Bill Richbourg, C’mon Down!

So in the long line of people who cashed in, exploited and turned a blind eye in the Billings case, I want to welcome Bill Richbourg to the cast of characters who should be on the other side of the bars that they put their clients in. Mr. Richbourg could arguably be the most deplorable of the attorneys who rolled over and played dead in this case. Mr. Richbourg was hired by Gary Sumner to represent him. He paid Mr. Richbourg. For 6 weeks seemingly, work was done to further the defense case for Sumner. But on April 25, 2011, the day set for the jury selection, Mr. Richbourg tells Sumner (as they approach the courtroom) that he could not win this case, Sumner had no option but to take a plea. Richbourg strong-armed a disadvantaged young black man. Then the state had the gall to sue Sumner for the time they wasted for trial.

But the best part here is that Richbourg had an agenda from the onset of representing Sumner. He represented Bud Billings in the adoption fraud suit that somehow left the “stolen” child with the captor. Richbourg organized that circa 1989-90.

Can you say CONFLICT???? Representing a man that is being charged with killing a past client and then tanking the representation? Cheryl Barnes, Gary Sumner’s mother, should be suing this man on Gary’s behalf. Not only unethical, but it rises to level of criminal when he forced Gary into signing away his life rather than actually representing him. Any civil rights lawyers out there should be on top of this.

But the people who failed to do their job in this case is so numerous. Richbourg is just ONE of the highly respected attorneys who dropped the ball.

Tony Henderson forced Lenny Gonzalez into his plea and signed off on the man’s legal mental competence, despite the SSI ruling that states the man has brain damage, dementia, and numerous mental health issues. Also his VAN WAS INOPERABLE. That was a defense within itself, but Henderson managed to negotiate Lenny’s fate which led to his death. Shouldn’t that be beyond malpractice as well?

What about the public defenders who handled Florence & Thornton? There was a huge case for coerced confessions but they never represented their clients. They took the money the state paid them and walked those boys into prison. Now their lives are cast in stone. Statistics say that uneducated black men imprisoned early (18-25) build “criminal capital”. They turn prison into a community that they are comfortable with, can network in, to feel a sense of inclusion into SOMETHING. It is the same psycho-social phenomenon that draws people into gangs. That is on Joel M. Cohen (Florence’s public defender), & Cheryl Alverson (Thornton’s public defender).

Richbourg has a great deal of company in his criminality. I hope to see them punished just like Eddins, Geeker & Sir David.

How Morgan & the PNJ Will Be Downfall of the Billings Convictions

Criminal Justice expert Dr. Edward J. Bronson recently analyzed the pre-trial publicity in the Billings Murder case. It was a fascinating look at just the local newspaper coverage. The reason he was called to look at this has to do with the fact that it has become an inarguable fact that press coverage prior to trial impacts jury verdicts. There have been 44 empirical studies with 5500+ people by dozens of social scientists over the last three decades.

The biggest shocker of Dr. Bronson’s analysis was that the Billings Murder case–overall–is the 27th highest publicized case EVER. This case rivals OJ, the Lindbergh baby, Bundy, Zodiac, Son of Sam and Jon Benet Ramsey just for starters. The average high publicity case has around 100 articles written about the case, pretrial. The PNJ & InWeekly did 250 articles on this case. Each of these articles were biased against the defendants, particularly Pat Gonzalez Jr. Not one of these articles were by anyone close to Gonzalez Jr or who advocated his character in any way, despite his contributions to the community, although the Sertoma club “Man of the Year” award was mentioned in passing as was high martial arts career. Not one of these articles offers any other theory of the crime or any leads outside the narrative the Sheriff concocted.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled to delay a trial by 9 mos because of 1 news comment by an attorney on a Sunday morning at 6 AM. The judge determined the attorney had the potential to have tainted the jury pool with this one appearance. In comparison, Sheriff Morgan held press conferences up to twice a day locally; he spoke on Dateline NBC, Nancy Grace, Oprah Winfrey and Larry King to name a few. He said things like, “extremely gruesome scene”, “hateful, senseless crime” “bad seed” (speaking of Gonzalez Jr.), “stupid thugs” and referred to the Billings as “very good Christian people”. Adding on to the fact, Morgan greeted the Grand Jury panelists prior to the indictments of Gonzalez Sr and Jr. He shook each person’s hand and said things like, “I’ve done my job; now it’s time for you to do yours”. This seems like a directive from the highest law enforcement officer in the community.

