Please excuse the hiatus

The Keyboard Detective will resume later in the year.

UPDATE: "Man's Perfection Before God" by Dannie R. Baker

I've finished reading the book, and there's not much more to it than what I have already posted. The 235-page book consists mainly of quoted Scriptures, interspersed with Baker's vague generalizations about accepting God's love and avoiding sin. He has little to say about specific sins, other than fornication, and offers no political commentary at all.

Some passages are logical and coherent, others less so. He does mention several times that God speaks to him directly. While this is a common sentiment among the devout, usually referring to a sense that God is guiding their thoughts, I get the feeling that Baker means it in a more literal way – that he actually hears the voice of God.

The following are a few pages from the book. (Click the images to enlarge them for reading.)

Here he mentions having been an Eagle Scout and on the dean's list in college.



I'm not sure what soda shop robbery he is talking about in this passage. Note that he does not call it a killing, or say directly that the robber killed the men, although he does later call the man "the killer." The fact that he identifies with the killer, even if only in the religious sense, is a little creepy, given recent events.





To tell you the truth, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping the book would offer us more insight into this man. But, as the case makes its way through the system, more information will come out about his mental status and motivations.

'Not Guilty' in Mikael Cherry DUI Death Case

Mikael Cherry has been acquitted in the DUI crash that killed 62-year-old Paul Lentz in Panama City Beach last year. The way the Panama City News Herald's coverage of the trial reads, it looks like defense attorney Harry Harper went in with a strong case, leaving the jury with little choice but to find reasonable doubt.

Cherry and former boyfriend Jason Reid left the Applebee's on Middle Beach Road after a night of drinking in February '08. Employees did not see who was driving Reid's Volvo, but called Panama City Beach police because both were drunk. When an officer got the behind the car on Beckrich Road, it accelerated away and turned west onto Back Beach.

The officer pursued briefly, then was warned off by a supervisor. The Volvo crashed into the car that Lenz was driving, killing him, and continued on. By the time police got to the Volvo, it was empty.

Reid ended up striking a deal with cops, putting Cherry in the driver's seat of the car at the time of the crash, in exchange for immunity. Panama City Beach police came up with little other evidence that Cherry was the driver.

Harper had testimony from a witness who saw Reid grab the keys as the two were leaving the restaurant, and the defense attorney emphasized that Cherry's fingerprints were not found anywhere but the passenger window, according to the News Herald.

I was working as a newspaper reporter when this crash happened and spoke to Cherry's mother. She told me then that he had a blackout from the alcohol and the crash, and did not remember who was driving the car.

At trial, he testified that Reid was driving while he was curled up in the fetal position in the passenger seat, and that he did not see the crash.

But whoever was driving, Reid's self-serving testimony was just not enough. There's no way a jury could rightfully have convicted Cherry based only on that.

New Details about Randall Holcombe, Sabra Thornton

I'm a day late getting this up, but for those who haven't seen it, the Northwest Florida Daily News has more details on the firing of two senior staff at the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. Interim Sheriff Ed Spooner appointed a captain to look into the job duties of Maj. Sabra Thornton and Randall Holcombe, the assistant director of administrative services, and the paper got the resulting memos that led to their dismissals. I've also added a little additional info on Holcombe.

Turns out, this is the second time Maj. Sabra Thornton was let go. She started out as the head of homeland security for the sheriff's office, then became chief of staff because Morris felt she needed a more impressive title. She told the captain that she was dismissed without cause in October 2008, but, after talking with the sheriff, was reinstated in December. Thornton said she was to serve as Morris' liasion to the legislature during the 'o9 session, then return to Okaloosa to work on policy and accreditation, according to the paper.

The Daily News reported that Holcombe said his job was running a room/vehicle sterilizer, scheduling carpet cleanings for the sheriff's office, and protecting the deputies against MRSA, a form of staph infection. For that, he was paid $73,000 a year. He had been with the sheriff's office since Morris took office in 1997.

One of the oddest aspects of his job was that Holcombe, who did not hold a sworn law enforcement position, was issued a firearm, badge and and ID card which the captain reported "would have been recognized as official deputy sheriff credentials," according to the paper.

