Let's imprison first and investigate later!

Carolyn Miller was arrested because the baby she was babysitting died.  Not overly educated, and likely not overly bright, it appears that she failed to handle the matter properly. Instead of calling 911 and reporting the death, she panicked, and placed the little body in a cooler. At this stage of the investigation, as the autopsy failed to indicate the cause of death, NOTHING shows that the child did not die naturally from ISDS (Instant sudden death syndrome.) The police have no indication of any foul play, and are waiting for the blood results to see if there is any other reason why the baby could have died. This could take weeks. So at this stage, what do we have? A baby who died for an unknown reason and a baby sitter with a low I.Q. who did not react in a way society would expect one to react in the same situation. She is charged at this point with child neglect, and improper disposal of a human body, and the bond was set at $5,000.00, per the schedule. The child neglect is not supported by any evidence, and is therefore pure speculation.

Now, a Brevard county judge raised the bond from $5,000.00 to $150,000.00 which will preclude Carolyn to get out of jail until someone determines if she committed any serious crime at all, as at this stage of the game, the only mistake she made was to dispose improperly of the body of a baby, a 2^nd degree misdemeanor for which people would usually be released on their own recognizance.

Somewhere I read that in our country, we were considered innocent until proven guilty… and innocent people should not be locked in jail unless they represent a danger to society or are unlikely to show up in court… I don’t see either applying to this case.

Baby's cause of death unknown

Suspect's sister disputes charges

BY J.D. GALLOP • FLORIDA TODAY • January 26, 2011

Janelle Richardson planned to celebrate last week as she turned 21. But by Friday, family members say the young Titusville mother of two children grew increasingly worried after a longtime family friend and baby sitter who was caring for her 7-month-old could not be reached.

"Janelle was crying before I even took her to the police department," said 31-year-old Latanya Burch, Richardson's cousin.

A day after baby sitter Carolyn Renee Miller led Titusville Police to the body of Ja'Veon Mitchell, an autopsy Tuesday did not provide investigators with any firm determination of what led to the boy's death.

The review of Ja'Veon's death, however, continues to be an "active homicide investigation," Lt. Todd Hutchinson of the Titusville Police Department said in a statement.

Miller was charged Monday with child neglect and improper disposal of human remains hours after telling police that Ja'Veon died in her care. Family members say Ja'Veon was left with Miller on Tuesday so the child's mother could celebrate her 21st birthday.

Police said additional charges could depend on results from toxicology reports, which could be returned within two weeks.

Miller told police during more than six hours of questioning that, instead of calling authorities for help, she wrapped the baby's body in a sheet and put him in a small cooler. Police said she then took the cooler to her boyfriend's home on Deleon Avenue and hid it in the backyard.

"It's really a sad situation all around. But I know my sister and she's being railroaded in every sense of the word," said Lisa Madden, who talked with a tearful Miller the day she was being interrogated by detectives. "Maybe she panicked. She said she woke up and the baby was dead. She was scared. When a thing like that happens, I wouldn't know what to do."

Police said Ja'Veon's mother, identified as the 21-year-old Richardson, would frequently allow Miller to keep the child for days at a time.

Madden said Miller, who has no known address, had kept Ja'Veon on and off since he was born. Madden said Ja'Veon was Richardson's second child and that Miller offered to baby-sit the boy, sometimes at her home.

Court records show Miller has had run-ins with the law. She was arrested twice in 2004 on drug possession charges, once in 2006 for breach of the peace and once in 2008 for petit theft. But Madden said that was only one side of Miller's story.

"Everybody knows my sister would keep all the children in the neighborhood . . . for years," Madden said.

Madden said Richardson also was friends with Miller's 15-year-old daughter. Miller also has a 17-year-old son who lives in Georgia with his father.

"My sister is just a sweet, loving person, and she'd be right here with that baby in my house. Sometimes she'd have to call Janelle and say, 'The baby needs milk.' All I could think was Janelle needs to come get her baby," Madden said.

Richardson was searching for Miller by Friday and confronted Miller's daughter. Richardson's cousin Burch took her to the police department Sunday to file a report.

"I found Miller and I asked her where my cousin's baby was. . . . She said she didn't have the baby and hadn't seen her for two weeks. She just kept lying and lying," Burch said.

