A circuit court judge rejected a bid Friday by lawyers representing Williamsburg Planning Commission Chairman Demetrios Florakis to have evidence in a case against him tossed out due to what they alleged was an improper search by police.
During a hearing Friday, Florakis’ attorneys and Williamsburg-James City County Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green argued two points: Whether Florakis had an expectation of privacy at the Scotland Street house where he is alleged to have stored items he is accused of embezzling from another construction site and whether the police’s warrantless search of that property violated Florakis’ constitutional rights.
Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Michael McGinty sided with Norment on the expectation of privacy claim but with Green on the search, saying that based off testimony he heard from three police officers and a woman alleging the items were embezzled from the construction site, there is not evidence the Williamsburg Police Department violated Florakis’ constitutional rights by searching the property.
Florakis faces one felony count of embezzlement. The woman and her husband, both of whom were business partners with Florakis over a project aiming to convert a Quality Inn & Suites on Richmond Road to student apartments called City Lofts, allege Florakis embezzled materials from the City Lofts site and took them to the Vernon Geddy House, a home he owns on Scotland Street.
At the heart of Friday’s hearing was the search of the Scotland Street property by Williamsburg Police officers and the married couple, which took place April 29, 2013. The hearing ended shortly after the lead police officer in the search, Investigator Winfield Rose, testified he went to Florakis’ home and received permission from him to search the Scotland Street house before the search occurred. He said Florakis told him he had nothing to hide.
Rose said the search was visual, with no items in the house touched or altered by police as they quickly moved through the home and looked around while the man from the couple pointed out items allegedly taken from the City Lofts site. The woman testified she saw bed frames, a dryer, cabinets and other materials from the City Lofts site at the Vernon Geddy House when she went on the property with her husband prior to approaching police.
Norment and Florakis’ other attorney, Chris Page, spent much of the hearing questioning Rose, a patrol officer who was also on scene and the woman about two trips to the Vernon Geddy House. The woman and her husband were business partners with Florakis for the City Lofts project.
According to their testimonies, the first trip to the Vernon Geddy House — which has no connection to the City Lofts project — occurred April 27. The woman testified she and her husband searched the exterior of the home that evening for any items taken from the City Lofts site, finding the dryer beneath a tarp and the bed frames outside. She also said they found boxes with stickers matching stickers at the City Lofts site.
Norment questioned the woman about no trespassing signs posted at the Vernon Geddy House, but she said she did not see them. She also said she did not go inside the house or a shed in the yard during the first trip.
The woman testified she reported the alleged embezzlement to police the following day. Williamsburg Police officer Charles Ericsson, who took the woman’s report April 28, testified he told her about the no trespassing signs, telling her she had no right to go on the property without a warrant. He also told her police would investigate the matter.
The woman testified she confronted Florakis about the allegedly embezzled items after an April 29 business meeting. She said confrontation was “a pretty heated discussion” in which Florakis refused to go to Home Depot to look at invoices for the items she said were at the Vernon Geddy House.
Later that day, she returned to the property with her husband and another member of the Florakis family who was involved in the City Lofts project.
She said she was out of sight of the road when police arrived on scene that afternoon. The first police officer to arrive was Sarah Crowe, a uniformed patrol officer. The woman said she tried to get Crowe to come on the property, however Crowe, who stayed on Scotland Street, told her she was waiting for Rose to show up before doing anything.
Rose testified when he arrived on scene, the man asked him to immediately arrest Florakis. He said he told the man he could not do that without seeing evidence against him and he could not enter the property without a warrant or permission.
The investigator said he then went to Florakis’ home and knocked on the door. Florakis, who was on the phone, answered and invited him in, he said. Rose said he explained the situation to Florakis, who then said he could search the Vernon Geddy House because he had nothing to hide.
Crowe testified she did not enter the property until Rose said he had received permission, noting the police officers entered as a group for a short period of time only after Rose said they could.
After hearing evidence, Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Michael MicGinty said Friday there was no question the search was done without a warrant but that based off what he just heard, the search was consensual.
The next step in the matter is a trial in circuit court. Norment said Friday the bench trial — meaning a judge will determine the case instead of a jury — should last a full day. A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
The case against Florakis alleges the items were physically transported from City Lofts to the Vernon Geddy House by contractor James Jenkins, according to a criminal complaint filed against Jenkins in Williamsburg-James City County District Court.
Jenkins initially told investigators he could produce receipts showing he bought the materials for the Vernon Geddy House, according to the complaint. He showed them a receipt from May 25, 2013, however police said they would need to see a receipt from before the late April searches of the property.
Further investigation revealed Jenkins returned City Loft construction materials to Lowe’s on May 22 and then repurchased them at a significant discount May 25, according to the complaint. He told police in August 2013, he was authorized to remove materials from City Lofts and dispose of them as he wished.
Jenkins was charged Jan. 9 with one felony count of grand larceny in connection to the incident. Florakis was indicted by a grand jury Jan. 15, the same day he was named chairman of the planning commission.
The Williamsburg City Council approved the City Lofts project in 2012. At the time the project was described to city council, the project was described as an effort to convert a 118-bedroom hotel into 94 one-bedroom student apartments. City Lofts, located at 1406 Richmond Road, has since been completed and is entering its second year of operation. According to the City Lofts website, apartments there rent for $945 to $1,550 per month.
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