Pictured above: “I still have the same sentiments toward my actions,” Karla Correa said on April 14. “But, I think that a better approach is to stand there and record police officers.” Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
By James Bennett III
The Student Government senator who clashed with university police officers in November over their treatment of a young black man now has a date set for her court hearing.
Karla Correa is charged with one count of obstructing or resisting an officer without violence, a first-degree misdemeanor. Her court date is set for 8:30 a.m. on April 27.
But due to the coronavirus pandemic, Correa said she will not be going to the Pinellas County Justice Center for her scheduled hearing. Instead, her lawyer will deliver a written statement pleading not guilty to the charges.
“I don’t want to go there,” Correa said. “And I do think it’s ridiculous that they’re proceeding with this during the pandemic.”
If convicted, Correa could face a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, one year of probation and a $1,000 fine.
Correa said she will “be fine” if she and her lawyer deliver the right argument. She added that she also has various options, such as a community service-oriented diversion program, if she doesn’t want her case to go to trial.
Correa’s lawyer, Stephen Bernhardt from the Tampa bay-based Bernhardt Law Firm, did not respond to emails or phone calls from The Crow’s Nest seeking comment.
Joshua Isaiah Simmons, now 22 — the non-student at the center of the incident — had several prior brushes with the law and was ultimately given a trespass warning and barred from campus.
Pinellas County court records show that, since November, Simmons has been charged with multiple off-campus misdemeanors, including possession of marijuana, petty theft and resisting an officer without violence on Dec. 4; trespassing on Jan. 27; loitering and prowling on Feb. 5; and disorderly conduct on Feb. 20.
What happened
Correa’s charge, which was filed by the Pinellas-Pasco state attorney’s office on Feb. 4, came after Correa got involved with a police investigation outside of Residence Hall One on the evening of Nov. 7.
University Police Chief David Hendry said two of his officers had watched a young man later identified as Simmons — who was not authorized to be on campus — walking around campus and approached him after he tried to get into RHO.
Correa and a group of her friends got involved shortly after, as they were leaving the residence hall.
Correa said the man looked like he needed help, so she stopped to ask if he was all right. He said he wasn’t, so she decided to stick around.
When she continued to ask questions about what was going on and whether the man would like any help, the university police officers turned their attention toward her.
The officers asked Correa if she knew the man they were questioning.
“I didn’t know him. But I said that (I did) because, I don’t know, I just didn’t trust them at that point,” Correa told The Crow’s Nest in November. “I was just trying to make sure he was OK. I wasn’t trying to lie to the police. I wasn’t trying to cause any trouble.”
Then, when she ignored the officers’ instructions to keep her distance, police said, they handcuffed her for obstructing their investigation and took her to the university police office.
During UPD’s internal investigation of the incident, Simmons — who was in custody at the Pinellas County Jail on unrelated charges — said he had a scattered memory of the night because he was drunk. However, he said he did not feel threatened by the officers.
Correa said on April 14 that, if given the opportunity, she would have taken a different approach to confronting the police officers.
“I feel like it was just really a miscommunication between the police officers and I,” Correa said.
“I still have the same sentiments toward my actions,” she said. “But, I think that a better approach is to stand there and record police officers.
“I still would want to make sure that anyone who is dealing with law enforcement feels comfortable.”
Hello! Karla here. Just wanted to clarify some things that these articles often misconstrue. When the police officers asked me if I knew the man, I answered “yes” because I thought I had seen Simmons around St. Pete before. I was not answering on a personal basis. My comment about not trusting Officer Wasserman* specifically is due to his past of making racist and sexist comments. I would never intentionally lie to a police officer, and when I initially gave this interview I had just stopped crying and I was really flustered.
Another thing that is often misrepresented is that I “ignored” the officer’s instructions. I was at a safe distance the whole time, as Officer Wasserman had to **walk up to me** to push me. I told them that I believe that I didn’t have to leave since we were on public property. Since the police were interacting with me while I was standing there, I believe that I had a right to be there. We were outside in open space. People can stand by to watch how officers behave and I encourage them to.
Thank you!
I guess this “senator” would be marching against the Police for not doing their job if this criminal actually got into her residence and did what he usually does.
I hope she goes to trail and is found guilty. Nice criminal record for life. Mind your business next time
One more thing: These articles continuously say that I was protesting how the police were treating the young black men. This is a sensationalized and inaccurate representation of what happened. I did not clash with the police over their treatment of the man. I just stayed to see what happened to make sure the police acted accordingly since the man said he wasn’t OK while interacting with the police.
Karma’s a bitch, bitch.