Category: FDLE

A Small Measure of Justice

Featured

On Monday, November 21st, Scott Haines was sentenced in federal court. He took a plea and pled guilty to lying to FBI in an elder exploitation investigation. This is the DOJ press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Former Santa Rosa County Deputy Sheriff Sentenced To Federal Prison

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Scott P. Haines, 50, of Milton, Florida, was sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison, following his previous guilty plea on the charge of making material false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during an elder exploitation investigation.  United States Attorney Jason R. Coody announced the sentence. 

“Criminal conduct by those sworn to uphold the law represents a betrayal of the public trust,” stated U.S. Attorney Coody. “The corrupt acts of an individual law enforcement officer can erode the public’s trust in the legions of brave men and women who faithfully honor their oaths’ and place their lives on the line each day to keep our communities safe. We will vigorously investigate and prosecute any officer who betrays their sworn oath and the public’s trust.”

During his plea in federal court, Haines admitted that he became personally involved in the real property management and finances of an elderly woman in Santa Rosa County and deposited rental payments from tenants of the elderly woman into his own bank account without authority to do so.  When confronted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Haines made material false statements regarding his involvement with the rental properties, the depositing of rental payments into his personal account, and his knowledge and involvement with the Last Will and Testament of the elderly woman of which he became a beneficiary.

“Police officers are given immense trust and responsibility, and are therefore held to a higher standard,” said Sherri E. Onks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division, “so there are serious consequences when one tarnishes the badge by breaking the law.  Scott Haines disgraced the uniform when he abused his authority to victimize an elderly individual for his own personal gain, and his sentencing affirms that the FBI has zero tolerance for officials who prey on the citizens they have sworn to protect.”

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office cooperated fully with the FBI/FDLE investigation and immediately relieved Haines of his duties prior to the filing of criminal charges.

Haines will be required to serve one year on federal supervised release following his incarceration.  He was formally adjudicated guilty by the United States District Court and is now a felon.  Haines previously relinquished his criminal justice certifications.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg prosecuted the case.   

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.

Attachment(s): 

Download press_release_-_haines.pdf

Topic(s): 

Elder Justice

Financial Fraud

Component(s): 

USAO – Florida, Northern

Contact: 

United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Florida (850) 216-3845 libby.lastinger@usdoj.gov Follow us on Twitter | @NDFLnews

Updated November 22, 2022

Now I want to draw your attention to this part:

“Criminal conduct by those sworn to uphold the law represents a betrayal of the public trust,” stated U.S. Attorney Coody. “The corrupt acts of an individual law enforcement officer can erode the public’s trust in the legions of brave men and women who faithfully honor their oaths’ and place their lives on the line each day to keep our communities safe. We will vigorously investigate and prosecute any officer who betrays their sworn oath and the public’s trust.”

During his plea in federal court, Haines admitted that he became personally involved in the real property management and finances of an elderly woman in Santa Rosa County and deposited rental payments from tenants of the elderly woman into his own bank account without authority to do so.  When confronted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Haines made material false statements regarding his involvement with the rental properties, the depositing of rental payments into his personal account, and his knowledge and involvement with the Last Will and Testament of the elderly woman of which he became a beneficiary.

Then this part:

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office cooperated fully with the FBI/FDLE investigation and immediately relieved Haines of his duties prior to the filing of criminal charges.

This is last part is probably the most indefensible position asserted in this press release. This entire case undermines public trust and I’ll tell you why. In 2017, I got an email from Matt Groelinger, who is Dorothy Rogers’s grandson and was entrusted with overseeing their family trust. I asked him to call me to hear his story. He was apprehensive to say the least. I didn’t even know his name. He was scared to tell me what was happening to him. I must say if you knew who Matt was, you’d know that his physical appearance, his size, is intimidating to most people, but he was scared the first time I talked to him. As he told me about Scott and the whole situation with his grandmother, I knew I needed to have a second set of ears hear this story. I contacted Philip Nix, a close friend, who I have worked with on the Billings Case. He was someone who knew the magnitude of what Matt was saying. I added Phil to the call. As unsure as he was about Matt’s story, he remained opened minded.

Over the next few days, Phil and I poured over documents that Matt had. He had meticulously kept every document, proving his account of what was happening. His fear on the phone was well founded. Scott told Matt’s grandmother, he would have him arrested for the drug issues he had, which was a lie. He also told her that sometimes drug users, like Matt, would just die in custody. This is the basis of his fear. You had a cop threatening to create a crime to get a arrest and he did it. There was some very sketchy events in this arrest playing out that convinced Matt that he had a target on his back. There is contradictory documentation by the SRSO and varied testimonies of other deputies that show the plausibility of this threat by Haines. Timelines that don’t flow; people omitted from CAD reports; the whereabouts of deputies that were not accurate; fictitious accounts of conversations that unfold when lies can’t be remembered. It was very squirrely and would be suspect even if it was by the book as they claim.

