FHP Shooting Accomplice Pleads
Not Guilty
By CHRIS BUTLER

SEBRING — Law enforcement officials said he illegally fled into a nearby orange grove after witnessing his friend shoot and kill Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Nicholas Sottile last month.

But despite the extremely high-profile circumstances surrounding Georgia resident Quintin Jerome Kinder’s misdemeanor arrest, his Wednesday arraignment was anti-climactic.

Kinder’s court-appointed attorney, Derek Christian, said his client pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Kinder, 21, didn’t appear in court Wednesday, and instead issued the not guilty statement through written pleadings. Christian said his client was still at the Highlands County Jail as of Wednesday.

Highlands County court officials last month appointed the private attorney for the Georgia suspect.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin said last month that the Highlands County Public Defender’s Office withdrew itself from representing Kinder. That’s because public defenders are already representing 19-year-old Joshua Lee Altersberger, the Sebring resident accused of killing Sottile.

“There’s an obvious conflict of interest,” Assistant State Attorney Stephen Houchin said last month, adding one suspect may give public defenders information that could incriminate the other.

FHP officers said Altersberger killed Sottile along U.S. 27 outside of Lake Placid after Sottile pulled him over for a traffic stop.

Altersberger and Kinder were later caught separately by law enforcement. Altersberger was indicted by a 21-member grand jury on first-degree murder charges Monday.

A judge ordered both men held in jail without bond. Both men are being held separately at the Highlands County Jail apart from other inmates and each other.

Kinder is already facing a violation of probation charge stemming from his native state, Houchin said.

According to records from Georgia’s Decatur County Jail, 21-year-old Kinder has an extensive criminal background there, including charges of theft, burglary and possession of marijuana, among many others.

Houchin said Kinder so far isn’t being given immunity in exchange for testifying against Altersberger.

He also said Kinder has so far been cooperating with state attorneys.