Brady Giglio Lists

[Unregistered]

The naughty list: Not all lawmen trusted to testify in court
nwfdailynews.com/news/20180818/naughty-list-not-all-lawmen-trusted-to-testify-in-court
By TOM McLAUGHLIN
Posted Aug 18, 2018

Glenn Hand, who in February resigned under pressure from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, is one of four county law officers who have seen their names added this year to a list that brands those on it as people who cannot be trusted.

With the four 2018 additions, the county’s Brady/Giglio Report now holds 37 names, among them notables such as Charlie Morris, a sheriff imprisoned for stealing from taxpayers, and Joseph Floyd, a major convicted of operating a criminal enterprise from inside the Crestview Police Department.

Hand’s name was added to the list in March, an occurrence that has proven problematic to the Florida Highway Patrol, which had hired him in February after he left the Sheriff’s Office.

Hand has been on administrative leave since the Northwest Florida Daily News published a story about his status in early July. FHP Capt. Thomas Pikul confirmed Wednesday an investigation into Hand’s status is being conducted by the Inspector General’s Office for the Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Finding one’s name on a Brady/Giglio list is a big deal. A handful of those listed, like Morris and Floyd, have proven dishonest and untrustworthy by committing high-profile crimes for which they were prosecuted, but most in Okaloosa County were disciplined by their departments and placed on the list for simple “untruthfulness.”

Useless in court

For several reasons, law enforcement agencies can’t afford to tolerate an employee willing to lie to superiors or fabricate reports, most importantly because that employee is rendered nearly useless when called into court to testify.

Former Fort Walton Beach Sgt. Michael Hogan made the Okaloosa Giglio list in 2016 when then-Police Chief Ed Ryan discovered Hogan had made false statements during an internal investigation in 2006.

A discussion with Okaloosa Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Bishop led to the determination that the State Attorney’s Office “would no longer prosecute any cases which Sgt. Hogan brought before the court,” Ryan wrote in a report filed in Hogan’s case.

“In my experience this makes Sgt. Hogan unable to be a law enforcement officer and carry out his required duties to adjudicate cases in court,” Ryan said in the report.

A Brady/Giglio Report is compiled by the State Attorney’s Office in each county in Florida, according to John Molchan, who, like Bishop, is a senior assistant state attorney in Florida’s First Judicial Circuit.

“We have an absolute obligation to maintain that list,” Molchan said.

Prosecutors are required to share with defense attorneys the names of law officers who have been placed on the Giglio list.

“It’s a very broad requirement and part of the State Attorney’s Office discovery responsibility,” Molchan said. “Under the rules of evidence, discovery (pre-trial sharing of evidence between the prosecution and defense) has to be done in a light most favorable to the accused. The information may not even be admissible, but we have to share the list.”

The Hand case

Hand, whose wife Brandi Hand holds an administrative position with the Okaloosa County School District, was investigated in September 2017 for two possible criminal acts.

On Sept. 13, 2017, the same day the Sheriff’s Office arrested School District officials Marlynn Stillions, Arden Farley and Angelyn Vaughan on charges related to child abuse, a call was made to a restaurant owned by Eddie Perillo, whose son Noah was the alleged victim.

The caller, identifying himself as James Taylor, left a threatening message at the business. Perillo, himself a former sheriff’s deputy, called authorities.

Hand also was questioned about Facebook threats made the day of the arrests to Sheriff’s Office Maj. Arnold Brown and Capt. Mark Raiche, two high-ranking Sheriff’s Office officials who were participating in the child abuse inquiry. The threats in question were posted by someone identifying themselves as James Taylor.

Although he denied making either threat when questioned by criminal investigators, Hand admitted to doing so when an internal investigation was launched early this year. A request by Investigator Michael Evans for a warrant to arrest Hand was denied in March by the State Attorney’s Office, which cited insufficient evidence to uphold second-degree felony charges of intimidating a witness and communicating a threat to law enforcement officers.

