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Bollea's Attorneys Cite Jailed Minor's Seclusion, Seek Fix

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office

Nick Bollea's booking photo from May 9.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 2, 2008

Updated: 06/02/2008 05:43 pm

CLEARWATER – Likening their client's situation to that of a troublesome inmate kept in solitary confinement, Nick Bollea's attorneys have filed court papers asking a circuit judge to let the 17-year-old go home until he is old enough to serve the remainder of his sentence with other inmates at Pinellas County Jail.

On May 9, Bollea pleaded no contest to reckless driving involving serious bodily injury in an Aug. 26 car wreck that left his sole passenger, Iraq war veteran John Graziano, with brain damage. Bollea subsequently was sentenced to eight months in jail.

Bollea was prosecuted as an adult, but Pinellas Sheriff Jim Coats, who operates the jail, is keeping him separate from other inmates because Bollea is a juvenile. That means Bollea has been incarcerated in a room by himself. He has complained about the situation to his parents almost from the moment he was secluded in the jail's medical building, according to copies of recorded telephone conversations with his parents that were released to the media by Coats' office.

He has been moved to a different cell. It has a small slot that is opened from the outside to pass through a food tray and a short, thin window through which it is impossible to look, according to a request by Bollea's attorneys to have his accommodations changed. He is alone in the cell, without a television or telephone, 17 hours a day, according to the request, which was filed Friday.

"Understandably, this situation creates an unbearable anxiety for a minor in solitary confinement," wrote the attorneys, Sandy Weinberg and Kevin Hayslett, in their request. "Nick was placed in a cell that is typically reserved for inmates who are disciplinary problems who as punishment need to be kept in isolation in protective custody."

The attorneys want Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico either to allow Bollea to go home with an ankle bracelet monitoring his whereabouts until he turns 18 on July 27, when he can spend the rest of his sentence with other inmates, or to take him out of isolation and place him in a minimum-security pod with other inmates now. They are also open to other alternatives that would remove Bollea from isolation.

The Graziano family is outraged at the notion Bollea be sent home, according to one of the attorneys representing the guardian of John Graziano, who remains at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa.

"We are appalled by any suggestion that his sentence should be minimized and we'll oppose it with every fiber of our being," attorney George Tragos said.

The assistant state attorney who prosecuted Bollea could not be reached for comment.

Nonviolent first offenders such as Bollea who are sentenced to jail typically have a variety of educational and rehabilitative programs available to them, and they are allowed to interact with other inmates like them, but not Bollea, his attorneys argue.

"Nick currently has no access to these programs and is instead kept in solitary confinement as if he is a disciplinary problem," the attorneys wrote. "The current confinement is neither fair nor acceptable and creates a mental and physical health risk to a 17-year-old."

In a telephone conversation Monday, Hayslett suggested Bollea might benefit from a life skills program offered first-offenders that is called Project New Attitude.

"The Pinellas County Jail is apparently not equipped to house a nonviolent first offender who is a juvenile," the lawyers wrote in their motion. "Nick is serving a much harsher sentence than what is contemplated under the law for a 17-year-old nonviolent first offender … as recommended by the Department of Corrections."

Meanwhile, the Department of Juvenile Justice – which declined to house Bollea because he was sentenced as an adult – agreed that his current confinement in maximum security was not appropriate, given the agency's evaluation of him, the nature of his crime, and his not having any prior criminal record, the motion says.

Bollea's isolated status has been exacerbated by the sheriff's decision to release to the media copies of the recorded conversations with his parents, Bollea's lawyers say in the motion.

The media blitz that followed the release to the media of the conversations "has resulted in unspeakable harm to Nicholas Bollea and his family," the attorneys wrote. Then Coats allowed a television crew to videotape Bollea's father, Hulk Hogan, his mother, Linda Bollea, and his sister, Brooke, as they were visiting Nick at the jail's video visitation center last week.

"It is difficult to imagine a more toxic situation for a 17-year-old who finds himself singled out for the harshest of treatment and public ridicule," the motion says. "Such confinement with the additional problem of the release of his phone calls and media intrusion on his parental visits substantively amount to cruel and unusual punishment for a juvenile and is not warranted for a nonviolent first offender."

Bollea's attorneys say they tried to work with Coats on changing Bollea's accommodations at the jail, but to no avail. That is why they are asking Judge Federico to step in.

The judge could grant the attorneys' request, deny it, or set a hearing on the matter. No hearing time was set by late Monday.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 541-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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