"I really don't know what happened. We've known (Renee) for a long time. . . . I just don't want to think that she did this. Something just had to go wrong."

"(Richardson is) OK and as well as can be expected," Burch said, adding that the grieving mother was staying with relatives in Titusville.

"It's sad on all sides," Burch said.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- A Brevard County judge increased the bail on Tuesday for a Titusville baby sitter who was jailed in connection with the death of an infant.

Carolyn Miller's bail was raised to $150,000, which is up from just over $5,000, on charges of child neglect and the improper disposal of a human body. A public defender objected to the increase and said the bail is "far in excess" of the typical bail imposed for such charges.

After an autopsy on the body of JaVeon Brushan, 7 months old, police announced the cause of death is still undetermined. Authorities are awaiting the results of toxicology tests that could take several weeks.

JaVeon's body was found Monday in a cooler in the back yard of a home on DeLeon Street in Titusville. Miller had been baby-sitting the child since Thursday.

Police said she told them the child died mysteriously while Miller was napping on Friday. She did not report the death, police said, but instead disappeared until police located her Monday.

Police said in a statement Tuesday they will no longer discuss the case for fear the release of information could jeopardize the investigation.

Democracy in Tunisia and Egypt? Not so fast!

Let’s not get too excited about what is happening in Tunisia and now Egypt. Democracy is not always the panacea. In fact, this is not about democracy, it’s about control.  Remember what happened in Iran? We dumped the Shah, and within days, Khomeini who spent 14 years in exile (Iraq and France), reemerged in Iran. The rest is history… 

First, not all societies are ready for democracy. Second let’s recognize that pretty much all African countries’ leaders have been forever corrupt. Based upon these premises, would we rather see some type of ecumenical government or a religious tyranny in North Africa? Let’s not forget that 99% of the Tunisian population is Muslim, and 80 to 90% of the Egyptian population is Muslim.

The choice is simple. These countries are either going to have a government alike the regime that kept Egypt somehow stable for the past 30 years, or they will become Muslim dictatorships. No! Democracy is not for everyone…

Palm Beach State Attorney McAuliffe has a different set of statutes for his cops too...

The factual information I used in this blog is based upon two memos drafted on January 12 and 17, 2011, by the Palm Beach county prosecutors.

Reginald Scurry is a captain with the Jupiter police department. It is alleged that on June 12, 2010, Scurry committed a battery or, as supported by the facts, an aggravated battery on his spouse. It resulted in an injury to her head. All the eyewitnesses but one Jenna Mitchell, either work under Scurry, or their spouse works for Scurry. Curiously, yet expectedly, Mitchell’s account of what happened appears to have been the more factual, candid, honest, and undiluted of all. She said that Scurry yanked his wife by the wrist and dragged her across the yard. As he dragged her, she fell; and Scurry who was very angry at his wife told her “get up fucker, get up.” Jessica Tyson, another witness, yelled to Reggie to stop. The females who were up front helped Mrs. Scurry to get up. It appears that the fall resulted in laceration(s) to her head, which required stitches. Blood was later found in her car. At the hospital, Mrs. Curry, under pressure, told Nurse Haley that her husband did it, and made other several damaging statements, which I am confident, would have been admitted at trial under some theory.

The rest of the very thorough investigation shows a series of well documented obstructions, tampering, and false statements made by law enforcement personnel. With these facts, and all the others outlined in the attached PDF memo, ANY REGULAR JO would have been arrested, and likely charged with felonies.
SCURRY; January 12, 2011; Memo from Chief Assistant Elizabeth Parker to Scott Richardson and Michael McAuli...

I disagree with the opinions that the facts did not support a battery or aggravated battery charge, as I have seen hundreds of batteries charged with much less evidence than the evidence developed in this case. Batteries are regularly proven without the help of the victim.

More concerning is the pattern of tampering, which it appears, will remain unaddressed by McAuliffe, Palm Beach State Attorney. Is ignoring the problem condoning the behavior?

And still more concerning is the fact that the officers involved in this pattern of deception, dishonesty and tampering will be the same people who will continue enforcing the law, and that is a creepy thought.