Holcombe reportedly said that he was a "special deputy." The Florida Department of Law Enforcement – which oversees law enforcement certification – has no record of Holcombe completing the required 770-plus hour Basic Recruit training to become an officer. He did, however, complete a 96-hour auxilliary law enforcement core course in 1997.

Holcombe also has a Florida private investigator's license, issued in 1995, which is linked to a related private investigative agency license for Pathfinder Investigations. The address of the agency is Holcombe's address and the phone number is his cell number. Law enforcement agencies typically forbid sworn officers from moonlighting as private investigators because of the serious conflict of interest.

To get his private investigator's license, Holcombe would have had to demonstrate two years of verifiable investigative experience, usually in law enforcement, military service, insurance investigation, or investigative journalism. He also could have served a 2-year internship with a PI agency. His original license application is not in the state system because it's too old.

There are no administrative complaints – which most working agencies get from time to time – on record against his license or his agency's license.

Holcombe is an owner in another business called U Scrubapup, based in Mary Esther. According to the U Scrubapup website (and Myspace page), it's an indoor self-serve dog wash. He also is listed as vice-president of the board on the website of the Panhandle Animal Welfare Society.

Another Complaint Against Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey

A Wakulla County citizens group has requested a state investigation of Sheriff David Harvey's involvement with a club that sells alcohol, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.

The paper reports:

Harvey is listed as a co-owner of the limited liability company that runs the club’s golfing operation. His wife, Rhonda, is listed as co-owner of a second LLC, the one that holds the club’s alcoholic beverage license. The group notes that the sheriff has been given the owner/employee discount when buying alcohol, as the State Attorney’s Office investigation into his Feb. 20 hit-and-run crash uncovered.

Apparently, it's against Florida law for a sheriff to work for or own a business that sells alcohol.

Sounds like the group, Wakulla 411, made good use of Florida's public records law to dig up this info.

Wuertley Trial Starts This Week

The Panama City News Herald reported that the jury has been selected in Shawn Wuertley's attempted first-degree murder trial, and opening arguments are expected Thursday. Wuertley is the Sandpiper Beacon Beach Resort security guard accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to kill an 18-year-old hotel guest last Spring Break.

Excerpts from Dannie Roy Baker's Book

I haven't had time to read all the way through "Man's Perfection Before God," but I wanted to go ahead and post a few pages that seem interesting. So far, nothing I've seen indicates any racial prejudice, or anything other than a man who genuinely believes he has a clear understanding of God, the Bible and Christian life.

Baker wrote the book in the late '90s, while he was living at the townhome on Scenic Gulf Drive. He published it in 2001 with a first print run of 1,500 copies. His suggested retail price: $25.

In the opening of the book, he thanks his parents for helping him get his home and dedicates it to his mother, who has passed away.

(You'll have to click the pages to enlarge them enough for reading.)







Most of the book's first half is fairly generic, mostly about how God's way is love, and man can be perfect by returning God's love and trying not to sin. But then, Baker mentions some trouble he had at a former church in a passage that seems to indicate he is opposed to killing in the name of God.

This is a complete guess on my part, but from what he says about civil disobedience, police records and killing, I think he may have been part of a church that was mixed up in the extreme wings of the right-to-life movement. Again, only conjecture on my part.











I'll post more pages as soon as I get a chance.

1984 Cold Case Revisited in Okaloosa County

Give this story a read. It's about the 1984 disappearance of Linda Kay Carroll from Okaloosa County.

From the description in the article, it seems to be a homicide. Missing sheets indicate that there may have been blood, or a body to transport. And, being able to find shoes and a purse at night in a home with no electricity could mean the suspect may have known her situation and been prepared with a flashlight.

Very few killers are able to pull off something like this without at least one other person knowing some of the details. Since there's apparently no DNA, that may be the only way this one gets closed.

I hate to see these old cases go uncleared because that means there's someone out there who harmed another person and got away with it. Anyone who knows (or suspects), step up and do the right thing.

UPDATE: Maj. Sabra Thornton and Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Thanks to cardlr at the Daily News forums for pointing to this.

