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Ex-Lawyer Jailed After Contempt Finding

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By TODD LESKANIC

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Former lawyer Jessica Miller was sent to jail Monday after a judge found her in contempt of court for failing to appear at a hearing last year.

Instead of attending the Dec. 20 hearing before Circuit Judge Shawn Crane, Miller and her husband left for a vacation to Maryland the day before. Crane, who presided over Monday's hearing, didn't take kindly to Miller's disregard for his order.

"This was an order to show cause issued against a lawyer, a lawyer who is well-versed in contempt proceedings, who had practiced in front of this court in family law and was aware of what those entailed," Crane said in announcing his ruling.

Miller, 30, will remain in custody until her July 8 sentencing. She faces as much as six months in jail but will receive credit for the time she spends in jail awaiting sentencing, Assistant State Attorney Mary Handsel said.

Miller's attorney, Steve Bartlett, said he disagreed with the penalty and cited a state law that says the maximum penalty for failing to appear for a summons is a $100 fine. Bartlett said he plans to appeal to the 2nd District Court of Appeal for his client's immediate release.

The daylong contempt hearing was the latest chapter in a saga that has cost Miller her law license. Miller surrendered her license this year after the Florida Bar began several investigations into her handling of client money.

A missing $28,000 touched off the Bar inquiries, an ongoing criminal investigation and led to Miller's appearance in court. The money came into Miller's trust account after a divorcing couple sold their home. Miller represented the husband.

At a hearing Nov. 27, Miller promised a judge she would turn over the $28,000 within a week. After she failed to do so, she was ordered to explain why at the Dec. 20 hearing. Miller left town instead, and a warrant for her arrest was issued. Miller turned herself in Dec. 28 and posted bail the same day.

She pleaded ignorance when she took the stand Monday, saying that Kristen Collins, her former paralegal, accountant and office manager, had sole control of the firm's finances. Miller said Collins would have been responsible for transferring the $28,000, and she assumed the transfer had been made.

Miller said she called Collins when she learned the money hadn't been turned over and that Collins had told her the missing money was the result of a mix-up at the bank. When she was ordered to appear in court to explain why she hadn't transferred the money, Miller said Collins told her she already had found an attorney to appear for her and that she didn't need to be at the hearing.

Miller had left the state when she learned a warrant for her arrest had been issued. According to testimony, Miller said she would take care of it when she returned.

Monday, she said she would have gone to court that day had she known she had to be there.

"If I would have known everything about what Kristen was into, she would have been out of there," Miller said from the stand. "I trusted her. I never ever meant to hurt anybody. I've hurt clients, the court system. I've hurt my family. I don't know what to say."

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

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