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The PNJ articles were extremely damaging as they are the only point of printed news in the area. 174 times the death penalty was mentioned in relation to this crime—prior to any trial commencing. This is extremely damning because the implication is that these people deserve death, before the facts of the case or the defenses were laid out.

Dr. Bronson noted that he had never seen more inflammatory comments within the PNJ by the reporters and in letters to the editor prior to trial. There was no possible way a reasonable person could consider that an unbiased jury could be had in this community. Judge Geeker doesn’t think this is an issue but ultimately this will go to the US Supreme Court, who has no ties to Escambia County corruption.

As for the media circus that propelled Morgan’s career and ultimately kept him in office, here’s the take away: David Morgan whored himself out to every news outlet possible. He was the source of most people’s knowledge of this case. As the community and world has seen with every instance in Morgan’s tenure where he smiles pretty for the camera, he seldom is the most accurate point of information. He stretches the truth and even lies to make himself seem important. Why would it be any different with this case? Good news for all the defendants, because if Pat Gonzalez gets a new trial, the flood gates of motions and lawsuits will dominate what was the old news of this case….with Morgan as the punchline.

Dr. Edward Bronson Expert Testimony exhibit2-expert test.

Veteran Deputy’s Plea to Escambia County

I have written several times to you about the miserable state of our agency. I have voiced concern about officer safety, corruption, and the dismantling of our agency. Each time I attempt to describe our situation I am always hopeful that people will see how serious the matter is and make a stand. Often, I am left with the feeling it is just our problem and those outside the agency will not care until the adversity, we, as officers, live in everyday, impacts their life. I hope that isn’t true. The impact of poor leadership that I predict is coming will cause great heartbreak for any that become victim to it. This is not getting a car door opened that was not locked. We are not talking about having some change stolen from the console of your car. I am attempting to emphasize that you will have none of the protection you have enjoyed from your only law enforcement agency. There is only one ECSO. If you call 911 and the ECSO isn’t there that call goes unanswered. You will be on your own.

How many people are truly prepared to handle the burglar that is breaking into your home while you sleep? I try to give examples to support my position each time I send you a thought. Today is an example of what poor leadership looks like at its best. This email was sent today by our Chief Deputy. This email is not a joke. This is not fabricated or edited in any way. This is an actual peek into the daily life that officers live each day.

This is an actual email that was produced by the Chief Deputy of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The day after another officer falls in the line of duty by the hands of evil who hate cops. After incidents that prove cops are being hunted like animals the Chief Deputy has laser focus on how best to play Pokémon Go at work. How can this be real? I would bet that if you were to examine your local McDonalds email you would not find where a manager has instructed teenage workers how best to preserve work areas while playing a game designed for a child. Now, consider that you are in a leader in a career where your employees are being hunted for killing. How do you even have thoughts about a child’s game that would preempt searching for information or training to ensure that you didn’t lose a life of an employee? Then imagine you not just a leader of the group being hunted and murdered but you are being paid over $110,00.00 a year to be that leader. It is a sad day when this behavior is allowed and these people are allowed to decide the fate of so many lives.

Instead of Pokémon Go, I wish our Chief Deputy would have the same dedication to law enforcement and the monsters on the street. The monsters you “capture” in that game won’t ever kill you, Eric. What will kill you (and by you, I mean the hard working cops in the street) are the real monsters that are being allowed to roam our streets while Princess 1 and Princess 2 get to play pretend cops and robbers while you organize your best plan of attack to catch a cartoon monster on your phone. There is nothing about this that is humorous or cute. Play pretend all you want, because the truth is you can’t be touched……yet.

I hope that we can see you gone before you and the fiction you live as reality causes us to see one of our own fall because of ignorance and inability. I stay hopeful but maybe you could keep enough battery life on your phone so you don’t miss the call if it happens. I know how important catching those menacing Poke monsters can be but I am sure King David will want a press release to put the spin on how he cares about everyone. Hell, you could even blame the Poke monsters. It couldn’t be worse than blaming witches for a murder because we had a moon one night. Just so you know, not a single soul I am aware of believes you are anything less than a complete moron. You just do not have the right to call yourself a leader of any law enforcement agency.

