* In 2015, I went to trial to fight allegations that I misappropriated (stole) money from an employer. This, after 4 years of legal battles before the court and multiple changes in district attorneys and judges that began in 2011.
* At trial, first degree scheming was thrown out for lack of evidence…but lost when the jury found me guilty of second degree theft. The punishment for going to trial and losing? The maximum sentence of 15 years (12 yrs in prison, 3 yrs probation).
But there was a few errors in the trial. Two of the biggest errors happened without my trial attorney defending me against them. That is why I am seeking a new trial. In this country and in the state of Florida, citizens are protected to receive a fair representation at trial. NOT perfect, mind you, but competent defense. There are standards and rules that must be followed and I am saying that rules were broken and standards were not met.
* First, the charge of scheming to defraud is about conduct. If the state can prove that there was a consistent course of conduct, or I did the same thing, or had the same intent for all of the alleged thefts, then they could add all the charges together to raise the level of the charge to increase the penalty. The state wanted to prove this, but couldn’t. And so that charge was thrown out on the first day of the trial. Good right? Well hold on, because here is where it might get a little complicated…and it is the reason I am still fighting.
* When thefts are bundled together together with a charge of scheming to defraud, ALL the charges become one act and one amount. So basically thousands of credit card transactions for, let’s say $100,000, now become one act of theft for over $100,000 (1st degree felony). Here’s the clincher…when there is no charge of scheming to defraud, ALL THE TRANSACTIONS SHOULD BECOME UNBUNDLED AND BE TREATED AS INDIVIDUAL THEFTS. As, such, the state must prove each one and the penalty for each depends on the amount of theft (i.e., petit theft, misdemeanor, or felony).
* In my trial, the court threw out the scheme charge and all the alleged incidents of theft should have become unbundled…BUT THEY DIDN’T!!! THE STATE CARRIED ON THE TRIAL JUST AS IF THE CHARGE WAS STILL INTACT…AND THE JUDGE GAVE THE JURY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS TO ADD TOGETHER THE CHARGES.
* Multiple rulings in multiple cases in multiple jurisdictions back up my case that these were errors that my trial attorney should have argued against, but didn’t.
* Before entering into this legal battle, I interviewed several prominent and experienced attornies in this state, and all agreed with my findings. This alone was the only reason I moved ahead with the case. I would never ask for your money or your prayers if my accusations were frivolous.
* I have two cases before the appeals court at this time. One dealing with my trial attorney and one dealing with my appeal attorney, both who missed the errors.
* With the help of my sons, a GoFundMe campaign was started on July of 2018 to bring these errors to the attention of the court and to seek relief from the court in the form of a new trial. The original estimate to take this to court was $40,000. To date, with your help and the help of many others, the campaign has raised over 70% of our goal. As you can see, I could still use a lot of help.
Michael Barnes' Story 