It took months for Matt not be afraid. He believed, rightfully so, that he could be killed and it could look righteous. Think about that. A brotherhood of people invested in removing you from your family and possibly this world. Scott Haines getting a year and one day with 5 years probation and then being allowed to keep the properties he essentially stole, that are priceless to the county, which allows him to be a wealthy man in 2024 if not sooner.

What about the hard drives taken into custody? The search warrant executed on May 13, 2021. There were cameras in Dorothy’s home. Scott monitored her constantly. Is that ok?

Just think about the fact no one in the SRSO, FDLE or the FBI, apparently, prosecuted this stuff. Why? Elder exploitation is still ongoing in this case because Bob Johnson, who miraculously doubled his assets without any additional income, is still in office after failing to uphold Florida Law.

Pensacola Homecoming scandal: yOU KNOW THIS CASE, RIGHT?

Featured

I am sure you heard about the Homecoming Scandal that happened in Pensacola last year. As I understood from the news stories I read, this case was akin to the Cheerleader murder from Texas. You know, an overzealous mother who murdered her daughter’s competition, thus securing her daughter’s place as a cheerleader. Minus the murder, this was the same scenario, at least as it was portrayed as by the local media. Laura Carroll, Vice-Principal of Bellview Elementary either through her own access to Escambia County School District internal server (FOCUS) or her daughter, Emily Grover, used her login, surreptitiously to cast votes for Tate Homecoming Queen in 2020. The mother & daughter were arrested March 15, 2021, for unlawful use of a two-way communication device, offenses against users of computer, computer systems, computer networks & electronic devices and conspiracy to commit these offenses. Emly was expelled, despite having no disciplinary record and being an exemplary student about to graduate in 6 weeks at the time of the arrest.

According to PNJ, Tuesday, March 16, 2021:

“In October 2020, the school district flagged hundreds of votes for Tate High School’s homecoming court as fraudulent. FDLE was contacted and special agents launched an investigation.

FDLE special agents discovered that 117 of the fraudulent votes originated from the same IP address within a short period of time and they tied that IP address to Carroll & Grover’s computer usage.

FDLE spokesperson Gretl Plessinger told the News Journal, agents learned that Carroll & Grover used FOCUS to cast the fraudulent votes to win homecoming queen at Tate High School….

Nine students and one teacher provided written statements to authorities that detailed how Grover had spoken about accessing her mother’s FOCUS account or had seen her access the county system for almost 4 years, according to the arrest warrant.”

This seems cut and dry, doesn’t it? Hardly. My immediate question was, with this access and purported “abuse” of info, was there no other compromised records, involving school grades, medical records, disciplinary records, student ID numbers etc? It seems to me that there are more serious violations that may actually warrant harsh punishment—not homecoming court votes. A teen who has this sort of info available would surely exploit it. Yet, that we don’t have in this case. The FOCUS site is chalked full of information that anyone with a password could exploit. That is what I would expect if someone was trying to abuse that particular website. While Carroll’s login was largely “view only” info, the voluminous privacy-protected info that potentially could have been weaponized was never compromised.

The FDLE investigator, Stephanie Cassidy, could not legitimize any of the evidence used in this case. That does not surprise me but the fact that anyone pursued criminal charges and ruined a young girl’s life with such flimsy evidence.

Here are a few excerpts from the deposition of Stephanie Cassidy:

The craziest thing though is the way Tate High handled it. Here is a clip from NorthEscambia.com:

Emily Rose Grover was 17-year old juvenile at the time of her arrest in April by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. She turned 18 just a few days later, and will now be tried as an adult.
Grover and her mother Laura Carroll, former assistant principal at Bellview Elementary School, were charged by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with one count each of felony offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices; felony unlawful use of a two-way communications device, felony criminal use of personally identifiable information, and conspiracy to commit these offenses. The misdemeanor conspiracy charge against both has been upgraded by prosecutors to a felony count.
One edited photo in this year’s Tate High School yearbook shows Grover’s face covered with clipart of a horse that resembles the school’s mascot. The horse’s rear-end was used to cover Grover’s face, and that is the part that has upset many. The photo is above; note that NorthEscambia.com has blurred the faces of other individuals in the picture.
“They covered her face with a horse’s rear,” one parent wrote in an email to NorthEscambia.com. “That’s just too much and should have never happened.”
“We are recalling those yearbooks to fix that problem,” Escambia County School District Superintendent Dr. Tim Smith said. “Somebody went in and made an edit that shouldn’t have happened.”
The yearbook was published after Grover’s arrest. Parents tell us some students did not receive their yearbooks after the photo was discovered.

