nubia plesnik - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T05:00:32Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/nubia+plesnikOcean Ridge: Lucibella files appeal; Plesnik pushes ahead with civil suithttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-lucibella-files-appeal-plesnik-pushes-ahead-with-civi2019-04-03T19:51:33.000Z2019-04-03T19:51:33.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /> <br />Court transcribers are busily typing what they anticipate will be 1,800 pages detailing former Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella’s recent criminal trial.<br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960869055,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960869055,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960869055?profile=original" /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960868893,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960868893,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-right" alt="7960868893?profile=original" /></a>Lucibella, 65, is appealing his Feb. 21 sentence, in which he was ordered to pay $675 in court costs. A six-person jury found him guilty of misdemeanor battery, a lesser charge, instead of felony battery on a law enforcement officer; he also was found not guilty of resisting arrest with violence. <br />And on March 25 he offered to pay Ocean Ridge police Officer Nubia Plesnik $100 if she drops her civil lawsuit, which accuses him of battery and negligence.<br />“I can’t get my reputation back, but I will have my record cleared,” Lucibella said. “What was done to Barbara and I was wrong, and we intend to address every last vestige of this false arrest.”<br />Barbara Ceuleers is Lucibella’s girlfriend.<br /> West Palm Beach lawyer Leonard Feuer filed Lucibella’s notice of appeal Feb. 26 but did not pay the transcript costs until March 18. That started a 30-day clock for the transcribers, who must type about 78 pages a day to finish by April 17.<br /> Meanwhile, Richard Slinkman, Plesnik’s lawyer, demanded “better answers” from Lucibella in the civil case. Lucibella claimed his “Fifth Amendment right to remain silent” 77 times, Slinkman said in a Feb. 25 court filing. Those responses were given in November 2017, almost 15 months before the criminal trial.<br />Lucibella disputed Slinkman’s characterization of his responses about Plesnik. “I’ve not plead the Fifth at all,” he said. “I affirmatively denied her allegations.”<br />He also said Slinkman does not want better answers. “He actually wants a sleazy payday for him and his client, in that order,” Lucibella said. <br />Slinkman bristled at Lucibella’s statements, saying he only wants justice for Plesnik and calling Lucibella “a sad, little, entitled man who feels that, because he is wealthy, he is above the law and doesn’t need to take responsibility for his own improper actions.”<br />Slinkman previously had submitted his own settlement proposal in the case. Under Florida law, whichever side loses will pay the winner’s attorney fees from the date the proposal was filed.<br />Slinkman said he and Plesnik “are not concerned” with Lucibella’s proposal for a settlement. “We are confident in the jury system and confident that we will prevail at trial,” Slinkman said.<br />Florida court guidelines say most civil lawsuits should reach the jury in 18 months.<br /> In the felony trial, Plesnik testified that Lucibella was loud and belligerent during his Oct. 22, 2016, arrest. Plesnik, Officer Richard Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan went to Lucibella’s backyard that night to investigate reports of gunfire.<br /> “I was trying to put him down like a child, sit down!” Plesnik told the jury.<br />She has since missed reporting for police duty for several months because of shoulder problems caused by his actions, she testified.<br />Slinkman said that instead of throwing out insults, Lucibella should turn his critical eye inward.<br />“When a person gets drunk, acts like a fool, embarrasses himself, and in the process injures an innocent person who was simply out doing her job and protecting the public as a law enforcement officer, he should take responsibility for his own actions ... instead of passing the cost of these medical bills and other losses onto the citizens of Ocean Ridge,” he said.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Misdemeanor appeal months away</strong></span><br />Appealing a misdemeanor to a District Court of Appeal is so rare, Florida does not keep statistics, said Paul Flemming of the Office of the State Courts Administrator in Tallahassee.<br />“The number of misdemeanor cases filed in the district courts would be extremely small, since the appellate divisions of the circuit courts have jurisdiction over most misdemeanor cases,” Flemming said. <br />But Lucibella’s was a felony case heard in Circuit Court that led to a misdemeanor conviction, so the appeal goes to the 4th DCA.<br /> Lucibella’s appeal should carry the case into 2020. Generally, it takes two to three months after the last document is filed to get on the court’s calendar, the court’s website says. A three-judge panel renders its decision in most cases within 180 days, the website advises.</p></div>Ocean Ridge: Lucibella trial postponed a third timehttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-lucibella-trial-postponed-a-third-time2017-11-01T19:15:59.000Z2017-11-01T19:15:59.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> Former Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella’s trial will start no sooner than February.<br /> His defense attorney, Marc Shiner, and Assistant State Attorney Danielle Grundt both agreed last month to the postponement — the trial’s third delay. Circuit Judge Charles Burton rescheduled the case for Feb. 19.