TAMPA (FOX 13) -
She's the
ex-teacher dubbed too pretty for prison.
Debra Lafave faced
15 years for molesting a 14-year-old student.
She walked away
with three years house arrest and seven years probation in 2005. As part of the
plea deal, she agreed to serve the entire 10-year sentence with no early outs.
She became a free
woman last year. The judge in the case allowed her to end probation four years
early.
Prosecutors say she
not only got the better end of the plea deal, but that she then didn't live up
to her end of the bargain.
On Wednesday, the
Second District Court of Appeals agreed.
"This opinion
is more important than just this case because this opinion goes to the criminal
justice system as a whole, and the effect plea negotiations have and whether
they should be respected and honored by the court," said Mike Sinacore of the
state attorney's office.
In its opinion, the
appellate court called the judge's decision to end probation early "an
abuse of judicial power" and "a gross miscarriage of justice."
They quashed the
lower court's decision, re-instating Lafave's probation, meaning she picks up
where she left off with four more years left to serve.
"Those are
very fundamental points not just for this case but for how we do business from
this day forward." Sinacore said.
Lafave has 15 days
to ask the court to reconsider.
Her attorney, John
Fitzgibbons, released a statement saying: "This case is not over. The
Court of Appeals in this major decision reinstated Debbie's probation but then
took the extraordinary step of certifying the legal issue to be of great public
importance, which gives the Florida Supreme Court the ability, if it wants, to
hear Debbie's case. I will be meeting with Debbie and her family in the next
few days to determine how we will be proceeding."
In the meantime,
prosecutors say the court's decision reaffirms the state's ability to negotiate
no early termination of probation and the court's obligation to honor such
agreements in the future.
"This
brings clarity to the issue. If you make an agreement, a deal is a deal. The
court will enforce that deal. It's required to enforce that deal," Sinacore
said.
(MyFOX file image)