‘Gary Marsh

“no Justice in florida”

Featured

This week Scott Haines went to state & federal courts to enter a plea bargain. This was an impromptu hearing without much advance notice. I spoke with an expert in law enforcement prior to the first hearing in state court Tuesday. He advised me that the optics of Haines going into state court first and then the following day, into federal court, signals no state jail time. If he agreed to jail time, he would be taken into custody immediately and he would be unable to go to court the following day. So, it was not a surprise that he simply got probation plus court/investigative costs. But the FBI DROPPED virtually all the charges.

This is truly injustice and corruption in action. If you or I were to do what Scott did in this case, there is no way this would be the outcome. I cannot tell you how deeply dismayed I am. Thousands of documents and investigative hours were poured into seeing justice prevail; yet all that work died on the vine. There was a clear conspiracy to defraud. Several people looked the other way or actively assisted Haines in misrepresenting the circumstance to the courts and to the press.

In the universal battle between good and evil, evil prevailed thanks to the corruption of the FDLE and the apathy of the FBI.

While I am amazed by the injustice in this case, I will continue to fight for the people who were victimized. What else can I do?

Featured

SRSO Scandal: Part 4-Eric Haines

There has been speculation that Eric has been a part of Scott’s circle of cadres, but both of them claimed to have nothing to do with the other. I have suspected it was a smoke screen but without proof, it was just a theory. 

Well now there is definitive proof. I requested a Master Name Index Lookup on Scott in Escambia County. This is what I found:

Scott-Haines---MNI-Transaction-Log-Redacted-unlocked cropped

So what this shows is that Eric Adam Haines was actively looking at his brother’s info in real time during the 10/28/20 stalking of Marivel Meister. He had no legitimate reason for using his resources. This shows a violation of policy and possibly, a violation of law, to check up on his brother. That establishes a connection to include Eric in this conspiracy.

What is intriguing to me is that Matt was falsely arrested in Dec. 2015 for exploitation of the elderly. During this same approximate time in Escambia, that same allegation was being leveraged by Eric on Philip Nix. Ultimately resulting in Phil being terminated. The irony of this is when Matt first contacted me about his grandmother and Scott, I immediately conferenced in Phil Nix to listen to Matt’s story. Phil ended up getting Marie Mattox to represent Matt. Now this all happened after this dual accusation, but it seems to be a pattern of behavior, similarity in thinking. Although in Phil’s case, APS was never contacted by the ECSO, which should have been done. Matt had APS investigating already in his case and had a determination of no wrong doing. But it was only a half-hearted attempt on Eric’s part as he didn’t follow his own accusation. It would have been fruitless but the effort should have been made to seriously think anyone would believe his concern. Also, FDLE found no cause for termination in Phil’s case, just as APS and, in time, the Santa Rosa court system in Matt’s case. Just an observation.

Next installment will address the “Facilitators”, beginning with Sheriff Bob Johnson

It’s About Time!!!!

Featured

Most people know Scott Haines was arrested by federal marshals. He was eventually turned over to FDLE. Other than the following press release, I haven’t gotten a straight answer on so many things regarding this arrest and Scott’s subsequent release. Here is the Justice Dept’s press release:

Strangely, he was released later that night from jail yet arraigned the next morning in federal custody. Curiously there is no court record anywhere of anything other than this.

Some Back Story:

In 2017, Matt Groelinger called me because no one was even willing to listen to him and what was going on. Scott Haines had him falsely arrested in order to have a reason to make an irrevocable trust, revocable. The charges were bogus and dropped but not before Scott Haines SRSO officer convinced Matt’s elderly grandma that Matt was trying to take her family’s legacy. He was made the trustee over a huge trust because of his grandma’s decline. When Matt was arrested, after hours, SRSO filed criminal charges and a civil case within mere minutes of one another after hours.

Over the years, Scott “assumed” Matt’s position in grandma’s life. She even tells people Scott is her grandson. There are pictures in her home of her at his family events. Most people at the trailer park where Scott collected rent for grandma. When APS investigated this case, they truly believed Scott was her grandson. This farce has been going on since 2015. Scott got 2 parcels of grandma’s land worth a considerable amount of money for $10 each. These parcels are on the back side of her property and are at Whiting Field’s back gate and now across the street from the new Santa Rosa industrial complex.

A situation Santa Rosa County Commissioner has tried to purchase these lots for years. In a move very much like the Escambia Soccer Complex Scandal. This commissioner saw the value of this land and the potential value of the land to the county. Sound familiar??

