LOUD AND CLEAR!

Our post Morale Buster, posted at 11:27 A.M., seems to have been properly, and quickly, received by the powers that be over at the SAO.

Despite meetings for all ASA’s back in May to discuss legislative pay raises which left many prosecutors we spoke to with the impression that they were being told there wasn’t any extra money to be distributed to ASA’s in the middle (the “compression” issue), Jeff Marcus sent the following email at 12:41 PM today:

Is it a flip/flop, or has something changed?  You Make the call!

Email from May concerning ASA meetings:

Lastly, a word to anyone interested in the pursuit of justice in Broward County:

JAABLOG PLEDGES TO STAND AND FIGHT NO MATTER WHAT THE FLORIDA BAR AND OTHERS LIKE THEM THROW OUR WAY!

 Screenwriter Dudley Nichols

“Break up the printing presses and you break up rebellion.”

CBS 4 – Thanks to Carey Codd for giving credit on Gina Hawkins story …

“Bill Gelin, attorney and blogger with JAAB BLOG, which broke the story, spoke about the allegations … “

169 thoughts on “LOUD AND CLEAR!”

  1. 27

    1

    So if no Jaablaw post re: Miami SAO would there hVe been no Broward SAO e-mail today. Bill for Gulkin.

  2. 0

    0

    Wow. Wonder what that’s all about. Election? Double Dipping? Save $$ for more Double Dipping? Or maybe they “are restructuring the office to become more streamlined” or something vague.

  3. 0

    0

    the adage put your money where your mouth is really applies in this situation.

  4. 18

    0

    CONTINUING TO DRAIN THE SWAMP
    BROWARD HAS A RADICAL DRAINAGE PROBLEM

  5. 14

    0

    Let’s see how good they do in getting them raises when they are working on the fly. Sounds like they’re in panic mode to keep people from walking. Two weeks is an interesting amount of time to get this out to the herd of restless ASAs looking elsewhere.

    “Just keep the herd in the pen long enough so we can feed them before the slaughter. “

  6. 8

    -2

    I have a suggestion going forward—when you refer to Sarahnell Murphy on the blog, refer to her by her full name. Not just sarahnell or Murphy. Why? Google searches. Everyone thinks that she’ll get elected because the condo associations and all the other voters who aren’t court house people won’t know about all this behind the scenes shit. And they’ll like her when they meet her and they’ll vote for her. We need to use her full name so when they inevitably google her very unusual name, they’ll see all these posts and comments about her, the dynasty she is meant to carry forward, the favors she’ll owe the double dipping brigade, and of course, her terrible horrible no good very bad husband.

    1. 8

      0

      Yes!! Could not agree more! (And thank you for letting us come to your Ted talk!)

    2. 5

      -2

      Pathetic.. sounds like you’re intimidated by her, so you want all the lies and garbage posted on this rag you to come up in a search. Is that all you’ve got?
      And really.. her “terrible horrible no good very bad husband”… are you 13 or just an uneducated moron? My guess is the later.

  7. 8

    0

    Good to see Judge Bailey at Hispanic Vote tonight. He was well embraced. Anyone who is thinking about running against him should think twice.

    1. 12

      0

      Which Bailey? The one that is reversed on appeal all the time, or the sweet potato guy?

      1. 19

        0

        Colonel Dennis invites all you people to enjoy his special blend of 719% more jail time than white folks.

        Southern fried justice – it’s finger lickin’ good!

        1. 16

          0

          After Trump jumped on board with prison reform last month, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) relented in his opposition, and other Senate Republicans joined in overwhelmingly passing the First Step Act. The bill seems a good bet for passage in the House and Trump’s signature.

          The package isn’t as robust as the most ardent reformers wanted, but it’s significant. It reduces mandatory sentences. It cuts 53,000 years off existing sentences. It addresses the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine. It emphasizes reducing recidivism. It got 87 votes in the Senate, which is almost unheard-of these days.

          And the Democrats are focus on other things.

    2. 8

      0

      Lol- hilarious. He showed up with Judy Stern. If he wasn’t losing before, now 75 percent of downtown ft Lauderdale will come out against him. Who wants a judge with Judy Stern in their ear.

  8. 14

    0

    Who’s working on the article covering the PDs office?? That really is an embarrassment.

  9. 11

    0

    Hey Broward, quit whining.
    Clowns can only make so much working at a circus.

  10. 8

    4

    Lets give the office a few days to let ADMIN work on raising not only our pay but the salaries of our hard working secretaries to that of Miami Dade. I’m very hopeful it will be done!