Double-back Justice

In a not-so surprising move, Greg Marcille issued a press release Friday that after investigating Morgan’s LET Fund mockery, the SAO found “no criminal violations” found. However in a letter attached to the press release, there is indication that the protocol requiring agencies to account for the money they receive, specifically that it meets the standard to justify the statutory mandates of this particular fund, has not been followed. This is funny because there is precedent that such special trust monies spent without the proper follow-up by the agencies, such as this case, were made to pay back the money. The state has not been lenient on this in the past, but seems to be ok with throwing away $1m without recovery nor punishment for not fulfilling the elected officials obligations to the community that they serve. I say throwing away because, if that money isn’t going to help train officers, buy equipment or provide for safe neighborhoods (ie the gala held by the Pensacola Opera), then another facet of the county budget must use those funds, which are taxpayers’ money to fulfill that void–or not as the case may be, leaving the community in the ranks of the highest crime within the state.

But looking past that insane judgment lapse, I’d like to take you through Friday before this press release came out.

Text message from deputy @2:45pm:

statewide grand jury with Morgan being biggest offender of LET violation. Governors office involved…… SAO told Haines today that wrong doing was found. Gov office is expected to order statewide audit of all funds. Eric looks like he died when I seen him.

I then messaged James Scaminaci of CJ’s Street Report to ask him if he could call the SAO to verify this info. In the past, I have been given the run around by the SAO; I figured he had more pull than I did. This was @3:17pm.

He replied @3:20pm:

I heard from a source today that something big was coming but did not link it to sao. Though he asked me about sao.

James called SAO and left message for Marcille @3:25pm. His message to me :

Marcille just left for a meeting about this very subject of grand jury investigating morgan. Spoke to his secty

Source forwarded me via email @3:32pm, the folllowing press release

Confused, I texted the deputy who contacted me and asked him if he was sure about what he told me.

Absolutely! Haines is still barricaded in his office. Not good news. Morgan is out of town. Just told he was talking to an attorney in Orlando on an issue the Sheriff’s Assn wasn’t covering.

Taking into account the totality of the events and the fact the ECSO admin was not relieved when the press release was issued, nor did they make some grandstand to say they were in the clear, I believe the SAO may have something else up their sleeve.

Stay tuned….Morgan and the BOCC are not out of the woods yet.

A Letter of Concern from ECSO Sr. Deputies

Given to me by senior deputies who listened to an incident in Montclair this past weekend:

RESIDENTS OF PENSACOLA:

It is a difficult task to bring up topics during an election year and not be blamed with making political attacks. It is true this is the time of the year that this type of tactic will occur. It does not mean that serious issues should be avoided or ignored. All public officials have a job to do regardless of being an election year or not. This opinion is not about David Morgan. The issues brought to light here are about is the Sheriff doing what he is expected to do. It does not matter who the person is in the office but if the person in office is the right person for the job.

The country has witnessed some of the most terrifying events that could be imagined in recent months. Incidents we would never have believed could occur in our country are happening in places that resemble any given neighborhood that each of us lives our life. Police officers are being targeted and being murdered. These acts are being encouraged by groups known to exist for the purpose of hate. As a law enforcement officer of more than 20 years, I would have not been able to imagine our society ever reaching a point that this was allowed. Officers were always looked upon as the good that was there to keep balance from bad. Now, officers are not only viewed as the enemy but also the prey.

Most all citizens will go through their day with a sense of security because they have never been a victim of a crime. There is an expectation that if they need an officer one is only a call away. How would the public feel if that were not true? What would the average day be like for a citizen if they believed that there may not be help available if needed? Think about how it would change your daily routine. What if you called for an officer and had one come to you that was not more capable than you were with solving an issue? Would you want to leave the safety of your home if that were the case? Would you allow your children to play outside knowing the safety you had as a child has vanished? I can only speculate what each person reading this is answering to each of the questions. I feel confident that most are realizing it would change their life drastically.

