OCALA, Fla. – The year 2024 won’t go down as Melany Gayle Peters’ best. Her three arrests took place this year and her various lawyers filed motions five times, requesting to be taken off her cases.
On Sept. 4, a police officer in Florida managed to see a driver and her passenger not wearing their seatbelts.
“I activated my overhead emergency lights and conducted a traffic stop,” the officer wrote. “I made contact with driver Melany Peters and advised her of the reason for being stopped. I asked Melany Peters for driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance.
“Melany Peters provided me with her license and the registration, but was not able to provide me with proof of insurance. I waited beside the driver side of the vehicle as Melany Peters called her mother to send her a picture of the insurance card.
“While I waited for Melany Peters to provide proof of insurance,” her arrest report said, the officer called for a K9 cop who “conducted a walk around Melany Peters’ vehicle with his K9 Creed, and K9 Creed gave a positive alert.”
Authorities reported finding “.9 blue round pills with imprint C31 (dicyclomine hydrochloride-prescription only) in M. Peters’ black purse. The black purse was on the driver’s side.
“[A female officer] arrived on scene to conduct the search of M. Peters’ person. While [the officer] began searching M. Peters, she located a zebra print stun gun in the back right pocket, and a glass smoking pipe commonly used to smoke illegal narcotics. The glass pipe had burned residue on one end, and metal pieces on the other end that was used as a filter.
“As [the officer] continued her search, M. Peters began to pull away and fell to the ground. While on the ground, M. Peters continued to physically resist and in the process, bit [the officer’s] left middle knuckle, breaking her skin.
“A further search of M. Peters was conducted after she was placed in handcuffs. A small plastic baggie continuing a clear powder substance (seven raw grams) that tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine was found in her bra.”
Peters was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine, possession of certain drugs without a prescription, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The first four were felonies and Peters’ arrest report said she’d be held without bond, but that was not the case. She was booked shortly after midnight and released in lieu of $21,000 bond after 19 days in jail.
Then came several delays.
A month after Peters’ arrest, she was deemed indigent and assigned a public defender.
Motion to Withdraw as Counsel, Oct. 15, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
After a week on the job, the public defender asked to be relieved due to a conflict of interest: The office “previously represented the co-defendant,” who was her passenger.
He’s 18 years younger and believed to be her husband. He was arrested during the same traffic stop for trafficking methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also served three years in state prison on a series of battery charges.
Motion to Withdraw, Oct. 22, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
A week after Melany Peters’ public defender asked to quit, the judge allowed a new lawyer from the Office of Regional Counsel but that office filed a Motion to Withdraw because it also “previously represented the co-defendant.”
Motion to Withdraw as Court-Appointed Counsel, Oct. 30, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
The judge ended up assigning a specific lawyer but another week passed and he filed a motion, claiming a conflict of interest because he also “has previously represented the co-defendant.”
Further complicating matters, Peters was out on bond from another case, months earlier.
On April 28, the same two were driving “with no operable tag lights,” so a sheriff’s deputy conducted a traffic stop.
This time, Peters was the passenger.
“While speaking with the driver,” the deputy wrote, “I observed a suspected marijuana cigarette on the dashboard of the vehicle. The driver advised he did not have a valid driver’s license, and was removed from the vehicle and detained.
“The front seat passenger/defendant Melany Peters advised she had an active medical marijuana card, and advised the suspected marijuana cigarette belonged to her.
“A computer search of the defendant revealed her medical marijuana card expired on 11/20/2021. The defendant was detained and placed into a patrol vehicle. The suspected marijuana cigarette was field tested and yielded a positive result for THC.”
Then, things got worse.
“During a search of the vehicle,” the deputy continued, “I located a purse behind the driver’s seat. Within the purse, I located two prescription bottles labeled with the defendant’s name and a small glass container containing a white crystal-like substance. The white crystal-like substance was field tested and yielded a positive result for methamphetamine.”
Finally, the deputy reported Peters admitting “the pill bottles within the purse belonged to her,” but, “The defendant denied knowing the small glass container was in the purse, and stated it was not hers.”
Peters ended up charged with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of a small amount of marijuana.
Two days later, she was out on bail.
For the next four months, Peters was represented by a public defender.
Motion to Withdraw as Court Appointed Counsel, Sept. 4, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
Then, on Sept. 4, hours before her next arrest, Peters hired the same private lawyer who was eventually appointed in the case that was about to start, and the public defender filed a Motion to Withdraw as Court Appointed Counsel, saying Peters, “The defendant, has privately retained” the private lawyer.
Peters was arrested again and was being held when her mother emailed the judge, writing her lawyer “forgot … to ask for a hardship release.” She mentioned having “hip replacement [and] can barely stand any weight on that knee,” along with having “a severely handicapped son.”
Also, the email claimed, “When Melany was arrested, she sat down in a fire ant nest, prompting a trip to the hospital. While there … they found out that she has ovarian cancer.”
None of that mattered.
The judge found “the pleading is filed by a third-party … who has no standing, and the request cannot be considered by the Court.”
Peters bonded out shortly after her more recent arrest, but prosecutors from her earlier case waited a month and asked the judge to revoke her bond due to the new charges.
The judge agreed, and Peters, 53, was arrested a third time. She’s being held without bond.
Motion to Withdraw as Counsel, Oct. 30, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
Last but not least, her private lawyer asked to get off the case, claiming Peters “failed to abide/comply with the terms of counsel’s representation,” plus, “She also has a new, more serious Felony case, where the undersigned was appointed and has filed a Motion to Withdraw due to a conflict of interest.”
It does not appear the judge ruled on the lawyer’s request. An Order Scheduling Pretrial Conference, dated the day after the request, “has been furnished” to that lawyer.
Peters’ arrest report from her second traffic stop arrest never mentioned whether she had insurance, or if her mother sent a picture of the card, but she did get a ticket for the seatbelt violation.
That came with a civil penalty of $116 to be paid within 30 days, but she has not done so.
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