Even though I disagree with Chief assistant state attorney Elizabeth Parker’s opinion that the State could not proceed with the battery charge, she at least, recommended that Scurry be charged with providing law enforcement with false information. (F.S. 837.055. Whoever knowingly and willfully gives false information to a law enforcement officer who is conducting a missing person investigation or a felony criminal investigation with the intent to mislead the officer or impede the investigation commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.)
Being well aware of the inner working of state attorney’s offices, I will speculate that Ms. Parker had already been constrained in her ability to do the right thing when she wrote her memo.

Now five days later, January 17, 2010, one page memo , written by First Assistant Scott Richardson and addressed to Chief Assistant Parker emerges. It adds insult to injury.
SCURRY; January 17, 2011, Memo from First Assistant Scott Richardson to Chief Assistant Elizabeth Parker ad...

Then, Richardson writes: “Your analysis of the potential charge of perjury was detailed. However, it failed to address the critical requirement that a perjury charge must be based on a false statement under oath.” Au contraire! Ms. Parker’s memo dated January 12 reads on page 16: “…These statements were not given under oath therefore, perjury cannot be charged.” Did Richardson read Parker’s memo?
The last part of Richardson’s memo, is some kind of legal contortion which fails to justify the State’s conclusion that it would not pursue the false information charge. In doing so, Richardson also takes a low blow in belittling Ms. Parker for her failure to consider or include in her memo the legal fantasies the former dreamed up. Here they are:
1. Scurry’s statements were unrelated to his duties as a police officer. (Absolutely nothing to do with the statute.)
2. The statute Ms. Parker recommended was only recently enacted. (Is there a new Palm Beach policy requiring some kind of ripening of newly enacted statutes before they can be enforced? Please!)
3. There are no cases interpreting the statute. (The statute is quite clear, and that may be why… Many statutes are used to charge people every day, which have not been reviewed by appellate courts.)
4. The statute requires that the false statement be made during a felony investigation. Domestic battery is a misdemeanor. (And aggravated battery and tampering with evidence are felonies).
Did the Palm Beach state attorney’s office ever use the good old F.S. 843.02. ? (Resisting officer without violence to his or her person. Whoever shall resist, obstruct, or oppose any officer as defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), (3), (6), (7), (8), or (9); personnel or representative of the Department of Law Enforcement; or other person legally authorized to execute process in the execution of legal process or in the lawful execution of any legal duty, without offering or doing violence to the person of the officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.)

In conclusion, let me briefly opine. The State Attorney is an elected employee. Law enforcement is an important electoral force for the position. Sadly enough, this appears to be more important to McAuliffe than ethical behavior. The system is corrupt, and corruption must be exposed.

The White Knight Or the Black Widow? Palm Beach chief prosecutor shows the art of politics, is far more important than Justice...

Since I could not post this article from the Palm Beach post, I had no choice but to copy and paste. Once again, selective law enforcement and prosecution is not Brevard’s exclusive, yet it must be exposed.

Here is the link:

http://www.page2live.com/2011/01/18/plenty-evidence-no-criminal-charges-against-jupiter-police-captain-reggie-scurry/

Plenty evidence after 6-month probe, but no criminal charge against Jupiter Police Captain Reggie ScurryPosted by Jose Lambiet. Tuesday 18 January 2011 3:54 pm Reggie Scurry (The Palm Beach Post)

 After a six-month investigation in which several Jupiter Police officers may have lied and tampered with evidence to protect one of their own, State Attorney Mike McAuliffe opted not to charge criminally a controversial police captain accused of causing a gash to his wife’s head. 

JPD Capt. Reggie Scurry was placed on leave with pay in June when the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s violent crimes unit was called in for the domestic violence probe.

The investigation showed that Scurry’s wife, Cobi, told a nurse who stitched up her head at the Jupiter Medical Center that Reggie pushed her out of their car during an argument outside the house party of another Jupiter policeman, according to a memo from the Office of the State Attorney obtained by Page2Live.

Cobi, 33, told the nurse she fell from the car and onto the driveway, injuring her head. And Reggie, 35, allegedly called her “heffer” as she lay on the ground! Still, he returned to work Thursday after McAuliffe’s office notified the JPD of the decision not to charge him.

