Law&Crime Sidebar - ‘Wasted’ Teacher Meddled in Aid of Drunk Teen at House Party: Bodycam

Episode Date: May 9, 2025

Karly Anderson, once an elementary school teacher in Cocoa Beach, Florida, received her sentence this week after being found guilty of obstructing police while they were trying to help an intoxicated teenager. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber goes step-by-step through her short trial and its result.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: If you or a loved one were diagnosed with stomach cancer or gastric cancer after using an antacid, visit https://antacidclaims.com/sidebar to answer less than 10 questions and check your eligibility to file a claim! HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. And you're drunk as well. I'm not drunk. Yes, you are. I smell it. Oh, you smell it. Yes. All right, let's do it. No, we're not. When watching that video, it is going to become clear to you that Ms. Anderson was intoxicated. Big mistake on her part. That's where things started go wrong for her. No good D goes unpunished. A Florida elementary school teacher spotted outside of a house party attended by more than 100 teenagers was apparently disorderly and uncooperative when she started yelling at

EMTs and a police officer. That's the verdict from a jury. And now, Carly Anderson has learned the consequences for her actions. Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, everybody. You might want to listen up to this. This is another law and crime legal alert. Lawsuits allege that antacid use has been linked to increases in stomach cancer and gastric cancer. If you were a loved one were diagnosed with stomach cancer or gastric cancer after using an antacid, you may qualify for compensation. And one of our legal sponsors is partnering with the Driscoll firm. This is a national firm, helping those injured to ensure their claims are thoroughly presented. All you have to do is visit anacidclaims.com slash sidebar or scan the QR code on. screen to answer less than 10 questions and check your eligibility to file a claim.

You know, while some trials can take weeks, months, years, you remember the YSL RICO trial out of Atlanta, and many, much, much shorter. And that was the case for Carly Gail Anderson, a former third grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School in Brevard County, Florida. You see, she was arrested alongside Elizabeth Hill Brodigan. This is the principal of Roosevelt Elementary School. After all these teens, apparently threw a party at Hill Brodigan's house in Cocoa Beach over a long weekend back in January. Anderson ended up facing two misdemeanor charges, disorderly intoxication, endangering safety in the second degree,

and resisting or obstructing an officer without violence in the first degree. Now, she had entered a not guilty plea. Her trial date was set for May. There was a little bit of activity before the trial started because in the weeks before she went to trial, some body camera video from that night was released by Cocoa Beach police. And I'll tell you what, didn't look good for Anderson. Why? Because in it, she's seen approaching an officer in EMTs who are trying to help this teenage boy

who was found in the yard of Hill Brodigan's home, appeared drunk, was vomiting, he was sick. Now, the EMTs determined he didn't need to go to the hospital, so Corporal Demetrius Brown was going to take him to the police station to wait for his mom to pick him up. That is when Anderson came up to them, demanding to know what was going on. Take a look. Hey, you want to see something? Oh, why she's going to put me an officer around. So what the fucking put me in handcuffs?

What the what's wrong with them? What? I'm concerned about a child that's being put into a machine, into one of these vehicles, and it's none of my business. You say something to them. Well, they can't disclose information. You know, you tell, who go beach is gone mad and nasty. They don't work for us.

That's Rivard County Fire Rescue. Well, you know, I'm a teacher. Who the f***ed you put, who got from that car? Well, it's a kid, but they just like they can't disclose. No, no, I was here hanging out at this party. I mean, what the fuck? What's wrong with them? Okay.

You guys got to ask better. Do you want the truth? There was like 200 kids here. already known drinking okay and you're drunk as well i'm not drunk yes you are i smell oh you smell it yes all right let's do no we're not getting through that but i mean do a test but i'm saying but i'm concerned and you're intoxicated too oh who cares so i could get in your car and i with you are because he's 17 and he was here drinking at a party why are you yelling at because you're yelling You're here with your boss having a party with 200 kids who are drinking.

