In the News
The Case of Tyree Bell
“Going into the case, I thought we were going to get a guilty verdict,” said assistant state attorney Robert Bruce. “Even trying the case, I thought that the jury would come back guilty.”
“But the not guilty verdict was the first time Bruce had lost a homicide case in 22 years as a Pinellas prosecutor.”
“It was a tough one,” he said.
Robert Bruce
Assistant State Attorney, Sixth Judicial Circuit
Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 8, 2024
“John Nohlgren, Bell’s attorney, said the the state’s case was ‘almost entirely built on the testimony of several closely related family members,’ particularly two cousins who were friends of Milton and her boyfriend.
“‘There really wasn’t anything else tying Tyree to the crime,’ he said. ‘That evidence, especially in this day and age, is insufficient for a conviction, certainly not truth beyond a reasonable doubt. And I think the jury got it right.’”
John Nohlgren
Criminal Defense Attorney for Tyree Bell
Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 8, 2024
The Case of Anton Stragaj
“My goal this whole time was to get to the right result for the case,” Nohlgren said, “and in my opinion we got there.”
John Nohlgren
Criminal Defense Attorney for Anton Strajaj
Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 5, 2021
“Should the police discover evidence or bring us evidence that someone else was involved in this particular case, and we feel there’s sufficient evidence to move forward with it, we’ll bring it to a grand jury,”
Doug Ellis
Assistant State Attorney
State of Florida, Sixth Judicial Circuit
Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 5, 2021
“I am shocked, and you can quote me on that,” deVlaming said. “For the life of me, I don’t understand the sentence, and I don’t understand the deal.”
Denis deVlaming
Criminal Defense Attorney for
Rebecca Schwartz (uncharged)
Tampa Bay Times, Aug. 5, 2021
The Case of Bradley Bolden
“In 2017, I was representing a young man accused of First-Degree Murder. Due to the young man’s intellectual deficiencies, I knew that he would not be able to provide much assistance in his defense. Even though John had not been a Public Defender as long as some other lawyers, he had developed a reputation for pursuing any and every available defense. He had a reputation of working defenses tirelessly and completely. I also knew that the case involved a lot of technological issues, including cell phone location data and records. John was instrumental in scrutinizing the technological issues to fortify our defense. The case went to a jury trial. That young man is now walking free. If you’d like to know more about how we pulled it off, call John.”
-Greg Williams
Former Chief Assistant Public Defender, Sixth Judicial Circuit
