PBA Asks For Grand Jury On Evidence Handling

By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: September 6, 2008

SEBRING - The evidence handling controversy involving the Highlands County Sheriff's Office just isn't going away.

A copy of a letter dated Sept. 4, from David Murrell, executive director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association Inc., written to State Attorney Jerry Hill was faxed to the Tampa Tribune's Tallahassee bureau late Thursday and forwarded to Highlands Today.

In the letter Murrell asks Hill to convene a grand jury "for the purpose of investigating allegations of evidence mishandling at the Highlands County Sheriff's Office."

The letter included an apparent news release (undated), stating the association has launched a formal complaint against the Highlands County sheriff.

"We are alleging gross incompetence by Sheriff Susan Benton in the custody and handling of evidence critical to prosecutions in Highlands County," wrote Murrell. "If a deputy were to mishandle or lose evidence of this magnitude, they would be terminated with cause. We feel an independent investigation by the State's Attorney is necessary to restore confidence in this agency."

Benton said Friday she has been working with the state attorney's office and an internal investigation of the matter was ongoing.

The internal investigation is two-fold, she said; the inventory process if it followed policy and industry standards as well as were any personnel in violation of the law or policies and procedures of the sheriff's office.

"Mr. Hill and I have been in communication as the evaluation of our evidence handling progresses," she said. "We will continue to talk and in fact will meet here next week to work out any remaining resolutions. Mr. Hill and I reassure the community that all efforts are being made to guarantee the integrity of the evidence process."

Benton said she received a letter from Hill dated Aug. 29, in which he expressed his continuing concerns regarding issues raised in the audit. Hill's letter included some of those concerns raised by the PBA.

Benton responded to Hill on Thursday, Sept. 4.

"Please forgive me, but I did not realize you were waiting for information from the Sheriff's Office, since we have been working closely with the State's Attorney's Office in Highlands County," she wrote.

She said she looked forward to her 9 a.m. meeting with Hill on Wednesday.

Benton wasn't immediately aware Friday of the PBA's letter, but then again, neither was Hill's office, according to spokesman Chip Thulberry.

When Thulberry was asked to comment on the PBA's allegations, he could not.

"The letter has not arrived," he said. "Clearly we cannot respond on a letter we have not received."

Mike Durham, the sheriff's general counsel, found it interesting that the letter got to the press before it got to the person it was written to.

The PBA cited a 13-page report written by Stephen Newell, who was a 30-year veteran in law enforcement hired by Benton as a part-time civilian to work on cold cases. His employment began on June 21, 2007, working about 20 hours per week.

He was later asked to lead a team conducting an inventory and audit of the sheriff's evidence storage rooms. He resigned in protest to what he called the "mishandling of the truth" regarding the inventory he conducted.

"Newell's memo was highly critical of past evidence handling procedures and listed specific pieces of evidence that were missing or improperly destroyed," the PBA's news release stated. "Upon receipt of the Newell memo, Sheriff Benton abruptly ended the audit and had staff rewrite the memo to 'sanitize' the conclusions critical of her agency."

"Benton could have accepted the findings of the audit and acted in good faith to restore credibility to her agency," said Murrell. "Instead, she sanitized the Newell report for political purposes and, thus, misrepresented his work to the press and the public. She needs to be held accountable."

Benton said Friday, a review of the inventory revealed many items listed as missing were actually there. She simply lost confidence in Newell's experience.

"He admitted to me that never once, in his 30-some-year distinguished law enforcement career, had he conducted an inventory," Benton said Friday.

PBA Deputy Executive Director Matt Puckett said Friday it got involved when it received information regarding the circumstances of Newell's resignation on Aug. 6 this year.

Durham said the PBA's move could be in response to recent efforts by some members to unseat the PBA as its labor union.

"Could the PBA be upset that the Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Sheriff Benton and there may be an effort to terminate the PBA's relationship with the members of the sheriff's office," said Durham. "After all the unions survive from dues-paying members. It appears the PBA has made this personal against Sheriff Benton."

Puckett said Friday that was not the case.

"As far as I know the officers are very satisfied with the organization," he said. "We just want to be sure that the sheriff's office is strictly following the letter of the law."

Joe Seelig can be reached at (863) 386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com .

