John Molchan, You are the Weakest Link

Dear Mr. Molchan,

I am writing this to obtain clarity after your pronouncement that Rakeem Florence’s recantation was moot due to the fact there was overwhelming evidence and his testimony being corroborated by the surveillance video. I take exception to both statements, specifically in the Patrick Gonzalez Jr. case.

I want to first remind you that this young man was a black 16 year old. He knew people that were on the periphery of this investigation. Your former boss, Mr. Eddins, informed the public this is a capital case. Florence is of the demographic most prone to false confessions. He is the only person of color, besides his family members, when he is interviewed by law enforcement. The circumstances of the crime, ie the media circus, the Sheriff constantly on television calling for public outrage as well as public help in finding the perpetrators of these murders, all culminate in a situation that probably seems like a no win situation to young black man. Imagine coming forward with information (which he & Thornton got straight on the way to police station) and realizing you could easily become a scapegoat. He was in over his head when he got there. Even his mother thought he only knew about some aspect of the murder; she did not believe her son was there.

This is an excerpt of the cross examination by Michelle Hendrix of Florence in Donnie Stallworth’s 2^nd trial, which ended in a hung jury.

Do you know if Florence or Thornton ever talked to Hugh Wiggins, prior to them coming forward?

Here is a story that Gary Sumner’s mother told to me. Prior to the murders, Sumner and Wiggins had a business arrangement. Wiggins provided some capital to help Sumner stay afloat. As so, Wiggins called Sumner and told him he had dropped off a white van, after hours, at the shop. The next morning, Gary gets in and grabs the keys left in the dropbox. He gets into the van to move it inside. He claims there were 4 dead bodies in the back. He got out of the van, called Hugh to say the message was received. He believed it was a threat. Now whether you believe this story or not. It does not even matter if it was true. All that matters is that the teenagers thought it was true.

Also, I find it fascinating that you never called Florence to testify in Stallworth’s third trial, but I do know why. Michelle Hendrix impeached him with all the other testimonies he gave in the other cases, ex. Coldiron, Gonzalez Jr. etc. She really proved his testimony was worthless. Despite that you seem absolutely sure he was telling the truth. I am going to take a moment to speculate why you are all on-board with Florence and his testimony. I think you are more invested in this story than you are about finding the truth. Morgan conducted a shotty investigation, which the SAO never questioned just prosecuted. No one seriously looked at the family, who should have been scrutinized because they financially gained so much from their parents death. Morgan is a keystone cop. And yet, you took this far-fetched narrative rather than looking at the real issues. Here are some really good suspects: Hugh Wiggins, Justin Billings, Cab Tice. Remember originally Blue Markham told police he sold the van used in the crime to Cab Tice.

Here is just some of the cross-examination by Hendrix:

In fact, Florence tried to withdraw his plea on April 27, 2011. Yet now you seem to think Florence is disingenuous. This young man is the prime demographic of the textbook case of false confessions. As Ms. Hendrix proved in her cross-examination, his testimony was never consistent. He was not a good witness and you realized this as well. You opted not to put him on the stand in Stallworth’s third trial. It seems obvious you believe Florence was single-handedly the reason the jury was hung. So in your repetitive trials against Stallworth, after running him out of money, forcing him to opt for a public defender, you did not investigate whether there was something hinky with Florence’s testimony. You could and definitely should have further inquired as to why his story was ever changing. I mean, if the interest is in justice, that would have been the only prudent course. Yet your concern was the win; it was never justice.

Interestingly, I emailed Rakeem and asked him to explain what he called “evidence” of his coercion. This is his reply:

I hope, Mr. Molchan, you realize he is asserting you coerced him and provided the narrative that was factually questionable. You mention that the video surveillance corroborates both Florence’s testimony and Thornton’s testimony. It sounds like the reason it matches the video is because you crafted his testimony. Now ethically, it plainly looks to be improper for you to blast him on the news, knowing he does not have the same access to those media resources you have. Nevertheless, you are the one saying his recantation is moot, especially since he is accusing you of coercing this testimony. Convenient.

OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE

In reading every page of the thousands of documents dumped into the public domain prior to trial & the trial transcripts, I must presume you either do not know what evidence is, or you are so arrogant to think the pittance of information presented in Gonzalez Jr.’s trial, would put him on death row if presented today.

Here are some excerpts from the trial transcript of Mr. Eddins’s opening statement:

The above is from pg 246 of the transcript volume 2 of the Patrick Gonzalez Jr. Trial.

The highlighted portion is misleading. There was no “proof” only testimony by admitted co-conspirators.