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960728875,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960728875,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="97" alt="7960728875?profile=original" /></a> Shiner also complained that Police Officer Nubia Plesnik’s lawyer, Richard Slinkman, was making it impossible for him to conduct a crucial deposition.<br /> Plesnik, one of the arresting officers, has filed a civil lawsuit against Lucibella claiming he intentionally pushed and injured her. That means Slinkman “is not a party” to the criminal case and can only make objections if a question infringes on attorney-client privilege, Shiner’s partner Heidi Perlet argued.<br /> “Slinkman repeatedly objected on numerous other grounds,” Perlet wrote. “He interrupted the proceedings to the point that it was not possible to proceed with the deposition.”<br />But the judge denied their request that he prohibit Slinkman from attending the deposition or order him to follow court rules on objections.<br /> Slinkman called Shiner’s depiction of his behavior “absurd and totally inaccurate.”<br /> “There was absolutely nothing wrong with the objections made,” Slinkman said. “It was simply another attempt for Lucibella and his attorneys to try to bully Officer Plesnik.”<br /> Lucibella, 64, is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence — both felonies — and a misdemeanor count of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. He has pleaded not guilty.<br /> Plesnik, fellow Officer Richard Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan went to Lucibella’s home Oct. 22, 2016, after neighbors heard gunfire. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the backyard patio.<br /> They later determined the confiscated handgun belonged to Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, their supervisor, who was with Lucibella during the incident. Both men were “obviously intoxicated,” Ermeri said in his arrest report.<br /> Lucibella’s criminal trial was originally set to begin in April, then pushed back to June and then October to give Grundt and Shiner time to question all the witnesses.<br /> Shiner scheduled depositions of Hallahan and Lt. Richard Jones, who conducted the internal affairs investigation of the incident, for Nov. 7 and for Plesnik on Dec. 6. <br /> He also filed a list of 46 people he may ask to testify at the trial, including an expert witness on the use of force and another expert on police procedures.</p></div>Ocean Ridge: Lucibella lawyer hints at plans to sue townhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-lucibella-lawyer-hints-at-plans-to-sue-town2017-10-04T16:49:52.000Z2017-10-04T16:49:52.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong><br /><br /> Former Ocean Ridge Vice Mayor Richard Lucibella will sue the town and at least one of the officers who arrested him in an October 2016 shooting incident at his home, one of his lawyers told a Palm Beach County circuit judge.<br /> Lucibella believes, “among other claims,” that Officer Nubia Plesnik “used unnecessary force, that he was wrongfully arrested, that he was injured, and that as a result of his wrongful arrest he was divested of his business interests and forced to resign from his government position,” lawyer Laurie Adams says in a document filed in the civil case Plesnik brought against him.<br /> But Lucibella said the statement was primarily a counterclaim to Plesnik’s lawsuit.<br /> “To date, I have not consulted with any attorney regarding taking action against the town,” he said.<br /> Lucibella, who is set to go on trial this month on felony charges of resisting arrest with violence and battery on a law enforcement officer, asked that Plesnik’s lawsuit be postponed until the criminal trial is over.<br /> Lucibella has pleaded not guilty to both felony charges and a third, misdemeanor charge of using a firearm while under the influence of alcohol. Judge Charles Burton has blocked off four weeks for the criminal trial, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 23.<br /> Plesnik, fellow Officer Richard Ermeri and Sgt. William Hallahan went to Lucibella’s home last Oct. 22 after neighbors reported hearing gunshots. They confiscated a .40-caliber handgun and found five spent shell casings on the backyard patio.<br /> Lt. Steven Wohlfiel, their supervisor, was with Lucibella, and both men were “obviously intoxicated,” the officers said. Police later determined the confiscated handgun belonged to Wohlfiel.<br /> Plesnik’s lawsuit against Lucibella claims he intentionally pushed and injured her. Her lawyer said she can perform all her duties as a police officer but continues to feel pain in her shoulder.<br /> Lucibella has a $10 million insurance policy for personal liability protection. He resigned as vice mayor and town commissioner in December.<br /> The lawsuit put Lucibella in a legal Catch-22 situation, defense lawyer Adams said. If it were to proceed, Lucibella would want to use his Fifth Amendment privilege to not jeopardize the criminal case.<br /> But under court rules, he must file his counterclaims against Plesnik when he first responds to her lawsuit, and making a counterclaim would allow her lawyers to compel him to answer questions.<br /> “Essentially, the defendant is placed in the position of choosing between two constitutional rights,” Adams wrote.<br /> Circuit Judge Cymonie Rowe had not ruled on the postponement request prior to <em>The Coastal Star</em>’s deadline. <br /> Lucibella’s criminal defense attorney, Marc Shiner, has previously said that his client was wrongfully arrested.</p></div>