Randy Etheridge
Appearances
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Basically, they showed up with eight cop cars at their residential home. Laura and Emily were gangsters, you know, Al Capone or something.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Did you drive all the way over here? That's the worst fucking drive in the world. Jeez Louise, ain't nothing but pine trees.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Bubba and I, we grew up together. He's one of my closest friends. We played baseball together, and I told him I would do the case pro bono, obviously, because he's my buddy.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
I really thought it was going to be an open-and-shut thing, you know, that we'd knock it out real quick and it'd be over with. Not a big deal. Just move on.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
There's no physical way she could have done what they claimed she did. I was convinced of that. And Laura said at the time when this was going on that she was running. She's a runner. And she said, look, during this time frame, I was out doing my jog.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Because of her position as assistant principal, in my opinion, they made a conscious decision to make an example out of her to show that this is what we're going to do. We're going to be strong on stuff like this.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
I've been doing this for 37 years. It's the most bizarre case I've ever had. I've done over 100 murder cases, and I've tried every kind of case there ever was, but this case just took off with wings of its own. It became a national media frenzy.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
I had at least 100 media people come at me every single day. Swear to goodness, my wife told me, you're going to get rid of this case. The girls, my staff up here said, look, we can't take this anymore. It was every day.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
when a teen running for homecoming queen is being fitted for handcuffs instead of a tiara homecoming queen bragged about having access to the school's computer system i can't imagine somebody wanted that bad any defense attorney has any sense whatsoever you never let your client speak to the media so i couldn't allow her to speak to the media
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
And that's what, in my opinion, that's what set off the prosecutor's office because they dug in their heels and they felt like, you know, because she wasn't compliant and she wouldn't admit her guilt and wrongdoing that, you know, all deals are off.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Because Florida, man, I mean, this is the kind of stuff that goes on up here, especially in this particular portion of Florida. It's called Lower Alabama for a reason, because they're the most conservative Republican bastion that there is in Florida. They have the harshest sentencing in the United States. Jail and prison is their answer to most offenses.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
They say you stay out of trouble for 11 months and the case is dismissed. That's it. And she never was convicted of anything. We got the charges dismissed. From the get-go, that's what I thought would happen to Laura.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Laura. The problem I always had that never left was that there's no ifs, ands, or buts. And she told them that she had accessed student stuff, just really innocuous stuff. But she admitted that anyway, and that was one of the charges. And that's the thing that bothered me as a defense attorney.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
But I tell clients all the time, there's two ways a judge will send you to jail or prison. One, if they think you're wasting their time and the taxpayer's money by doing this. Or two, if you get on the stand and you lie, okay? Those are the two things that will put you away. They'll send you off for that. And there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that she went trial and lost.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
And that really was the last thing that made me want to get off the case. I could not live with the fact if she was found guilty, I was convinced that this judge was going to send her away. She was going to be incarcerated either for a year in the county jail or state prison. And I couldn't do that to my friend. That's why I got off the case.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
It just wasn't worth it anymore, especially since I was doing it for free.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
It's really, really good. A lot better than me. He's a younger, better looking version of me and a hell of a lawyer.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
Yeah, she got expelled. She didn't get to finish her senior year. She didn't get to experience her senior year of playing tennis. Basically, her whole life has been affected by this, and she didn't do a damn thing, in my opinion. And I'll go to my grave saying that, too. There's no doubt that she had absolutely nothing to do with this whatsoever. Zero.
Big Time
The Homecoming Queen’s Gambit | 1
She still doesn't admit any guilt whatsoever. She maintains her innocence, and I have to respect that. That's what she says. She didn't do it. That's part of my job, is to believe what she said.