This entire section is factually anemic because Leonard Gonzalez Sr. never testified in his son’s case, nor was his statement entered into evidence. In fact, this is a violation of Rule 4-3.4(E) of the RULES REGULATING THE FLORIDA BAR. That rule provides: A lawyer shall not … in trial, allude to any matter that the lawyer does not reasonably believe is relevant or that will not be supported by admissible evidence, assert personal knowledge of facts in issue except when testifying as a witness, or state a personal opinion as to the justness of a cause, the credibility of a witness, the culpability of a civil litigant, or the guilt or innocence of an accused. The state attorney was doing none of these things; he was exaggerating the totality of the evidence. This statement alludes to Sr. testimony which was never admitted. Carol Brant was Sr.’s common law wife and her testimony would only be admissible if it were corroborating Sr’s testimony, but it was not. These statements potentially taint the jury with facts which were never admitted into evidence, such as the Brady violation by not submitting the most recent criminal history of Smith and Eisa which was unknown by the defense and would have contributed to the weight their testimony carried to the jury.

Mr. Molchan, to recap, there was no legitimate, untainted testimony evidence that Gonzalez Jr. plotted anything. Not to point out the obvious but Thornton’s testimony was concocted in tandem with Florence’s.

As for the physical evidence, your office destroyed the red van you claimed was used in the crime. That evidence is no longer admissible. Carol Brant passed away. So, there are two co-conspirators, who developed their story together and now one has said it was false. You have no credible person to say Jr. plotted this crime. As for physical evidence. In the video, the shooter grabs Bud and Bud grabbed him in this struggle. This is confirmed by the only eyewitness, the child in the room. GMA reported the child stated:

“The child told police he heard one of the men say, “You’re gonna die — one, two, three.” The boy said his father then grabbed one of the suspects and that his mother got shot in the shirt.”

There is DNA under Bud’s nails. And a profile for that DNA was developed. But Patrick Gonzalez Jr. is excluded as a contributor.

There is no DNA evidence to put Jr. at the seen or any of his DNA on any clothing. And let’s talk about the guns. The murder weapon was never linked to Gonzalez Jr. except by Hugh Wiggins who had possession of all the guns, the bloody clothes and the safe. Now tell me why he would not be the logical suspect? Remind me again who the owner of the weapons was. There seems to be no report showing the ATF established whose guns they were. You have Jr.’s fingerprints on the 2 of the guns not shot in this crime. You never established he did anything but touch those guns. Let’s say he did touch them, there is no evidence to suggest he touched those guns that night or during any crucial timeframe. Fingerprints do no come with a time stamp.

Morgan is a keystone cop and the SAO hitched its wagon to his “investigation”. Your office did not question it when he did not investigate the family, the people with the most to gain. What about Cab Tice? Remember Blue Markham told investigators that he sold the van used in the crime to Cab.

With real leads uninvestigated, how in the hell can you claim you are competent. There is so much reasonable doubt,. To sum it up, no physical evidence, no credible circumstantial evidence, leads not investigated. If Gonzalez Jr.’s case was tried today, how could you justify the amount of energy and taxpayer dollars you wasted aggressively pursuing a unviable set of cases. These are people’s lives, Mr. Molchan. There is so many unanswered questions, and you are a public servant. Years ago, I was told there is “no justice in Florida”. I have to say there seems to be so much tunnel vision.

Checkmate, Mr. Molchan. Your case is inviable. It’s time to put your ego aside and find the truth.

More SAO & LET Shenanigans

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After filing yet another public records complaint with SAO over public records hijinks regarding the ECSO/Billings emails that I have been trying to get for the better part of 5 years, I got an unequivocal “go fuck yourself” from Bill Eddins today.

I resubmitted the following complaint after syncing up the emails the emails from PBA to my public records requests.

Then another wonderful conversation today with a lady at the clerk of court. Apparently, Morgan has not only not used ANY LET money on anything but political capital, apparently, the other expenditure codes have been deleted as working budgetary codes. There no longer is a subsection for Investigations, Equipment, Promotions, Other Services, etc. Morgan is using general funds to pay to return fugitives and exploit the seizure fund for the designated purposes, for upgrade equipment, the expenses used to process future LET forfeitures.

So not only is he asking for forgiveness rather than permission to spend the money on political capital, he is not even pretending to use it for the appropriate purpose. Why doesn’t the SAO care?

Terrorists with Badges

The Escambia County Sheriffs Office has moved into another level of abuse of power. There were always threats and the desire of Haines to argue for arrest with many past employees. Most of the arguments were not legally sound and Haines never found the support to take his corrupt and abusive leadership tactics the next illegal level……………until now.

The States Attorney Office (SAO) has partnered with the ECSO to advance personal attacks and further the cause of Haines and Morgan. Their interest is in retaliation against any person trying to have their rights observed, any person willing to speak out against them, and to silence the rest from causing problems down the line. The recent arrests of Lisa and Kelly Hall is proof of them taking the nuclear option in a relatively nominal infraction. Everyone should realize that this issue was brought to resolution several months ago. There was ample time to remedy this issue when it was first investigated. The fact is it was not important until Kelly Hall decided to fight back for being wrongfully terminated. This is an arrest in retaliation for causing Haines to be held accountable. It isn’t the first time this has happen.

The SAO takes the ECSO at their word as is the “industry standard” for law enforcement. Any law enforcement agency should be honest and should be expected to be truthful with other agencies. The SAO should question information given to them by the ECSO. Haines and Morgan have demonstrated many times they are not honest or capable to effectively complete law enforcement tasks. They are bullies and will misuse their power to harm enemies of their choosing.

We have seen officers go to hotel rooms to exchange drugs for sex while on duty. The public didn’t see this because it was all a huge secret to avoid negative publicity for the ECSO. This is easily seen if one takes the time to read the texts messages recently plaguing the agency that shows the dishonest behavior of Haines and Morgan. It could be that these arrests were to distract from the current narrative that Haines is corrupt based on his text messages.

It is also old news that there is an employee currently at the ECSO that has admitted to using a Social Security Number of a person deceased to avoid deportation. This investigation took place and proved that the employee had purchased property (Mortgage Fraud}, acquired credit cards (Wire Fraud), and the theft of another deceased SSN (identity theft). No action taken against employee.

Most recently a staff member commits a battery on a subordinate. The incident was on recorded video. No arrest of the former staff member. This is a blatant example of how Haines and Morgan guard those who could cause the most damage to their corrupt behavior and tactics. Battery is a crime but there was not a need to arrest the criminal in this instance. There is clearly a sliding scale as to what punishment employees receive. The ones named above are the “favored” people, thus their punishment is negligible Yet, Kelly & Lisa Hall deserve annihilation, really????

This issue is far from over. There will be information coming soon about all these situations. It is imperative that the citizens oversee their government. Government will run out of control if allowed to do so. The ECSO is not operating with honor or integrity. Haines and Morgan must be stopped from abusing their power and position as leaders of the Escambia County Sheriffs Office as their playground of torture and anarchy.

I call Shenanigans (and Misfeasance)!

The Tymar Crawford case has been a glorified case of “shenanigans”. While this South Park reference is funny, the concept is not. Shenanigans, trickery, in legalese, is misfeasance. According to Wikipedia, “generally, a civil defendant will be liable for misfeasance (in public office) if the defendant owed a duty of care toward the plaintiff, the defendant breached that duty of care by improperly performing a legal act, and the improper performance resulted in harm to the plaintiff“. That misfeasance is on the part of the State Attorney Bill Eddins. He set up a kangaroo grand jury to take the burden off of his shoulders in publicly announcing that no one would be holding Daniel Siemen accountable, legally, criminally for his actions ie “breach of duty of care” or “breach of public trust” to establish there is “nothing (criminal) to see here”.

Eddins claims that the officer was operating in the moment of the incidence and us looking at it in hindsight doesn’t do it justice. But what I see is a bad traffic stop ending in unnecessary lethal force. What I mean by that is the premise that they used to engage Crawford was not procedure, policy or legal probable cause for the stop, thus a bad stop cannot end with a good shoot.

According to the 1st two pages of the Grand Jury report, the PPD officers saw Crawford roll by and they recognized it was him driving. They remembered he had a history of narcotics, violence and weapons charges and that he possibly had a suspended driver’s license but that couldn’t be confirmed. So they claimed, they both smelled “fresh marijuana” as he drove by. This is laughable especially because of the change in laws regarding marijuana. There was no reason for the stop ergo there was no reason for anything that resulted beyond.

FDLE believed Siemen would be charged. How does Bill Eddins prevent that? He obfuscating the facts of the shoot. Nothing happens in a vacuum and judging the acts of a cop in midst of such a conflict isn’t fair, but judging the acts that escalated to this conflict can be judged and calculated. If every action ripples into history, the choice to pursue Crawford without a reason, becomes the central flawed premise in the theater of shit.

Once that threshold was crossed, the fate of it all can be predicted and a life was lost. Regardless of what you think of Crawford, if being black and having a record was not a reason to be stopped even adding in the possibility of suspended license and possible the smell of marijuana, neither of which could be known for a certainty prior to the stop, then you must concede he would still be alive had that choice to enter into such questionable actions by the officers. The lack of thinking through the consequences of stopping someone they believed had a violent streak for such a bullshit charge would have been calculated since LEO’s are supposed to be trained on such things. The truth is this decision could have resulted in more innocent people being hurt in the escalation of events that such training should have considered, had any consideration had been done.

Fact is one bad choice down a wrong path ended with the death of a young black man. That bell cannot be unrung. God have mercy on Pensacola!

National FBI Embarrassment Paralleled in Local Corruption

I’m not a rocket scientist nor am I a legal scholar, but I am educated; I can read plain English and comprehend the meaning of texts, with a good grasp on the concepts of law due to my own self education via legal professionals and criminologists. It does not take a person with a law degree to recognize the inequities of justice in a corrupt system.
Basic comparison of situations that are essentially the same and the extremely contradictory outcomes depending on status of the person affected within the community.

For almost 2 years, the politics at a national level have escalated (or sank, may be more apt) to a level never seen before. At the core of the issues is the FBI. The FBI is an agency that has been historically touted as the most elite law enforcement agency in the world. The work that agency has done is impressive and professional at times. The FBI set the standards for law enforcement agencies, as well as improving how law enforcement functions should be best achieved. Recently, that image was tarnished. A few bad apples spoiled the bunch.

The law enforcement failures (FBI) seen at the federal level should cause all of us to take pause. FBI, among other federal entities has oversight from Congress, the media and others, with a voice that resonates in the public–not just nationally, but globally. Still, the system failed, and bad people were able to do unprecedentedly bad things that the public has never been able to see before. Individuals that swore an oath to avoid personal bias while applying the law to and for the citizens who placed trust in their morality, and overall stewardship of the greater good and who are trusted to make decisions beyond the scope of their duty. These trusted, elite few made a personal choice on what was best for everyone and who should answer for law violations. These trusted, elite few are responsible for enforcing the law, based on an obligation to the public to decide on what they perceived should occur in the best interest of everyone.

This agency, the FBI, is not representative of law enforcement at all anymore. They take advantage of the access they have to the “big stick”, being abuse of their trusted power to ruin people by bearing false witness, misrepresentation of the facts and obfuscating the facts. No one would ever want to be on the wrong side of such a corrupt organization, nor would we wish it on our worst enemy. It is unfair and impossible to combat unless there is unlimited flow of cash or political power to fight to fight such a thing. This is precisely what is taking place in Escambia County right now!

There have been stories/reports about Sir David and his misuse of money that was not his to spend, that only benefited him personally and politically. Sir David, knowing he is above the reach of Bill Eddins, ignored state laws and spent what he wanted. Sir David acted with reckless brazen thumbing his defiance because of his elected position or maybe because he was an employee for Eddins before their elevation to elected office. Regardless, he clearly acted as if he had no reason to worry about violating the law. His administration routinely conducts investigations that are questionable that target citizens and ECSO employees. Many situations should petrify people who could be in the crosshairs of political vendetta to wonder why Sir David is allowed be a criminal. He is aware that to be held accountable someone in the States Attorney’s Office would have be willing to be accountable AND willing to hold him accountable.

Time and again, Eddins has not even pretended he would fight any sort of political corruption. He routinely takes the side of an official, often without looking at evidence against such an official or having facts to support his position. It is impossible to trust Eddins when his conduct has been so questionable. Individuals have suffered long arduous trials that take thousands of dollars to present and even more to defend. An average citizen could never keep up with what can be spent by Eddins. Yet, this is where a citizen in this county is expected to turn when reporting an issue with an official. It could be argued that the message is, “as long as you don’t rock the boat, we won’t destroy you.”

State Attorney:Judge throws out case against Wild Greg’s owner

by Ly’Nita Carter

PENSACOLA, FLA. (WEAR-TV) —

Aug, 16, 2018

The owner of Wild Greg’s Saloon in downtown Pensacola is acquitted Thursday, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Greg Urban was arrested and charged in May with resisting an officer without violence, a report states.

The charges stem from an incident in February. Pensacola Police were conducting an investigation at the saloon.

According to a report, authorities claimed Urban resisted arrest or interfered with an officer performing his course of duties.

On Thursday, an Escambia County Judge ruled there was not enough evidence to move forward.

A recent case involving a local business owner is probably one of the best examples of what is being described. Greg Urban was arrested for resisting arrest without violence. The officer testifying stated that Urban had lied during an investigation that did not involve Urban as a suspect. The officer espoused the quote he claimed Urban said that prompted the arrest. Since there was a video of the dialogue, it was presented a video to the judge in court following the officer’s account account under oath. The video revealed Urban did not make the quote as stated by the officer. The defense attorney pointed this out and the officer continued to misquote what Urban had stated. Fortunately, the judge was paying attention and the case ended with a Judge Ordered Acquittal. This should be a gross embarrassment to the States Attorney Office and the Pensacola Police Department. They conspired to take a case to a jury trial that they should have known had no basis for even probable cause. Yet there will never be in public acknowledgement of such a gross mistake. These folks forced Urban to court and forced him to spend money for counsel and lose wages during the process. See the “big stick” mentality at work?

