, the question before voters isn't so much who is qualified to be a judge but more about background and demeanor. All three candidates have pledged to be fair, interpret the law accurately and move cases through the system without trampling the rights of those involved.

The difference is in what they have done.

Violet Assaid

Assaid has made her name looking out for the rights of mentally ill criminal defendants. She has been the director of the public defender's mental health division since 1999 and has become a resource for lawyers looking for knowledge in the area.

It was in that capacity that she became involved in the 2006-07 lawsuit against the Florida Department of Children & Families about the agency's handling of mentally ill defendants. In that case, she obtained a contempt order against Lucy Hadi, then-secretary of the agency.

Assaid said her experience fighting for the rights of mentally ill defendants has broadened her knowledge of the law, making her a strong candidate for judge.

"This was an area no one spent much time litigating but was very, very worthy of litigation, if you ask me," she said. "There was no map, no rules, and I had to go in there and learn it myself. I had to draw from different areas of law - mental health, the public sector, civil law, Baker Act, administrative law - put them together and figure out how to best serve my clients."

Assaid said her job as a defense attorney is not to fight for the release of the guilty but to keep the adversarial system fair, and that's what she would do as a judge.

"What I am personally committed to is the fight," she said. "There should be an equal playing field. One side should not win just because they have more money or more power."
Mary Handsel
Handsel has risen to prominence prosecuting criminals, first in Clearwater and, more recently, in New Port Richey. She has tried more than 140 cases and been involved in prosecuting 20 murder cases.

In 1997, she tried and convicted Michael Ritter for the murder of 20-month-old Alyssa Forcella, a disabled child who was shaken to death. A judge sentenced Ritter to life in prison although the jury recommended death.

More recently, Handsel has led the prosecution of neo-Nazis Brian "Zero" Buckley and John Allen Ditullio. Buckley, the leader of a local white supremacist group, was convicted of felony burglary in 2006 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ditullio, a member of the group, is charged with first-degree murder in a separate incident and faces the death penalty if found guilty.

Those expecting a judge who would be sympathetic to prosecutors, though, might be disappointed if Handsel is elected.

As part of her job, Handsel reviews hundreds of cases a week, deciding who deserves to be charged. What the public rarely hears about are the many cases in which prosecutors elect not to file charges, she said.

In addition to being fair, she said a judge needs to treat everyone who comes to court with respect.

"People go to court maybe twice in their life, and if you don't treat them a certain way, that undermines the court system," Handsel said. "I think that's the biggest thing about judges - the way they treat the public, the jurors, the witnesses, the victims, the lawyers. That really decides what people believe about how their courts are running."

Bruce Howie

Howie, who has a reputation as a thoughtful and scholarly lawyer, has the longest and most varied experience of the three candidates. He started his legal career in 1978 as an assistant in the public defender's office but went into private practice eight years later.

He has represented more than 2,500 clients in many types of litigation, including criminal, contract, tort, commercial real estate, civil rights and workers' compensation cases. He also has mediated dozens of civil cases and served as the sole or lead attorney in more than 120 criminal and civil jury trials in state and federal courts.

Howie made headlines in 2005 when he successfully defended Ghassan Zayed Ballut, who was accused of heading a Chicago terrorist cell and was tried along with former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. In January, Howie was appointed to defend Ahmed Mohamed, one of two former USF students arrested in South Carolina last year on explosives and terrorist-related charges.

But Howie said it's his experience handling appeals in Florida and federal courts that makes him the most desirable candidate for the bench.

"I have far more appellate experience" than my opponents, he said. "I think that's important because circuit court judges are unique in that they are the only judges that handle both trials and appeals. They also tend to be the judges most likely to be appealed."

VIOLET ASSAID

AGE: 51

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Eckerd College, 1979; Stetson University College of Law, 1988

FAMILY: Single, no children

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Assistant public defender, Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office, 1988 to present

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None

WEB SITE: www.voteviolet .com
MARY HANDSEL
AGE: 44

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Florida State University, 1986; Stetson University College of Law, 1990

FAMILY: Married, two children

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Prosecutor, Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, 1990 to present

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None

WEB SITE: www.maryh4judge.org

BRUCE HOWIE

AGE: 55

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, Harvard College, 1975; Boston University School of Law, 1978

FAMILY: Married, no children

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Runs his own firm with emphasis on criminal trial law, appeals and post-conviction relief; partner with Piper, Ludin, Howie & Werner, P.A., 1993-2006; associate with Battaglia, Ross, Dicus & Wein, P.A., 1988-93; associate of Joseph P. Donahey, 1985-88; assistant public defender, Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office, 1978-85

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None

WEB SITE: www.brucehowie .com

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (727) 815-1084 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT