Venice, FLORIDA

CONVICTION UPHELD

May 3, 2008 - The 2nd District Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of James LaMorte. He was the Venice, Florida high school teacher sentenced to 21 years for molesting male students twenty-five years earlier.

Prosecutors used an exemption in state law that allows a "public officer or employee" to be charged for "misconduct in office" as long as he is still in the job, or within two years after he leaves. LaMorte's appeal argued that law only applied to those who held public office, not school teachers, and that the statute of limitations ended four years after the crimes.

The three-judge panel determined that LaMorte's argument that the statute only applies to public officer holders was without merit. The statue included "employees" in a subsequent amendment. One concurring opinion and one dissenting opinion made it clear that the legislature should address concerns about the law.
----------------
The newspaper doesn't link to the decision, but the case is No. 2D06-4346 (James Peter LaMorte v State of Florida) and can be found here.

The Venice school district seems to have been plagued by problem teachers. TT entry.

CORRECTION to state in title field. Thank you. We got FL correct in the rest of it.