Month: November 2019

Head Scratcher

Dear Court TV:

I thank God for allowing Court TV to bring “Gavel to Gavel” coverage to those of us who are not able to go into courtrooms to witness court proceedings. I have been a viewer for many, many years. I’m an African-American woman; native of Orlando, FL. In 1998, I went to college to become a paralegal because I aspired to assist attorneys who advocate for children. You see, here in Florida, they have a program called Guardian Ad Litem (GAL). This program partners with community advocates and professionals, such as lawyers, who advocate for children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected. At the time of me going to school, I was twenty-four years-old with two small children who are five years apart in age. My youngest son’s dad and I were living together, and we had jobs. I’d previously worked with a social worker and a lawyer to gain temporary custody of my 12-year-old niece who had been diagnosed as special needs. She’d been in foster care for more than a year. That’s how I learned about the Guardian Ad Litem Program. And that’s also what ignited me to want to help other children.

In 2001, I moved to Tallahassee. I quickly learned that their cable network didn’t pick up Court TV. Yes, I was very, very disappointed. After ten years, I moved away from Tallahassee. But not smoothly; Mr. Henry Segura’s case and my son, DeShon Thomas’ cases have many similarities. Most importantly they both were convicted without any evidence connecting them to the crime scene.

Chanley may agree to the looks and feel of Tallahassee as being a small city, in comparison to most urban capital cities. The Second Judicial Circuit headquarters is located inside of the courthouse in downtown Tallahassee (Leon County). All of the other counties under the Second Judicial Circuit (Wakulla, Gadsden, Jefferson, Franklin, and Liberty) are very rural counties. I think that it’s important for your people to know that local and state government agencies in Tallahassee are the largest employers in the area. Thousands of people travel from outside counties to work in Leon County. More than likely, those six jurors, including the alternates, either work for a government agency or have family members or friends who do. Numerous Tallahassee natives, and people who have lived there for a longtime, feel highly intimidated by people with authority, especially law enforcement agencies and former State Attorney Willie Meggs, and now his successor State Attorney Emmett ‘Jack’ Campbell.

In November 2014, an organization based in Massachusetts called, Represent.us, helped get an Anti-Corruption Amendment added to the ballot in Tallahassee. The amendment passed with 65% of the vote. Tallahassee was the first city in the nation to have an Anti-Corruption Act in their local government.

The following month, according to reports, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey was fired by Governor Rick Scott. Mr. Bailey was close friends with Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell and his family. Sheriff Larry Campbell’s only son, Jack Campbell, was the lead prosecutor in Mr. Meggs’ office. I was told that in order for Jack Campbell to have a stellar career—to become Mr. Meggs replacement upon his retirement–Mr. Meggs would assign criminal cases to him that were under the investigative jurisdiction of his dad (Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell—whose elected position also made him the overseer of the Leon County Jail—where all defendants are housed after they’ve been arrested.) Clearly, Jack Campbell prosecuting criminal cases with his dad and his dad’s employees is a conflict of interest. Mostly all of Jack Campbell’s witness lists consisted of staff from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and a jailhouse snitch. A lot of people, including judges, an associate with the District Two Medical Examiner’s Office and others have broken laws to ensure that Jack Campbell won his cases. Again, Jack Campbell is currently serving Meggs’ old position as 2nd Judicial State Attorney.

By the way, all children, women, and men–including “Grown Men” should be treated respectfully. Judge James C. Hankinson refers to jail inmates as prisoners—which is very disrespectful. A prisoner is a person who has been in prison—not a person who is in the county jail. Racism and arrogance is practiced so openly in Tallahassee. The article in the link below is a prime example of how a white male is treated in Tallahassee in connection to a heinous criminal act.