Get out of my face now. That's on your camera. It is. According to local news outlet Florida today, Anderson's attorney filed a motion to have the charges dismissed saying, look, the body cam video may have shown Anderson acting inappropriately, but it didn't break any of the law she's charged with. That motion was denied. And Florida Today also reported that during jury selection, multiple jurors were released from

service telling the court they had seen the video of Anderson. They couldn't be impartial. And by the way, just as an aside, since we're also covering the Diddy trial, kudos to these prospective jurors, because to be honest in a courtroom like this, to be honest about what you saw and what you heard, never easy. So kudos to them. That's what the beauty of the system is at times. Now, here's the thing. Once a six-person jury was finally seated in this case, and in Florida, when you have misdemeanor cases, you can have a six-person jury. The trial got underway, beginning as always with opening statements and the prosecutor told the jurors they would have the opportunity to judge that body cam footage for themselves you're going to hear about how miss anderson approached the EMTs demanding to know why the child was being placed into a machine when the EMTs told miss Anderson that they could not provide her with any information and that quite frankly it was none of her business what was going on and that she needed to go away miss Anderson became angry belligerent and began yelling at the When watching that video, it is going to become clear to you that Ms. Anderson was intoxicated.

Corporal Brown is going to explain to you what impact this interaction with Ms. Anderson had on his ability to care for the minor child that was in the back of the control car at the time, that this hindered his ability to care for that sick and impaired child and delayed him and being able to transport the child to the station where he was to be reunited with his mother so that she could care for him. you see this case is not about what miss anderson was saying or the content of that speech rather this case is about what affects miss anderson's outburst and belligerent behavior had and that it hindered corporal brown and the performance of his legal duties when at that time he was acting as a caretaker for this minor child who was sick but anderson's attorney argued that she was protected by the first amendment his opening statement went on a little bit longer and kind of gave us a glimpse into what Anderson says happened that night.

So, as you know, this entire event revolves out of a high school party at Ms. Anderson's friend's house that got out of control. And there's nothing new about kids having high school parties. They did it when I was in high school. They still do it. What's new now is digital media and they get on something called Snapchat instead of just tell them a few friends, hey, we're going to have a little get-together come on over to my mom's house. It goes on Snapchat and kids pick it up all over the place and show up from everywhere and it gets out of control real quick. So that's what happened, and this happened on January 19th of this year, which was the night before Martin Luther King Day.

Martin Luther King Day was a school holiday, and this was a Sunday night. Okay, so the principal, Ms. Hill Brodigan, friends with Harley Anderson, called her up and said, hey, let's go out and have a drink. They live right down the street from each other. And Ms. Hill Brodigan picked her up, brought her out to a local establishment in Cocoa Beach, just a few miles away from their house on Minuteman Causeway. And they both live on Minuteman Causeway. And they proceeded to have adult beverages and were in the process of thinking about ordering some wings. and having a night out. At that moment, somebody from the Cocoa Beach Police Department

called Ms. Phil Brodigan and said, there's a party that's out of control at your house, and you need to come home right now and disperse it, extinguish it, fix it. So, Ms. Anderson gets informed of this and says, okay, I'll go with you. Big mistake on her part. That's where things start to go wrong for her. No good D goes unpunished. So she drives, they drive back to the house. They may have made a stop someplace else.

Within a few minutes, they're both back at the house. Ms. Hill-Broadigan goes right by Ms. Anderson's house. It doesn't give her an opportunity to get out of the car. And there's a, the remnants of an out-of-control party is going on. They proceed to work on telling the kids to go home. This house that this party is at backs up onto the golf course. So I'm imagining kids were running around on the golf course and making a nuisance to all the neighbors.

So she was there for some time and never provided any alcohol, any minors never had a drink with any miners never knew anything about this party until the police called said you need to come back here so he was cold and uh probably had too much to drink and sitting in the grass uh in front of hill brodigan's residence so uh purple brown calls the ambulance, which probably is an overreaction, but that's his choice in the abundance of caution on ambulance on a drunk kid who's puking, that's okay. He calls EMT, the fire department shows up. They evaluate the kid who is CR, the state has told you. That's his name for this trial today. they evaluate him and he apparently is fine so she's familiar with corporal brown and considers him

another professional in the in the area that's trying to take care of this kid and she says she starts talking to him she says what's wrong with him why won't they tell me what's going all with this kid you guys are out of control and she she has a moment her uh And Purple Brown is very calm most of the time. And she uses the word, I'm concerned about this child. I'm concerned about a child being put into a machine. She says, I've been at this party and what she was saying is I've been here for an hour since the police told us to come back and disperse the party. and she basically has some conversation with him.

She doesn't threaten him. She doesn't touch him. At one point in time, he flips the switch, so to speak, and starts yelling at her. He goes from calm to absolutely yelling at her. And he says, I'll tell you what's going on.

There was 200 kids here. drinking with you and your boss and get out of my face and he turns and she says that's on your body cam and walks away and that's it that's the whole case so he got it wrong she wasn't there drinking with juveniles or throwing a party not in any way and and I don't know what duty she obstructed him in doing, what legal duty or legal process. Kid was in the car. He had a consensual citizen police encounter with her.

And although it's probably that idea to bail at a police officer, it's not illegal. it is protected under the First Amendment, our right to free speech. He didn't arrest Mrs. Anderson for anything. He didn't arrest her for disorderly intoxication. He didn't arrest her for resisting without violence. Had he observed those crimes, he certainly could have called another officer. Said, CR, you're going to have to wait a minute while I get another officer here to put Mrs. Anderson in the back for police car.

But notably, he didn't observe those crimes. He didn't choose to make any arrest. Now, we're actually going to hear from Corporal Brown in just a minute, but the first witness the state called to the stand was EMT Andrew Rock. The juvenile was assessed. He was answering our questions correctly and his vitals were great. Okay. Based on that, what happened next?

Based on that, we determined that he did not need to be transported to the hospital. So Rock testified that Anderson first approached him and his supervisor demanding information about the sick team. We kept trying to be very nice and telling her, please go away. This is none of your business. We can't tell you anything under HIPAA. This is a private medical. Okay. Then did you keep engaging with her or?

No, she eventually steered her attention to the officer because she didn't like how we were talking to her. So she got angry with us and then started to talk to Officer Brown and was like, do you hear how they're talking to me and wanted him to make us cooperate. And during cross-examination, Anderson's attorney only had a few questions for the EMT. And you guys determined that the minor, CR, was okay, right? Yes, sir. And in fact, Mrs. Anderson didn't do anything to endanger him, did she? No, she did not. Okay.

And when she was talking to you, she didn't threaten you any way did she? No, she did not. Now the only other witness called to the stand was Corporal Demetrius Brown of the Cocoa Beach Police Department. And during his testimony, the state played the short clip of Anderson's interactions with Corporal Brown from the body cam. And he testified that he had worked as a school resource officer a few times at the elementary school where Anderson taught. And it had a couple conversations with her in passing. But what happened that night in January? Wasn't exactly cordial. On the video, we heard you eventually get frustrated with Ms. Anderson and tell her to go away. Why did you do that? Because after trying to give her

some explanation without giving too much information, I realized that I couldn't get through to her, couldn't reason with her, so I just decided to end the conversation. And based on your observations of the minor child, what were your concerns regarding his level of intoxication? He was impaired, and I didn't believe he would be able to take care of himself. without an adult. What concerns did you have about leaving him in the back of your patrol car alone unsupervised? Alcohol affects everyone differently,

especially for someone who's a minor. He would have had a medical episode back there while I was talking with Ms. Anderson. Wouldn't have been able to know because I wasn't in the vehicle with him. And did your interaction with Ms. Anderson being forced to kind of ameliorate that situation, did that prevent you from transporting the juvenile or I guess delay you from

transporting the juvenile? Yes, it did. Why did you not make an arrest of Ms. Anderson at that time? I was the only officer there and the child was more of my priority concerned than making an arrest at that time. Now, in cross-examination, the defense questioned whether the short interaction with Anderson really caused any sort of harm to the teenager that Corporal Brown was helping. So your engagement with Mrs. Anderson, it's just what we saw here. It took about two minutes? Yes, sir. Okay.

