TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Polk County Teen Must Stay Mum On Video Beating

ADVERTISEMENT

By BILLY TOWNSEND

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

BARTOW - Mercades Nichols will have to wait for trial to tell her version of what happened to Victoria Lindsay in the now infamous Lakeland video beating.

In a ruling Tuesday, Polk Circuit Judge Keith Spoto refused to allow Nichols, 17, to travel or to talk to reporters about the attack. Nichols' attorney, James Holz, had filed a motion asking Spoto to ease restrictions on her and suggesting Nichols might issue an apology.

Under media questioning outside the hearing, Holz later said he made reference to a possible apology for strategic reasons.

He said the larger concern was Nichols' basic right to defend herself publicly against public comment from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and from Lindsay, who is represented by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.

Nichols is one of six teens accused of beating Lindsay on March 30 and recording the attack so it could be posted online. All of them, plus two teens accused of acting as lookouts, face kidnapping and misdemeanor battery charges.

Several of the teens had engaged in online and text trash talk with Lindsay, police say, which culminated in the beating. All eight teens will be back in court July 8 for a pretrial hearing.

Holz said his client has been portrayed unfairly as an instigator and key player in the attack. He said the beating videos and other evidence suggest she never struck Lindsay. Holz said evidence also shows Nichols did not lure Lindsay to the house on Calendar Court in Lakeland where the attack is said to have occurred.

The home belongs to Nichols' grandmother, and Lindsay had been staying there because of family trouble, police have said.

The kidnapping charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Holz said that is grossly out of proportion considering the injuries Lindsay suffered.

"Why is my client facing life in prison when the victim got two black eyes?" Holz said.

Some police and news reports have stated Lindsay claims to have been knocked out at one point during the beating and to have suffered some lingering hearing loss. Those reports have never been verified.

Although Spoto spiked Nichols' effort to raise her profile, Holz did win one concession: Spoto lifted the house arrest. That will allow Nichols to attend church and will assist in her home schooling, Holz said.

Nichols testified briefly during Tuesday's hearing, saying she wanted to tell her story and work to get her diploma.

Outside the courtroom, she looked on silently as Holz and her mother, Christina Garcia, held an impromptu news conference.

Garcia criticized the ruling as unfair: "I'm not happy with this decision." She said Nichols had hoped to speak with local media.

Garcia also jousted with reporters, scolding one cameraman for jostling Nichols as he tried to film what was going on.

"Don't touch my daughter," she said to the apologetic cameraman. And she seemed genuinely surprised when another reporter asked her name.

"You don't know my name?" she said.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT