Daniel Garza, the attorney for the girl’s mother, sees things a little differently than the police officers who claim they were doing what was necessary to protect the child.
“She expects them to come and de-escalate the situation. She expects them to talk to her and help figure out how to get her daughter under control,” Garza said. “Not drag her into a car and Baker Act her or call EMS to inject her with something. Not that, for sure not that.”
Daniel Garza, the victim’s attorney, said the former deputy violated a rule central to the mission of law enforcement.
“We expect law enforcement,” Garza said. “We expect those people that we put in that position of power, that position of authority to protect us.”
Attorney Daniel Garza said the investigation process may take a while.
“If nothing was done wrong on the part of the driver, then we don’t want to see her with criminal charges,” Garza said. “They’re going to do an investigation to make sure that they can establish that that person was actually the one driving.”
And there is the confession, but Garza said that isn’t enough for a decision by law enforcement.
Daniel Garza, a local trial attorney said, in some cases, a student who makes a threat won’t be able to get his or her record cleared.
“If it’s a certain type of charge, they can be direct filed, which means that they will be charged as an adult,” Garza said.
“With any charge that’s sealed or expunged, whether you are a juvenile or an adult, there are certain agencies that can still find it,” Garza said.
Garza, who is not involved in the case, said having the information ahead of time will help narrow down a large jury pool.
“You want to make sure that everybody’s rights are intact, but you also want to bring any challenges to any potential juror,” Garza said. “You want to be able to do it the right way and not do it at the last minute.”
“The defense is just gonna rely on … a judge maybe instead of introducing five or six or seven pictures of this or however many there are; maybe just one is enough,” said Attorney Daniel Garza, with Wilbur Law. “The jury doesn’t need to flip through a dozen pictures of the same thing, where all they’re seeing is blood in their face.”
“If you’re causing a disruption, that could be used to kind of silence you,” said Daniel Garza, a criminal defense attorney at Wilbur Smith Attorneys at Law in Fort Myers.
Garza said while Meinecke’s stunt was protected under the first amendment, there are times when it is not.
“You can’t just walk into a school and start yelling things if you’re disrupting the normal process of a school,” Garza said.
“The ‘stand your ground’ and self defense, it’s becoming a little more prevalent these days,” he said. “It’s a valid defense.”
Garza says she can now put this behind her and start planning her future.
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