Sabra Thornton apparently does live on St. George Island. Her husband, Robert B. Barnes II, a retired DEA agent, ran for sheriff of Franklin County in 2008 and put this on his website:

...Barnes grew up on the Gulf Coast near St. Petersburg, Florida and has been a property owner in Franklin County since 1991. He and his wife, Sabra, have been married for 20 years...

Over the past 10 years...since we chose Franklin County as our home...

Attorney Fred Levin Profiled by Pensacola News Journal

Great story in the Pensacola News Journal about attorney Fred Levin. My favorite anecdote: He helped the state win a huge settlement from the tobacco industry, then smoked a cigarette while he did an interview about the case with "20/20."

What Did Maj. Sabra Thornton Do for the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office?

A story in today's Northwest Florida Daily News made me curious about former Maj. Sabra Thornton. So, I spent a few minutes poking around and turned up a few things that left me with even more questions. Like, how did she manage to draw a full-time salary working for Okaloosa County and apparently live three hours away in either Tallahassee or on St. George Island, work at the police academy near Tallahassee and run her own business at the same time?

In case you missed it, Interim Sheriff Ed Spooner eliminated Thornton's $80,000-a-year job this week, only days after he was appointed to take over for suspended Sheriff Charlie Morris, who is facing federal theft and fraud charges.

The Daily News has done a great job covering this situation. The paper reported today that it's not exactly clear what Thornton actually did for the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office. She reportedly has said that she functioned as a Sheriff's Office liaison with the Legislature and with the Florida Sheriffs Association, of which Morris was president until his arrest.

But according to the Daily News, state lawmakers and sheriffs association officials both denied ever dealing with her in that capacity...and some staff at the sheriff's office didn't even know she worked there. She's also apparently been working part-time at the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy, located about 14 miles east of Tallahassee. She was fired from that job this week, the paper reported.

Spooner told WEAR Channel 3 it's his understanding that Thornton lives in Tallahassee. He may be right about that. Property records in Tallahassee show that Thornton and her husband own a condo and a home there, appraised at a combined $441,000. There is a current phone listing for Thornton at one of the addresses.

However, property records also show an $800,000 dollar home in Franklin County. The St. George Island house is listed as the couple's homestead, with the accompanying $50,000 tax exemption. There is a phone listed to her husband at that address.

(I say "husband" because that's how he's described in the mortage papers at MyFloridaCounty.com.)

Whether it's Tallahassee or St. George, that's about a three-hour commute to the sheriff's office in Shalimar.

Meanwhile, Thornton is listed in Division of Corporation records as the manager, and sole officer, of a company called Homeland Security Plans and Strategies LLC. The company address is one of the Tallahassee properties. Google turned up no other information on the company.

Taken together, you have to wonder how she had enough time to do $80,000 worth of work for the sheriff's office every year. One thing I'm not sure about is whether she is a sworn law enforcement officer. I know she served as chief of staff in the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission law enforcement division, but was she an administrator or cop? Anyone know?

Clearly, this thing is just getting started, and I'll be very interested to see what more comes out about her and the rest of the situation in the sheriff's office.

Chicago Sheriff Sues Craigslist Over Prostitute Ads

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has filed a federal lawsuit against Craigslist to try to force the site to shut down its "Erotic Services" section. Craigslist already has tried to limit prostitute ads, but stopped short of removing the entire section.

The sheriff alleges that children and sex slaves are being pimped on the site, and that even gangs use it to promote prostitution. I'm just not sure I buy all of his assertions – he’s trying to make his case, so he’s playing up worst-case scenarios – but there's no doubt hookers advertise on Craigslist, as you can see by these local ads for Pensacola and Panama City (both very NSFW).

Readers, you tell me, do you really even care?

Interim Sheriff Makes Major Changes at Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Ed Spooner, appointed the interim sheriff by the governor after Charlie Morris was arrested by the feds on theft and fraud charges, is not wasting any time. He's already eliminated two jobs at the sheriff's office, started a realignment of senior staff and asked for an FDLE audit of the evidence room, as the Northwest Florida Daily News reports.

