Suspect in deadly drunk driving case surrenders passport

TAMPA, Fla. - It was a fiery crash that killed Jesus Lanzo and his passenger on the veterans expressway two months ago.

Anwar Askar is accused of driving drunk and causing it.

The last time Askar had a court date he was a "no-show" and the judge was not happy.

Wednesday, he showed up, but he and his attorney were looking for an apology from the judge.
 
A few weeks ago, Judge Gregory Holder was not happy that Askar and his attorneys did not show up for a court.

Judge Holder mentioned Askar had three attorneys but not one of them bothered to appear. "I'm not happy about this. This is just crazy when multiple lawyers are crawling all over each other and the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing," said Judge Holder.

But in a motion filed Tuesday by Askar, attorney Barry Cohen says he filed the proper paperwork to waive their clients appearance and theirs as well.

In the motion, Cohen says the judge's reaction paints Askar as a flight risk and could have a "prejudicial effect" that could taint the jury pool for a future trial.

He wanted the judge correct his misstatements and apologize.

This is what happened in court:

Cohen: "Did Your Honor get a copy of that motion that I filed yesterday afternoon and asked the court to correct the record?"
Holder: "I looked at it this morning."
Cohen: "Would you correct the record your honor?"
Holder: "Correct in what way?"
Cohen: "The record that I described in the motion?"
Holder: "No, motion denied."

And that was that. Askar handed over his passports.

He remains on bond facing two counts of DUI manslaughter.

Askar was using crutches this morning and still recovering from the crash. His next court date is in February 2017.