The truth is you are not as safe as you were 10, 15, or 20 years ago. Time causes change and not all change is positive. We do not always have control over what change occurs. We do have control on what we do to adapt to the change that happens. With law enforcement, the responsibility to adapt is crucial. The public depends on our officers being educated and trained to the changes that will be faced as change occurs. A sheriff of any county has the obligation to know what the needs of the community are and do all possible to accomplish reaching the goals of meeting those needs. The main objective of a law enforcement leader should be to protect the community to the best of their ability. That ability should be constantly evaluated and made to prove they are not in a position that exceeds their ability. The proof of ability is measured by looking at the performance of that leader.

I am now reaching the point that many will attempt to claim this is a political post. It is not a political post. In fact, I have no candidate for sheriff I am endorsing. I believe all of the candidates seeking office have a resume to support the belief they could be elected. I say that with one exception. David Morgan is not proving he is capable of continuing as the leader of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. He has not been tested with any true crisis that would prove he is capable. There have been some situations that received nation attention and given the appearance that he is capable. Much of this opinion was through quick sound bites that are designed to create entertainment by media sources. None of us have ever seen him taken to task on what he would do in a real life incident that required critical thinking at a pace not set by him. When given the luxury of time and the ability to schedule a media event he is very prepared. He is even entertaining. He is in no way prepared for the tough decisions that occur in real time that determine the outcome of a person living or losing their life. He has never been on “hot” calls that create the feeling that seconds feel like hours or that the wrong decision will cost you your life or the life of another. He may feel he has because of the strict policies that are in place that have given him the ultimate ability to second guess the decision of officers and pass judgement. The fact is and always will be he has less experience of doing the job of a cop than a guy that was hired to attend the Basic Recruit Academy. In fact, he would not even be able to clearly understand a conversation between two deputies having a conversation on a police channel. These facts are not what should concern the average citizen.

With the most recent tragedy, which occurred in Dallas, we witnessed an attack on law enforcement officers that devastated an entire city. It caused fear that none of could begin to understand. Imagine for a moment that the individuals you depend on for your safety are targeted and killed. If they are such easy targets how would you feel knowing the average person has even less of a chance of surviving such an attack? Those brave officers had been through hours of training, equipment to protect, and weapons to eliminate a threat. They were still killed. Imagine how easy it would have been to kill even more of those brave men and women if they had none of that training or equipment that ultimately gave them the upper hand to defeat the evil perpetrator in this senseless crime. If you can’t get a picture of that into you mind I’ll help you out. Imagine the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Since the accepting of hate groups encouraging attacks on law enforcement we have had numerous attacks on officer across the country. Many have lost their life. Many have been victimized by liberal agendas. The result has been agencies seeking training and equipment to help defend the life of officers and the public. I can tell you right now that is not the case with the ECSO. We have had not one single hour of training to educate officers on crowd control or purchased equipment handle crowd control. In fact, we have not even changed from the training that we have had for the last 5-6 yrs. Why would David Morgan, with all of his self-proclaimed ability, not see we are no longer training for a scenario that is based on incidents from a decade ago? I’ll answer that easily. He isn’t a cop and never has been a cop. He made a choice to surround himself with people who knew how to brown nose better than they knew how to police. The result is an agency that is exposed and vulnerable.

As I am writing this there is an event occurring in Montclair subdivision. The ECSO has known of this event being planned for several weeks. The response was to do nothing. Today there was someone that decided to take the event seriously because of threats to kill officers on Facebook. The response from the ECSO was to call in a handful of overtime deputies. With several weeks of knowledge and time to gather endless intel we put out a few officers for overtime. This is disgusting to even think about. David Morgan has become a danger to lives of the officers he commands by having such complacent thoughts concerning the safety of these officers. His staff is either to ignorant to know or to spineless to tell him. Either case proves our cops deserve better.

Now, this is not the story that the public will get when Morgan talks about his “operation” if a media event is scheduled. He will explain how weeks of planning went into the operation and how he has made sure we have the best equipment to make sure the best job is being done. Know now that if he makes that statement he is a liar.

He will produce a few items that we have for critical incidents. There are a few ballistic shields. A few helmets and maybe some gas guns. The vast majority of that equipment is only used by SWAT and the patrol officer will never have the benefit of having use of that equipment. Any of you who know the system can make a public records request for any of the statements I have made and I assure you I am accurate with my description.

