Day: November 23, 2016

Tallahassee, FL—Jeffery E. Lewis, General Counsel Office of Criminal Conflict, Melissa Joy Ford, Assistant Conflict Counsel, Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel, Tallahassee, for Appelant; Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, and Michael McDermott, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appelee; C.J. Roberts, Benton and Lewis, JJ…

When a 30 year veteran State Attorney and his Chief Prosecutor does not recognize whose job it is to lawfully secure convictions of defendants that his/her office prosecutes, then it will be just a matter of time before droves of unlawful convictions will be overturned.

In May 2015, the First District Court of Appeal overturned the murder conviction of Tallahassee resident, Kendrick Herring. In 2011, Kendrick Herring had been arrested and charged with numerous felonies, including murder. In 2013, State Attorney Willie Meggs’ Office got a conviction against Kendrick Herring—who was sentenced to Life in prison. Jeffery E. Lewis, General Counsel Office of Criminal Conflict and Attorney Melissa Ford represented Kendrick Herrings on his appeal. The First District Court of Appeal ruled in part the police should have received a search warrant before tracking Kendrick Herrings cell phone. In September 2016, two months ago, Kendrick Herring was released from prison.

Last Saturday, on November 19, 2016, media sources such as the Tallahassee Democrat and WCTV News, reported that Kendrick Herring was arrested for his role as the getaway driver, in an attempted armed robbery at a Sunoco gas station in Tallahassee, that left a store clerk injured from a gunshot wound inflicted by the would-be robbery, and left the would-be robbery shot dead by the store clerk. While details of how the police connected Kendrick Herring to the robbery as the getaway driver was left out of the media reports, the media did quote State Attorney Willie Meggs and his predecessor, veteran Chief Prosecutor and incoming State Attorney Jack Campbell.

In regards to Kendrick Herring, WCTV News reported Jack Campbell as having said, “We believed him to be dangerous then, and we believe him to be dangerous now.”  Sadly, incoming State Attorney Jack Campbell missed how to lawfully show a defendant to be “dangerous” to society the first go around. And Jack Campbell’s statement, “…we believe him to be dangerous now,” is just a matter of underlining the ‘by any means necessary’ in order to score convictions, including breaking the law by violating people’s constitutional rights—innocent or not. Which is seemingly a normal practice that has been exercised in Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit under State Attorney Willie Meggs for more than 30 years.

And now, since the First District Court of Appeal chose to try to clean up State Attorney Willie Meggs and Jack Campbell’s sloppy prosecution of Kendrick Herring, Jack Campbell, has foolishly slammed the First District Court of Appeal, the Conflict Counsel’s Office, and the Attorney General Office for the failures of law enforcements way of obtaining cell phone data and his and State Attorney Willie Meggs’ incompetence for disregarding unlawful acts before convicting Kendrick Herring to Life—risking the possibility that one day Kendrick Herring’s conviction could be overturned.

Both Tallahassee lawyers, Sean Desmond and Pete Williams, who were contenders against Jack Campbell during the past campaign for Florida’s Second Judicial State Attorney, during open forums, both contenders pointed out Chief Prosecutor Jack Campbell and State Attorney Willie Meggs’ failures to properly communicate with law enforcement officials. But again, Jack Campbell would rather use his voice to point out other people’s failures—instead of recognizing his own.

In time…

 

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Tallahassee, FL—Citizens of Florida’s 2^nd Judicial Circuit and all incoming college students at Florida State University, FAMU and Tallahassee Community College should brace themselves for more of the same old ‘Judicial Incompetence’ that has plagued the courtrooms of the Leon County Courthouse for more than 30 years under State Attorney Willie Meggs, especially now that The Florida Bar has failed to support its members, Tallahassee attorneys Sean Desmond and Pete Williams.

With Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell due to take office as Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit State Attorney in January 2017, the shooting last Saturday, November 19, 2016, that claimed the life of Tallahassee Community College student, 20-year-old, Matthew Brown, is an extension of how State Attorney Willie Meggs and his protégé, Chief Criminal Prosecutor Jack Campbell have a pattern of failing both victims, defendants, and the overall protection of innocent citizens.

News media source reported that on November 19, 2016, a Sunoco gas station store clerk was shot by twenty-year-old, Matthew Brown during an attempted robbery. The store clerk then grabbed a gun from behind the counter—shooting and killing Matthew Brown. Reports also state that 26-year-old, Kendrick Herring, was arrested as the getaway driver.

Back Story on Kendrick Herring:

–In 2011, Kendrick Herring was arrested for shooting two men during a drug deal gone badly. One of the men died.

–In 2013, Kendrick Herring was convicted on several felonies, including second degree murder.

— In 2015, the First District Court of Appeal reversed Kendrick Herrings conviction citing police should have received a written warrant before they started to track his (Kendrick Herring’s) cell phone.

–In September 2016, Kendrick Herring was released from prison.

Less than two months later, on November 21, 2016, according to an article published in the Tallahassee Democrat, by Sean Rossman, entitled ‘Police: Clerk shot, killed robbery suspect,’ it is stated “On September 8, State Attorney Willie Meggs dropped the case, saying without the evidence his office lacked the ability to prove Herring’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Also, on November 21, 2016, in regards to Kendrick Herring’s latest arrest, WCTV News quoted incoming State Attorney Jack Campbell as saying, “We believed him to be dangerous then, and we believe him to be dangerous now.” If in fact, State Attorney Willie Meggs and his Chief  Prosecutor, Jack Campbell, believed Kendrick Herring to be dangerous back in 2011, why did the two “Tough on Crime” veteran prosecutors fail to make their case against such a dangerous man? Which would have possibly avoided a Sunoco store clerk from being shot, and putting the lives of innocent customers at the Sunoco in danger.