Also, look lower in the story for some interesting comments from the defense attorney for Teresa Adams. The message boards have been going nuts with speculation about her role in the thefts – she also was arrested by the FBI – and her relationship to the sheriff. Lawyer Drew Pinkerton told the Daily News that much of it has been wrong.

Unfortunately, he's not able to say much more. The local rules of the federal court (Northern District of Florida) place severe restrictions on speaking to the media (Rule 77.3).

Also, a hat tip to the Daily News for pushing to get the sheriff's office payroll records to see who got how much money and when.

It's a little premature since Spooner has just taken over and a state investigation is currently underway, but with the feds involved, it's probably a good idea to starting pressuring for the release of the records as early as possible. Otherwise, they are liable to disappear into the black hole of federal law enforcement.

Former State Attorney Steve Meadows Accused of Sex Harassment

Kudos to the News Herald for this story. A Florida Commission on Human Relations investigation turned up sleaziness aplenty, including allegations that he coerced a secretary into sex, during Meadows' term. At least one former employee plans to file suit.

Death of Confidential Informant Rachel Hoffman May Lead to New Legislation

One of the biggest crime stories out of Tallahassee in the last year has been the murder of Rachel Hoffman. She was a Florida State grad and minor pot dealer busted by the Tallahassee Police Department and killed after she was coerced into working as a confidential informant. Cops sent the immature, 23-year-old retro hippie out to do a deal for cocaine, Ecstasy and a gun with two men, one of whom had served state prison time for agg assault.

Now, her parents are pushing for the passage of Rachel's Law, which would put limits on how law enforcement uses CIs, but the bill is still on the bubble. As might be expected, law enforcement agencies are fighting it, making the usual apocalyptic pronouncements that it would end the use of CIs, stop cops from fighting the war on drugs and generally bring about the reign of Satan on Earth.

While Hoffman is frequently reviled as a "drug dealer" on newspaper message boards, the fact is she sold a little pot and maybe some Ecstasy to her friends.

She was busted during a traffic stop for having a little more than 20 grams of marijuana – a felony in Florida – and put into a drug diversion program. While in the program, Tallahassee police raided her apartment, turning up five ounces, a sales ledger and a digital scale, according to the Tallahassee Democrat (which has done a superb job covering this case).

Investigators from the TPD Vice-Narcotics unit told her that she would go to prison for four years off that arrest (doubtful) and said she could work for them to get out from under the charge. They didn't inform her defense attorney, or even the prosecutor supervising her drug diversion.

The whole thing turned into a mess, but in the end, investigators sent her off alone to make an undercover buy. The buyers changed the meet location, she made a dumb decision to ignore cops' advice not to go and the investigators who were supposed to be watching her lost track of her.

Two days later, her body turned up. The men she was meeting for the deal – Deneilo Bradshaw, 23, and Andrea Green, 26 – have been charged in her death and are awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges. Green had previously spent eight months of a one-year sentence in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Tallahassee police initially blamed Hoffman publicly for getting herself killed, but a Leon County grand jury put the weight on TPD.

The grand jury wrote that Hoffman, an amateur dealer at best, was placed "in a position way over her head. This inexperience, coupled with obvious immaturity and a carefree attitude, made it highly unlikely that Ms. Hoffman could successfully complete a transaction of this magnitude."

It's extremely common for law enforcement agencies to make suspects work, the way TPD did with Hoffman. When they flip a serious dealer to give up his connection, that's one thing, but the people most commonly caught in these situations tend to be low-level dealers, at best, or just plain addicts.

It's up to the cops to protect their CIs, but let's be honest...a young investigator under pressure to make dope cases isn't going to be thinking about safeguarding a CI as much as he's going to be thinking about the arrest he's going to get and his next performance review.

Working for the police can have fatal consequences, obviously, and not just for Hoffman.

• A young man was killed in Pennsylvania two years ago.


• A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in South Florida late last year.


• And another woman, Constance Dupont, was killed in 2002 while working with state and county law enforcement officers in Tallahassee.

Rachel's Law (SB 604) would place restrictions on who can be used as a CI and set certain requirements for law enforcement.

