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Belvin Perry, Jr.
Belvin Perry Jr. was a judge of the Florida 9th Circuit Court.
Perry (Democratic Party) ran for election for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 18, 2020.
Education
Perry received both his undergraduate degree in history in 1972 and his master's in education in 1974 from Tuskegee University. He received his J.D. degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in 1977.[1]
Career
- 1995-1999; 2001-2014: Chief judge, 9th Circuit Court
- 1989-1995; 1999-2001: Judge, 9th Circuit Court (Osceola and Orange counties)
- 1991: Administrative circuit judge, Osceola County
- 1988-1989: Chief assistant state attorney, 9th Judicial Circuit
- 1982-1988: Chief, Criminal Intake Division, 9th Judicial Circuit
- 1980-1982: Chief, Felony Division, 9th Judicial Circuit
- 1979-1980: Trial attorney, Felony Division, 9th Judicial Circuit
- 1977-1979: Trial attorney, Misdemeanor and Traffic Division, 9th Judicial Circuit [1][2]
Awards and associations
- Member, Trial Court Budget Commission
- Member, Texas Bar Association
- member, Orange County Bar Association
- Member, The Florida Bar [1]
Elections
2020
See also: Municipal elections in Orange County, Florida (2020)
General election
General election for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney
Monique Worrell defeated Jose Torroella in the general election for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Monique Worrell (D)  | 66.6 | 395,979 |
| Jose Torroella (No Party Affiliation) | 33.4 | 198,719 | ||
| Total votes: 594,698 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney
Monique Worrell defeated Belvin Perry Jr., Deborah Barra, and Ryan Williams in the Democratic primary for Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney on August 18, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Monique Worrell | 43.4 | 63,863 |
 | Belvin Perry Jr. | 31.0 | 45,732 | |
| Deborah Barra | 19.4 | 28,551 | ||
| Ryan Williams | 6.2 | 9,157 | ||
| Total votes: 147,303 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2012
- See also: Florida judicial elections, 2012
Perry ran for re-election to the 9th Circuit Court on August 14, 2012. He defeated former Judge Daniel Perry with 78.7 percent of the vote.[3][4][5]
Noteworthy cases
Casey Anthony trial
Perry was the judge in the highly publicized trial of Casey Anthony. Anthony was accused of murdering her two-year old daughter and providing false information to law enforcement. The jury acquitted her of murder and manslaughter, but found her guilty on four counts of providing false information.[6][7]
Judge Perry's name forged on documents releasing two murderers
Two murderers who were sentenced to life in prison escaped in the fall of 2013 due to the forgery of Judge Belvin Perry's signature. The escapees, Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, were walked right out of their cells by State Department of Corrections officers after the prison received paperwork supposedly signed by Judge Perry which reduced their sentences to 15 years. Jenkins was freed on September 27 and Walker was freed on October 8. They were found and arrested on October 19, 2013.[8][9]
Walker was serving time for shooting and killing Cedric Slater in 1999. Jenkins shot and killed Roscoe Pugh, Jr. around the same time during a robbery.[10]
Judge Perry explained how his signature could have been forged, stating:
| “ | People, particularly people with criminal minds, come up with ingenious ways to beat the system. They have nothing but time on their hands to think of things.[10][11] | ” |
The judge further hypothesized:
| “ | I think what you're looking at, at minimum, is someone who's got enough background to put together a very convincing legal looking document, somebody with enough technical knowledge in a computer to get a real looking signature cut and pasted onto the bottom so it doesn't look cut and pasted and to get it filed where the court documents would come from.[12][11] | ” |
The Department of Corrections defended their innocence and their staff, explaining that they were just following orders.[10]
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Belvin Perry Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
- Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, "Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr."
- CNN.com, "Judge in Casey Anthony case seen as sharp, respected and in command," May 21, 2011
- Orlando Sentinel, "Florida Supreme Court ruling limits Belvin Perry's term as chief judge," February 13, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Elections 2012 - Belvin Perry Jr.," 2012
- ↑ Florida 2012 Unofficial Primary Election Results, "Circuit Court Judge"
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "2012 Candidate Listings"
- ↑ Phoenix Network, "Chief Judge Belvin Perry draws formidable opposition in quest for new six-year term," April 23, 2012
- ↑ ABC News, "Casey Anthony Trial: Not Guilty Murder Verdict," July 5, 2011
- ↑ CNN, "Anthony trial put on hold till Tuesday," June 20, 2011
- ↑ USA Today, "Men who escaped prison with forged papers registered as felons," October 18, 2013
- ↑ CNN, "Escaped Florida inmates arrested in Panama City motel," October 20, 2013
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 CNN, "Police hunt for mistakenly freed murderers; DOC says it's not to blame," October 18, 2013
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ WTSP Channel 10, "Judge Belvin Perry on convicted murderers set free: Forging my signature 'not hard to do'," October 18, 2013
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