Hand resigned Jan. 29 as the internal investigation was ongoing and before admitting to making the threats to Perillo and his superior officers. Investigators reported he cited “hostility by my direct command,” as his reason for leaving the Sheriff’s Office, although agency spokeswoman Michele Nicholson said he left the agency “to go with FHP.”

The FHP hired Hand on Feb. 26. The report filed by the Sheriff’s Office, detailing findings that Hand had twice committed actions unbecoming an officer and had also lied under oath to investigators, was not finalized until mid-March.

The cover sheet of the report bears a note signed by Undersheriff Steve Harker. It requests that the Florida Highway Patrol and State Attorney’s Office be notified of the findings “for potential Brady/Giglio issues revealed as a result of the investigation.”

The Sheriff’s Office reported March 14 that “one count of untruthfulness” had been sustained against Hand following an administrative investigation. The document was turned over to Bishop at the State Attorney’s Office, and Hand’s name appeared shortly thereafter on the county’s Giglio list.

A memorandum on Sheriff’s Office letterhead, dated March 19, was sent to Capt. Ryan Martinez of the FHP.

“It’s my understanding the Florida Highway Patrol hired one of our former deputies, Glenn Hand, who is now in training at your academy. When your background investigator visited our agency, he was notified we had an open administrative investigation,” the memo compiled by Capt. Robert Norris states. “The investigation is now completed and I believe the conclusion and findings are significant enough to pass on to your agency.

“We substantiated two counts of unbecoming conduct and one count of untruthfulness. The untruthfulness resulted from Glenn Hand lying to our investigator conducting (a) criminal investigation,” Norris, with the Sheriff’s Office’s Office of Professional Standards, reported to Martinez.

When contacted by the Daily News in July, Pikul said the FHP had only recently learned Hand’s name had been added to the Giglio list “by another agency.”

Of the 37 names appearing on Okaloosa County’s Brady/Giglio list, 17 are former sheriff’s deputies. Hand and deputy Kenneth Taylor were added this year. Like Hand, Taylor, who was dismissed in May, was found to have committed a single act of untruthfulness.

Morris, who was arrested by the FBI in 2009 and his chief deputy, Michael Coup, both appear on Okaloosa County’s Giglio list. Both were charged in connection to a kickback scheme concocted by Morris.

Of the 17 past deputies on the list, 13 are included solely because they proved dishonest.

“DFC Cantwell’s actions of not telling the truth in a court deposition are unfortunately fatal to a career. ... His credibility is compromised,” the Feb. 8, 201,3 report of Deputy Jeffery Cantwell said.

Twelve names on Okaloosa’s list are Crestview police officers. Justin Reed made the list in February of this year. Then-Police Chief Tony Taylor reported an investigation “sustained findings Reed was untruthful in departmental matters.”

Most of the Crestview officers were removed from the Police Department following the racketeering trial of Joseph Floyd. Several of the officers let go by Taylor in the aftermath of the trial had testified under oath to falsifying reports at the direction of Floyd, Bishop said.

Four names appearing on Okaloosa’s Giglio list are former Fort Walton Beach police officers. Two, including Hogan, were released by Ryan and reported to the State Attorney’s Office after it was learned they had been disciplined by past city police administrators for untruthfulness.

A report documenting the dismissal and placement of Officer Trebor Wright on the Brady/Giglio Report states that, during an interview in 2016 with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Wright told his would-be employers he had “documented on incident reports that he field tested cannabis even though he did not.” Wright estimated he had lied about conducting field tests 15 times, the report said.

Although the county branches of the State Attorney’s Offices hold and maintain their own Brady/Giglio Reports, there is no state database charting those who appear on the lists, Molchan said, and the names aren’t routinely shared with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney General’s Office or any other agency.

News stories have documented numerous incidents across Florida through the years of police officers with unsavory backgrounds continuing to work as law enforcement officers. Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said that problem is particularly prevalent in more populous areas where unions are stronger and it is harder to make disciplinary action stick.

Molchan said background checks remain the best way law enforcement agencies have to ensure they find officers who don’t appear on someone’s Brady/Giglio Report.