Citizens must force change for this behavior to end. Get these stories out into the public and support those already courageous enough to have their story out. This kind of irresponsible, corrupted behavior can only be stopped through exposing the corruption and put this improper behavior in the spotlight. No one can take these officials at their word. Question the issues that seem wrong. Make the officials in the office paid for by taxpayers be held accountable. Do not allow them to treat anyone as if they are irrelevant. Turning a blind eye to even one person being treated like Urban increases the odds that anyone could be the next target.

Don’t forget, taxpayers are the reason they have a job!

Thankfulness & Appreciation Series- Part 2

Sometimes the posts just write themselves. Thank God for that. Thank God for the Free Speech that would otherwise not be afforded to me in any other country. Free Speech Sir David doesn’t want to hear but that just delineates the need for such. If someone locally, won’t say it, I will. If not me then who? If not now, then when?

There were 2 different articles in the Mullet Wrapper this weekend that basically hit on the same points. The first is by my fave writer, Emma Kennedy, “Reopened death row, juvenile justice cases strain system” & the second, by my other fave writer at the Mullet Wrapper, Kevin Robinson, “Escambia County leads state in charging juveniles as adults”.

To summarize the two issues, in 2012, the Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama, that mandatory sentences of life without parole for children under the age of 18 are unconstitutional. The weight of this decision is financially straining Bill Eddins’s office because………

First thing that comes to mind is that office has been pushing juveniles into adult sentences at a far higher rate than the rest of the state, which is pointed out in the second article, by Robinson. Scott McCoy of the Southern Poverty Law Center, (SPLC) points out that these kids are being pushed into the adult system only to get probation. If the crimes are not severe enough to actually result in jail time, why shouldn’t they stay in the juvenile justice system which would allow them the chance to not be labeled within the adult system? This seems to be a case of not liking that option because it isn’t seen as punitive enough (in NW FL), for Mr. Eddins or at least his perception of what his constituents wants?

Over the last few weeks, I have become more acquainted with what passes for “a case” by the State Attorney’s office. Ron Clark Ball, John Powell, Pat Gonzalez, Gary Sumner were just a few who have been escorted in front of cameras and called criminals but when the evidence is laid to bear…..our court system (and by extension the judiciary that allows them to play “law”) were the through-backs on the short bus in law school.

What are you thinking, Bill Eddins, when you allow a personal vendetta of one of the legal elite firms to rope you into a RICO case, where there is perjured testimony, charges galore that end up being dropped because they are just that charges…not actual crimes committed. The bill on that case will cost the taxpayers millions. What about the letting whomever, assist the Assistant State Attorneys in the grand jury room, when Fla Statutes say they must have a J.D. after their name? Greg Marcille surely knows that. What about letting a Sheriff shake GRAND JURORS hands telling them, “I’ve done my job; now it’s time for you to do yours”? This is a directive to people personally to indict. How many people have been deprived a fair trial for that. Screwing with Grand Juries , YEAR AFTER YEAR, seems to me that will cost the taxpayers BILLIONS WITH A “B”.

This is a case where people who are in charge shouldn’t be. Their decisions result in inequities on the people they were sworn to represent and protect. I am talking about CRIMES OF MORALITY THAT LET THE REAL CRIMINALS OUT WHILE PUTTING THE INNOCENT IN JAIL.

Please, as always, don’t just take my word for this. Go to Flcourts.gov, or FDLE.gov. The statistics of what is actually going on. The problem is these men, Eddins, Morgan are stewards of the county and they don’t play fair. Consequently, in the appellate stage, other courts look at their non-sense and kicks back the badly handled cases. That is an error that is coming to fruition while these men are still in office. Typically, this sort of thing hits the following administration or comes back to haunt the subsequent terms of politicians; however, the glut for power has kept them in office long enough to see the spoils of their injustices.

It is a no-brainer that if you have to pay for a job to be done and then redone because of it was inadequate, it costs more money. Doing the job twice due to shortcuts like not having the properly composed grand jury, pushing kids into an adult system for no reason other than perceived political capital, letting other officials subject court cases to retrial for inappropriate contact, all these things COST THE TAXPAYERS MONEY & on top of it, having to doing out punitive damages for ruining people’s lives COSTS EVEN MORE.