I seriously do not care who is elected but I do care that Morgan is gone. He does not have the right to play cops and robbers when his antics will cost the life of an officer to be lost. The one thing I have to say in all of this that is political is how much training and equipment could be purchased for $130,000.00 that could potentially save an officers life? I guess locking your car door is more important than an officer’s life to Morgan.

I am sure my opinion will be attacked and that is expected. I just hope there is a chance that some of you will help us. It is what we do to support our families and we shouldn’t have David Morgan and his ego cost our families by not coming home because of his silly political games.

Sincerely,

Senior Deputies worried about the future of Escambia County

What’s Wrong with Pensacola’s Sinclair Station?

Mr. Marks,

I bring you yet another communication, ON BEHALF OF CITIZENS OF PENSACOLA, to ask WHAT IS WRONG WITH WEAR 3?

Your mission statement:

Our goal is simple: We alert, protect and empower
our audience on all platforms.

We produce compelling, engaging, informative newscasts.

Our stations hold public officials accountable, 
asking the tough questions that our viewers would ask.

Our newscasts have stories that make a difference.

The key to our success is content choices.

As expected, there is still no mention of the State Attorney’s Investigation of the Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan and his misuse of funds. This “insignificant” investigation questions how the HONORABLE Sheriff Morgan wrongly allocated funds to non-profits for quid pro quo donations from their members to his campaign fund. This should have been overseen by 5 county commissioners and the budget director of the county. We are talking about $1M misappropriation, which I believe is a felony in any other profession. During the last several weeks, there are 6 elected officials and one higher ranking county official that are being investigated The investigation is still on-going (which gives the accusation much more credence) even as the good Sheriff doles out more money and brags about it on Facebook pompously throwing it in everyone’s face.

This story which potentially affects the entirety of your broadcasting area, but WEAR is mum.

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Yet a falsely reported violation of the Florida Sunshine Law (which would have been a misdemeanor punishable with a fine) of one county commissioner was covered by Channel 3 at the behest of another county commissioner. Commissioner Doug Underhill ran to the State Attorney’s Office and reported Commissioner Grover Robinson for talking about about county business outside the county commission meeting.

http://weartv.com/news/local/sunshine-law-violation-filed-against-grover-robinson

Then within approximately 24 hours this story ran:

http://weartv.com/news/local/no-violation-of-sunshine-law-committed-by-grover-robinson

Fact: Grover Robinson was investigated for less than a day of a misdemeanor & Channel 3 ran the story.

Fact: The Sheriff of Escambia County and all 5 County Commissioners along with other county personnel are the target of a lengthy investigation for felony misappropriation of county funds and conspiracy & Channel 3 has yet to cover the story.

If the entire county government infrastructure facing possible impeachment, removal and/or indictment is not newsworthy, then there is no story that needs to be aired.

The trust of community rests on the accuracy of news reporting. Mr. Lowe’s integrity is incontestably deficient if not, non-existent. I reiterate,the validity of this broadcasting station as a news entity is continually enfeebled by political partisanship. In fact, the impulsive jump to run the story regarding Mr. Robinson could be seen as possibly malicious defamation. It was prematurely reported, particularly given the quick dismissal by the State Attorney’s office. Had Mr. Lowe put the same “consideration” in airing Mr. Robinson’s investigation as he has in not airing the story on the Sheriff, it would not have been news at all.

How do these two news items align with your mission statement?

– Does it hold politicians accountable, asking the tough questions your audience would ask?

-Does it alert, protect or empower the community?

A response would be greatly appreciated in this matter because I am holding you accountable on behalf of the Pensacola community.

Why Chief Deputy is Wrong About Crime Stats

Local crime rate: Is it up or down?

Kevin Robinson, krobinson4@pnj.com3:56 p.m. CDT July 4, 2016

This article was extremely inflammatory to me. As a criminologist, it is insulting and it is ridiculous garbage. Mr. Robinson, do you homework please.

Chief Deputy Haines and Prof. Hough are misleading the public with the interpretation of the statistics. First, Chief Deputy Haines is trying to look at the long term statistics to say you are safer today than in past decades. The problem here is that he is off point. The focus of all this is explicitly the time Sheriff Morgan has been in office. That is the time in question. Since he was sworn in, crime has been out of step with dropping crime rates within the state and within the country overall. The percentages have been disproportionately higher consistently throughout his administration. The attrition rate (loss of deputies) is directly correlated to this rate. Less officers = more crime.