Because many confidential informants are not trained law enforcement personnel, the Legislature believes that if a law enforcement agency elects to use a confidential informant, the agency must take special care when evaluating the abilities of the confidential informant to perform the required tasks of the undercover operation and must, at all times, closely supervise the activities of the confidential informant.

The Legislature further recognizes that a confidential informant’s participation in a law enforcement undercover operation may be detrimental and dangerous to the informant and to others.

Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to allow law enforcement agencies to use confidential informants, but to do so in a fair and reasonably safe manner in order to reduce adverse risks, including injury or death, to the confidential informant, law enforcement personnel, the target offender, and the public.

Among other things, the bill would require:

• That a judge sign off before a person in a court-ordered drug program can be used as a CI, or that the state attorney approve if the person is in a voluntary program.


• That the agreement between law enforcement and the CI be put in writing.


• That the potential CI have a chance to consult a lawyer before agreeing to work for the cops.

The bill also requires agencies to establish policies for using CIs and to use certain criteria, such as the age and maturity of informants, before putting them to work. Informants with non-violent pasts would not be allowed to make deals with violent offenders.

Of course, law enforcement agencies say the bill goes too far, and their resistance has nearly killed it. I agree that some of the built-in time delays – such as the written contract – could halt momentum and derail cases in the often-fluid situations in which drug investigators work. However, I support the majority of the bill. All it needs is a little tweaking.

Fortunately, the Tallahassee Democrat is reporting that might happen. Some statewide police groups and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have put together a compromise that sounds like it would significantly weaken the proposed bill, but at least take a step toward some control of CI use.

BYOD: Google Latitude Could be a Tool for Suspicious Spouses

Google has launched a new service that allows users to enable their web-connected cell phones to show friends their exact locations all the time. While this is supposed to be a mobile extension of social networking, it seems to me there's also some limited potential to use it as a tracking device for other purposes.

The way it works is that the you sign up with Google Latitude by submitting a cell phone number and setting up an iGoogle account (just sign up for a free Gmail account). Then, you invite friends to join your network.

You can set privacy options that control how specific the location display gets. It can be as general as showing what city you are in, or as specific as showing the address. The system even allows you to manually enter your location to put yourself somewhere you aren't.

Now, the useful – and potentially creepy – aspect is this: If you suspect your spouse or significant other is straying, you may be able to use Latitude to track where the person goes. All you need is access to his/her cell phone to set up tracking.

You submit the number to Google Latitude, which sends a link to the phone. Use the phone to activate the location detection. (This only works on certain phones...you'll need to check the Google site to find out which ones.)

Then, set up a Google account for your significant other and one for yourself. Make sure his/her account is set to detect location automatically and is on the most specific location setting.

Then send a friend invitation from that account to yours. Accept it. Go back to the first account, check the privacy options to make sure you, the friend, are allowed to view the specific locations. If you've set the permissions properly, you should now be able to track that phone from your iGoogle account.

Of course, there are a few problems.

One, there will be an indicator on the phone that Google Latitude is enabled. There's a chance your significant other may see it and investigate. Then, you're busted. Since this is a pretty clear violation of privacy, you may want to seriously think it over first.

Two, if you can do this just by getting access to the phone, then anyone who can get a few minutes alone with the phone also can do it. Think how often a cell phone is left unattended...on the desk at work, on a table in a restaurant, etc.

And that is very creepy.

Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey Sentenced in Crash

According to the Tallahassee Democrat's story, Sheriff Harvey has to pay some minor court costs, pay to repair his county vehicle and the vehicle he struck, write a letter of apology to the mother and daughter in the vehicle and abstain from alcohol for three months. Adjudication was withheld on the misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a crash. Harvey's lawyer is arguing to Gov. Crist that this should head off any state investigation.

Update on Dannie Roy Baker

The Northwest Florida Daily News has a little more information about Dannie Roy Baker, mostly of the "he was odd" variety. One woman told the paper that the views espoused in his book, "Man's Perfection Before God," were extreme. I ordered a copy of the book this weekend and will post portions of it when it arrives.