[Unregistered]

This is no joke. One can easily finds themselves jobless. It has happened here in Okaloosa County and several other Florida counties. The Florida Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights need to be amended to address "internal" complaints and Brady Giglio impairment. Here is a suggestion which seems appropriate:

Step 1: A federal, state or local prosecutor identifies a potential Giglio or Brady issue involving an officer;

Step 2: The law enforcement officer is placed on a Giglio or Brady list identifying him or her as having potential credibility issues;

Step 3: The law enforcement officer is notified by the prosecutor's office that there is a potential Brady or Giglio issue regarding their testimony in a particular case, or in general;

Step 4: The law enforcement officer is provided the basis and evidence for the Brady or Giglio allegation;

Step 5: The law enforcement officer is given the opportunity to respond to the Brady or Giglio issue before an impartial judge;

Step 6: If the impartial judge finds that their is no Giglio or Brady issue, he or she then notifies the prosecutor that they have met their Brady/Giglio duty to investigate and that such information need not be provided because no credibility issue exists; and

Step 7: If mitigated, the law enforcement officer will then have no further duty to disclose the issue and the prosecutor will have met their burden of providing of due diligence without damage to the officer's career.

Don't idly by. Calling in "sick" when you really aren't or making an excuse for running late could very well cost you your job and your career.

[Unregistered]

The naughty list: Not all lawmen trusted to testify in court
nwfdailynews.com/news/20180818/naughty-list-not-all-lawmen-trusted-to-testify-in-court
By TOM McLAUGHLIN
Posted Aug 18, 2018

Glenn Hand, who in February resigned under pressure from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, is one of four county law officers who have seen their names added this year to a list that brands those on it as people who cannot be trusted.

With the four 2018 additions, the county’s Brady/Giglio Report now holds 37 names, among them notables such as Charlie Morris, a sheriff imprisoned for stealing from taxpayers, and Joseph Floyd, a major convicted of operating a criminal enterprise from inside the Crestview Police Department.

Hand’s name was added to the list in March, an occurrence that has proven problematic to the Florida Highway Patrol, which had hired him in February after he left the Sheriff’s Office.

Hand has been on administrative leave since the Northwest Florida Daily News published a story about his status in early July. FHP Capt. Thomas Pikul confirmed Wednesday an investigation into Hand’s status is being conducted by the Inspector General’s Office for the Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Finding one’s name on a Brady/Giglio list is a big deal. A handful of those listed, like Morris and Floyd, have proven dishonest and untrustworthy by committing high-profile crimes for which they were prosecuted, but most in Okaloosa County were disciplined by their departments and placed on the list for simple “untruthfulness.”

Useless in court

For several reasons, law enforcement agencies can’t afford to tolerate an employee willing to lie to superiors or fabricate reports, most importantly because that employee is rendered nearly useless when called into court to testify.

Former Fort Walton Beach Sgt. Michael Hogan made the Okaloosa Giglio list in 2016 when then-Police Chief Ed Ryan discovered Hogan had made false statements during an internal investigation in 2006.

A discussion with Okaloosa Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Bishop led to the determination that the State Attorney’s Office “would no longer prosecute any cases which Sgt. Hogan brought before the court,” Ryan wrote in a report filed in Hogan’s case.

“In my experience this makes Sgt. Hogan unable to be a law enforcement officer and carry out his required duties to adjudicate cases in court,” Ryan said in the report.

A Brady/Giglio Report is compiled by the State Attorney’s Office in each county in Florida, according to John Molchan, who, like Bishop, is a senior assistant state attorney in Florida’s First Judicial Circuit.

“We have an absolute obligation to maintain that list,” Molchan said.

Prosecutors are required to share with defense attorneys the names of law officers who have been placed on the Giglio list.

“It’s a very broad requirement and part of the State Attorney’s Office discovery responsibility,” Molchan said. “Under the rules of evidence, discovery (pre-trial sharing of evidence between the prosecution and defense) has to be done in a light most favorable to the accused. The information may not even be admissible, but we have to share the list.”