Florida’s Second Judicial State Attorney Willie Meggs has been in office for more than thirty years. Jack Campbell began working for State Attorney Willie Meggs in 2001 as an Assistant State Attorney. The training that Jack Campbell received from Willie Meggs is criminal acts. And that’s why State Attorney Willie Meggs, a 30 plus year veteran, a so-called “Top Tough Prosecutor” and his Chief Criminal Prosecutor Jack Campbell, had nothing against Kendrick Herring —forcing them to “dropped the case”, and were “without the evidence his office lacked the ability to prove Herring’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Any freshman law student knows how important it is to secure a proper search warrant. In 2011, when police obtained Kendrick Herring’s cell phone data while investigating the double shooting, and murder of Timothy Andrew, and then brought that cell phone data to State Attorney Willie Meggs and Jack Campbell to obtain an arrest warrant for Kendrick Herring on murder charges, attempted murder and other drug related crimes, State Attorney Willie Meggs, a “Tough Prosecutor” and Jack Campbell seemingly failed to referring to Law 101, before seeking a Kendrick Herring’s life. State Attorney Willie Meggs and Jack Campbell’s arrogance reflects how they have been conducting the State Attorney’s Office unethically and unlawfully for more than 30 years and that’s why so many cases in Tallahassee mirror not so well rehearsed “Circus Performances.” If in fact Kendrick Herring had committed the crimes in 2011, then an ethical and lawful state attorney and an assistant state attorney practicing with some integrity, would have closely worked with the police to help them gather sufficient evidence to secure Kendrick Herring’s conviction, and Kendrick Herring’s conviction would have never been overturned on such a simple technicality—as failure to secure a search warrant.

Two, Three, Four.. Sets of Criminals Don’t Make Things Right

For more than a decade, Chief Criminal Prosecutor Jack Campbell has had the luxury of building up his conviction rate due to State Attorney Willie Meggs assigning cases to him to prosecute that were being investigated by his daddy, former Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell. The majority of Jack Campbell’s trial witnesses were Leon County Sheriff’s Deputies. Cell phone data used in trials were excel spreadsheets created by Leon County Sheriff’s Criminal Analyst Leslie Raybon, and was said to be AT&T cell phone data. Complaints of fraud and perjured testimony committed by numerous Leon County Sheriff’s Deputies were never addressed. Dr. Anthony J. Clark with the District Two Medical Examiner’s Office had a complaint of perjury filed against him with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Office in Tallahassee that went unaddressed. Both State Attorney Willie Meggs and Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell had complaints Ethics Complaints filed against them—the results-unfounded. Former Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell, now deceased, allowed Leon County Sheriff’s Detective Dawn Dennis to notarize documents that were fraudulent—those fraudulent documents were then signed by Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell, who then signed the documents before taking the documents to be signed by county and circuit judges, before filing them with the Leon County Clerk of Courts.

Governor Rick Scott, a criminal in his own right, and Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi, another criminal in her own right—have refused to address the issues that are clearly a blueprint for more injustices to come. Apparently, the Florida Legislature does not find it unethical and immoral for a son to prosecute cases under the investigative jurisdiction of his sheriff daddy. Though the Florida Legislature find it be problematic for employees to sell Girl Scout cookies on government property—it’s a written statue.

On July 9, 2015, less than three months after being released from prison, 21-year-old, Walter Cole Rayborn, was arrested by the police for the double execution-style murders of 21-year-old, Cornellius Poole and 22-year-old, Lance Love. According to reports, on July 5, 2015, officials with the Tallahassee Fire department were responding to a call about an apartment fire when they found the victims’ bodies in a bathtub—they had been bound and shot execution-style.

Walter Cole Rayborn had a long juvenile criminal record before entering into the adult judicial system. Walter Rayborn, who is a member of a local prominent family, had been pacified by judges, Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell, who was the overseer of the Leon County Jail, and both Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell and State Attorney Investigator Jason Newlin. That’s probably why in Walter Cole Rayborn’s mind, his serious criminal charges and arrests were more like a joke to him. He was probably so comfortable committing crimes because he may have believed that he had all of the authority figures in the palm of his hands.Below is a past mugshot of Walter Cole Rayborn along with some of his past charges.

While it has been reported and documented time and time again, how State Attorney Willie Meggs and Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell “wheel and deal” with criminals at the risk of public safety, everyone who are paving the way for injustice to continue will have/ and already have a heavy burden to bear.

Seemingly, incoming State Attorney Jack Campbell was quick to be very vocal about the First District Court of Appeals’ ruling in regards to Kendrick Herrings conviction being overturned. However, not so vocal last year after his buddy, Walter Cole Rayborn was arrested and charged with Two Counts of First Degree Murder.  In fact, State Attorney Willie Meggs or Jack Campbell or someone in Willie Meggs’ office quickly Sealed Walter Cole Rayborn’s court records. As Walter Cole Rayborn sits in the Leon County Jail, his home away from home, awaiting trial in the double execution-style murders of Mr. Poole and Mr. Love, how will State Attorney Jack Campbell “order judges” to handle Walter Cole Rayborn’s defense attorney, witnesses, and evidence in the case?

#FloridaStateUniversity  #FSU  #FAMU  #TCC #TallahasseeCommunityCollege

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