Port St. Joe Body Identified as Missing Woman

Investigators are saying the body recovered yesterday in Port St. Joe belongs to Mary L. Thomas, 56, who has been missing for three weeks, according to the Port St. Joe Star (ignore subheadline).

State Investigators Trying to Find Bodies in Cold Homicide

FDLE agents are in Port St. Joe digging for the bodies of two people killed 20 years ago, following a tip from a convicted murderer, according to Florida Freedom Newspapers.

In an apparently unrelated case, the body of a woman has been found in Port St. Joe. Not clear yet whether it is 56-year-old Mary Thomas, who has been missing three weeks, Florida Freedom is reporting.

Reader Says He Knew Dannie Roy Baker

This was posted by to the comments section by Igor, from Slovakia, in reference to Dannie R. Baker. I haven't verified this story, so take it for what it is.

(Baker) used to be my landlord for two summers (2003 and 2005) while I was there as a WAT (Ed. note: Work and Travel) student so I dare to say that I know him quite well.

In general, Dannie has been a mentally ill person for a long time (it's not important for how long). His health has been deteriorating dramatically since 2003 I would say. While in 2003 he was still quite OK although I have seen dramatic mood swings and outbursts of agression mainly against weaker persons, usually girls in his house who were also WAT students.

But it was much worse in 2005. Dannie was taking a lot of medications and sometimes he was absolutely out of his mind. He became more and more convinced that he has a direct contact with God in his third form of Holy Spirit.

For some weird reason he had to find a scapegoat for his miserable life so he blamed my brother for erasing his "important emails". It was an absurdity and I tried to convince him that he would never do such a thing, there was no rational reason. But Dannie just made me speechless when he told me that "Holy Spirit told him that John (my brother) was the Evil in his house and he was the one who deleted his mailbox". I couldn't object to that. It was an irrational realm of on absolutely insane man. After this event my brother rather left his house...

So, here I am offering you a brief picture of Dannie R. Baker (used to call him Dannie R. Boy), a self-proclaimed preacher who wrote a passionate book about his personal journey of perfection before God which ended with shooting 2 innocent people.

And I am not even talking about his dreams to marry some young Russian women.

Dannie is a sick and pitiful man.

UPDATE:

Igor added this about Baker in two follow-up comments.

I remember the situations when Dannie lacked his medications. He was a very nervous person, channeling his aggression usually against his birds which he bred in dozens. I think he was trying to substitute the medications with proper drugs. I am not sure but I think mostly with marijuana.

I want to emphasize that Dannie was just an insane man. However, I would never expect him to kill someone. I would not consider him as an anti-imigrant radical or some xenophobic extremist.

His life is just a miserable story of a man who never really had a woman and never really worked. He has suffered enormously from an inferiority complex and feeling of absolute uselesness.

Although it might sound absurd to you, I think his killing was a desperate act of a man who wanted to be useful. I think he wanted to say that he is ready to bring sacrifices (in other words to be useful) in order to defend his beloved country from (mainly Hispanic) immigrants. He wasn't very intelligent so I assume that he just didn't have a clue about the difference between Chilean exchange students and Mexican immigrants.

So, it has to be considered as an desperate act of a man possessed by an inferiority complex and not a murder fuled by some ideology of hatred.

Suspended Okaloosa Sheriff Speaks Out, More Investigations Ongoing

Suspended Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris has released a statement about his recent arrest on federal charges of theft and fraud, but it contained no new information, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's office has started an investigation into three unnamed deputies, but it's not clear whether the investigation is related to the Morris arrest. The sheriff's office did not release the names of those involved, or what they are alleged to have done (see below for an explanation).

Morris' statement from the Daily News:

"I have cooperated fully with the government in its investigation and I look forward to a full and fair hearing on the charges," he said. "My attorneys have advised me not to answer any questions at this time, and I am following the advice of my lawyers."

He is expected to appear Monday in federal court in Tallahassee, the Daily News reported.

While he's suspended, former Gadsden County lawman Ed Spooner has been appointed to run the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

I knew Spooner several years ago when I was a newspaper reporter in Tallahassee, and he was at the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office. If he's anything now like he was then, you can expect him to deal openly and honestly with the public.