According to the NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service),

Corruption can arise in virtually any area of local government activity, and will leave distinct traces according to the area -law enforcement, land-use regulation, purchasing, or tax assessment. It is possible to put together a diagnostic check list that will indicate possible corruption in a particular area.

When corruption in government is suspected, there is a checklist of things people should look for. Some of those are:

Have there been any cases tried in recent history of corruption? Statistically, there are going to be people involved in the moving parts of government trying to make money by cutting corners. Lack of this implies there are things not being caught which indicates incompetence or there are things overlooked indicating bigger corruption. Either way, the fact is something has to change for the county to retain its liquidity.
Is there a high turnover in agency personnel? This indicates a systemic internal problem that cost taxpayers money and allows for corruption to flourish in the internal dissension.
Are public positions filled when there is no need for the job, as hiring a
swimming instructor for a park with no pool? This indicates the fulfilling of political favors for off the book gains ie corruption.
Are those arrested for narcotics and gambling mostly street-level people
rather than higher ups? This indicates incompetence in not investigating about the street-level soldiers in a more organized criminal enterprise.
Is there an effective independent investigative agency to hear complaints of official misconduct? This is a check and balance approach to keep everybody honest.

The NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) goes on to say:

“Some people who participate in corruption make no attempt to hide their activities, either believing that what they are doing is perfectly acceptable or expecting that no one will be watching. In most cases, however, participants will attempt to cover their tracks, both by making payoffs secretly and by attempting to provide a legitimate cover for their decisions. Where this is true, uncovering corruption problems can be difficult. Existing nvestigative bodies, such as the police and the prosecutors’ offices, are the obvious starting point because they can use surveillance techniques, subpoena powers, and the like, and can grant immunity to uncover evidence of specific crimes. Elected officials and agency heads who have daily contact with first-line supervisors or middle-level management are likely to have a fairly good idea of where the soft spots are, although they may be protected from below from any knowledge of specific corrupt acts or practices. Those who deal with local government from the outside – lawyers representing developers, contractors seeking building permits, salesmen seeking orders, or companies seeking contracts -will have certain knowledge of specific acts of corruption. Some will have little interest in exposing the acts that they profit from while others will be eager to see an immediate end to corruption (although they may be reluctant to aid in a suppression effort that entails personal risk). Newspaper, wire service, and television reporters may have more knowledge of corrupt acts than is revealed in their news reports, but may be reluctant to reveal it for fear of cutting themselves off from sources of other news. Outside of specifically chartered investigative bodies, the least reluctant sources of information about acts of corruption are official records.

” The desire to be respected by the public, so that being a politician or civil servant can be considered an honorable career, and election, appointment, or employment in government can be considered evidence of high personal standards of conduct. (They display:)• Recognition that corruption has a high social as well as monetary cost, and that even though the public may not seem to care in situations where corruption exists, and may continue to vote··in administrations that are either dirty or too stupid to be believed, the social cost is still being paid. When corruption and the costs of corruption finally become unacceptable, the result is likely to be personal as well as civic peril.• The awareness that there are standards of ethical conduct that can be agreed on, and principles of ethical action that can be applied, so that an employee or official can have confidence that he/she is acting ethically and need not be at the mercy of a superior’s whim or an investigative reporter’s slow news day. The most important ingredient of a (government leadership) management environment that is hostile to corruption is a strong and principled leadership. Without that, formalized guidelines for ethical behavior will be of little use. The next ingredient is credibility, which rests not only on sending clear messages that reinforce one another but also on keeping it all open and public”

Bottom line: Is this present in Escambia County? The articles in the PNJ tell the story….NO!

Ronald Clark Ball

Mr. Ball’s incarceration marks the point of no return in the crusade to de-throne corruption in Escambia County. Mr. Ball, being an author, a man of prestige & a globally renown lecturer in the understanding of the cyber threat as it relates to National Security, has become the latest name to the list of victims of abuse of power throughout the Escambia County government. Mr. Ball is not the typical victim, because he is not of a lesser demographic; he’s not a minority, nor a socio-economic nobody that is usually the profile of people marginalized by the Escambia corruption machine. People like Pat Gonzalez, or Michelle Clarke are denigrated by the “honorable” elite of the county due to their backgrounds or prior bad acts. People like Philip Nix, Bill Chavers, Gene Valentino, Anita Hemphill, Laura Montoya or the honorable other citizens who are outspoken in the abuses of the county, are said to be suffering from a technical term by Sheriff Morgan known as “sour grapes”. They have been wronged by the county and are labeled as trying to retaliate for their dismissals. That may have basis, if the list of people, who are suffering– allegedly — from “sour grape syndrome” didn’t hit double digits with the exact same complaints, including slander, defamation, civil rights violations, & discrimination.

