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Deadbeat Dad Might Deserve Break, Defense Lawyer Says

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By MARK  DOUGLAS | News Channel 8

Published: March 25, 2009

David W. Earley

The new defense lawyer for David Earley, who owes more than $377,000 in child support to his ex-wife and four children, says Earley might deserve a break because of mental illness or drug addiction.

Defense attorney Scott Andringa wants experts to evaluate Earley before a judge passes judgment on Earley's 19-year history of failing to pay child support.

Last month, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada told Earley he would send him to prison for three years if Earley agreed to plead guilty.

Prosecutors want Earley to spend five years behind bars for violating his probation by becoming a fugitive and failing to pay child support.

Even after serving time he would still owe a fortune in child support that keeps growing with interest.
Andringa is Earley's third defense lawyer since his arrest in January, and he took over the case just days ago.

After Judge Quesada granted Andringa's request for a delay in the case at today's hearing, Earley's ex-wife, Sharon Earley, told a reporter that this is the first time in 19 years of child support litigation that anyone has raised a question about possible mental illness.

Sharon Earley has stated on a number of prior occasions, including court testimony last month, that her former husband has a cocaine addiction and suggests that's where he spends money that should be supporting his four children, three of whom are now adults.

Earley's case reached prominence in January after a news crew from WFLA found him loitering around his current wife's hair salon in New Port Richey.

Earley was a fugitive at the time and bragged that even if law enforcement caught up with him, his trip to jail would amount to a simple "walk through."

It didn't work out that way.

After WFLA broadcast a story about Earley, Pasco deputies spent two weeks hunting him down and arrested him Jan. 19. They returned him to Pinellas County to face a judge.

He's been in jail ever since.

Judge Quesada set a pretrial date for May 4th at 9:30 p.m. to hear whether experts say mental illness or drug problems should change his intention to send Earley to prison for being a deadbeat dad.

Reporter Mark Douglas can be reached at mdouglas@wfla.com.

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