'Johns' Headed For Trial On Monday

Trial is approaching for a handful of the "johns" arrested during a prostitution sting staged by the Brooksville Police Department.

Eight of the suspects had pre-trials scheduled for today in anticipation of jury selection on Monday. No one took a plea deal Thursday and no one is expected to do so during today's "last chance" hearing either, said Prosecutor Matthew Pila.

County Judge Donald Scaglione will set the order of the trials.

The rest of the suspects are on a different court schedule and are expected to appear before Scaglione on Dec. 4. Less than five have already pleaded no contest or guilty.

There has been a chorus of complaints about the methods used by the police department in the wake of the sting held the week of Sept. 8. A motion filed Nov. 5 to suppress evidence on behalf of Scott Larkins puts those entrapment claims on paper.

The motion states that the undercover officer stood in front of Larkins' vehicle, forcing him to stop to avoid hitting her. When Larkins stopped, the officer opened the door to the vehicle to talk, according to the motion.

That constitutes an illegal stop and any other evidence taken from that point, chiefly the recording, is moot, the motion states.

The motion's account of Larkins' Sept. 11 arrest is at odds with the arrest affidavit, which is a form with blanks for the address, type of approach, payment for sex and type of sex.

The most obvious difference is that the template states "I was approached," referring to the officer, Krystal Nix, posing as a prostitute. In Larkins' case specifically, the affidavit states he offered "$20" for "oral sex."

The motion contests that, stating that on the recording Nix "clearly" offers oral sex for $35.

Larkins' attorney, Jawdet Rubaii, said by phone Thursday that the police were wrong in the first place for using an officer to "create a crime."

"Reverse stings should be illegal," he said. "It's unfair for citizens."

Police Chief George Turner said that the streets have been mostly free of prostitutes since the sting, although a suspected prostitute was arrested this week behind the BP station on Ponce De Leon - a target site for the sting.

"It's trickling back," Turner said, but the police department plans to "actively" crack down on prostitution.