No Mr. Ball does not suffer from any of the labels previously used by the GOB to discount people. He cannot be seen as I am by Sheriff Morgan, as a lone nut, who spews lies, “a political terrorist”. Mr. Ball has been silenced for a long time but that silence is broken. He cannot be dismissed as the rest of have.

Mr. Ball drafted a pro se motion to dismiss in June that is skillfully written and could be used by any of the above victims against varying agents of the Escambia corruption machine. While his assertions may sound outlandish, I say to you that the actions against him are just that outlandish and bringing them to light is the right thing to do.

As I have said many times, the abuses of Escambia GOB are vast enough to be in violation of RICO (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization Law). This entails 2 or more felonies committed to further an ongoing criminal enterprise. The justice system in Escambia County is, itself, the criminal enterprise. The felonies are embezzlement, perjury, fraud and the list goes on and on. Morgan arrests people, Eddins & his minions as well as various judiciary perpetuate the wrongful arrest through the court system to the tune of illegal seizures, defamation, and political gain. The real violation is of the honest services clause. According to 2017 Fall edition of American Criminal Law Review, in an article by Alexander Sanyshyn, the honest services criteria is thus:

Elements of the Honest-Services Doctrine

To be convicted under § 1346, an individual must (i) defraud the victim of honest services (ii) by accepting a bribe or kickback. ⁿ⁴⁴⁶

Defraud of Honest Services

Generally, a scheme to defraud of honest services takes place in a fiduciary or employer-employee relationship. ⁿ⁴⁴⁷ Such a fiduciary relationship is often present when one manages money for another’s benefit. ⁿ⁴⁴⁸ It may also be present when a voluntary trade association ⁿ⁴⁴⁹ or charitable and nonprofit organization is involved. ⁿ⁴⁵⁰ The employer-employee relationships that may give rise to an honest-services claim range from a shareholder-management relationship ⁿ⁴⁵¹ to a government employee-private citizen relationship. ⁿ⁴⁵² However, the duties owed by a public official and a private individual differ. ⁿ⁴⁵³

[*1725] The fraud need not be directly accomplished by the defendant–the defendant need only to have caused fraud to be committed. ⁿ⁴⁵⁴ However, the defendant must be aware of, or participate in, the fraud committed by the third party. ⁿ⁴⁵⁵

This lays out the basis for many public corruption cases. The use of public power for private gain is the biggest risk associated with people in power. The various prongs of corruption, quid pro quo corruption, undue influence in inequality corruption, misuse and abuse of power are all used to further the criminal enterprise that operates as the criminal justice & legal system in Escambia County. There is no justice to had in the system in Pensacola. No one is above the law and while that hasn’t been apparent to most people except those churned out by the system in my hometown, Mr. Ball’s case added to the 7 people in the Billings Case, specifically prove a pattern of behavior that spans over many years & many cases. The totality of injustice is astronomical in Escambia County.

Ron Clark Ball is going to the catalyst case that shines a light on the stuff Willie Junior was killed covering up. Get your popcorn, kids. The show is beginning.

I told Morgan that when he saw me coming, that hell was coming with me. He should be feeling the heat, because I am at his door.

Just Saying….

So after Mike Thomas was convicted of being a sex offender, the 4 or the 5 deputies that testified as to Thomas’s character overall prior this incident have now become the subject of Internal Affairs investigations for different, very random things since their testimony.

The targeted 4 deputies, according to sources, testified that Thomas was a good cop to their knowledge prior to these charges. The 5th deputy was less definitive about any attributes in Thomas’s past. Apparently, his indifference or lack of positive character testimony neither helped nor hurt the case and left him himself free from retaliation by the vindictive ECSO.

Now this could be coincidental but why hold off 4 simultaneous investigations until the couple of days after the case was over? Surely, if there were questions as to these peoples’ character it might be relevant to their testimony or could these 4 people with 4 different situations become suddenly culpable of these 4 acts within one week’s time? The odds must be astronomical.

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On the same note, a 2 key character witnesses in the most high profile case in Pensacola history got just as lucky. Lonnie Douglas Smith & Tony Eisa testified in Gonzalez Jr’s trial the last week of October, 2010 that Gonzalez Jr. approached them about participating in the robbery. They testified that Gonzalez Jr. was shady and a liar. His character was, in their testimony, that of a person capable of this crime—without a doubt.

Bill Eddins allowed these two men to testify in the trial that took place beginning on 10/25/2010. Strangely enough, Tony Eisa plead guilty to filing a false police report on 10/12/2010 in Santa Rosa County.

ADJUDICATED GUILTY OF FALSE REPORT TO LAW AUTHORITY 10/12/2010

Damn good character witness.