Getting back to the story, grandma has been very generous to Scott “and his whole family” according to people close to him. This opens up the potential involvement of Eric Haines. They were seen on a cruise 4 years ago. Despite each of them telling people they dislike each other, they have been close for years.

Scott’s arrest is absolutely a good thing. No question. It is just a measure of justice. Nothing can be restored for the family. Grandma believes her children and grandchildren are trying to put her away. That is thanks to Scott. He’s isolated her from her family. She isn’t being cared for. She can’t take care of her personal needs without help. Scott didn’t help and the family were estranged due to him. For a supposed Christian man, Scott has done the most deplorable thing he could do in his actions. That brings me to all the people that facilitated him. How many people covered his crimes up? Chris Watson? Without question this guy claims Scott did nothing wrong. What about Bob Johnson? Indisputably, the buck stops with him. He allowed these cover ups. He lied to the press by saying there was nothing to see here. So many others perjured themselves, for what? Their careers are now going down the toliet.

Matt, the grandson, came to me because he had nowhere else to go. I brought in Philip Nix whom I work with on everything. Phil got him to Marie Mattox who has made all this possible. The FBI saw the criminality in this case. They are still pursuing people that aided Scott. That makes me smile because Eric will be a target of their investigation. That string may unravel all the corruption in both Santa Rosa & Escambia.

But this is all due to the diligence of small amount of people who were not afraid to speak out. We are family. While the 25th of January is a huge milestone for all the efforts, it comes with some melancholy. Phil’s dad passed the night Scott was arrested. This is personally devastating to all of us. Ultimately, grandma loses. She is completely isolated. Scott was ordered not to go back to the trailer he lives in and is to have no contact with grandma.

All of this is a lot to take in for a person who has tried numerous times to get FDLE and the FBI to look into the corruption in this case, I feel we are finally heard and validated. There is a continuing victimization of people who aren’t heard. This is why I do what I do.

“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”- John Stuart Mill

Stay Tuned! When I know you will know. Also check out Coffeeordie.com.

Bureaucratic Insanity

I sent the following email to various agencies including FDLE:

I am contacting you in reference to violations of Florida Statute regarding LET fund. Via public records requests, I have found that the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is not obtaining the followup accounting per statute 932.7055(5)(c). I have requested this documentation from the Sheriff’s office. The CFO, Henrique Dias, was confused about my request but emailed me that his office just disbursed the funds, someone else did the followup.  So I contacted the Board of County Commissioners, who have to OK all donations and they do not do any follow up as they insist the Sheriff’s office should. But they did tell me that the Clerk of Court may have the documentation as they are supposed to verify that paperwork is done. Today, Pam Childers, the Clerk of Court, said there was no way for her to fulfill request and re-directed me to the Sheriff’s office.
Each step of the way I had to CONVINCE each of these entities that follow up reporting is required by statute. What that tells me is they aren’t properly handling the reporting. My question is if this can go on without anyone regarding the law that establishes procedure, what else is being mishandled?
A serious inquiry should be done. Even though this is just follow up reporting, it shows how used to cutting corners the officials in this county are. This is merely a symptom of a much deeper problem when all the checks and balances are not in place properly.
Jimmie Staley
This is the FDLE response I got:

Dear Mr. Staley,

Your recent correspondence with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) was received by the Office of Executive Investigations (OEI). In your correspondence, you addressed concerns about the handling of civil asset forfeitures. Upon review, it was determined that your complaint does not warrant an investigation by FDLE. If you believe that employees of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office did not follow proper procedure or statute, you should provide that information to their internal affairs or command staff. Florida law states that the employing agency is responsible for investigating complaints against officers and employees within their agency. Therefore, any complaints regarding alleged misconduct by members of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office should be directed to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs / Professional Standards Unit for their review and any action deemed appropriate.

Sincerely,

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Office of Executive Investigations

 

This could be a form letter from any agency, honestly.  It is this sort of thinking that enables corruption; surely this is by design.  Archimedes said, “Give me a place to stand & I will take over the world.” Sadly this is not the mantra of the average American. But what I wanted to point out to people is that just to get to the point to report wrongdoing or send a complaint, as simple as it was, takes someone a very long time to work up to doing. The average person has to weigh the cost of “rocking the boat”, either personally or professionally.  This person would have to be absolutely sure the result would outweigh the cost and be heard by the recipient. This is where people will abandon vocalizing their concerns. Once someone from an organization or agency, in effect, tells them there is nothing they can do, that generally ends it. The person re-thinks their intuition and rationale thinking that led them to the point of reaching out. They start to doubt their understanding of the process and procedures that make up “the system”–sometimes even falling in the trap of thinking they aren’t smart enough to navigate the plain language of laws, rules and regulations.

