December 3, 2012
Dear Governor Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi:
Attached is a copy of a previous email that I sent to Governor Rick Scott in September 2012. Although I received a reply in regards to the attached email, my son and I continue to find the current 2nd Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s office and the Leon County Sheriff’s office operating in gross negligence with malicious prosecutorial tactics. Therefore, my son and I are asking that a special prosecutor be assigned to his cases.
On February 7, 2011, my son was 17-years-old was in college and working when he was charged with the double murder of his pregnant 20-year-old ex-girlfriend and her 17-year-old brother in their southwest Tallahassee residential townhome. My son has been in the Leon County jail for nearly two years. He’s had three or four court dates that had been continued on behalf of the State Prosecutor. My son and I have come to know that the main reason he is in jail is based on a pack of lies. Mostly from what Detective Don Odham (who has since been fired from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office), stated in his detective report and in a Probable Cause Report that was signed by Judge Nina Ashenafi Richardson; in summary it states that my son’s then 21-year-old roommate (Trentin Ross) said that he drove my son to the victims’ residence and witnessed my son commit the murders as he sat in a parked car across the street from the victims’ residence. Trentin Ross has never been arrested or charged with any type of accessory or anything in relation to murder charges. I strongly believe that if Trentin Ross did make a statement to Detective Don Odham, it was because he (Trentin Ross) was under duress. To date there is no sworn statement by Trentin Ross on record as to whether or not he in fact made that statement to Detective Don Odham.
Initially, Detective Melinda McBride was the Lead Detective on the case. Detective McBride and Lieutenant Timothy Baxter questioned Trentin Ross. Trentin Ross never put himself or my son at the victims’ residence. At a different time and on a different day, Detective Melinda McBride and Detective Don Odham questioned Trentin Ross, there was nothing in the Discovery Report referencing as to what was said or asked. Then at some point Detective Don Odham became the Lead Detective on the case. It was then when Trentin Ross supposedly put himself and my son at the victims’ residence around 4:14 a.m. Nowhere in any of the other detectives’ reports does it states that Trentin Ross states that he and my son were at the victims’ residence the night of the murders.
I was informed that Detective Don Odham, who was a reserve deputy, lacked the qualifications to be a Lead Detective over homicide cases. It is my understanding that Detective Don Odham’s family are close longtime wealthy friends of Sheriff Larry Campbell and the Campbell family. From what I’ve read about Detective Odham, he was a “do and say whatever it takes to make an arrest” type of detective, as one deputy described him as “a disgrace to the badge.” Although Detective Don Odham was eventually fired from the Leon County Sheriff’s office, it was more than likely a situation where Sheriff Larry Campbell had no other choice but to fire him because Detective Don Odham had gotten into some legal trouble in Alabama.
Also, the Assistant State Prosecutor on this case is Jack Campbell. Jack Campbell is the son of Sheriff Larry Campbell and close longtime friends of former Detective Don Odham and his family. The Leon County Sheriff’s office has jurisdiction over this case. Assistant State Prosecutor Jack Campbell stated in the Motion for Jail Custody that shoes that my son was wearing during an illegal traffic stop by deputies the same day the bodies were discovered matched shoe prints located at the crime scene. This is definitely a false statement. Even by what they’ve said Trentin Ross stated—this is a false statement.
Due to the numerous lies riddled throughout the Discovery Report, the fact that former Detective Don Odham is the only one stating that Trentin Ross placed himself and my son at the victims’ residence, and that Assistant State Prosecutor Jack Campbell is the son of Sheriff Larry Campbell, who has jurisdiction over this case and both Campbell’s as well as their family members are close longtime friends with under qualified reserve deputy former Lead Detective Don Odham, again– my son and I are asking that a Special Prosecutor be assigned his case. We strongly feel like the State Attorney’s office of the 2nd Judicial Circuit lacks moral and ethical understanding of the importance of Rights to Due Process and the ability to prevent putting related persons or persons with special interest over cases that puts them in a bias position.
After my son sat in jail for over a month with no legal representation, I hired Attorney Gregory Cummings to represent him. Mr. Cummings was my son’s attorney for more than a year. He never deposed Trentin Ross. He failed to disclose the list of law enforcement agents that he claimed to have deposed. He refused to share autopsy reports of the victims (which are unavailable to the public because of the State Attorney’s office stating that the investigation is on-going). Despite numerous requests and paying Mr. Cumming nearly $30,000 in cash over a year’s time, Mr. Cummings never hired any type of private investigator nor did he ever present to me or my son any type of plan for legal defense. Mr. Cummings, who also receives cases from the Conflict Counsels Office, has a “special interest” in this matter. I have since filed a complaint with the Florida Bar Association in regards to his unethical practices as well as his lack of communication with my son. In a year’s time Mr. Cummings had only seen my son at the Leon County jail a total of three (3) times—including when they first met. According to my son, Mr. Cummings never asked much of anything about his case as far as witness statements, his alibis, etc. Mr. Cummings was officially fired in August 2012 (although he states that he took himself off of the case due to conflict between him and me).
In September 2012, Mr. Samuel Olmstead from the Conflict Counsels Office was assigned my son’s case. I do not have the money to pay for my son a private attorney. Just last week, Mr. Olmstead finally made it to court and met with my son. Up until then, he had not had any type of contact with him other than a letter stating that he was assigned his case. It was brought to my attention by an attorney in Seminole County, where I now reside, that back in 2011 (during the time when my son was first arrested and did not have legal representation) that Mr. Olmstead was assigned my son’s case but withdrew due to a conflict. I asked that if there was a conflict back in 2011, then how or why did my son’s case land back in the hands of Mr. Olmstead? A question that I can’t answer. And a question that has gone unanswered because Mr. Olmstead does not return phone calls from me or my son. This appears to be a delay tactic. Because at some point this issue will surface and Mr. Olmstead will be taken off of the case and then my son will be assigned someone else and the clock will start all over again for him.
In 2010 I had to leave the workplace because of a debilitating disease that I was diagnosed with in 1998 called Scleroderma. I used all of my money to pay Mr. Cummings. For the first time in my life (I’ve been working since I was 13-years-old and I will be 40-years-old this month) I am on a fixed income. However, I will not let my financial situation hinder me from seeking fair justice for my son.
If there is nothing that you cannot do in regards to this matter, then I will have no other choice but to go to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. I believe that I have enough evidence to show that my son is being held hostage by the Leon County Sheriff’s office while the State Attorney’s office try to “convince” witnesses to lie. And this is information that I received before they entrapped my son with a solicitation to commit murder charge with the target being Trentin Ross–a calculated tactic between the Leon County jail staff and Assistant State Prosecutor Jack Campbell put together a year after my son had been sitting in jail—this charge would give Assistant State Prosecutor Jack Campbell an explanation as to why Trentin Ross, who left Tallahassee to return to his hometown of Daytona Beach because of the constant harassment by the Leon County Sheriff’s office, has been elusive (or has he).
Thank you for time in regards to this matter. My son and I do pray that this will all be resolved soon.
Mothers Against Unethical Laws (MAUL) 