Scurry, a former Jupiter High football star who headed the criminal investigations division before his suspension, has been assigned to desk duties. He’s now under the JPD’s Internal Affairs scrutiny. If found to have violated department policies, he faces disciplinary action could include a suspension, demotion or firing.

Chief Frank Kitzerow, who promoted Scurry despite his role in a well-publicized off-duty bar fight at Abacoa in 2007, said he doesn’t believe the State Attorney’s memo will cause citizens to look at his department differently.

“Obviously, we have issues regarding some of the officers named in (the memo),” Kitzerow said. “But the community understands we stand for integrity and honesty.”

McAuliffe, who’s up for reelection next year, refused to discuss why he decided not to prosecute Scurry or go after witnesses who lied.

Here is what’s undeniable about the Scurry saga, according to the memo:  Late on June 12, Reggie and Cobi Scurry showed up at the house of JPD Officer Telly Tyson about 11:30 p.m. to watch the broadcast of an ultimate fighting event. All guests, except for one, were Jupiter cops or spouses of cops.

Witnesses at two gas stations near Tyson’s house called 911 an hour later to report a woman driving a car while bleeding from the head. By 1 a.m., Cobi Scurry was at the emergency room, pulling her hand away from her husband’s when he tried to hold it.

The rest of the story? Depends whom you ask, since no one at the party seems to have seen much!
And that’s one reason why Reggie Scurry remains free of criminal charges.

Among the inconsistencies:

– Cobi changed her statement several times, according to Chief Assistant State Attorney Elizabeth Parker’s memo. At one point, the woman claimed being so drunk that she blacked out several times. Surveillance tapes at the gas stations showed her behaving like a sober person.

– Reggie Scurry told PBSO he doesn’t “remember” his wife falling at the party or calling her a heffer but remembers having an argument. He changed three times the statements about his whereabouts after the party. Each version was debunked by cell-phone records. “Cell tower records are evidence that Reggie Scurry was not truthful,” Parker wrote. 

– As his wife was being treated, Scurry and one of his officers, Jason Van Steenburgh, drove to the gas station where her car was parked. Both cops denied removing evidence from the vehicle. Yet, surveillance camera videoed Van Steenburgh picking up something inside then throwing it out. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself in follow up interviews with PBSO. Reggie Scurry is seen cleaning up blood from the seats, disrupting a de facto crime scene. 

In the end, Parker considered charging Reggie Scurry with domestic violence but couldn’t because Cobi, the victim, was deemed uncooperative. A testimony by the nurse she confided into would not be admissible in court. 

Parker looked into charging him with perjury, a felony, but couldn’t because PBSO detectives failed to place Scurry under oath.

Finally, Parker pushed to have him charged with lying to police during an investigation.

That, too, was nixed during a meeting with McAuliffe. Lying to police is prosecuted only if the false information is provided during a felony investigation, and domestic violence is a misdemeanor!

Three years ago, the aftermaths of a bar fight between Scurry and a 23-year-old, Gregory Holzer, tore the JPD apart. One cop, John Banister, quit his job after claiming that Scurry and other officers twisted the facts so that Scurry would appear to be the victim.

Holzer, who had a criminal record and may have used a racial slur, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and faced 30 years in the slammer after leaving Scurry bloodied. The office of then-State Attorney Barry Krisher dropped the charges against Holzer when The Palm Beach Post started questioning the facts of the incident.

Last week, the State Attorney’s office outraged Page2Live readers after refusing to prosecute a PBSO deputy, Cheryl Griffin, maimed in a boat crash during which she allegedly was drunk.

And don't forget to check the SAO reasons:

Here is a new idea: investigate first, arrest later (if it is warranted)

In Brevard, we had Preston and Harrass II, his wonder dog until Judge Gilbert Goshorn ordered the dog to perform a basic tracking test after Preston claimed the dog had alerted to a suspect’s scent at a crime scene six months after the murder. Understandably, the dog failed, Preston was finally discredited and innocent people who had spent many years in prison were released. In South Florida, they have Dr. Melinda Merck, a different animal; Merck is director of veterinary forensic sciences for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She also co-founded a veterinary forensic science training program -- dubbed "Animal CSI'' -- at UF. The veterinarian expert extraordinaire appears to specialize in the manufacturing of State evidence from scratch. As to CSI, her claimed expertise will likely be restricted to be used in TV shows, as her credibility in court is shot. In both cases, one smells a rat.