This isn’t true in most cases, but that is what people are led to believe. Stepping up against politicians, figures of authority, is a huge deal that can paralyze the average citizen. Robert F. Kennedy said in his speech, dubbed, The Ripple of Hope Speech,  “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Kennedy points out 4 dangers to people stepping up to do the right thing. The first is the risk of futility, or being afraid the stance they choose to take, isn’t enough to make a difference alone. The second danger is of expediency, not having an immediate impact that is measurable. The third is the timidity of being cast aside by trusted and respected people in the community, or being a pariah. Finally, the risk of falling into a position of comfort and not wanting to create discomfort in everyday life for themselves or their family.  All of these dangers are valid and reasonable obstacles that prevent 90% of the population to stay quiet in the face of obvious injustice and corruption.

FDLE tried to accomplish this with their response to me. They pointed out “after review” they are not the entity to be contacted, roughly a week after they received my initial email. This hits upon the lack of expediency, while they also assert that after their “review”, which gives the impression someone thoughtfully and attentively read my complaint and carefully crafted an answer. Nothing could be further from the truth because of the obvious fact they did not understand, THE SHERIFF is the issue, not just an employee on his staff. This reflects the futility Kennedy pointed out of being heard, but not making an impact. In reality, I wasn’t heard, so it is not futile to think that a complaint won’t render a positive outcome.

In my case, the final point that is relevant from Kennedy’s speech is pushing my comfort level by referring me to confront the ECSO directly. This is the laughable part because I have vocally and gregariously made statements directly to staff about this. I fail to fall prey to 3 out of 4 dangers in this example, as Kennedy outlined in this one speech over 30 years ago.  My message to everyone reading this is simply to be mindful of the traps of the insanity and wild goose chase that people may inevitably be directed to fall into via lack of analysis of what they are told and inattentiveness of the respondents to the initial contact.

One person can make a difference. I am living proof of this. So my advice is to scrutinize your answers as critically as possible before abandoning the path chosen.  Bureaucracy is red tape outlined to trip those up who are not serious about pursuing the right cause of action, for the right reasons. It says more about them than it does you.

The Biggest Threat to ECSO is the Actions of Deputies/Sheriff

Apparently, in the wake of my last few blog posts, Steve Cappas has been trying to figure out a way to sue me to get his transcript excerpts taken down. I find this so amusing because this man has committed numerous felonies against so many people, depriving them of their constitutional right to due process, and I am his concern. Cappas should be concerned about Joe Zarzaur’s next move or perhaps the real likelihood of prosecution or maybe the number of cases he has handled that may be overturned in light of his participation and questionable evidence handling.

In researching the duties Cappas should have upheld, according to FDLE, I found this (My apologies for the blurry quality. Please see the link for a clearer view):

Plainly, as simple as the rules appears to be, Cappas had difficulty following them .He stripped constitutional rights from individuals on a whim. He allowed evidence to be exposed to tampering threats and possibly lost that could be exculpatory to individuals currently incarcerated or that could have put more people who broke the law behind bars, justifiably.

In true fashion of the ECSO, there has been no response or change in policy regarding the shocking evidence handling procedures, Cappas has adopted. The agency staff members have been busy overseeing back to back investigations on one officer as well as preparing admin for the numerous jury trials against them in the near future.

One of the claims being investigated is that an officer used profanity. The recommended punishment is termination. The supporting evidence includes a statement given by Capt. Hall. She is also on leave for misconduct involving dishonesty. However, her statement getting an employee fired was taken as truthful, but she will likely suffer adverse employment action for being dishonest.

Another investigation into Facebook posts or gossip including derogatory remark about David Morgan has recently been completed. The employee suffered serious penalty as well. There was no law violation. There was no indecent behavior. Never tampered with evidence. Never destroyed evidence to avoid detection of a crime. This employee insulted David Morgan unknowingly and will suffer serious consequence.

In accordance to status quo, the idea that Cappas being untruthful would catch the attention of ECSO staff members is a fallacy. However, it seems like if officers can be terminated for using profanity when upset, there is no doubt admin would expeditiously handle the admitted criminal behavior of Cappas. But sadly, that assumption would be wrong. Cappas is a follower. He is willing to evade lawful conduct and hide behind the fact he is following orders. He should know he isn’t excused for improper behavior because his superiors don’t choose to follow law. Yet I am sure I will be the scapegoat if Cappas is, in fact, arrested for criminal activity.

