The St. Augustine Record
Fla. — Scuffle over haircut keeps man in custody for two more years
Despite beating one count of battery on a law enforcement officer, Anthony Michael Migliaccio is still going to spend more than two more years in prison for resisting a haircut.
In a jury trial Thursday, Migliaccio, 24, was found guilty of one count of battery against a St. Johns County corrections officer and not guilty on the second count.
The charges stemmed from a July 9 incident in which Migliaccio refused to comply with an order to get a routine haircut before being transferred from one part of the county jail to another.
Migliaccio, who decided to represent himself, told the court that he refused to comply because it was against his religious beliefs. He also stated that he was Catholic.
“God gave us these gifts,” Migliaccio said. “… to use my good looks and use my personality to influence people to become Catholic.”
Assistant state attorney Travis Mydock said deputies were simply doing their jobs on July 9.
“He (Migliaccio) freaked out and battered two officers,” Mydock said in his closing arguments. “Those acts were intentional. He did whatever he could to keep them from giving him a haircut.”
Migliaccio, who was sporting a shaggy head of brown hair, stumbled through the process of the trial, unsure of when or how to submit evidence and motions.
He also objected several times during the closing arguments of Mydock — and was admonished by Judge Michael Traynor for doing so.
Still, his defense was somewhat effective. The jury of three men and three women deliberated for 90 minutes before splitting the verdict on the two third-degree felony charges.
Traynor handed Migliaccio a sentence of 30 months in the state prison, with credit for time served of 169 days.
The reason Migliaccio was in the county jail in the first place is that he reached a plea agreement on three charges from a Jan. 9, 2012, arrest.
He pleaded no contest on July 3 to felony battery, criminal mischief and leaving the scene of a crash involving injury. Police reports say Migliaccio ran over his mother twice in the driveway of their home, crashed into a nearby fence and then fled on foot.
Migliaccio received a sentence of 364 days in the county jail plus probation.
Had he avoided trouble in jail and followed the terms of his probation, Migliaccio would be free now.
Instead, he’ll have more than two more years behind bars because of Thursday’s conviction.
The state had offered him a sentence of 12.1 months in jail (with credit for time served) to enter a plea during a pretrial hearing Tuesday.
But the deal was rejected, and the case went to trial.
St. Johns County corrections officers John Hagberg and Sayfudin Isabaev testified Thursday that they were tasked with getting Migliaccio a haircut late on the night of July 9 because he was being moved to the area of the jail where sentenced prisoners live. It is standard procedure for inmates to have their hair shortened to above the collar and off the ears before the transfer.
Despite his objections due to so-called religious reasons and because the haircutter was an unlicensed inmate, Migliaccio was taken to an area where a chair was set up for the cutting. After sitting down, Migliaccio abruptly sprang from the chair, striking Hagberg to escape.
Both Hagberg and Isabaev testified that the were assaulted by Migliaccio. However, the defendant denied striking Isabaev, and the jury found him not guilty on that charge.
When Migliaccio was eventually subdued and handcuffed, all of his hair was cut off.
In addition to the testimony of the two officers who struggled with Migliaccio, corrections control operator John Pacetti and Deputy Ronald Hines also testified to the basic details of the altercation.
Migliaccio claimed he was treated too harshly by officers at the jail and had no choice but to resist.
“Hopefully, I proved this is basically bullying in the extreme,” he said in closing. “I was forced to defend myself.”
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