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/can-forgiveness-play-a-role-in-criminal-justice.html

According to Wikipedia, the estimated income for 2009-2013 in the city of Tallahassee was $39,524; per capita income was $23,778. After watching Mr. Prince call witnesses, particularly expert witnesses, he showed the amount of work an attorney must put forth in order to defend his client. Now, one on the outside looking in, one could say that a person making $23,778 probably couldn’t afford to pay an attorney like Mr. Prince to represent their loved one, right. Well, many attorneys will allow payments to be made during and after the case is active in court. Therefore, getting a second job would help. What may not been known by people is that the Florida Bar Association is failing a lot of attorneys. Some attorneys in turn are failing their clients. Mr. Prince represented Mr. Segura on a Pro Bono basis. There are some fees, etc. that Mr. Prince may be able to recoup. A family working hard to pay off an attorney for representing their loved one— if the defendant is found guilty—then there may not be extra money coming in to help settle the contract. My children and I lost a lot of weight because I cut back on our food intake in order to pay for DeShon’s private attorney. I frequently had to apologize to them for not being able to feed them the same as before. Approximately sixteen months after DeShon’s attorney had collected roughly $28,850 in payments to fulfill a $50,000 contract, I learned that DeShon’s attorney had not deposed anyone of the people that he named who could help him. And when I brought to the attorney’s attention that I heard that the lead detective on the case may not be a real law enforcement officer, but a friend of the Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell’s family, the attorney brushed it off. My son and I fired the attorney. We went with a public defender. No one would seriously represent DeShon (and still won’t). At trial, we learned that the lead detective was never an employee with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. State Prosecutor Jack Campbell and DeShon’s attorney, brushed it off.

As Personal Injury Attorney John Morgan, who is based in Orlando, often says in his commercial, “Some attorneys need the money more than you (their clients) do.”

Many local private defense attorneys in Tallahassee are starving. They have to play all kinds of games with various state agencies in order to get evidence to assist in their cases. Most attorneys in Tallahassee (Leon County) have come from Mr. Meggs’ office. Usually, after leaving to start their own private practice, some try to return because they need money—they need work. The Florida Bar Association, whose main office is located in Tallahassee, is failing attorneys in private practice. When complaints are filed against another attorney, including those who work for the State Attorney’s Office, those complaints  must be taken seriously.

Former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Senior Biologist Analyst, Joe Ellen Brown, broke her silence in regards to having located another male DNA match in Brandi Peters’ home. This news of her reports was not made public until after Commissioner Bailey was fired. Could it be that Commissioner Bailey was trying to assist in ensuring that Jack Campbell won his conviction against Mr. Segura? Is former senior biologist analyst, Joe Ellen Brown, the Sally Yates of the Henry Segura saga?

After watching the State of Florida v. Henry Segura trial, the vast majority of your hosts, guest analysts, listeners and viewers may now have some insight on why Republican President Donald Trump “described Tallahassee as having a reputation that no city would want for a slogan: most corrupt.”

Please continue to bring the things that matter to your viewers. Keep those cameras in those courtrooms.

 

God Bless,

 

P.S.

A special thanks to: Chanley Sha Painter, Ted Rowland, Julia Jenae, Seema Iyer, Vinnie Politan, Deborah Bloom, Keith Lamar, Casey DeSantis, Ron DeSantis, Michael Bixon, Tiffany Porter, Noah Pines, Kirby Clemente, Ashley Wilcox, Sonja Madison, Quinton G. Washington, Cynthia Counts, Page Pate, Reginald Lewis, Marsha Mignott, Ben Githieya, Anne Bremner, Ifeoluwa Ben-Shidah, Phyliss Collins, Mark Begnaud, Suri Chada Jimenez, Kristal Ramirez, Joe Ellen Brown, Michael Knox, Dr. Jesse De La Cruz and all those who are now scratching their heads about the outcome of #SeguraRetrial

 

#FREEDESHONTHOMASNOW #FREEHENRYSEGURANOW #COURTTV #HENRYSEGURA #FSU #FAMU #UF #TCC #UCF #UM #FIU  #ORLANDOSTRONG  #TALLAHASSEESTRONG #TAMPASTRONG #MIAMISTRONG #PRAYFORFLORIDA