The next misleading thing Haines throws out is about total arrests. Total arrests is no indication of crime. How many arrests were thrown out, improper or even resulted in numerous crimes being committed under that 1 arrest? He is trying to confuse you with interchanging 2 terms that are not the same.

Moving on, the following graph shows the God’s honest truth. Escambia County (from 2009-2015) has a higher crime rate than the state average—consistently. As for Dr. Hough’s suggestion that the .1-.3 percent increase is insignificant, in real numbers, that.1-.3 percent accounts for 200-250 more violent crimes. That is significant in Escambia County.

Now to address Dr. Hough’s claim that 2/3 of all crimes are committed indoors. The semantics here are ALL crime vs violent or street crime. His statement is about all crime. It is misleading by throwing in other crimes to diminish the statistical value. To make Dr. Hough’s 2/3 statement true, you must include white collar crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and identity theft. Those are not considered “violent”or street crimes and have no place in the statistics. Removing those crimes takes the veracity out of his assertion that 2/3 of crimes (that we are talking about) are committed indoors.

Subsequently, having directed patrolling (patrolling in high crime areas routinely, maintaining a police presence) has always positively affected crime rates. People are less likely to be the victim of a crime in the areas where there is more of a threat of incarceration. This is not rocket science. This concept can be reduced to simple human interactions. When you take your eye off of a kid, will they take a cookie they know they are not supposed to have? Possibly. Will they do it while you are there? Less likely. Reducing the opportunity for crime in the areas where it is most likely to occur is the fundamental cure to high crime.

Please don’t take my word for it. In Journal of Human Sciences, Vol 3 from April 2016, Murat Ozkan discusses the conclusion to his research which boils down to exactly this point. The article is called, “A paradigm shift in policing: Crime reduction through problem oriented policing”. The main high point of this article is that policing that focuses on people and their motivations for crime, doesn’t work; focusing on reducing the opportunity for crime to occur (ie locking doors, having police presence, proper lighting in high crime areas etc) works. This is an old concept that is still the most valuable approach to reducing crime.

Sheriff Morgan is trying to put the responsibility of crime on society. He does this by implying citizens don’t control their kids.Then he is implementing numerous neighborhood watch programs trying to make communities the police. If that worked, he shouldn’t have a job to begin with. People with the authority to put other people in jail are more compelling than people without that power, who potentially endanger themselves to try to stop a crime in progress. That is just good sense. It is denigrating for him to say “your bad ass kids cause crime and don’t call the police, fix it yourself”. That is the line of crap he is laying out.

Finally, Prof. Hough claiming that 2/3’s of all crime happens indoor is lumping in many other crimes than we are talking about here. Many crimes initiate out of doors. What crimes (relevant to the problem in Escambia County ) happen outdoors? Typically, prostitution, car jackings/theft, car burglaries and drug deals happen in open areas. Cervantes Street is known for a reason. Very few car burglaries, which are the big problem here, happen to cars within a parking structure or garage. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, most crimes happen to people transitioning between activities. In a car, leaving work or the mall, or even leaving home to go to work, school or what have you is where you are most likely to be victimized. That is the crime that can be reduced by police presence.

Also, be aware that according to senior deputies within the ECSO, there is a skewing of these statistics. Deputies have been told to code or report crimes with the least severe code they can. Making a burglary a petit theft for instance would keep that crime off the statistical radar. Sir David is shifty like that.

In the end, people feel the change in safety. More guns are sold; more padlocks or additional security items are flying off the shelves. This isn’t because they feel safer. Also, Eric Haines is doing the community a disservice by skirting the issues and misrepresenting the facts. He is still trying to justify his own inadequacy as Chief Deputy.

Moral of the story: Don’t let anybody try to throw statistics out to convince you one thing is true when you know it is not true. Several different organizations have labeled Escambia County more dangerous than it should be. The talking heads of the ECSO can’t explain that away. (Mostly because it reflects badly on them personally). And by the way, no billboard will make you safer either.

By the way, Mr. Robinson, you should fact-check the people you try to make look smart. You are slanting the information being delivered just as much as the Chief Deputy. You discredit yourself.

