Officer In Sex Case May Accept Plea
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Miami Herald, The (FL) Manny Garcia, Herald Staff Writer Suspended Metro-Dade police officer Michael Hufnagel plans to plead guilty to two separate sexual assault charges in exchange for a sentence of eight years in prison followed by 10 years probation, sources familiar with the case said Thursday. If the plea offer -- as negotiated between Dade prosecutor William Altfield and criminal defense lawyer Sam Rabin -- is completed, Hufnagel will dodge a life sentence. Hufnagel is scheduled to accept the offer at an 8:30 a.m. hearing Oct. 1, before Dade Circuit Judge Stan Blake. Hufnagel, 53, is charged with raping his stepdaughter between January 1975 and August 1985. He also is charged with committing a lewd assault on a 14-year-old girl between December 1971 and February 1972. Altfield alleges that both assaults happened while Hufnagel worked as an officer. Altfield refused to comment Thursday evening. Rabin refused to comment on the plea offer. "However," he said. "I'm trying to resolve this case in a manner that is in the best interest of my client as well as others who may have been affected by this case." Rabin, court files show, plans to rely on an insanity defense at trial, should the plea offer collapse. Their defense will be that Hufnagel abused alcohol so heavily that he was temporarily insane when he assaulted the girls. Hufnagel said he stopped drinking on Jan. 22, 1988, entered therapy and has remained sober. He is now under house arrest and attends Alcoholics Anonymous, which is a condition of the bond set by Blake. Metro police arrested Hufnagel in September after his stepdaughter accused him of raping her during a 10-year period. That stunned colleagues. Hufnagel was a 25-year veteran with above-average job evaluations. Then, days later, another woman came forward and accused Hufnagel of fondling her -- while he investigated a police call at her house. The woman said she decided to come forward after seeing his picture on television. |