Lonnie Smith is even better story. After being arrested 2/24/2010, Smith was arrested for heroin trafficking, oxy possession, crack and cocaine possession.

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Now despite the fact there was significant diversity in drugs and the weight of the heroin, after almost 8 months, Eddins decided not to prosecute the upstanding Smith, just in time for him to testify against Gonzalez Jr. Funny, how that works…

State Attorney, Bill Eddins Too Busy to Address LET FRAUD

Escambia County Resident Clark Yates picked up the gauntlet and sent certified letters out detailing the fraudulent activity of the Sheriff and ambivalent Board of Commissioners to Bill Eddins, Rick Scott and Pam Bondi. This has been done before by myself and many others–never to any avail, but Mr. Yates got a follow-up call from Bill Eddins’s office. Thomas Williams, Assistant State Attorney wanted to meet to discuss the activities of the Sheriff.

On June 7th, 2016, Mr. Yates, Randy Crowder, an investigator for the SA’s office, Thomas Williams and Yates’s attorney, William Kitchen (via telephone) sat down to discuss these the Sheriff’s egregious violations against the people of Escambia County. He brought the Shriners info as well as other DOCUMENTED violations, reviewed by his attorney. These violations are clear and undisputable. Mr. Williams agreed. He told Mr. Yates they had reviewed all the documentation and after obtaining some other records themselves, they had officially opened an investigation. This was to go to Bill Eddins and Mr. Yates would get a follow-up call. This never happened.

Mr. Yates attended Greg Fink’s trial last week. A farce of an event. Mr. Fink was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of “failure to include electioneering disclaimer” on a flyer. Randy Crowder testified in the case. After giving his testimony, Mr. Yates caught up with him in the hall. He asked Mr. Crowder how the investigation was going into the Sheriff. Mr. Crowder began telling Mr. Yates how many new cases have come into the SA’s office. They had just been covered up. This is legal speak for “this investigation is at the bottom of the pile”.

As expected and predicted by many, Bill Eddins would rather run up a hefty tab for a jury trial on a political disclaimer misdemeanor case rather than investigate the racketeering of the politicians on the payroll of the citizens of the county to which he has been ELECTED to serve.

The tree of corruption runs right through the State Attorney’s office. The Attorney General ignores it and the Governor sloughs it off.

What are the citizens to do?

Historically speaking, the corruption issue is not old news in Escambia County. It is old hat. Maybe we should start thinking of its effects on people. It is a bit like the civil rights movement. The governmental oppressors against the people who are not in collusion with them. The people of Escambia county have become marginalized. To paraphrase, Martin Luther King, the nobodiness of the people yields to the eliteness of the officials.

There has to be a call to action! People need to be aware.

To spread the word and to show outward support buying and wearing the following t-shirt.

Purge the Scourge

Why Not Having a Law Enforcement Officer as Sheriff Hurts Escambia County

Speaking to the skills Morgan brought to the ECSO, this is an example of a case from an actual court deposition of Chris Baggett. I have cut and pasted the relevant portions and as to not disclose any true case information:

The problems in this case are huge in terms of conviction. The fact that no one person was acting as a lead investigator by delegating exactly the job he is asking for help with and by FOLLOWING UP to make sure nothing but his directions are followed leaves room for the defendant’s counsel to attack the provenance and evidence, the accuracy of said evidence and even the intentions of the
investigators to try to circumvent the law.

Working for Judge Mapother a lifetime ago, there was one rule that anyone could get fired for and that was lack of documenting a case. If there is no documentation, it did not happen. Or at least, you cannot prove it happened. In criminal cases, if statements are not taken on the record or recorded in some form, they cannot be proven in court. That is what we have here.

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Why is any of this important? Well this is important because in looking at the statistics of cases of the Circuit Criminal Court in Escambia County, the number of cases that are sent to the State Attorney that end up being dismissed for one reason or another—like improper evidence or insufficiency,–both of these are typically problems that initiated prior to the State Attorney receiving the case–shows that the State Attorney is more likely to dismiss and plea bargain a case than to fully prosecute it. Here are the statistics:

Nearly 20% of defendants had their cases dismissed or acquitted. 72% took a plea. Both are results of the state being unwilling to take their evidence in front of a judge and jury. 92% of cases are not being fully prosecuted since 2009. One has to wonder how many of these cases were screwed up by either poor police work or malicious arrests that Sir David seems to love. Just a note for the people awaiting a trial in the deputy sexual assault case, there is historically slim to no chance of this ever getting before the jury…ie no real chance for justice to any responsible level.

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ADJUDICATED GUILTY OF FALSE REPORT TO LAW AUTHORITY 10/12/2010

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