The Office of the State Attorney has filed a notice of no prosecution in the matter of State vs. Nicholas Gordon (17-06408-MMA).

On June 10^th, 2017 the Sanford Police Department arrested Nicholas Gordon for Domestic Violence Battery and False Imprisonment of Laura Leal that occurred at the couple’s home in Arbor Lakes Apartments.

After a careful review of all available evidence in the case our office determined that the felony charge of False Imprisonment could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. As a result a formal Information was filed charging Nicholas Gordon with misdemeanor Battery Domestic Violence.

While initially cooperative with the investigation, Ms. Leal became unhappy with the criminal justice process and repeatedly demanded that our office abandon the prosecution of Mr. Gordon. Ms. Leal provided a written declaration of non-prosecution, made repeated verbal demands to drop the case, and ultimately voiced her desire not to have Gordon prosecuted in a letter sent to the presiding judge.

As the only witness to the event, Ms. Leal’s position not to assist in the prosecution of Mr. Gordon, combined with her subsequent statements that indicated further or conflicting accounts of the original incident, contributed to a well-founded belief by the lead prosecutor that the case could not proceed to trial.

Even so, our office sought and obtained proof that sanctions requiring Mr. Gordon to undergo a four hour Anger Management Course and a four hour Alcohol and Substance Abuse Course had been successfully completed prior to filing the notice of no prosecution.

Notice of No Prosecution

Todd Brown

Public Information and Communications

Office of the State Attorney

18^th Judicial Circuit