Freed man faces new trial in Vicodin case

TAMPA -- The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office has decided not to drop charges against Mark O'Hara, who was freed from prison after an appeals court said he deserved a new trial.

O'Hara's lawyer, Ira Berman, angrily stormed out of the courthouse after a brief 8:30 a.m. hearing before Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta.

"It's quite a shame," Berman said. "Quite a pitiful shame. End of story. End of statement."

O'Hara, 45, dressed in a white-button down shirt and a pink tie, said he could not comment on the case.

A group of residents calling themselves "We the People Florida" walked out of court after O'Hara's hearing. The group's leader, Bill Trudelle, said they wanted to send a message to Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober.

"We're just letting the courts know that there will be people watching this time around," said Trudelle, 41.

A status conference in the case is set for Sept. 18. Ficarrotta said a trial date would be set at the hearing.

Tampa Airport Police arrested O'Hara in 2004 after they found 58 Vicodin pills and a small amount of marijuana in his illegally parked and unattended bread truck. He refused plea agreements before trial that would have given him one to three years in prison. Instead, jurors heard from two doctors who said they had been treating O'Hara since 1990 for pain relating to car accidents and gout.

However, jurors were not told that it is legal to possess Vicodin with a prescription, which O'Hara had. He was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug trafficking.

Using words like "absurd" and "ridiculous", a three-judge appeals court overturned the conviction in July and ordered a new trial.

Prosecutor Darrell Dirks said he could not comment on the case.

-- Carrie Weimar, Times staff writer