I started this blog to tell the stories of people victimized by corruption. My focus is, obviously, Patrick Gonzalez and his travesty of a case, but working hand in hand with that case, is the ongoing corruption that facilitated that case. I have been contacted by so many people associated with the Escambia County Sheriff’s office over the years. The people brave enough to come forward are the ones who validated my cause. They are the ones that showed how the backroom deals and alliances have hurt so many, including Patrick Gonzalez. One person who has been on my side almost from the beginning was a victim of Escambia double dealings and more recently, Georgia shenanigans. John Powell has been a trusted source and friend for years. I have really dropped the ball on the case that truly devastated him and his family for the past 4 years. He was the chief of police at Glynn County Police department in Brunswick, Georgia. Former district attorney, Jackie Johnson, orchestrated a criminal case against Powell, because he challenged her and her fuckery behind the scenes in the Cory Sasser case (among other cases), which was truly tragic.

Powell was charged with violating his oath of office, which ultimately costed Powell his job as police chief. After 4 years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars, the case was, finally, dismissed and Powell was exonerated. The case was a sham from the beginning. Powell’s charges of violating his oath of office, is a predicate charge. What that means is that when a public official is charged with a crime, like larceny, perjury, or obstruction of justice, the state can add violating the oath of office as a consequence of the crime. Powell was never charged with a crime that would allow for the oath of office violation to be charged.

It took 4 years and the review of the Georgia Supreme Court for someone to finally call an end to the absurdity. The state’s oral arguments earlier this year were that the violation of oath of office comes from the decision by Powell not to initiate an internal investigation in a case. The state insisted that such an investigation would have resulted in criminal charges against an officer and that Powell would have failed to act ethically and would have failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to cover up for the officer. The ridiculousness of this claim is unfathomable in this day and age. Would haves ? Seriously. Powell failed to see probable cause to initiate an investigation. How on Earth would anyone know what MIGHT have transpired of an investigation that never happened?

It’s shameful that cost Powell so much money, time and, of course, his job. This win on his part has been marginalized by press efforts to minimize his victory. The Associated Press describes the case being tossed by a case that “was fatally flawed by technical errors”. Yes, technically, it was legally insufficient to proceed against Powell, because there was no legally charged crime for which he violated his oath. The idiocy of that comment and failure to call a spade a spade is what gets me. This was a politically motivated witchhunt by Jackie Johnson, who, was charged with the same crime in 2020 for obstructing justice in the Ahmaud Arbery case. She was subsequently voted out and is still awaiting trial on this case. But no such obstruction took place on Powell’s part and the vilification of him in the press with his arrest deserves the equal amount of vindication in the dismissal of the case. Yet that didn’t happen, which is par for the course in cases brought by corrupt officials, and/or practices.

As someone who has been daring enough to be a source by coming to me in several cases, including the Manning sex scandal, the Cory Sasser case and Ahmaud Arbery case, Powell deserves, at the very least, his victory championed on this blog. All of my personal trials and tribulations that have prevented me from doing this work that I do cannot be undermined because of emotional and psychological bullshit.

I am truly sorry it took me so long to post on this, John. Hopefully, better late than never, is a concession you will share. You deserve a win, my friend. You have persevered and won this fight. That is no insignificant feat. Your exoneration is not overlooked by me.