    1. 16

      0

      If Jeff finds money for the raises the question remains…did it happen because it is election time and they want to avoid bad press or because they want to do right by their employees?

      1. 26

        0

        They would only give raises because it was exposed. They had no intention of giving raises because it was the right thing to do.

  11. 15

    1

    Thank you, Sheila, since Broward support staff did not get the email regarding Dade’s email to the entire staff.

    1. 18

      1

      Support staff are the backbone to this office. we couldn’t do our job without them!! They truly need and deserve raises

      1. 37

        2

        At least I don’t lie about being a lifelong democrat! And, I don’t hide behind anonymous! For me this race isn’t about party affiliation. It’s about justice reform, and standing up for what’s right. We need to get behind the person who has integrity among all else, and a leader who will go to bat for his or her employees.

        1. 16

          1

          Agreed. I think it is much more refreshing that you are not trying to hide the fact you have always been a Trump supporter. I think it sucks that others are trying to be deceitful about it. However, realistically, a Trump supporter is not winning a county wide race in Broward. You never know though. Once the primary is shut it would go to the main election and Sheila as a Republican would get all the Trump people. I do agree it is refreshing that you at least aren’t trying to hide and lie to the voters about being a Republican.

          1. 10

            1

            Perhaps. However I think you’d be surprised at the closet condo voter will “actually do”.
            One the one hand you got Murphy, middle of the road Democrat, with Williams as the Antifa Democrat.
            Most voters in Broward, don’t feel Israel should be boycotted or destroyed.
            Most of our Democratic party leaders do.
            If its the local Democrats that puts these leaders in power,
            the its the local Democrats that want to boycott Israel.
            How does one reconcile?
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0brzWlSvQFY

  12. 18

    1

    Sorry, but we all need a little humor. Sorry if I offend anyone. I know everyone needs raises. For everyone who says they are riding the train to Miami SAO. I heard this song this AM and thought of our situation, but I really am hopeful everything will work out.
    https://www.bing.com/search?q=come+on+ride+the+train+and+ride+it&form=WNSGPH&qs=AS&cvid=38f8b47a8e434090af40d90ff6ed9d47&pq=come+on+ride+the+train&cc=US&setlang=en-US&nclid=323F953F818251739D2B38F4DBA8609C&ts=1564669035921&wsso=Moderate

      1. 19

        0

        WE BELIEVE IN LEVITY
        AS BROWARD JUDGES WE KEEP THE BROWARD BIG TOP FULL OF CLOWNS SO NO ONE EVER GETS BORED
        JUST NO QUIZZES ON THE LAW
        WE BELIEVE IN SPONTANEOUS REACTION THAT KEEP THINGS INTERESTING AND THE JQC BUSY

    1. 7

      -3

      Is today a day off? Why are you blogging on state time Sheila?
      Murphy is going to get upset.

  13. 12

    4

    When Saranell Murphy becomes the next Broward State Attorney she’s going to have just two words for Sheila ALU…..YOU’RE FIRED !!!!🏃🏃🏃🐯🐯

    1. 11

      1

      Thanks for the heads up Bye Bye Sheila Alu. When I get back from my vacation I will now 100% get involved in this election. I hadn’t made up my mind yet who to support, but you’re attempt to intimate me led me to see the light. NO one should be intimidated with a threat to loose one’s job for taking a position or getting involved in any election. We are lawyers. The brightest of the brightest. We all spent years in school and vowed an oath to stand up for what is right. To all ASA’s don’t let anyone intimidate you like Bye Bye Sheila Alu has tried doing. I have ALWAYS have stood up for what I believe in. Your attempt to intimidate me just motivated the hell out of me. GAME ON!

      1. 14

        0

        “brightest of the brightest” That’s hilarious!
        [Self} esteem in nice … (Millennial)?
        No factual evidence for the group…
        Much evidence to the contrary. (Volumes).
        Step out once in a while, travel a bit. and take a look/see.

      2. 13

        1

        Far more powerful have tried to mess with Alu and lost. Welcome to the club.

      3. 6

        0

        Someone posts on an anonymous blog that you’ll be fired and you find that intimidating? For all we know, the boogie man or the tooth fairy posted that.
        Wow, for someone who has so much education….you’re kind of an idiot, huh?

          1. 5

            0

            She probably doesn’t negotiate with psychotic terrorists.

            1. 2

              0

              Referring to employees asking if they will keep their jobs after someone said they wouldn’t isn’t very productive. How about she just answer? No one at the office (except for her double dipping friends) is voting for her.

