Defense uncovers evidence to free man By CRAIG PITTMAN and KELLY RYAN Times Staff Writers April 12, 1997 Detectives thought they had solved the case of the so-called "beach bandit" when they arrested a Madeira Beach man in November. On Friday, defense attorneys for Joseph Patrick Lawson said they had uncovered evidence that not only exonerated their client but pointed to another suspect, a Clearwater man already awaiting trial on charges of bank robbery and murder. Now Lawson has been released from jail, and Pinellas County sheriff's spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said, "We're going to be re-re-viewing the beach bandit cases." Last year, Lawson, 28, was charged with four armed robberies, false imprisonment, sexual battery and attempted sexual battery. All the crimes occurred at beach motels between Aug. 30 and Oct. 8. Officials said that Lawson matched the description of the suspect and that the victims picked out his photo. But on Wednesday his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Chris Helinger, and public defender investigator Ralph Pflieger got a tip that those crimes may have been the work of Michael Sean Ritter. The tip came from Ritter's ex-girlfriend, Kari Forcella. Ritter, 27, was charged with robbing an Oldsmar bank at knife-point this year. In February, a grand jury indicted him on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Forcella's 20-month-old daughter, Alysassa Rae, whom detectives believe was shaken to death. While they lived together, Forcella said, Ritter worked on the beach. He used to live in Madeira Beach. And he and Lawson bear a striking resemblance to each other, according to court papers filed by Pflieger. At least one victim of the beach robberies said the robber wore a distinctive purple shirt with the word Meridian on it. Forcella said she had packed such a shirt, along with other items that might be connected to the beach robberies, in a bag that was stored at Ritter's sister's house in Clearwater. Public Defender Bob Dillinger said his office shared that information with the Sheriff's Office, but he said the department did not seem inclined to move quickly to search the house. So, in a move perhaps unprecedented in Pinellas County's legal annals, Dillinger's office went to Circuit Judge Frank Quesada on Thursday night and asked for a search warrant of its own. Quesada determined there was probable cause for a search and signed the warrant. Law enforcement authorities and prosecutors routinely obtain warrants to search someone's house or car. However, "this is the first time in history that we know of that the defense got a search warrant," Dillinger said. The warrant was served on Ritter's sister, Brenda Caughan, at 7 a.m. Friday, Dillinger said. In the attic of the S Jefferson Avenue house, sheriff's detectives and public defender's investigators found a duffel bag. Inside, right on top, they found a purple shirt bearing the word Meridian, Dillinger said. They found other items that Forcella had told them would be |