Goes to show the lengths people will go to win the Sheriffs election. The building issue didnt work out, now the last issue is evidence. Pathetic!

You are pathetic!
This has nothing to do with the election.
This has to do with being held accountable!

[journeyman]

Disappointed is exactly right. It is all about Integrity.

Guest008 if you believe this nonsense is all about the Sheriff's Race you probably have a safe platform to stand on. I hope a good portion of this Sheriiff's Race will be about Integrity.

I hope this Race will continue to expose areas that demonstrate the unprofessional, lack luster abilities of this Administration that has been put in place to support the current Sheriff's Operations. Recently, there have been Letters to the Editor supporting the current Sheriff and the Administration. If the Authors of such, truly wrote those pieces of commentary then they are just being 'corn fed' like a hog to slaughter. If I was a betting man, I would propose that a 'Marketing/Public Relations' staff member found time for some creative writing, and solicited community members to pen their respective names to the creative commentary.

As for the idea that the issue of the 'New Building', and 'Evidence' are the only two pieces of Campaign material suitable for discussion on the Sheriff's Race, I beg to differ with you Guest008. There is still one more leg to this 3 legged stool. But, that is a STAFFing issue. AND, it will be discussed here.

It's ALL about the politics. What in the heck does PBA have to do with S.O. operations anyways? ever think of that? They represent the Officers (or Deputies) to make sure they get their due and have legal representation. So why so they get to dictate to the States Attorney as to what that office investigates?
I'll tell U why. They pissed off Newell and he left angry, for whatever reason. If he was a PBA member why didn't he just fight it? or was it because he was a civilian member and not able to sign up for the PBA? Who knows, but don't kid yourself by saying it isn't politically motivated. You really think those idjits writing to the Highlands Today aren't of the Grimming band wagon? of course they are. People are always jockeying at election time. Switching back and forth between sides to make sure theyre on the favored list of the winner. I wonder what promisses Grimming has already made to those behind him. Could it be that all of the haters that were dumb enough to burn theyre bridges are just hoping for a second chance by going after Benton again? Please don't try to convince me that think kind of stuff doesn't go on cause you'd just be kidding yourself. And don't tell me "no no no Mr. Grimming is above all that". Because frankly I don't know the guy and I would be surprised if most of the haters behind him even REALLY knows what he's about. Revenge, plain and simple. Not to mention the Highlands Today paper is not a "cop friendly" paper. Everyone knows that they have theyre own adjenda.
I think the real shame is how evil this damn site is. It might be here under the premise of people in law enforcement sharing thoughts and ideas, or even talking about concerns that the public has. But somewhere it has gotten twisted hasn't it. People here do nothing but disrespect each other and bash each other, all under the premises of anonymity. That my friend IS pathetic. Ya'll should check yourselves. If I was the public at large and ready what we say about each other here I would HAVE NOOOOOOOO faith in the agency. You think I would call for help the same people as I ready here talking like stupid little children arguing on a playground?

This is directed to disappointed and journeyman. This tactic will backfire just like the moving of the current sheriff before the last election. This has nothing to do with integrity and everything to do with B.S politics. This my friends, has brought your campaign to a new low that will not go unnoticed on November 4th.There has been no cover-up and there has been no wrongdoing. What there has been is a lot of hard work by a lot of devoted people to fix some problems that were brought to the Sheriff's attention. If you don't believe me, ask the evidence staff about what they have been doing for the last few months. I can assure you it's not covering something up. Of course, you won't and you will continue to claim that your conspiracy theory is valid. Here's a prediction, assuming Hurricane Ike doesn't affect our area, Jerry Hill will arrive, look at the allegation, assess the validity of it, and find there is no merit to it. The idiotic statement that this is not political is hardly worth a response, but I will. First, Steve Newell is neither sworn or a member of the PBA. Second, the information was delivered to a newspaper before Jerry Hill's office. Third, the PBA knows that there is the reality that they may be decertified. Fourth, it is not a secret that Grimming has been tight with the PBA because of Ouverson and Jones, and he is looking for an endorsement. I could go on and on but I will stop here. It was obvious by the BCC meeting the other night that the Grimming camp lost out on the new building platform. By the looks of the three sweat hogs that have alligned themselves with him, he might want to run on the premise that all his confidants will eat free in the Jail dining area. Thats worth a couple of votes right Warren and Robert ? Your staffing argument has no merit just like your first two attempts at the apple. The morale issue doesn't appear valid because of the support for the Sheriff at the Board meeting. Don't forget, that turnout was only with an hours notice. Try using a legitimate issue such as overspending (can't use that one because of same budget for 3 years), crime out of control (can't use that one because of hard facts such as UCR, number of affivavits submitted, number of arrests, huge percentages in the increase in violent crimes arrests), traffic issues (can't use that one), staffing (can't use that one because of new positions added), drug use rampant (can't use that one, look at all the publicity with the marijuana grows), technology deficiency (really can't use that one), detention issues such as problems with the jail and overcrowding (can't use that one), pay (can't use that one), poor benefits (can't use that one). Again, I could go on and on. What does that leave to attack? Nothing, so you must invent issues. Best of luck in finding a legitimate issue to attack. The fine members of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office have all had a hand in making the agency what it is. Hell, even the disgruntled ones get the credit. I am not going to proof this becuase it is too long so I apologize for the spelling errors in advance. More to come I am sure

