A 39-year-old Wildwood woman has entered a plea and retained a lawyer in a case in which she has been charged with illegally using her mother’s handicapped placard to park in a handicapped spot at Wawa.
Selena Yvonne Palmer on Tuesday entered a plea of not guilty in Sumter County Court to a misdemeanor charge of displaying a handicapped parking permit that belongs to another. She entered the plea through her attorney, Michael J. Gourley of Ferro & Gourley PA in Ocala.
Palmer was arrested Nov. 17 after she pulled into a handicapped parking spot at Wawa at U.S. 301 and County Road 466 in Oxford, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
After Palmer left Wawa and drove away on County Road 466, she was pulled over by a deputy. During the traffic stop, Palmer was asked if she had been issued a handicapped placard. She admitted the one she was using had been issued to her mother, who was not with her.
She was taken into custody and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. She remains free on $500 bond.
A 2019 Florida statute says the disabled person to whom the placard is assigned must be a “traveler” in the car. Palmer could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Palmer also was issued a traffic ticket for illegally parking in a handicapped spot. She faces a potential $186 fine.
Earlier this year, Palmer was ticketed on a charge of speeding. Palmer submitted proof on Oct. 28 that she had completed traffic school, according to Sumter County Court records. In 2018, Palmer was ticketed on a charge of failure to yield. She also provided proof in that case that she had completed traffic school.
The attorney she has hired “has more than thirty years of experience in criminal law issues,” according to the Ferro & Gourley PA website.
“Mr. Gourley has extensive experience in both trial matters and post-trial matters (violations of probation, post-conviction relief and appellate issues),” his biography on the website said.