The Hand case

Hand, whose wife Brandi Hand holds an administrative position with the Okaloosa County School District, was investigated in September 2017 for two possible criminal acts.

On Sept. 13, 2017, the same day the Sheriff’s Office arrested School District officials Marlynn Stillions, Arden Farley and Angelyn Vaughan on charges related to child abuse, a call was made to a restaurant owned by Eddie Perillo, whose son Noah was the alleged victim.

The caller, identifying himself as James Taylor, left a threatening message at the business. Perillo, himself a former sheriff’s deputy, called authorities.

Hand also was questioned about Facebook threats made the day of the arrests to Sheriff’s Office Maj. Arnold Brown and Capt. Mark Raiche, two high-ranking Sheriff’s Office officials who were participating in the child abuse inquiry. The threats in question were posted by someone identifying themselves as James Taylor.

Although he denied making either threat when questioned by criminal investigators, Hand admitted to doing so when an internal investigation was launched early this year. A request by Investigator Michael Evans for a warrant to arrest Hand was denied in March by the State Attorney’s Office, which cited insufficient evidence to uphold second-degree felony charges of intimidating a witness and communicating a threat to law enforcement officers.

Hand resigned Jan. 29 as the internal investigation was ongoing and before admitting to making the threats to Perillo and his superior officers. Investigators reported he cited “hostility by my direct command,” as his reason for leaving the Sheriff’s Office, although agency spokeswoman Michele Nicholson said he left the agency “to go with FHP.”

The FHP hired Hand on Feb. 26. The report filed by the Sheriff’s Office, detailing findings that Hand had twice committed actions unbecoming an officer and had also lied under oath to investigators, was not finalized until mid-March.

The cover sheet of the report bears a note signed by Undersheriff Steve Harker. It requests that the Florida Highway Patrol and State Attorney’s Office be notified of the findings “for potential Brady/Giglio issues revealed as a result of the investigation.”

The Sheriff’s Office reported March 14 that “one count of untruthfulness” had been sustained against Hand following an administrative investigation. The document was turned over to Bishop at the State Attorney’s Office, and Hand’s name appeared shortly thereafter on the county’s Giglio list.

A memorandum on Sheriff’s Office letterhead, dated March 19, was sent to Capt. Ryan Martina of the FHP.

“It’s my understanding the Florida Highway Patrol hired one of our former deputies, Glenn Hand, who is now in training at your academy. When your background investigator visited our agency, he was notified we had an open administrative investigation,” the memo compiled by Capt. Robert Norris states. “The investigation is now completed and I believe the conclusion and findings are significant enough to pass on to your agency.

“We substantiated two counts of unbecoming conduct and one count of untruthfulness. The untruthfulness resulted from Glenn Hand lying to our investigator conducting (a) criminal investigation,” Norris, with the Sheriff’s Office’s Office of Professional Standards, reported to Martina.

When contacted by the Daily News in July, Pikul said the FHP had only recently learned Hand’s name had been added to the Giglio list “by another agency.”

Of the 37 names appearing on Okaloosa County’s Brady/Giglio list, 17 are former sheriff’s deputies. Hand and deputy Kenneth Taylor were added this year. Like Hand, Taylor, who was dismissed in May, was found to have committed a single act of untruthfulness.

Morris, who was arrested by the FBI in 2009 and his chief deputy, Michael Coup, both appear on Okaloosa County’s Giglio list. Both were charged in connection to a kickback scheme concocted by Morris.

Of the 17 past deputies on the list, 13 are included solely because they proved dishonest.

“DFC Cantwell’s actions of not telling the truth in a court deposition are unfortunately fatal to a career. ... His credibility is compromised,” the Feb. 8, 201,3 report of Deputy Jeffery Cantwell said.

Twelve names on Okaloosa’s list are Crestview police officers. Justin Reed made the list in February of this year. Then-Police Chief Tony Taylor reported an investigation “sustained findings Reed was untruthful in departmental matters.”

Most of the Crestview officers were removed from the Police Department following the racketeering trial of Joseph Floyd. Several of the officers let go by Taylor in the aftermath of the trial had testified under oath to falsifying reports at the direction of Floyd, Bishop said.