Cappas should seek advice on how best to avoid that inevitable outcome because currently, he is a fall guy for improper/criminal acts in the Manning case. He may be satisfied with being sacrificed. If he is sacrificed and loses his freedom and/or job, he can at least celebrate not having to explain how one person could be so spineless and blindly follow orders that are contrary to procedure and law, affecting anyone’s freedom . His conduct should be addressed immediately by the ECSO Administration and he should be investigated while on leave just as all other employees when an investigation begins that is serious in nature like offending David Morgan. However, offending, Sir David is far more serious in the eyes of this administration than wrongfully, criminally mishandling cases. This is your Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Morgan Tells President to Pound Sand

In an unprecedented move, Sheriff Morgan refuses to lend support to presidential detail for Trump. WTF?  He claims he is shorthanded but this is the Commander in Chief, you make it work or at least give a token few deputies as a show of good faith. In a military town, from a former officer of the Air Force, this is unreal. This begs the question, why?

Photo op and fanfare but no Morgan??? This seems ridiculous. In talking to a military source, a reason that was floated as to this missed press optic, may have something to do with Morgan’s LACK OF SECURITY CLEARANCE. Morgan refused to be vetted for a security clearance to be apart of the Joint Terrorism Taskforce, meaning he is not a party to any terrorism threat in Escambia County. He cannot be privy to details of any info that every other agency in Northwest Florida has access to, like PPD, FDLE, & FHP who work with federal agencies. Morgan can’t be at the table.

Is that a point of contention? Or is it a perceived point of contention? There is no reason for the military Sheriff disrespecting the President in a military town.

A Word from Within the ECSO

The past couple of weeks have been refreshing. Our county has been plagued with the laughable attempt of Team Morgan to masquerade as cops. The leadership they fail to provide the good law enforcement officers who deserve good leadership has been exposed. Morgan failed to deliver his promise. One may ask how that happen. The facts are that Morgan has worn out his welcome. People have started to call him out and see him as the emperor with no clothes. Not having the ability to bully his way into place, he has realized he must rely on intelligence and ability. Morgan gets a dose of reality and is aware he has neither, as it relates to law enforcement. The result of this revelation is a full blown all out-baby fit.

I would be the first to pay an increase in my property taxes to fund a raise for law enforcement officers. Sadly, for Morgan, I also believe that I had the right as that tax payer to verify he had been a good steward of my money to this point. Morgan is not capable of being accountable and is offended by anyone that questions him. His idea of what a public servant is obligated to do, does not include being held accountable for his actions. The public does not have the right to question his authority. Therefore, he does not get his budget. Morgan is defeated for the first time in 8 1/2 years. The public had an opportunity to see who Morgan really is–the Morgan, as he is described in the multitude of lawsuits, filed concerning treatment of employees.

I would be happy to see a sheriff’s office that had twice the officers and three times their pay currently. The officer is not the issue. Morgan creates a situation that causes the appearance that everyone wants to punish cops. Facts would support that Morgan has provided well for a few of the favorites. In past budgets, he gave staff members promotions and pay increases, created positions for staff, got a spare chief, and created a publicity empire. Is it fair to blame the public or county commissioners for taking pause at his arrogance to demand more money?

We associate addicts as being dependent on narcotics. When an addict can’t get a fix, they will become angry and hostile. An addict will destroy their life and the life of anyone around in order to feed the addiction.  Morgan has demonstrated that his addiction to power and he is as destructive as a drug addict. The moment Morgan realized his power could be diminishing he began to destroy everything in his path to hold that power. Elected officials who are tasked with statutory fiduciary duties have been attacked by Morgan because they disagreed with him with personal attacks & spiteful actions designed to scare and shock the public. Morgan’s intentional acts to create chaos in the county he took an oath to protect is a direct violation of the public’s trust.

It is not difficult to see from the actions of some staff members that Morgan encourages rogue behavior. The B string chief is often seen berating citizens on social media. Any question posed to him results in an attack of your intelligence or a sermon outlining the superiority he has that you can’t possibly be able to question. The comments are arrogant and unprofessional. His attitude is offensive and one would sense he has the belief everyone is beneath him, exactly what Morgan would suggest when he sinks to childlike behavior because he doesn’t get his way.

The answer to officer retention is not as simple as giving a raise in wages. There need to be a raise in the effective leadership of the agency.  This leadership should create strong work ethics and promote professionalism. The tactic of destroying people because you may disagree with King David is flawed. Fear motivates the weak or uneducated. Forcing compliance through fear eliminates any chance that a competent employee will make the ECSO a long-term choice. Knowing that you could be considered a foe for any reason deemed appropriate by Team Morgan does not promote the desire to be loyal or to stay with the agency. The feeling of dread we all face walking into the ECSO is not conducive to a healthy work environment. The lack of leadership in the Morgan administration has destroyed the agency to the point it may take decades to recover.

