Mayor pleads no contest

Marianna Mayor Paul Donofro Jr. has entered a no contest plea to charges of boating under the influence and resisting arrest without violence, according to court records.
County Judge Woody Hatcher withheld adjudication of guilt on the resisting charge, but ordered Donofro to pay a $286 fine in the matter.
Donofro was also ordered to pay a $500 fine related to the misdemeanor charge of boating under the influence.
Donofro was also ordered to pay a $500 civil penalty, because he refused to submit to a breathalyzer test on the day of the incident leading to the charges.
He will be on probation for six months, must perform 50 hours of public service work, attend and pay for alcohol awareness counseling, and must impound his vessel for 10 days from the date of the plea, which was signed Sept. 17.
Matt Fuqua served as Donofro’s attorney in the case. He clarified his role further in an interview Thursday, saying he was not acting as the city of Marianna’s attorney in this case, although he is a partner in the law office that represents the city.
Fuqua said he was acting as a private attorney in Donofro’s case and that the city is not involved in the matter at all.
Fuqua also emphasized that Donofro’s case proceeded and was resolved in the same manner as is common with any other citizen, and that no plea deal was negotiated with the state attorney’s office.
Fuqua said on Donofro’s behalf that the mayor was remorseful about the incident, particularly his failure to comply with an officer’s orders, and wants to pay his penalty and move on with his life.
The circumstances of the incident were described in detail in a report written by officer Mike Guy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Guy said he was working the banks of the Spring Creek-Chipola River area on Saturday, June 6 of this year when he heard a vessel approaching that “sounded as if it was at a high rate of speed compared to any other traffic on the river this day.”
He moved in to a position for a better look and saw a 16-foot aluminum boat approaching “at a high rate of speed.”
It was occupied by a man and woman, who were later identified as Donofro and his wife, Ouida Kathleen Donofro.
Guy said she was sitting on “the most forward point of the bow, with her legs hanging over the front and (her) feet nearly touching the water.”
“Due to the speed he was traveling and failure to order her into a designated seat, (Donofro) showed no regard for the safety of his passenger,” the officer wrote. “Her feet could have potentially snagged the water or an object in the water, causing her ejection from the vessel. If ejected forward, her course of travel would be under the vessel to the motor and propeller, which is most likely to result (in) death or serious bodily injury.”
Guy said Donofro eventually “came off plane to idle speed just past the ramp and circled back north. He passed the ramp again and circled back south. I whistled at him from the bank to gain his attention,” Guy continued. “He looked and then looked away. His passenger looked at me and then got the operator’s attention and (Donofro) looked at me again. I pointed at him and then motioned him to return to the landing while verbally shouting to him, ‘Stop, come here.’”
The officer stated in his report that his orders to the mayor to head to shore were repeatedly ignored.
“He looked down river and continued south. He went a short distance and stopped in the channel. They appeared to be fumbling around in the boat. The passenger moved from the bow to the rear seat. He returned a few moments later towards the ramp but remained in the river channel. I shouted to him again to bring his vessel ashore. He hovered in the river channel in front of me, stretched his arms out wide and yelled, ‘What?’ He was displaying a belligerent and nearly combative demeanor.”
According to Guy, a conversation then ensued between himself, Donofro, and the mayor’s wife.
“He (and passenger) shouted at me from his vessel the following: 
Operator:  What?
Passenger: We have not done anything wrong.
Operator: You come out here ... If you want me, you come out here and get me.”
A Jackson County sheriff’s deputy working the bank detail with Guy then warned Donofro he could face charges if he didn’t comply with Guy’s order to come ashore.
Guy reported that Donofro then “powered up on plane and traveled north up the Chipola River.”
As Guy was obtaining information about the boat’s registration, someone approached him and reported that a 16-foot aluminum boat had “waked his boat violently twice, leaving it grounded on a downed log.”
That man asked the operator to slow down. When he did, the man reported to Guy that “the operator made some very rude gestures to him and left.” The officer went on to indicate that Donofro was the operator in that incident.
While Guy was taking a statement from another boater who had encountered the vessel, Donofro returned to the ramp. Guy and the deputy walked back to the river bank, and Guy again ordered Donofro to shore.
“He refused to comply,” Guy wrote. “He remained in his vessel, driving in circles. His passenger was no longer in the vessel upon his return ... Donofro approached the landing only after a vehicle arrived that had his passenger in it. When his vessel landed, he got out of his boat from the bow.”
Guy said he approached the mayor and told him he was under arrest.
“He turned around as if he was going to get back into his boat. Deputy Snell cut off his path. We were attempting to take (Donofro) into custody when his wife Ouida Donofro began quickly approaching and yelling at us. Deputy Snell told her to back away,” Guy wrote. “Donofro turned around and flexed his arms, requiring us to physically force (his) hands into restraints.He was placed in custody.”
Guy stated in his report that he detected a strong oder of alcohol on Donofro’s breath; that his eyes were red, watery and bloodshot; and that his speech was slurred and slow.
A field sobriety test was conducted, with Guy noting that on at least one try Donofro was unable to touch his nose with his finger tip, and was unable to keep his head still at some point.
Donofro was subsequently booked in the Jackson County jail.