A woman, who, along with her husband, was arrested after an argument with a Volusia Sheriff’s Office school resource deputy at Deltona Middle School turned physical, wants to withdraw her no-contest plea.
Dagmarie Aponte, 46, and her husband, Jorge Rivera, 47, of Deltona, were arrested Nov. 19, 2024, after the violent altercation with Volusia Sheriff’s Office School Resource Deputy Julia Curtin.
Aponte and Rivera were upset that Curtin arrested and handcuffed their 11-year-old son after he was accused of pushing a girl. They were also upset because they said their son was being bullied.
During the altercation, Aponte got between her husband and Curtin, according to testimony. Curtin also said that Aponte pushed her. Rivera punched the deputy and took her Taser. The deputy got up and drew her gun ordering Rivera to drop the Taser, which he did. The couple was then arrested.
Earlier this month, Circuit Judge A. Kathleen McNeilly sentenced Rivera to 45 days in jail. She also withheld adjudication, meaning Rivera will not have a felony conviction on his record.
McNeilly granted a motion by Rivera’s attorney, Deborah Barra, allowing for a lower sentence.
In ruling for the lower sentence for Rivera, McNeilly made several findings, including that Curtin was “an initiator, a willing participant, an aggressor, or provoker of the incident.”
Assistant State Attorney Daniel Megaro had asked the judge to sentence Rivera to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years’ probation.
The State Attorney’s Office has appealed the judge’s rulings to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.
Wife wants to withdraw plea in case involving deputy
A hearing took place for Aponte’s case on Tuesday, Nov. 25, although she was not required to attend because her attorney had waived her appearance.
McNeilly set the next hearing for Dec. 29 and said if all parties were ready, Aponte could be sentenced then.
That’s when Megaro said Aponte wanted to withdraw her plea.
Aponte also has changed lawyers. But her new attorney, Lisa Figueroa, was not at the hearing. Figueroa had requested another attorney to stand in for her for the brief hearing.
That attorney told The News-Journal after the hearing that she had been unaware that Aponte wanted to withdraw her plea.
Figueroa filed on Nov. 20 a notice of appearance, waiver of appearance at arraignment and a written plea of not guilty. But Aponte has already been arraigned. The judge would have to approve of Aponte withdrawing her plea.
Aponte pleaded no-contest on Aug. 13 to battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence, both third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. She also pleaded no-contest to disrupting a school function, a second-degree misdemeanor.
A state scoresheet did not recommend any prison time for Aponte.
At the time, Aponte was represented by the Rivas Law Firm, which filed a document stating it was withdrawing from the case.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Woman wants to withdraw plea in Deltona Middle School deputy case
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