              1. 3

                2

                It amazes me the amount of attention that my colleagues give this blog… anyone who knows Sarahnell, knows that she isn’t going to be sucked into this useless nonsense and drama. Unless you’re not doing your job, why would she fire you? Maybe you should get off the blog and be a better employee, then you wouldn’t have to worry about being fired.

                1. 6

                  1

                  Then why wouldn’t she just text Sheila back? Tell her not to worry. I think she is worried about this blog- because it’s the one place people can say what they really think about her.

                  1. 2

                    1

                    Meaning they can trash her behind her back? It’s cowardly. And if you think for one minute that 99.9% of the shit you read about her isn’t lies, then you’re more naive that I thought. And let’s say she did text back, someone would have twisted her response… they way I look at it… she’s damned if she does and she’s damned if she doesn’t. It’s sad. She doesn’t deserve this backstabbing.

                    1. 3

                      0

                      If she texted back- “I didn’t write that- I’m not firing people for supporting who they want” it would have shown good character.

                2. 6

                  0

                  Yeah you should be happy with the crumbs I feed you while I’m working you to death paying you shit while I let my department heads double dip and deplete my budget. Just suck it up you malcontents. Now vote for Sarahnell and get back to work!
                  Monica

      4. 3

        1

        Alu. can you say, “psychotic rant?” Get on some meds. You are toxic waste Satz buried in case filing. Those who respond to your poison are just as morally corrupt. 

    1. 9

      0

      Texas? Ohio? As Warned, False Flags A Flying. Be vigilant.

  14. 13

    1

    How much is Satz paying the ASA for his new Integrity unit. 90,000 a year??And he’s still going to say there’s no money in the budget for raises?

    1. 7

      0

      there IS no integrity no shatz integrity orifice. that’s what donnelly defied when complaints arrived and he maliciously denied.

    1. 5

      0

      LET THE JURY DECIDE WHILE WE TRAIN OUR DUMMIES TO MAKE A STANDUP COMIC SHOW OF OUR COURTS

  15. 46

    1

    Rydell has filed. He’s a good guy. Now that I know Sarahnell is going to fire anyone who doesn’t supporter I say anyone but Sarahnell!

    Teresa Williams is Having a meet and greet at Michele Butros’s house on August 16 at 6 PM. Anyone interested in meeting this candidate give me a call I’ll give you the specifics. You can find my cell phone number on our employee list.

    Don’t let yourself be bullied or intimidated!!

    1. 3

      2

      Did she tell you she was going to fire you? I saw you posted a text to her. You texted by 6:30PM and posted that she didn’t respond to you by 7:30PM. Isn’t that a little unfair? Maybe she was busy. Wait till she responds before you trash her.

    2. 24

      3

      Call him out: “Politico” gummie bear Josh is double-dipping with Satz. Directly from the horse’s mouth — Josh had a conversation directly with Satz before the ignorant Broward Beat slanted puff piece, indicating that he (Rydell) would keep Satz and his team, including Jeff Marcus and Carolyn McCann, on SD Case if he wins. Contrary to the BS he’s toting around the courthouse, handing out money promises like lollipops…just like a typical politician. Experienced only in the budget of a one-man law firm. The cronies on the commissions and the mayors don’t run the accounting of any municipality, they just try to spend it. He certainly is not a prosecutor. He’s never prosecuted even a misdemeanor case in his entire short legal existence. Notice he took down his website…. Experience? Nope. Qualifications? Nope. Joshy, I thought you were running for PD? Lol. Anything to try to go to Tallahassee, right? “Passion” my ass!

      1. 21

        0

        Trough seekers are’t gonna find it as easy as they think. Bad Broward Judges have brought so much attention to Broward County that its gonna take more than a bunch of the regular BS to win over voters ! Those that have had their noses up their bosses butts are going to be at a disadvantage as voters have caught on to the hype that accompanies the hypocrisy,
        All incumbents had better be lining up their standby positions because the crap’s going to hit the fan as competing trough suckers try to nudge their way into the public pocket using a different strategy, possibly the only one that will win, and that’s called trash the competition, and for a lot of good reasons after I’ve seen the losers lining up at the trough so far.

      2. 29

        1

        Lol
        We just have seen Rich surface his anger on a new candidate

        This race is anyone but Sarahnell

        ANYONE

        SHE IS THE INSTITUTION

        1. 2

          1

          “Rich says – you belong in an institution if you think anyone else is going to win this race other than a Sarahnell. LOL”

      3. 5

        1

        Josh, you might as well run for sheriff, you’ve never even made an arrest either. LOL

      4. 3

        0

        Can someone please tell me where the next ASA17 slumber party is?