There are actually issues that have not been discussed. The Sheriff has been informed about deputies being in violation of policy that warrant termination and has covered these facts up and not even reprimanded these individuals. I only know of a couple myself but I know there has to be more that I didn't hear about. Deputies have been named by judges, attorneys, and other reputable people to have knowingly participated in illegal activities. You may be thinking that this is a case of 'protecting your own'. I do beleive in that also, but not to the point where it jepordizes your own job or the safty of the other deputies. When there are bad apples you throw them out and pick new ones. There is absolutely no reason to protect deputies that comit domestic violence, take drugs, and drive drunk. Also, the previous administration had its faults but Howie did not tolerate cheating on your spouse, bankuptcy, or using you badge to get personal favors in the community. This sheriff has allowed all of these things to occur and is aware of it going on and approaches them with the attitude that if it doesn't effect them coming to work that it is ok. I believe that we should be held to a higher set of standards than the people we incarcerate for commiting the same offenses.
Thats my input on this issue.

Now THAT is a good point T.T. I don't like that mess either. You do have to acknowledge that the Sheriff did step up and make at least two notable firings of people that obviously stepped over the line. I believe one of which was a boating while intoxicated violation and the other was a violation of a certain data base system we use ( I won't put any names out there as I would respect those persons privacy). And yes we all know the ones that have been swept under the rug. One female in particular that I will also keep nameless.But we work in a highly political organization that our wonderful news paper loves to keep in the spot light ( I absolutely hate the fact that they use the officers / deputies names so much in their articles ). Political pressure must be a *****, but the biggest mistake was probably in hiring that person in the first place. You know the drama that comes with that persons last name (whole family apparently being fubar). I personally would have told her daddy that in an effort to avoid any furture problems it would be best if she gains employment in another county (Polk / Desoto / Hardee / etc.).
Is it possible that the Sheriff's main fault is that she is TOO trusting ? Which might just set her up to be stepped on by those she thought had her back? who knows. All I do know is that we are a far better agency than what we were 4 years ago. We have our problems but then again last I knew we do not live in a Utopian society, there will always need to be problems to be worked out. The Sheriff has probably been under more pressure during the last 4 plus years (counting the last election) than most of us could imagine. I have alot of respect for her, whereas I know NOTHING about Grimming. No offense to him but I need to know more about the man. All I know about him right now is that the dude has a whole team of people working for him that have an axe to grind and treat this as a personal vendeta. They could give a $Shit who was running against her, just so long as it is a way to hurt her. If the company that man keeps is a precursor to how this agency is run yall better watch out now, because I guaran-damn-tee yall we might be in for it.

Falls on Deaf Ears, Good points, but if you have doubts about him why not ask him? Go to his website and email him. He will let you be anonymous if you choose and he will call you. I highly doubt he supports a few rogue, ex-employee's, who are creating trouble. I for one want to know what all candidates have to offer for the better of the county. There is always someone better and with more experience, not saying this is the case. Regardless of who I vote for, who I like or dislike, I do not support these people who are making our agency look bad by name calling, etc. Its funny how there is an advertisement to the left "Theology Review". I think we all could use some of that.