Four names appearing on Okaloosa’s Giglio list are former Fort Walton Beach police officers. Two, including Hogan, were released by Ryan and reported to the State Attorney’s Office after it was learned they had been disciplined by past city police administrators for untruthfulness.

A report documenting the dismissal and placement of Officer Trebor Wright on the Brady/Giglio Report states that, during an interview in 2016 with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Wright told his would-be employers he had “documented on incident reports that he field tested cannabis even though he did not.” Wright estimated he had lied about conducting field tests 15 times, the report said.

Although the county branches of the State Attorney’s Offices hold and maintain their own Brady/Giglio Reports, there is no state database charting those who appear on the lists, Molchan said, and the names aren’t routinely shared with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney General’s Office or any other agency.

News stories have documented numerous incidents across Florida through the years of police officers with unsavory backgrounds continuing to work as law enforcement officers. Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said that problem is particularly prevalent in more populous areas where unions are stronger and it is harder to make disciplinary action stick.

Molchan said background checks remain the best way law enforcement agencies have to ensure they find officers who don’t appear on someone’s Brady/Giglio Report.

FHP uses conduct unbecoming an officer in investigations. That could be any type of violation.
FHP doesn't care what that does to people. There might be a ton of troopers on these lists all over the state.

[Unregistered]

LOL, half of FHP should be on that list, any time an internal investigation starts all the troopers can't remember anything but they all piss ***** and moan out in the field about said investigation.

Once they get called in for their interview they develop amnesia.

FHP would be a far better department if troopers would just tell the truth.

Another funny thing that happens is when a trooper does tell the truth and it is not what the brass wants to hear all of the sudden the interview is stopped and ended. Then when they do their summary of all the interviews they ignore any interviews that were telling the truth and were stopped at that point.

The truth is FHP is a joke. So many liars in supervisor positions, and so many troopers who refused to have the integrity to tell the truth when called in to give a statement.

[Unregistered]

My freaking comment about Joel Clark was removed. WTF!!

[Unregistered]

My freaking comment about Joel Clark was removed. WTF!!

You probably shouldn't violate the terms of use when making a post so it won't get removed.

[Unregistered]

You probably shouldn't violate the terms of use when making a post so it won't get removed.

Sorry, I forgot that only citizens get held accountable. As long as you're still better than me...

[Unregistered]

LOL, half of FHP should be on that list, any time an internal investigation starts all the troopers can't remember anything but they all piss ***** and moan out in the field about said investigation.

Once they get called in for their interview they develop amnesia.

FHP would be a far better department if troopers would just tell the truth.

Another funny thing that happens is when a trooper does tell the truth and it is not what the brass wants to hear all of the sudden the interview is stopped and ended. Then when they do their summary of all the interviews they ignore any interviews that were telling the truth and were stopped at that point.

The truth is FHP is a joke. So many liars in supervisor positions, and so many troopers who refused to have the integrity to tell the truth when called in to give a statement.

Someone who has been around a while and knows how it really works.

[Unregistered]

LOL, half of FHP should be on that list, any time an internal investigation starts all the troopers can't remember anything but they all piss ***** and moan out in the field about said investigation.

Once they get called in for their interview they develop amnesia.

FHP would be a far better department if troopers would just tell the truth.

Another funny thing that happens is when a trooper does tell the truth and it is not what the brass wants to hear all of the sudden the interview is stopped and ended. Then when they do their summary of all the interviews they ignore any interviews that were telling the truth and were stopped at that point.

The truth is FHP is a joke. So many liars in supervisor positions, and so many troopers who refused to have the integrity to tell the truth when called in to give a statement.

Point me to some investigations that I can request, please! If the documents contradict the video or otherwise prove someone is lying, I will gladly feed that to the media so that FHP can't try to sweep it under the rug. I always follow up as well. Check out my most recent video where a Trooper catches his cruiser on fire after going 140+MPH. It'll be on the news probably tomorrow. I think he's still on probation.

Johnsmithflorida850@gmail.com