Pictured Above: Karla Correa objected to the way two white campus police officers were questioning a homeless black man who tried to enter Residence Hall One.
Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
By Sophie Ojdanic
A former Senator in Student Government who was charged with obstructing a police investigation last year has applied for a program that would enable her to avoid the possibility of conviction by trial.
Karla Correa, 21, said she is seeking to enter Pinellas County’s pretrial intervention program (PTI), which the criminal justice system often uses in prosecuting nonviolent, first-time offenders on minor charges.
Under the program, an offender can complete certain requirements – like performing community service, paying court costs and attending counseling sessions – instead of going to trial. Once the requirements are completed, a judge can dismiss the charge and eventually expunge it from the offender’s record.
Correa said she applied for PTI because she did not want to go to trial.
“I don’t want to go to trial in a climate like this,” she said. “It’s dangerous.”
She and her attorney, Stephen Bernhardt, said they are unsure of the terms that Correa would have to meet if her application for PTI is accepted.
On Feb. 4, the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office charged Correa with obstructing or resisting an officer without violence. That is a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine.
The charge grew out of an incident outside Residence Hall One (now called Pelican Apartments) about 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2019.
Correa and friends were leaving the residence hall when they saw two white campus police officers, Michael Wasserman and Patrick O’Donnell, questioning a homeless black man outside the building.
According to Chief David Hendry, the officers had seen the man around campus, stopped him after he attempted to enter the residence hall and gave him a trespass warning. Court records show that the man has had several nonviolent brushes with the law since 2017.
Correa, now a third-year political science major, said she stopped to ask the man if he was all right, and he said no.
When Correa confronted the officers and refused to leave the scene, they handcuffed her for obstructing their investigation, took her to the university police office and referred the case to the state attorney’s office.
Correa and two friends filed allegations of misconduct against the officers the day after the incident. That prompted an internal police investigation that led to a 32-page report clearing the officers.
In interviews with The Crow’s Nest, Correa has denied that she interfered with the officers and criticized the internal investigation, contending that the investigator did not interview all the potential witnesses and glossed over some statements from other witnesses.
She said last week that she and her attorney are awaiting access to surveillance video of the incident outside RHO.
The prosecutor assigned to Correa’s case, Martin Musichi, did not respond to requests for comment from The Crow’s Nest.
