BROWARD JUDGE FREES JAIL INMATE DYING OF AIDS

A jail inmate with only two months to live was sent home Tuesday to
die with dignity after an emergency hearing before Broward Chief Judge
Dale Ross.

One week after Circuit Judge Cheryl Aleman refused to release Jean
Felix on compassionate grounds, Ross sent him home to a cousin's care.
Ross said he made his decision based on additional information "that
Judge Aleman did not have an opportunity to hear." He did not elaborate.

"I'm very happy," Felix said as he left the courtroom. He was released
from jail a few hours later.

Everyone involved agreed it was the right thing to do, but the hearing
was no cause for celebration.

"I'm happy he's going home to die, but I'm not happy he's going to
die," said Felix's attorney, Steve Michaelson, one of Broward's chief
assistant public defenders.

Felix, 41, of Fort Lauderdale, is in the final stages of AIDS,
testified Dr. Joseph Mannino, who has been treating him in the jail.
He said Felix is unlikely to survive even two months.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball. All I can go by is what
the lab results show," the doctor testified. "Demise is imminent."

Jail officials were so concerned about Felix's swiftly deteriorating
condition that they called his attorney and asked him to get a judge
to release Felix to his family. They frequently make that request when
an inmate is dying and has someone to provide care at home, they said.

Felix was serving an eight-month jail term for violating his probation
by testing positive for cocaine use while he was on probation for drug
possession.

At a hearing in front of Aleman last week, Michaelson presented
testimony from medical and jail officials who said Felix should go
home. It was unlikely that Felix would make it to his scheduled
release date of Sept. 5, they said.

Michaelson asked the judge to temporarily release Felix for a period
of six months, or less.

But Aleman focused on the fact that he asked for a six-month release,
according to a transcript. She said no.

Emergency Hearing

"The Court finds that it is really difficult to tell what the life
expectancy is of the defendant," Aleman said. "Nobody knows, to use
the words of defense counsel, when asked how long."

Michaelson said at the time that he could not believe how the judge
was so lacking in compassion.

After Aleman left on a previously scheduled vacation, Michaelson asked
for a new emergency hearing in front of Ross, who is widely considered
to be one of the toughest judges in the courthouse.

Felix looked sad and depressed during the hearing Tuesday as he
listened to a Creole interpreter relay the descriptions of how little
time he has left and how he will die. He gave one little smile after
hearing that he would go free.

The Haiti native, who worked as a handyman and painter, has lived here
since 1986 and got his immigration green card in 1988. He has two
daughters, Robinson, 17, and Magelene, 18, who live in Haiti.

One of the worst parts of being in jail was not being able to make or
receive international phone calls to his daughters, said his cousin,
Guilda Dolce of Lauderdale Lakes. Dolce will take care of Felix with
help from their extended family here.

Dolce wept in court on Tuesday as she told the judge she wanted to
care for her cousin. Outside court, Dolce was even more emotional.

"I care for him because he helped me so much when he was not sick,"
she said, sobbing. "I've got two kids with no father, and he gave me
money for my kids."

Psychologist Michael Brannon told the judge that, while the jail does
its best to treat and help terminally ill inmates, home would be a
much more suitable environment. Dying people like Felix need contact
with family and support to endure the grieving process, he said.

"You only die once in your life, obviously, and it's something people
need a little guidance through," said Brannon. "He is very depressed,
he's lonely, he's scared."

Alone and in jail is "probably the worst way to go through the death-
and-dying process," he said.

Prosecutors Agree

Prosecutors had no objection to Felix being released on compassionate
grounds, said Assistant State Attorney Gary Cole. They just wanted him
to get adequate care, agree to follow the law and not abuse cocaine
again.

"I will never do that again," Felix said through the interpreter.

Michaelson said he didn't want to criticize Aleman again after the
hearing.

"I don't like to dwell on the past," he said. "I'm just grateful that
Judge Ross made the right decision."

After a story about Felix's plight appeared in the South Florida Sun-
Sentinel last week, more than a dozen people called and e-mailed the
paper to say they were upset about Aleman's decision. And the local
chapter of a national civil rights group, The March for Justice,
wanted to lobby on Felix's behalf.

Since Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Aleman to the bench in December 2001,
she has twice been criticized by the 4th District Court of Appeal for
going too far in dependency cases.

In one, the appellate court said she abused her discretion when she
ruled against parents who relied on public transportation and were 25
minutes late for the third day of a trial to take their daughter away.
She injected "gotcha practices" into the process, the court wrote.

In the other case, she tried to end contact between a mother who has
an organic brain disorder and her child, even though the child's
advocate and the Department of Children & Families wanted it to
continue. The court said Aleman was trying to sanction the mother
rather than do what was best for the child.

Michael Gottlieb, president of the Broward Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers, did not directly criticize Aleman but said some of
her decisions have made defense lawyers nervous.

"It's good to see that at least our chief judge has a good sense of
what's just and fair," Gottlieb said.