In June 2009 an innocent man, 18 year old Tyler Weinman, was accused of, arrested for, and charged with 19 felony counts for the alleged cruel killing of cats. The case was based upon Merck’s findings that a "crime" had been committed. The arrest and the charges were supported by Merck’s shoddy necropsy findings. Tyler Weinman was quickly libeled as the “South Florida cat-killer” by the media and the cops. He was eventually released on an offensively high bond which could only have been set so high for political reasons, by a judge who was likely pressured by the media as he was relying upon Merck’s phony data. Eventually real experts in the field determined that the information provided by Merck was baseless. These experts’ findings revealed that the cats had been killed by other larger animals, likely dogs, as revealed by the puncture wounds consistent with bite marks from large predators. It was Merck’s failure to peal the skin of the cats (necropsy 101), which resulted in her failed diagnosis.

Merck, in providing the sloppy necropsy analysis, destroyed an innocent young man’s life. Was it incompetence, laziness, malice or recklessness? or did the narcissistic queen veterinarian expert had some sickly hidden agenda?

One would think that after such a stunt, her credibility would be at best questionable. The Dade county State Attorney’s office did not think so!

As if IT was not enough, a few weeks later as the judicial system had barely buried Merck’s pussy case, the latter then claimed to have found some severe vaginitis in Christie Brinkley, a two and a half year old Great Dane. Merck determined that Christie’s little flower showed unusual stress, stress which could only have been inflicted by her deranged master. Even further, she claimed that human semen was found in Christie’s urine. And here we go again, the concept of the complicated timeline: investigate first, then arrest if warranted, seem to escape some cops and some prosecutors. Let’s act first and think later! Let’s destroy another citizen’s life. Once again, based upon Merck’s findings, innocent victim number 2, Armand Pacher, is arrested and charged with some serious felony which could have landed him in prison for five years. Thankfully, he had the financial means to retain counsel and pay for six experts who ripped apart, once more, Merck’s findings. Here again, the State had no choice but to drop the case. The prosecutor, Michael Von Zamft, did not even have the balls to acknowledge that the case could not be prosecuted because the State had relied on erroneous information provided by the same useless so-called expert: Merck. Von Zamft wrote in his final memo: “The state's decision to [drop] the case is based upon the lack of presently available physical evidence, and not on any concerns that Dr. Melinda Merck was either incorrect or exploitative.” Michael, cut your bullshit, honesty is a better policy.

We can only hope that these two victims of the State and the police will be made as close to whole as possible in successfully suing these irresponsible accusers. Sadly enough, it is their only recourse, as their name is now soiled forever.

The Brazilian pepper tree, Florida nightmare or fine cuisine spice?

This tree is one of the worst pest plants in Florida. By law (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) one is not allowed to possess, collect, transport, cultivate, and import for possession, collection, transportation, cultivation, except as provided in Rule 62C-52.004, F.A.C. It has invaded 700,000 acres in Florida (2008).

“Schinus terebinthifolius” was brought to the state in the early 1800's from South America to be cultivated and sold as an ornamental plant. It is a member of the Anacardiaceae family (poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and poisonwood.)

Now, the other side of the coin; “Schinus terebinthifolius” is often grown in other countries, for culinary purposes. The dried berries are commonly called Pink Peppercorns or “Poivre Rose.” The berries have a sweet peppery flavor and are often used in French cuisine. I use them crushed in a vinaigrette or crush and use as a coating for a filet mignon or pork tenderloin. I found them on Amazon.com selling for $20 to $60 an ounce, while they are so abundant and free to pick in our beautiful state. When crushed, the seed releases a sweet, volatile, pine-like aroma faintly smelling like piperine oil, the key component in true black pepper. The flavor of Pink Peppercorns is sweet, warm, fresh and camphorous with a lingering astringency but little heat. According to Floridagardener.com, bees love the plant's flowers and make honey from their nectar. Raccoons and 'possums eat the fruit of the plant and contribute to its spread by passing the seeds in their scat. Fruit-eating birds such as the migratory American Robin also adore the fruit and can seed wide areas by passing the seeds in their guano. It is reported that certain birds and other wildlife during certain times of the year adore the berries of this plant for their narcotic effects.