    3. 17

      2

      Rydell, good luck with your Ahearn smear campaign. Your scruples are on the same level with your roommate, Johnny Weekes. Good luck with that. That’s all you got. If you won, would you even have a public corruption unit? Who would you be beholden to? LOL. I guess we’ll just wait to see who your host committee is.

      1. 16

        2

        Rich we know you’re chomping at the bit to come back to the SAO but you have no hope of coming back working shoulder to shoulder with the ASAs who have integrity because your wife has no prayer. You can blog on this blog making up stuff about the other candidates. You both are sell outs you Trump loving pathetic loosers. Go ahead and mortgage your house and deplete you kids college fund trying. We may be smiling in your wife’s face but we plan on voting for anyone but her!

        1. 20

          0

          TRUMP WINS
          THESE ORBS DON’T GET IT
          BROWARD IS AN ANOMALY FEATHERED BY CONDO CLOWNS FOR FREE TOOTHBRUSHES

          MURPHY WON’T WIN SA EITHER
          WE DON’T NEED A SATZ BARBIE DOLL

      2. 0

        0

        LOL too bad he isn’t using Ahearn. But keep spreading your incorrect assumptions.

        1. 2

          1

          Who cares who he’s using.. he’s insignificant. A wannabe politician with zero experience in prosecution and barely any experience in being a lawyer. He doesn’t stand a chance.

          1. 4

            8

            Anyone that actually knows him, knows he’s a great guy and a great trial lawyer. Hate to break it to you, but prosecutors become defense attorneys and defense attorneys can become prosecutors. Crossing the aisle isn’t difficult. He’s a more experienced lawyer than several candidates and doesn’t have the stench of the current administration. Sounds like a win to me.

            If he can run an entire city, I think he can manage running SAO17.

            1. 2

              0

              Ridiculous; he only runs his mouth like any politico wanna-be. Municipalities are not “run” by part-time revolving-door bickering figureheads. No experience. How can he effectively supervise veteran prosecutors when he has never even prosecuted a misdemeanor. How many trials in the last 5 years? Thought so. What a joke!

            2. 1

              0

              Willy Wanker and his Umpa want to control the Factory. Sorry Tim Donnelly, no more public corruptions unit.

              1. 2

                0

                Oompa loompa doopadee do….I’ve got another promise for you….

  16. 29

    1

    The POINT IS… Satz and Hoffheinz told ASAs trying PBL first degree felonies that they’d only be making $1k more than a brand new county ASA trying a DWLS. Further, when asked how that was fair, the pair responded that the ASAs should just suck it up (essentially). As a result, a drove of experienced and reasonable ASAs with half of a brain got out. Unfortunately, as a result, the office, and perhaps more importantly defendants/defense bar, have been left with incompetent and inexperienced ASAs who can’t secure a job outside of the government sector. I hope you all realize how this raise issue has effected much more than just the starving ASA who can’t make rent every month while handling +600 felony cases. This effects everyone in the criminal justice system.

  17. 57

    0

    WE CAN SAY AND DO ANYTHING WE WANT AS LONG AS ITS NOT CAUGHT ON TAPE

    17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT HAS HAD MORE JUDGES RESIGN, REMOVED AND FACE PUBLIC REPRIMAND THAN ANY OTHER JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA

      1. 32

        0

        BROWARD JUDICIAL CIRCUS 🎪 RINGMASTER

        MY SPECIALTY IS THE SHELL GAME

    1. 37

      0

      We will revise this the end of the year, it’s from last year.
      Palm Beach and Miami-Dade are now making the list.

      HEY JQC and FSC
      Have you not yet tired of Broward county?

      South Florida Corruption.com

      1. 9

        0

        are these just the ones they investigated, or all of them including the ones they refused to?

        1. 16

          0

          The numbers reflect actual charges filed by the JQC, as ones investigated without charges filed are not made public.

          Note:
          The numbers reflect the number of “charges” filed for each county, not the number of judges disciplined.

          Some judges had more than one case filed against them, Broward being one of them.

          1. 5

            0

            and that is their great way to cover up and conceal the worst offenders as well as conceal their true function to protect the worst judges, instead of protecting the public from them. I know for a fact that Gardiner had at least one compliant filed regarding her outright felony criminal misconduct that was quashed, long before one finally took. that’s why the JQC needs to be investigated by FDLE.

