Did judge obey law?
TAMPA – Gov. Charlie Crist wondered Friday whether his new “Anti-Murder Act” should have kept Hillsborough Sgt. Ronald Harrison’s killer behind bars. The governor ordered his general counsel to review Circuit Judge Manuel Lopez’s decision to grant bail for Michael Allen Phillips, who gunned down the veteran deputy on Wednesday. “I’m wondering what the judge was thinking in that case because one of the new laws that I campaigned very hard on was this antimurder bill,” Crist said during an interview with the St. Petersburg Times editorial board. “And it was specifically designed for cases very much like this one.” The governor acknowledged, however, that he wasn’t sure the statute fit the case. Legal experts contacted by the Times quickly cast doubt on its relevancy. The act, which became law in March, requires that violent felons who violate probation be jailed until a judge decides whether they are a danger to the community and should go back to prison. Phillips, killed a few hours aft
