Rob - banned
03-23-2005, 10:56 AM
A middle school teacher charged with having sex with a 14-year-old former student will attempt to negotiate a plea agreement to avoid a trial, attorneys said Tuesday.
In a case that garnered international attention, investigators have said that Lafave had sex with the boy at her Riverview town house, in a portable classroom at Greco Middle School and in the back of her sport utility vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around the Ocala area.
The affair cost LaFave her career as a teacher as well as her marriage, according to the report.
Judge Wayne Timmerman postponed Lafave's trial nearly three months to July 18 to allow both sides to discuss a possible plea agreement. He added that if a deal is not reached, the trial would not be put off again.
If the case goes to trial, Lafave will claim she was insane at the time of the alleged encounters with the student, said John Fitzgibbons, her attorney.
Fitzgibbons said a psychiatrist hired by the defense has interviewed Lafave. The defense is waiting for a similar interview from a state psychiatrist. Then both sides will sit down for a "serious discussion," Fitzgibbons said.
"I think there would be a lot of advantages for both the prosecution and the defense to resolve this case without a trial," Fitzgibbons said.
Lafave faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of lewd and lascivious battery.
In a case that garnered international attention, investigators have said that Lafave had sex with the boy at her Riverview town house, in a portable classroom at Greco Middle School and in the back of her sport utility vehicle while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around the Ocala area.
The affair cost LaFave her career as a teacher as well as her marriage, according to the report.
Judge Wayne Timmerman postponed Lafave's trial nearly three months to July 18 to allow both sides to discuss a possible plea agreement. He added that if a deal is not reached, the trial would not be put off again.
If the case goes to trial, Lafave will claim she was insane at the time of the alleged encounters with the student, said John Fitzgibbons, her attorney.
Fitzgibbons said a psychiatrist hired by the defense has interviewed Lafave. The defense is waiting for a similar interview from a state psychiatrist. Then both sides will sit down for a "serious discussion," Fitzgibbons said.
"I think there would be a lot of advantages for both the prosecution and the defense to resolve this case without a trial," Fitzgibbons said.
Lafave faces up to 15 years in prison on charges of lewd and lascivious battery.