Letter to Sinclair Broadcasting

The Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to bare the secrets of government and inform the people.–Hugo Black

The following was sent to JC Lowe and Steve Marks on July 1st, 2016:

We are coming upon the anniversary of this nation’s independence. It is the time to rejoice in the freedoms we have in the US that other countries do not have. As a part of that, the freedom of the press is imperative. It is the mechanism to maintain the republic. If government is transparent to the press, democracy breathes. The less transparent government becomes, the more democracy loses its ground. Power of the press keeps government on their toes. This is one of the most important components in American society. In order to preserve the integrity of that, no person should control the truth.

SBGI’s mission statement reflects that necessity:

We produce compelling, engaging, informative newscasts. Our stations hold public officials accountable, asking the tough questions that our viewers would ask. Our newscasts have stories that make a difference. The key to our success is content choices. Our goal is simple: We alert, protect and empower our audience on all platforms.

WEAR Channel 3, Pensacola, a Sinclair Broadcasting station, under the oversight of JC Lowe, has been strong armed or entered into a conspiracy with local corruption. The Escambia County Sheriff is currently under investigation by the State Attorney’s Office for misappropriation of LET funds. Sheriff Morgan has quashed the news coverage of this issue. There are no news stories of any of the Sheriff’s questionable activities on WEAR including the bullying of a local little league coach over a campaign sign. That was not covered. Mr. Lowe being “buddies” with Sheriff Morgan has become more important than the mission of Sinclair Broadcasting.

The following are links to articles that are of significance within the community that Sheriff Morgan has strong armed out of the news through WEAR.

http://pulsegulfcoast.com/2016/06/escambia-sheriff-under-fire-over-controversial-donations

http://cjsstreetreport.blogspot.com/2016/06/morgan-misused-letf-funds-for-billboards.html

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/escambia-county/2016/06/21/state-attorneys-office-reviewing-ecso-charity-efforts/86173366/

http://www.panhandlepolitico.com/escambia-news/put-it-back-county-overrules-sheriffs-removal-of-rival-campaign-sign/

These are just a few of the articles on these 2 particular events. There are more and yet WEAR has declined to air any story that might show Morgan in a bad light in campaign season. This is a perversion of journalistic integrity. The people of Escambia County are being willfully misled by the misinformation on this candidate’s handling of their money. That really should be considered an attempt to rig the election.

There is a demographic in Pensacola that openly advocates on social media to boycott anything to do with your station. The ripples of this will be felt for years to come and local information is less likely to be the news choice for the local people. If they cannot trust what is being shown as news, not just stories about someone’s cat, why are they taking up space in the area? Locals are going to the look outside the Pensacola market.

Seems this station has either outlived its effectiveness as a point of info for the region. Can this faux pas be corrected? Unfortunately, I believe it is the former. Maybe this is Mr. Lowe’s intent–to make the station irrelevant in order to close it. That would be a hardship within this community, because people want to be able to see Sue Straughn and Bob Solarkski every night, because these people have established trust over the years, but Mr. Lowe is taking their integrity within the community down with it.

Perhaps the mission statement should be re-written to say one of the goals is to undermine WEAR’s importance as a news outlet that desecrates the legacy of the anchors within the community? I no longer live in the community but as it is my hometown, I watch the news and keep up with things online and via social media. Mr. Lowe has made Channel 3 irrelevant. Just something to think about.

When the public’s right to know is threatened, and when the rights of free speech and free press are at risk, all of the other liberties we hold dear are endangered.

— Christopher Dodd

Sincerely,

Jimmie Staley

Crusader, Blogger, Activist

The Honorable Sheriff Morgan: Personification of Hubris

In the face of an active investigation of his misuse and misappropriation of LET funds, Sir David shamelessly boasts about his fleecing the county on Facebook.

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This is an attempt to deceive the public into believing that what he did is lawful. However, if it was 100% above board, would the State Attorney be investigating this? The answer is NO. Sources inside the SAO claim that Pam Bondi has put Bill Eddins on notice that she expects him to do his job so that she won’t have to intervene. Clearly, there is some indication of concern of a cover-up. The implication here is indicative that Ms. Bondi foresees the gravitas of the issues coming out of this investigation. For example the impeachment or removal of county commissioners as well as ye olde Sheriff.

