Taxpayers won’t foot legal bill for mom accused of drowning autistic son, at least for now

Patricia Ripley, the West Kendall woman accused of drowning her 9-year-old autistic son in a canal and falsely blaming two Black men for his kidnapping, won’t be getting help from taxpayers to help fund her defense, for now.

Circuit Judge Charles Johnson on Thursday ruled that because of her family’s wealth, Ripley is not “indigent,” which would have allowed taxpayer money to go toward paying fees for a private investigator, expert witnesses, legal copies and depositions. The judge said he could revisit the matter if Ripley’s defense lawyers produce additional financial documents showing she deserves public assistance.

“She doesn’t qualify at this point,” Johnson said.

Ripley earlier this month asked a Miami-Dade circuit judge to declare her “indigent,” despite her family agreeing to pay $300,000 to three defense lawyers. The Miami-Dade State Attorney objected, saying Ripley and her family are too wealthy to be declared indigent.

Prosecutor Gail Levine, in a court filing, pointed out that the Ripley property in the Dominican Republic — which the family hopes to sell to pay for the lawyers — is lucrative. “The Defendant herself owns 27,500 meters (6.79 acres) valued at $685,500.00 ... true value of her entire share may be $750,000.00.”

“The value of this property alone prevents the Defendant from being declared indigent,” Levine wrote.

The state also pointed to a $144,000 salary earned by Aldo Ripley, the woman’s husband, plus a 401(k), the value of their West Kendall home and money from “false income tax filings.”

During a Thursday morning hearing, Ripley’s defense lawyer, Susy Ribero-Ayala, disputed the worth of the seaside land in the Dominican Republic, which could be purchased in the future by the island’s government. “She does not have access to the property and cannot take a loan on his property,” Ribero-Ayala said.

But Judge Johnson noted that her three lawyers themselves are counting on the sale of the land to get their fees.

While it’s too early to know how much Florida would pay if she’s allowed public assistance, other death-penalty cases have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for experts, investigators and other fees.

Ripley, 45, is facing a grand-jury indictment for first-degree murder — and the possibility of the death penalty — in the May 21 killing of Alejandro Ripley, who suffered from severe autism and could not speak. Ripley, who is charged with a slew of other felonies, remains jailed while awaiting trial.

Police say she first pushed Alejandro into a canal, but the boy was saved by a passerby. Later, she did it again, according to police, and the boy drowned.

Ripley initially told police that two Black men ran her off the road in Kendall, then took the boy, sparking a statewide manhunt. But suspicious detectives eventually unraveled the story, police said.

This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 1:28 PM.