Well said and very non-biased opinion. Ladies and gentlemen, we have "human beings" working for and with us. There is going to be mistakes made, both minor and serious. The notion of things being swept under the rug is hard to understand. Poor Lieutenant Garcia barely has time to go to the bathroom. There have been people terminated and whenever you see a deputy in plain clothes, and they are not on light duty, recent history dictates that it isn't very promising for that person. Adultry occurred during Howie's tenure, it exists today, and it will exist in the future no matter who the sheriff is. The other candidate certainly has the credentials on paper, but other than his tenure in Illinois, he doesn't stay anywhere very long. In his resignation letter to FHP, he said he couldn't deal with the "good ole boys" politics anymore. Take a look around at our county commission, the ones trying to get elected, clerk of court race, and so forth. The "good ole boy" network is everpresent. What is he going to do here if he couldn't take it there? Furthermore, this recent ploy with the PBA and evidence is totally out of bounds and dirty politics. When Newell left the HCSO weeks ago, he made the statement "see you guys next year." It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out. Read the sites like Hillsborough County, Sarasota County, North Port PD, FHP, and endless others, this same crap is going on there also. Keep the faith!

Question?

WHERE DID NEWELL COME FROM?
WASN'T FROM THE EAST COAST AND WASN'T HE TIGHT WITH SOMEONE IN THE RANKS? :?:

Question?

WHERE DID NEWELL COME FROM?
WASN'T FROM THE EAST COAST AND WASN'T HE TIGHT WITH SOMEONE IN THE RANKS? :?:

Remember- questions do not get answered on this board. Only insults get hurled by braniacs like "Guest LEO" that come off the edge of the bat. Just like the question in the Grimming thread of WHO was "let go" that is not a Grimming camp member. No one answers (spelled right) that question. They make it as if there are dozens of ex deputies that are all telling RG their "personal tradgety" and are now a devout Grimming supporter cause they feel "wronged". Again......who is that again?

They moved on. I guess some are angry at them for that.

But the question still stands- WHERE is this evidence? Destroyed? Lost? Whatever! Ok- now WHAT is being done about it? When evidence is missing and it appears to not be taken very seriously, then hell must be raised. Call it a political move all you want. Answers are needed--- ACCOUNTABILITY....... Imagine that.

[quote="Question?":377zfdy3]Question?

WHERE DID NEWELL COME FROM?
WASN'T FROM THE EAST COAST AND WASN'T HE TIGHT WITH SOMEONE IN THE RANKS? :?:

Remember- questions do not get answered on this board. Only insults get hurled by braniacs like "Guest LEO" that come off the edge of the bat. Just like the question in the Grimming thread of WHO was "let go" that is not a Grimming camp member. No one answers (spelled right) that question. They make it as if there are dozens of ex deputies that are all telling RG their "personal tradgety" and are now a devout Grimming supporter cause they feel "wronged". Again......who is that again?

They moved on. I guess some are angry at them for that.
[/quote:377zfdy3]

Lets see... not to name names, but we have the pervert, the angry wannna be traffic cop, the rumor producing detention deputy and mr boats without pants... those are some I know have met with and dished out how wrongly they were treated for extreme violations of policy or laws in general.

Lets see... not to name names, but we have the pervert, the angry wannna be traffic cop, the rumor producing detention deputy and mr boats without pants... those are some I know have met with and dished out how wrongly they were treated for extreme violations of policy or laws in general.


Which one is the traffic cop?

I personally get tired of hearing the term it's politically motivated, when someone raises or comments on an issue. OF COURSE IT IS.......but in this circumstance one should ask who is playing politics. I think both sides are. It appears to me that the Sheriff played politics with the results of the inventory. Releasing the truth of the matter or the 13-page report would have certainly been damaging to her political future. The Sheriff apparently chose to sanitize the report and present the partial truth to the public. Had she been forth coming with the media and the public this would have not become the hot potato that it has.

I understand that she ordered the inventory, not her republican opponent. What’s fair is fair, the Sheriff opened the door.

the report wasn't sanitized, it was put into the proper format according to industry standards. The problem is you haven't seen the report so shut ti until you do. then get ready to eat some crow.

the report wasn't sanitized, it was put into the proper format according to industry standards. The problem is you haven't seen the report so shut ti until you do. then get ready to eat some crow.