The members of the BOCC were suppose to govern this fund. The director of Management and Budget Services, Amy Lovoy was not aware of the necessity of the commissioners to monitor the fund. She has reportedly stated that very thing to the State Attorney’s office. What that means is that the standard practice– as long as she has been involved–has been in violation of the statute. County Commissioners were also “unaware” of their duties. According to an opinion from Ms. Bondi’s site:

Att’y Gen. Fla. 81-99 (1981) (board of county commissioners vested with exclusive authority to decide appropriation of contraband trust funds to the sheriff’s office). See also Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 78-55 (1978), concluding that it is the duty and responsibility of the governing bodies of the affected counties and municipalities to approve or disapprove the expenditures from, and the appropriation of, funds collected under the contraband forfeiture act.

But folks we are dealing with people who reap huge salaries and haven’t read their own job description or the statutes that define how the county is supposed to work. HELLO! The bad thing is that Morgan seems to have played all of them. They look like fools for his crimes and yes, the misappropriation of over $1Million is a crime. Some organizations may even be compelled to return the funds which could throw this entire fiasco into an oblivion of chaos. These agencies, like the Filipino-American Club, has no justification to receive these funds; they have not provided documents to show that the money was appropriated to the specifications of the statute.

Historically, in the state of Florida, any money granted to an agency from special trust funds like this has caveats that be accountability as to how the money was spent. When that is not complied with–even assuming they were funded in good faith with crime/drug prevention in mind–it was required to be repaid. Grants and trust funds with this caveat could be asking charities that got the ill-begotten funds to return it to the county. The Fil-Am Club received operating expenses out of this fund. That is illegal.

The most grotesque thing about this is that Morgan is acting as if he is being altruistic by helping the areas of the communities with these funds. Those of us that see Morgan for what he is, know that it is a way to manipulate people to donate money to his campaign.

Consider this, practically, if he used the money for the proper things to improve the agency, the county would be safer. However, he is selling the county safety in not training or retaining officers that WILL STAY. He is selling safety by taking money that could be used to provide more training for the new officers out there due to the high attrition rate and even better equipment to deal with the kinds of crime emerging. The big thing is Morgan has run off the better officers and the new ones don’t stay. That is a problem. That is Morgan’s problem. Yet the money he spends is on outward organizations as he puts the onus and responsibility for safety on the public. He is undermining his organization for political gain.

The kind of corruption the media talk about, the kind the Supreme Court was concerned about, involves the putative sale of votes in exchange for campaign contributions–. James L. Buckley

Instagram photo by The Mind Unleashed - Jun 14, 2016 at 3-23 AM.clipular

ECSO Infested with Moral Descension

The crash in Beulah involving Deputy Hector Escajeda being removed from a burning vehicle made heroes out of the men who pulled him from a certain death. They are brave men to sure. However, Sheriff Morgan’s grandstanding for one of his own is pure fiction. Mr.Craig Morado’s valor is not in question. He went above and beyond as did his neighbors, John Shaw and his son and 2 other neighbors. They pulled Escajeda out and away from the burning vehicle, but somewhere in the chaos Sr. Deputy Bobby Guy got attributed in being the one who help Morado. Several neighbors confirm they did not see Deputy Guy and he most certainly was not the one who helped Morado.

In a spectacle of events, Deputy Guy got an award recognizing him for “exceptional courage and selflessness in the midst of great personal danger”.This was brought to the attention of Sheriff Morgan who said everybody should just honor Deputy Guy anyway, because he has a family. Now what relevance does that have? The men that actually saved Escajeda don’t want the recognition, however, the tall tale the Sheriff created insulted the people involved. Give credit where credit is due, but if he didn’t do anything, then what risk of danger was there?

And Deputy Guy. What sort of man accepts such an award knowing full well it is false? The moral fabric of ECSO is on display in this event. As country folks say, Morgan would rather climb a tree to tell a lie, than stand on the ground and tell the truth. Deputy Guy participating in this stolen valor is reprehensible ethically. It just shows that Morgan doesn’t seem to respect valor or bravery. He does support taking credit for others peoples’ courage. He has no reverence to people who have honestly and courageously acted “with selflessness in the midst of great personal danger”. He believes you can hand it out like candy. For Deputy Guy, one of the “yes” men in Billings hoax of an investigation, to accept that shows you how far morality has descended in the ECSO.

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