Thank you for visiting The islander Newspaper Online.

We are currently updating our website to provide you better service and function.
If you would like to access the new site, please, click here: The islander Newspaper

Sorry for any inconvenience. Our new site and service will resume shortly.

Web Master

The Award Winning & Best News on Anna Maria Island, FL Since 1992

"The Award Winning & Best News on Anna Maria Island, FL Since 1992"

Monday, Mar, 18, 2024
Florida Press Assn. Award-Winning Web Site
Home Latest News Weather Sports Real Estate Classifieds Island Guide islander Store

 SECTIONS

 • 

Main News

 • 

Classifieds

 • 

Opinions

 • 

Streetlife

 • 

Calendar

 • 

Fishing

 • 

Sports

 • 

Real Estate

 • 

Obituaries

 • 

Weather

 Features

 • 

Cortez Cook Off: The Results

 • 

Anna Maria Island Bridge FDOT replacement bridge

 • 

National Hurricane Center (Atlantic)

 • 

Advanced Search

 • 

I love AMI

 • 

Mystery Story

 • 

Fishing Laws

 Classifieds

 • 

Classifieds Page

 • 

Place An AD

 • 

Items for Sale

 • 

Garage Sale

 • 

Estate Sale

 • 

Announcments

 • 

Lost & Found

 • 

Pets

 • 

Transportation

 • 

Boats & Boating

 • 

Fishing

 • 

Kids 4 Hire

 • 

Help Wanted

 • 

Health Care

 • 

Services

 • 

Lawn & Garden

 • 

Landscaping

 • 

Home Improvement

 • 

Business Opportunities

 • 

Rentals

 • 

Real Estate

 Weather

 • 

Today's Forecast

 • 

10 Day Forecast

 • 

Today's Tides

 • 

Emergency e-mail

 • 

Storm Watch

 Archive

 • 

News Archive

 • 

2009 Top Notch Gallery

 • 

2008 Top Notch Gallery

 • 

2007 Top Notch Gallery

 • 

2006 Top Notch Gallery

 • 

2005 Top Notch Gallery

 • 

2004 Top Notch Gallery

 Useful Links

 • 

Island Links

 • 

i.wed

 • 

islander Store

 • 

About this Site

 Contact Us

 • 

islander Store

 • 

Subscribe

 • 

About Us

 • 

e-mail us

Story Tools

Evidence challenged in officer shooting case

The attorney for a man charged in the mainland shooting of an off-duty Holmes Beach officer is challenging the use of evidence associated with a possibly illegal wire tap.

Attorney Brett McIntosh made the argument in a motion filed at the Manatee County Courthouse in regards to the prosecution of James Perkins, charged with attempted second-degree murder.

As of The islander newspaper’s press time, the state attorney’s office had not responded to McIntosh’s motion.

Perkins was charged soon after the April 4, 2007, incident in east Manatee County that left off-duty Holmes Beach police officer James Cumston suffering from a minor bullet fragment wound.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office maintains that Perkins and another man were involved in an attempted burglary next door to Cumston’s home. Cumston interrupted the burglary and a car chase began. During the chase, the suspects fired several times at Cumston, who fired back. The officer suffered a minor wound to his leg when fragments from a bullet struck him, but he did not need hospitalization.

Perkins was arrested in Georgia on a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office warrant April 5, 2007. The Barrow County News reported that the sheriff’s office dispatched crisis negotiators and a tactical unit after Perkins barricaded himself in a home in Winder, Ga.

According to court documents, MCSO followed the trail to Perkins and Winder after first interviewing local witnesses, including Carrie Boyett, who said Perkins called and told her to notify the police that her car, allegedly his getaway vehicle from the burglary, was stolen by an unknown person.

Boyett later allegedly told deputies that Perkins and two acquaintances were at her home at about noon April 4 and when she went to take a nap with her child, they left in her car.

Court papers filed by the state attorney’s office indicate that law enforcement used cell phone data to identify and locate witnesses and locate and arrest Perkins.

In preparing Perkins’ defense, McIntosh went to court to obtain MCSO’s records on cell phone activity for two local numbers during three days last April.

The court ordered the release of the records, but, according to McIntosh, MCSO released only a single paragraph of an “unidentified document, of an unidentified origin, drafted on an unidentified date by an unidentified person.”

McIntosh, in court papers, argued that MCSO failed to meet the court order and also suggests that there are “viable issues of the lawfulness of the wiretap or ‘trap and trace’ conducted on certain cell phones.”

McIntosh wanted the records to review and see whether MCSO obtained the information properly because “if such measures were conducted in an unlawful manner” evidence that resulted from them should be excluded, including statements made by Perkins and his relatives.

Get breaking news

Follow the islander on TwitterBecome a fan of The islander on Facebook

Sign up to receive breaking news alerts via e-mail. We'll send you a notice when the news and classifieds appear online every week, before the print edition hits the streets.

Click here for Gulf oil spill updates related to Anna Maria Island.

Historic Anna Maria City Pier Plank Walk

Put your name, your message, your memorial on the Historic Anna Maria City Pier prior to the Pier Centennial Celebration! And join the fun!

CLICK HERE for Stoltzfus e-mails and related court documents.


FREE Island
Vacation Guide:
get it here

Cortez Cookoff

Click here for 2010 Cortez Cookoff Winner and recipes

To advertise here, please
visit our rates page
or contact us at:
sales@islander.org
Phone: (941) 778-7978
Fax: (941) 778-9392

Back to top of Page

Home | Weather | Real Estate | Classifieds | Archives | Contact | Island Links
islander Store | Subscribe About this site | Classifieds Page | Place an Ad
For Sale | Garage Sales | Announcements | Lost & Found | Pets | Transportation
Boats & Boating | Fishing | Kids for Hire | Help Wanted | Health Care | Services
Lawn & Garden | Landscaping | Home Improvement | Business Opportunities | Rentals | Real Estate

Our Privacy and Copyright Statements © 1992 - 2009, The islander