The sheriff's office announced the investigation of the deputies on Tuesday. The press release was very brief and made no mention of what the case is about, but did say that it was, "to determine whether or not three individuals within the department violated agency policies
and procedures."

In law enforcement speak, policy violations and violations of Florida statutes (crimes) are two completely different animals. Policy violations can get you demoted or fired, while crimes, obviously, put you in jail.

The way they've worded the release sounds like whatever happened, it's not quite on the same level as the federal allegations against the Sheriff.

As for why they aren't releasing the names of the deputies involved or the specific complaints, that's prohibited in what's generally known as the Police Officer's Bill of Rights.

FS 112.533 exempts records of an investigation from Florida's public records laws until after the investigation is concluded. It also makes it a misdemeanor offense for anyone involved in the investigation to release information before the case is complete. However, sheriffs and police chiefs are allowed to acknowledge that a complaint exists and that an investigation is underway.

More DUI Allegations Against Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey

The Tallahassee Democrat has turned up a Florida Highway Patrol document that basically throws Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey under the bus on a laundry list of allegations. They run from the mundane (Sheriff Harvey stopped allowing troopers to wash their cars at the Sheriff's Office) to the serious (a trooper found Harvey drunk and parked on the side of the road with a woman "not his wife).

Apparently, much of the tension stems from a recent election in which Harvey, the long-time incumbent, beat challenger Charlie Creel, a former FHP trooper, by just a few dozen votes.

According to the FHP briefing report, Harvey and other Wakulla County Sheriff's Office brass tried to intimidate troopers and local business owners who supported Creel.

The report alleges, among other things, that a trooper came across Harvey stopped on the side of the road with his flashers on about 2:30 one morning. Harvey got out of the county vehicle "obviously intoxicated" and told the trooper the vehicle had quit on him.

The trooper didn't make a DUI arrest, claiming he couldn't prove that Harvey was in physical control of the vehicle. The report does not name the woman with Harvey, other than to mention it was not his wife.

The revelation of this report comes as Gov. Crist is considering whether to have the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigate a recent crash involving the sheriff. He struck the rear of an SUV parked in a driveway, occupied by a mother and daughter, then drove to his own home before reporting it.

He apparently had been drinking before the incident, but it's not clear how much. An FHP trooper who showed up to investigate – it’s routine for FHP to handle officer-involved crashes – was sent packing by sheriff's deputies.

After the incident, some Wakulla residents posted an online petition to have the sheriff removed from office.

A couple other items from the FHP report that I suspect may lead to administrative investigations:

A trooper alleges that, during an accreditation inspection, non-sworn employees donned correctional officer uniforms. Presumably, this would make the jail look more fully staffed than it was. The report does not say which accrediting body was making the inspection.

Another trooper said he was at the jail once and saw supervisors falsifying training rosters to reflect that employees had received training they actually did not attend. FDLE is in charge of tracking whether law enforcement and correctional officers have kept up their required training, so it will be interesting to see how the agency reacts to this.

Note: While all this is going on in Wakulla County, suspended Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris has been relieved of his position as president of the Florida Sheriffs Association, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.

Morris was arrested by the feds last week on charges he and administrator Teresa Adams ran a scheme to steal money from the sheriff's office.

Picking the Right Jury Makes All the Difference

Clarence Darrow is supposed to have said that “almost every case has been won or lost when the jury is sworn.” That’s why jury consultants are hired to psychoanalyze jurors in high-profile cases, and why private investigators get involved, backgrounding potential jurors to give attorneys insight into how a juror might react to the case.

David Angier did a nice job covering the subject for a story in this weekend's News Herald. He interviewed Bob Sombathy and Walter Smith, a couple of big names in criminal defense in Bay County. Be sure to read the comment by "wonderpig." I found it as enlightening as the story.

Not DUI, But Still Detained at Checkpoint - Why?

The Chicago Tribune's Justice System blog has an excellent piece on the legalities of checkpoint detention. Seems cops in Pennsylvania make it a regular practice to hold drivers who have been drinking, but are not DUI when they come through checkpoints. The cops say they do it to avoid liability in event of a crash after they release the driver, but they apparently have no legal authority for the detentions.