My recipe:  Filet au poivre rose. In a small pan, mix a handful of dried pink peppercorns,  a cup of heavy whipping cream, a teaspoon of beef base and a shot of Cognac or Brandy. Reduce until it reaches the desired thickness (about 60%), If it gets too thick just add a little cream.

Leave your filets out of the fridge for at least 4 or 5 hours before preparing them. Cook your filets in a hot pan with butter. And make certain you eat it rare!

Mockery of justice in Sanford.

1.      The facts as alleged in the media: The defendant found a stranded woman, passed out in a car on the shoulder of Interstate 4. He tried to help her, thought she might agree to have sex with him, and then was interrupted by an Altamonte Springs police officer who spotted the pair in the back seat of her car in a parking lot. The female told jurors she had had at least 10 beers that night and doesn't remember what happened. The jury found the accused not guilty of rape. The alleged victim did not find the case important enough to even show up at sentencing…

2.      The defendant's prior record: three years in prison for conspiracy to traffic marijuana… (nothing sexual or violent)

3.      The judge in the case at hand said she had no option under state law but to send him to prison for LIFE.

4.      How could it have been a kidnapping if the alleged victim testified that she does not remember agreeing or not, as she was allegedly drunk?

5.      Is this our justice system at work? Is this why we have more people in prison than any other civilized or uncivilized country?

With this set of facts, if they are correct, how can anyone suggest that the accused deserve in any way to spend his life in prison?

SANFORD – A judge today gave a life sentence to an Orlando man convicted of kidnapping a woman whom he found drunk and passed out in a car on the shoulder of Interstate 4. Winel Castro-Molina, 34, was convicted Dec. 2. He also was charged with rape, but the jury acquitted him on that charge. Assistant State Attorney Gino Feliciani pointed out that Castro-Molina had been released from federal prison, where he'd served time on a drug charge, less than three years before the abduction.

In that case, Castro-Molina was guilty of conspiring to traffic marijuana and was sentenced to three years. He was released in 2006.

Today's sentence was imposed by Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson, who said she had no options under state law, given the defendant's prior conviction. After today's hearing defense attorney Eric Trivedi called the outcome "a very, very bittersweet victory." Castrol-Molina committed no crime that night, Oct. 29, 2009, Trivedi said. He found a stranded woman, tried to help her, thought she might agree to have sex with him then was interrupted by an Altamonte Springs police officer who spotted the pair in the back seat of her car in a parking lot. When Officer Todd Smith walked up to their car, the woman's skirt had been pushed up around her waist, he testified at trial. The woman, now 27, told the officer she did not know Castro-Molina and did not know where she was, how she got there or what was going on. She told jurors she had had at least 10 beers that night and doesn't remember what happened. She was not at today's sentencing. Trivedi said that several weeks before the trial, Castro-Molina said no to a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for eight years. The defendant did not want to agree to anything that would have branded him a sex offender, Trivedi said.Castro-Molina did not testify at his trial, but he confessed during an interrogation by Altamonte Springs police. During most of that session, Castro-Molina denied the rape, but police kept insisting he was lying. After Det. Kevin Acosta told Castro-Molina he'd throw him in jail if he denied the rape one more time, Castro-Molina changed his story.

Defense psychologist Gregory DeClue testified at trial that the confession was not given voluntarily.

Here is the new game: find the defendant.

You may have read or heard before about the serious injustice often created by "bad" or "dishonest" lineups, or the way they are presented to witnesses. Certain states have started addressing the issue in drafting new guidelines for lineups. I have started collecting bad lineups, and if anyone of you has any bad lineup, please make sure to forward them to me.

Now, to prove the point, here is the game.

1.      You look at the lineup. (note: YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO INFORMATION about anything concerning the case)

2.      Without any supporting evidence, you naturally pick the defendant.

In this case, if you picked number two, you got it right.

So next time you sit on a jury panel, make sure you remember this little game when the identification of the accused is based only on a lineup.