Everybody has seen the report, the 13 page and the 5 page, moron

Let's see if Jerry Hill's Grand Jury prosecutor goes after this with the same gusto as they did against former Polk Sheriff Dan Daniels. Wrong is wrong. If there is incompetence on the part of Sheriff Benton, or anyone else, let the facts speak for itself. Although Sheriff Benton is a politican, Jerry Hill needs to take the politics out of this matter and just seek the facts.

I guess that evidence approach didn't work out well did it? Kind of sucks when they find stuff Stevie Wonder, I mean Steve Newell reported as being "missing". I'm sure glad I'm not a PBA member whose hard earned dollars went to mail out propaganda that proved to be false. Put a band-aid on it, don't scratch it, and it will not scar!

Guest of the year,

Not only are you stupid, but you must be blind as well. How can you say the evidence audit is fine and call Newell "Stevie Wonder". I read the "Sheriff's Office" report on line on the Sheriff's Office web-site. I believe it was somewhere around page seven (7) if my mind serves me correctly, but we are still missing the same evidence as Newell reported. Not to mention forty-eight (48) other pieces. We look like a bunch of idiots, and the Sheriff looks like a bigger idiot and LIAR. I especialy like the response in the paper "we have a 99.7 percent clearence" well dumby, .3 percent of 33 thoudsand pieces of evidence is a lot of shit missing. Good try though guest of the year. You have proven yourself to be truly a moron. Go hide and stop shaming yourself. I think I'll wait to hear from Jerry Hill' office. LOSER, LOSER, LOSER, LOSER, LOSER. I hope I hurt your delicate feelings. Oh, by the way, if cadidates did not debate issues such as this, why would there be the need for elections. Your probably a Tim Mahoney lover too. If your going to make comments on here, please do them intelligently and stop making a fool of yourself.

HaHa~
I agree with you, dumby [sic]! Or not.

Dear Ha, Ha,

I guess you can't read. If you took the time to read the report your boss, her mouth piece and a couple of other more intelligent officers wrote, you would find that there are about 93 pieces of evidence missing. You also are missing a very important point, which is that the evidence was signed into the Evidence Locker and it is not there. It doesn't matter that some of the extracts, samples, etc., might have been found elsewhere, nor does it matter that cases are closed. The most IMPORTANT FACT is that the evidence wasn't where it was suppose to be. If you are a real LEO, you might know about the chain of custody, or maybe you didn't learn that important function. The smoke and mirrors won't work. THE STUFF IS MISSING........... and not UTL.

Also, the report fails to recognize that almost ALL of the hundreds and hundreds of marijuana plants from most all of the grow houses is now mush, totally unrecognizable!! Better read the quote by a supervisor that appeared in the local newspaper. Yea...... most of the defendents received "probation or community control". Yeah you are right again...... I'm SO proud major felonies went to probation. GREAT JOB!! Those make great stats. Whether you know it or not, most all of those defendents and attorneys will have to be noticed of problems with their cases (evidence) which could cause a good back log for appeals.

And the same goes for all the DNA evidence missing for sexual batteries, robberies, etc. And how would you feel if you were a family member of a unsolved homicide(s) wherein evidence that might be critical leading to an arrest, and it is gone or the chain of custody is lost.

Ha,Ha,...... I sure hope you become a better officer than what you have proven so far!!

I think the joke is on everyone. :snicker: The truth of the matter is, no matter if the evidence was present or missing. The state attorney's office, cuts so many deals or just chooses not to file the cases that the evidence wont make a difference. So for all of you b@@@@@@g about the evidence get off the politics, because this is not about the evidence this is only about the elections. Lets all just get together and sing kum-ba- ya. If we wouldn't have done the accredidation process we would have been still doing evidence the same way even if we got a new sheriff. By the way wasn't the evidence done the same since Howie was here. Nobody complained then. I know why nobody complained, cause back then people didn't do police work and collect evidence. Now if we get a new sheriff whatever his name is, hope he doesn't implement the citezen review board he's talking about. It'll be nice having civilians judging and telling you how to do your job. It's so wonderful knowing the PBA supports him, when they are against citizen review panels. Gosh they can't make up their minds. Well everyone have a nice day :P