And did you feel that that two minutes endangered the welfare of the child in the back of your car? Yes. You do? Yes. When he got back in the car, was he the same as he was when you left him there? Yes. Was the door open while you were talking to her? No.

He'd shut the door. Yes. Okay. And how long did it take you to get to the police department? Roughly two minutes. Two or three minutes? Yes, sir. And how long did it take for his mother to get to the police department?

Leave about an hour. Okay. And was the child endangered because of her length of time and getting there? No. Okay. How was that? Because I was sitting with him the entire time. And what was he doing?

He was sitting in the back seat. He vomited again. In your police car? Yes. Did you take him into the police department? No. We sat in the car downstairs. Did you talk to him?

I did. asking them questions about the party? No. What did you talk to him about? I wouldn't be able to remember that. Okay. So you felt that it was your legal duty to take this child to the police department? Yes.

Could you have just knocked on the door of the Hill Brodinger residence and say, this guy doesn't need to go to the hospital, but somebody needs to watch him until his mother picks him up? No. Why is that? Because I already spoke with his mom, and that was a preferred choice. She wanted. Did you give her any other choices?

No. Okay. So that was really your choice? Not really. The defense attorney also accused Corporal Brown of making assumptions about Anderson's possible participation in the party, which she denies. When you yelled at her, on the video, you thought that she was responsible for orchestrating that party and providing alcohol, didn't you?

No. That's what she said. No. I said you and your boss, referring to Mrs. Brody. So you meant just her boss, or you meant she was part of it? Didn't mean any of them. I said she was there with it, not responsible for it. And he said that she was drinking with juveniles, right?

Yes. Yes. Yeah. And you didn't know that to be true at all, did you? Correct. Other than her saying she was there at the party. You certainly didn't see her drinking with any juveniles, did you? No.

In fact, you never even went into that house, did you? I didn't know. Now, to be clear, Anderson wasn't charged with anything connected to the house party per se. throwing of this party. But the state rested its case. The defense didn't call any of its own witnesses, but Anderson did have the opportunity to testify if she wanted to. So Mr. Weaver, at this time, I am going to inquire with your client, Ms. Anderson, about her decision to testify or do not testify. Yes, Your Honor. And Ms. Anderson, at the beginning of court today, I did place you under oath to tell the truth to the court, and you are still under oath to tell the

truth, understand that? Yes. All right. All right. So this time I'm going to also ask you a series of questions about your decision regarding whether to testify or not testify. So I want you to understand that the court is asking these questions. Please don't believe that the court has any preference in whether you testify or not. The decision is solely your decision. So number one, do you understand that you have an absolute?

constitutional right to testify during this trial. I do. Do you also understand that you have an absolute constitutional right not to testify in this trial? I do. Number three, do you understand that it is your decision and not the decision of your attorney? I do. Number four, do you understand that you may seek his advice regarding the decision to testify? but that ultimately it must be your decision I understand all right and lastly what is the decision

that you have made regarding to testify or not testify I'm not going to testify okay but then the court moved on to closing arguments where the attorneys reminded the jury of their main points her interaction with corporal brown or yelling at the emps causing a scene being drunk and belligerent of a minor child, CR, who was in the back of the patrol car, at the time that all of this was going down. Whether this encounter lasted 30 seconds, a minute, a minute and 30 seconds, two minutes, three minutes, an hour, that doesn't really matter. Something bad could have happened in the matter of moments. So now you know what the evidence is in the case.

and it's really hard to believe that this is what a prosecution is based on. However, here we are. So as to disorderly intoxication, remember, everything has to be decided to the standard beyond a reasonable doubt. Was Ms. Anderson intoxicated? maybe so did because of her intoxication did she endanger the drunk high school student in the back of the police car absolutely not that's ridiculous absolutely ridiculous so what happened in this case is it got a lot of publicity initially it was believed that miss Anderson had something to do

with this party. That wasn't true. So there was a lot of publicity, a lot of pressure on the state attorney's office to file something. Got to get her on something. And this is just made up stuff. To say that she endangered a kid who was already in the back of a police car when she walked up and had a conversation with somebody she knew is ridiculous. I would admit to you that This is not her finest moment. And she probably shouldn't have been interjecting herself in that situation. She shouldn't have been talking to the police officer that way. However, what she did is not a crime.