A quick look into the Morgan money reveals so many questionable practices that it prompts people to want to scrutinize all his financial handlings in the name of Escambia County. The B string chief receiving two raises in one year, two chiefs, two incompetent Majors, public relations team, and billboards cause any person with a calculator to stop and ask questions. None of the money spent on these positions is being put to the best use possible. We see that law enforcement isn’t the priority to David Morgan. The main priority of the ECSO is elevating Morgan to celebrity political status.

As if his behavior, to this point, isn’t embarrassing enough, Morgan goes a step further to produce a television commercial naming officers shot in the line of duty. The audacity displayed is appalling. This poser uses terrible incidents that have occurred to officers in effort to advance his self-serving ways. Had this imposter ever patrolled a single shift anywhere near any of the incidents he references, it is possible that could be tolerated. He has not and he does not get to steal the sacrifices those officers made so he can play dress up in his big boy cop uniform and bully those who oppose his strong-arm tactics. If he had a conscience, he would not be able to sleep at night knowing he exploited real cops to further the game he is playing. This is clear proof he does not value what those cops went through because he has no life experience to reflect on that resembles being an actual law enforcement officer

A person defending Morgan successfully would have to convince the public of many things at this point. Morgan has had dozens of employees file court actions against him. Many of those cases have been paid out and settlements reached out of tax payer money. Currently there are close to a dozen law suits pending. Morgan claims no wrongdoing. Consider that Morgan has fought with dozens of employees, BOCC, media outlets, over spending practices, extra duty employers and former elected officials. His administrarion staff (non-front line, cushy sedentary positions) has ballooned as has their salaries. Deputies will not stay at the agency to work. Crime is on the rise. Morgan’s answer to this. Pay for a billboard to give the big middle finger to people that have exercised a right to hold him accountable for his careless spending.

I suggest that the commissioners request an audit of the ECSO. Not the typical rubber stamp audit that Morgan refers to so often. Examine the employees that have separated in the past three years from the ECSO. A quick glance would reveal that the current B string chief could be the reason that retention is impossible. In the three years that he has been in that position the separation of officers compared to the previous three years is double. Is that just a weird coincidence? Add to that the proactive law enforcement activities plummeted in the same time. FYI that is why so many tickets are written for minor infractions. Because of incompetent leaders at the ECSO innocent people are subject to harassment from over achieving followers not equipped with the necessary skills or backbone to resist orders that are given to create an illusion of cops working hard on the street. The ones that do resist suffer retaliatory actions of Morgan.

Morgan often finds a partner to rally with to get what he wants. The budget issue is not different. Underhill has a love affair with Morgan that is somewhere between Fatal Attraction and Gone with the Wind.  If anyone would suggest that Underhill should be considered when discussing Morgan budget ask them a few questions. First, would it be wise to take budget advice from an individual will the bankruptcy record he has? If I had children I would not hire a pedophile as a babysitter any more than I would consider Underhill’s budget advice. If I am ever in need of complete financial failure advice Underhill would be the guy. However, Underhill is doing well financially at Morgan’s side. Morgan has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Underhill’s pet projects. I should give Morgan credit for supporting all of those under privileged children lost in that terrible private school system and being forced into those menacing gifted classes. There is a possibility that without Morgan and Underhill those poor children would have to attend a regular college and miss the chance to attend an Ivy League institution.

11083609_10205971965116370_6413695347803780307_n

Commissioner Bergosh is proving to be exactly what our county needs. I believe he was a quick study and has seen through Morgan and his sidekick. I hope that Commissioner Bergosh will ask for all the employees that have left the sheriff’s office and find a common denominator in the reason for separation. Find out how much money has been wasted on the appalling treatment of employees. How much money is our county spending on attorneys and settlements? I would wager that if he attempts that there will be another baby fit thrown by Morgan and minions. The fear they have for an outsider coming in and exposing the wrongs they have committed is too risky. They must fight to avoid true transparency.

My question at this point is simple. Morgan said he wants to go to Gov. Scott. I believe the statement was his bags are packed and he is ready. Why are you still begging then? They voted 4-1 that you will not get the budget you demanded. Your clothes will wrinkle if you don’t get them out of that bag. Either go to Gov. Scott or shut up. I would suggest that you cooperate and justify you spending but we all know that can’t happen.  There is not ever a desperate situation only desperate people. We won’t buy what you are peddling Sir. David. The situation is not dire you but looking foolish is. Continue to threaten you will  not do your job and you may just be invited over to see Gov. Scott.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Really?? WTF???

