Bollea Is Transferred From Isolation

CLEARWATER - Nick Bollea was moved Thursday from an isolated cell to another part of the Pinellas County Jail occupied by teenage inmates that includes a television.

The change occurred after Bollea's attorneys spent days trying to persuade Sheriff Jim Coats, who operates the jail, to transfer the 17-year-old son of famed wrestler Hulk Hogan out of a solitary cell they equated with cruel and unusual punishment.

Coats took the position that he had to isolate Bollea from the other inmates at the jail, most of whom are adults. When Bollea was sentenced May 9, there was only one other juvenile at the jail who, like Bollea, was kept in isolation.

Since then, the number of juvenile inmates sentenced as adults apparently has grown. Sheriff's spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said that as of Thursday the jail had four juvenile inmates being treated as adults, including Bollea, so a decision was made to put them in the same pod.

Barreda said she did not know the names of the other juveniles or their charges.

The decision to transfer the inmates, she said, occurred after regular assessments of the inmate population and the opportunity to house together those juveniles who have been sentenced as adults.

She made no reference to the motion Bollea's attorneys filed with Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico. It asked that Bollea be moved to a minimum-security pod with other inmates or that he be sent home until he turns 18 in July, when Coats no longer would have to keep him separated from the adult population.

After Federico denied the request, Sandy Weinberg, one of Bollea's attorneys, said the teen's legal team was contemplating filing a writ of habeas corpus against Coats, perhaps in the 2nd District Court of Appeal. Typically such a move is made to safeguard an individual's freedom against what is perceived to be arbitrary state action.

"It's pretty obvious why they moved him," said Kevin Hayslett, another of Bollea's attorneys. "Whatever the reason is, we're pleased."

Bollea is serving an eight-month jail sentence after pleading no contest in May to a charge of reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. On Aug. 26, Bollea was involved in a car wreck that left his passenger, John Graziano, with severe brain damage.

George Tragos, the attorney for the Graziano family, said Thursday he agreed with Coats' decision to move Bollea.

"We are totally confident the sheriff knows what to do with him," Tragos said. He added that he is pleased Bollea was not released on house arrest and that the Bollea family and their attorneys "want to use any trick they can to get him released."

"We want him to serve his eight months," Tragos said.

Bollea was moved about 4:30 p.m. into one of four six-person cells in the special pod, Barreda said. A deputy supervises the pod at all times.

In the new accommodations, Bollea will continue his previously established schedule, including work in the inmate property section from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. His video visitations with his family will continue, from 3 to 4 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. He will continue to have recreation time and access to a telephone.