Being convicted of a crime is a serious matter in our society. And it should not be taken lightly. And when you look at that video with no, no instructions, no background, you'll see somebody having a conversation, whatever you want to call it with a police officer. That is not a crime under any circumstances, especially not under these circumstances. And she is protected by the First Amendment. And on the same day that the trial got underway, the case went to the jury. Very, very quick trial. So interestingly, the jurors did send few notes to the judge requesting the legal definition of obstruction. The judge responded,

you must use your common understanding of this term as well as the jury instructions. But by the end of the day on May 6th, there was a verdict. Guilty on both counts. And from there, the court went ahead with sentencing. So on the disorderly intoxication, she will be adjudicated guilty and placed on six months of supervised probation. She will be ordered to pay court cost. She will be ordered to pay cost of investigation to the COCO, each police department, and the court will reserve us to the amount. I am asking that the state work in the next 30 days to establish that amount. All right, the court is also ordering that she is not to consume or possess any alcoholic beverages or any illegal substances.

I am also ordering 50 hours, that's 5.0 hours of community service. The court is going to order the $500 donation to the Children's Advocacy Center. however I am going to give her up to a year to pay that which would be outside of the probation that I have given in this disorderly intoxication count all right I am also going to order random testing on alcohol and illegal substances for the probation term on the disorderly intoxication the community service hours that I've ordered will need to be at a nonprofit agency. All right, as to count two, resisting without violence, the court is going to adjudicate you guilty. I am going to sentence you to 12 months of

supervised probation, and you will be ordered to pay court cost. I am also going to order to order another 50 hours of community service so it will be a total of a hundred but 50 on each count so the second set of 50 hours can be done on the count two after the first ones are done they can be done if you're unemployed and not working right now that could be done as quickly as you're able to do it but you also can put them off to another time if that's needed. All right, are there any questions about, I think actually the simpler thing, since I'm going to give you 12 months, the simpler thing is the $500 Children Advocacy Center donation.

I'm going to place that, I'm going to remove it from the disorderly intoxication and put it on the other count which will give her the full 12 months to pay that now Anderson's attorney said she plans to appeal which she has 30 days to do it's unclear what's going to happen now with Anderson's teaching career because after her arrest but before trial she was reportedly given the option either retire or be fired from Roosevelt elementary at least that's according to her attorney she chose to retire but soon after she was back teaching at a different school in in Brevard County. She's been relocated from Roosevelt Elementary to Saturn Elementary, still in Cocoa Beach, but within two days of her starting a new job, that body cam footage

was released. And by all accounts, Anderson was fired. Now, as far as Elizabeth Hill Brodigan, she's still awaiting trial. She was suspended from her position as principal at Roosevelt Elementary without pay. She's facing seven counts, according to Brevard County Court, child neglect without great bodily harm, having an open house party, five counts of contribution to the the delinquency of a minor. She posted a $3,500 bond was released from jail. But according to an affidavit that was filed by Cocoa Beach Police, officers interviewed students from different schools who attended that party. And all the students they spoke with confirmed there were more than 100 students at Hill Brodigan's home. The affidavit says, most students knew that Elizabeth

was the principal of Roosevelt Elementary and advised that parties like this happened once or twice a Students also advised they arrived as early as 1945 hours, and Elizabeth was having students helped make preparations for the party. At that time, alcohol was ready and available in multiple red-white coolers inside the residence. Students also advised that Elizabeth made no attempt to stop the party at any point and advised that she seemed okay with what was happening. Students also indicated there was marijuana use, someone taking videos with a gun, pointing it at another person, fights that broke out. April 29th, Elizabeth Hill Brodigan waved her right to a speedy And for now, the next event on the docket is a calendar call on June 11th.

We'll keep an eye out. It's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. on Wonderry Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.