Ten years and a day after a jury awarded Mayola Williams nearly $80 million in punitive damages in her fight with a cigarette maker, the Supreme Court said today she can collect her share. ...more

March 31, 2009

At gunpoint, a 19-year-old Tampa man robbed a person of $80 and the Chinese food he was attempting to deliver, Hillsborough County deputies say. Deputies arrested Christopher Irving Jones on Monday night. He was charged with armed robbery. ...more

March 31, 2009

The mother of Joshua Lee Altersberger described to jurors a family history of abuse and drugs, as the defense presented testimony in day two of the defendant's penalty trial. Altersberger pleaded guilty March 13 to shooting and killing Florida Highway Patrol trooper Nicholas Sottile during a Jan. 12, 2007 traffic stop in Highlands County. A jury was selected last week to hear testimony to help them make a sentencing recommendation. ...more

March 31, 2009

The case of Jean Claude Meus is going back to the courtroom, almost a year after Hardee County Judge Jeff McKibben granted a new trial. ...more

March 22, 2009

In yet another cost-cutting move, Pasco Sheriff Bob White said he will disband the Pasco Detention Pretrial Services Unit to free up four full-time employees for redeployment as "front-line deputies." ...more

March 21, 2009

A jury found Puerto Rico's former governor not guilty today on all nine counts of conspiracy, money laundering and lying to the FBI, concluding his monthlong corruption trial. ...more

March 20, 2009

Two women offered a 77-year-old man sex in exchange for money, then arranged a violent robbery when he turned them down, authorities say. ...more

March 18, 2009

Prosecutors say they'll pursue first-degree murder charges in the death of a 17-month-old boy from injuries his uncle initially described as a fall against a table. ...more

March 17, 2009

A Seffner woman is accused of killing a pedestrian late Friday and driving away from the crash, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. ...more

March 14, 2009

More than 45 years ago, as attorney general of Minnesota, I joined with the attorneys general of 21 states in asking the Supreme Court to ensure that counsel would be appointed for all people facing criminal charges who could not afford it. The court answered our plea. Yet today, its historic decision in Gideon v. Wainwright is at risk. ...more

March 14, 2009