In watching the press conference by the State Attorney’s office on Thursday, I was in a state of awe at the crazy shit I heard. Bill Eddins saying “Massatusetts” multiple times distracted me, but the show wasn’t over yet. Sir David of Wonderland made a statement that seems to be a long string of randomness that came to his mind as he spoke. He said:

“For those of you who don’t know, we lead the nation in our solve rate…. We are always in the 80-85 percentile solve rate in Escambia County and that is only due to the cooperation of the State Attorney’s Office and all the associated agencies……..FDLE is one of the preeminent agencies in the United States probably rivals the Federal Bureau of Investigation with their lab capabilities.”

There is a saying: There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.  This seems to be all of the above. I’m not sure if any of that statement is true.

FDLE reports this statistic:

clipular (5)clipular (4)

In speaking to veteran deputies about what “clearance rates” really are, I found out why those numbers may not be accurate, specifically due to internal practices inside the ECSO. A clearance of a crime, to the average person, implies the case is “solved”.  That is not the case. Cases can be cleared as inactive (no further leads can be developed), closed due to special circumstances (Example: cases where investigators have evidence of a perpetrator, but no means to close the due to fact that person is already incarcerated, unlocated or dead. ie Danielle Bell) or just closed due to the state declining to prosecute. All of these types of clearances are bunched together with “solved” cases.

Just in a quick Google search, I turned up this:

Feb. 2014

Evidence tampering fallout at FDLE lab still unclear- (excerpt)

Dozens or even hundreds of criminal cases from across the state of Florida could be affected by a Pensacola crime lab supervisor who resigned Monday amid an investigation into missing drug evidence.

June 2015

Attorney: FDLE concealed DNA evidence in quadruple homicide  (excerpt)

“Hobbs argued in the filing FDLE’s “conscious, willful and deliberate attempt” to conceal the DNA information in a timely fashion hurt his ability to track down leads and prepare for the defense of Segura, who faces the death penalty.”

Jan 2016

FDLE: Backlog of rape kits will take millions, years to test (excerpt)

FDLE: 9,484 rape kits still need to be tested

The report says it will take between $9-32 million to test the old kits and that it will take 3-9 years for the testing to happen.

Now I don’t know about anyone else but this does not seem like the work of  a”preminent agency”. The backlog on rape kits has the biggest egregious connotations. In some states, the statute of limitation for rape will expire before the rape kits can be tested. Then there is always the built in defense argument of sample degeneration when biologicals have been sitting for years before testing. This is a no brainer. It green lights sexual assault, because the DNA backlog is literally not going to catch up with offenders. While people are still arrested, the DNA is usually the make-or-break evidence in cases of rape. If this describes “preeminence”, then God help us all.

Back to the Sheriff’s diarrhea of misinformation, in talking to sources within the ECSO, it is clear that they were subverted in this case, despite the lip service as to the ECSO assisting in this case.  No one in investigations knew anything about this case until the press conference. That should be a red flag to Morgan. It appears, in an effort to mitigate gross error, other agencies are recognizing the liability of this agency.  Can’t say that it could happen to a better person.

My last observation from this crazy press conference has to do with the intentions of the State Attorney’s office after they extradite the suspect from “Massatusetts”. Bill Eddins said:

“Charges from our office filed in this case are for second degree murder. That is for extradition purposes….Upon extradition, our office will be seeking an indictment of first degree or felony murder….which could result in a life sentence or death”

What? So for purposes of extradition, we are going to do a bait and switch to get the suspect to make our job easier.  That’s what I heard. Why not seek an indictment for first degree or felony murder now before extradition? I have been told by a veteran investigator that this is a standard procedure, no intent to deceive, but why the shift of intention if not to deceive? I may just be naive but if I were a suspect sitting in a jail, thinking that I was being charged with second degree (non-death penalty) murder, I might make a decision, believing in good faith that was what was waiting for me. Then to have the tables turned after the fact, seems reminiscent of what Greg Marcille did to Pam Long. …Oh you have immunity but after everything is said and done, we will charge you with bullshit crimes that we knew we were going to charge you with all along.

Deceptive?  Hell yeah!

I am a proponent of the law. I know people will not believe it when they read it, but I believe our criminal justice system is founded on good principles and to see dirt bags like Morgan, Marcille, and Eddins lie, manipulate and deceive using those principles disgusts me. I am a law abiding citizen…never been arrested but I don’t trust these jokers to make any moral judgments that affect me. They are sociopaths without the ability to be human. There is no blind justice in this county. It is tainted with politics and double dealing.  As I have said before, churning out victims is not the intent of the criminal justice system, but that is what it is in Escambia County every day of  the week.

Watch your backs. It doesn’t take much to get you arrested in Escambia County and God know you don’t have to have legitimate evidence to convict you if you are arrested.  The game is rigged.