            1. 7

              0

              We are interested in how this can be changed and working with anyone willing to change that. If a common citizen has a police complaint made against them, it’s immediately public.

              Why should judges, (ELECTED OFFICIALS), get special treatment. VOTERS HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!

              Question:
              If someone other than a lawyer files a JQC complaint and then releases it to the media, what retribution could the JQC bring against that individual other than not moving forward with the complaint.

              Never heard of Contempt of JQC. Don’t think they have any jurisdiction over any “private ” individuals.

              It would appear that in the case of JQC vs. John Doe, 1991, the FSC actually encourages the release of these complaints.

  18. 5

    0

    Is it just me or does this guy look as retarded as he sounds? His head looks like a pumpkin stuck on a stick.

  19. 19

    1

    DEMOCRAT IN NAME ONLY SATZ CAN’T COME BACK TO WORK WITHOUT HIS REPUBLICAN BASE

    STOP SATZ AND HIS DOUBLE DIPPING GAMES ONCE AND FOR ALL

    SAY NO TO HIS TRUMPERS IN DISGUISE THAT HE SUPPORTS

    CLOSE THE PRIMARY AND CHANGE THE CULTURE

  20. 28

    1

    Satz never took the PDO offer to plea Cruz because if he did, his pals would be off the payroll. It was never about justice but $$$.

  21. 16

    1

    Monica talked about the corporation before Parkland. It wasn’t a secret. It just wasn’t clear at that point that satz knew he couldn’t win. Start requesting all contacts by Monica Hofheinz with RSS solutions that predate 2/14/18. Request it from the company not from her and argue that it ought to be accessible under 119. They won’t fight you if there isn’t anything. She probably used her personal email not her office email. Idk about you guys but I hate liars.

  22. 16

    0

    THE QUICKER THIS RASPING OLD BAG IS SHOWN THE DOOR THE BETTER FOR OUR NATION

  23. 2

    6

    Sheila Alu needs to start packing up her office NOW because….. SHE’S GOING TO GET FIRED. BYE BYE SHEILA, YOU’RE FIRED.BYE BYE .

    1. 17

      0

      Dear Gov. DeSantis,

      Thank you for getting rid of Sheriff Scott Israel.
      Thank you for firing the 2 SOE’s of Broward and Palm Beach.

      The PBSO is currently arresting whistle-blowers, through its court contractor honey pots.
      Thank you in advance for investigating all of the handlers.
      The Palm Beach County Schools Provided Children For Epstein.

      1. The Palm Beach County Sheriff Provided Cover For Epstein.
      2. The Palm Beach County Courts Provided Power for Epstein.
      3. The Palm Beach Clerks of Courts Provided Internal Frauds.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMgP2gcoDCk

  24. 18

    1

    JUST IN : EPSTEIN FOUND DEAD FROM APPARENT SUICIDE IN NY JAIL EARLY THIS MORNING
    DEVELOPING…

  25. 46

    1

    Judges in Broward are used to having their way one way or the other. Watch your back because you never know when one might sneak up on you. Broward Judge Hawkins just got caught on video and then denied it. Its better to always tell the truth. You’d think she might have known that being a Judge.

    Watch out for dimly lit hallways.

    Broward Judges really are a breed all their own…

  26. 14

    0

    Epstein’s dead? Whew!! That was a close one.
    I’ll start the shredding evidence, altering police reports, then we’ll notarize our lies as true.
    Our court clerks are equipped with a State Of Florida Seal.
    Thank you for your concerns.

    1. 16

      0

      Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s Live Stock Auctions – From Russia With Love.

  27. 16

    0

    Maybe they should shred the fake police reports where we scribbled out the LE agency, and fabricated an event to gain jurisdictions with a fraudulent 12.980t form against those who complain. That was the whistle-blowers can be stigmatized and discredited using our intrinsic frauds.

    We should do this before Gov. DeSantis decides to have William Barr audit our false scribes unit, and discover our child trafficking paper trail.

    1. 2

      5

      Jeff Colbath & I were classmates & graduated from Nova 1982. Melanie May was a year ahead & our Legal Writing mentor. I was in Palm Beach early one morning 20+ years ago, stopped by Jeff’s chambers & we reminisced & had a few laughs. Just a heck of a nice guy. Now we’re both on the far end of the bell curve. Good luck Jeff! Speaking to Palm Beach old-timers, who remembers Judge Carl Harper? Palm Beach’s version of Dan Futch.

      1. 6

        0

        I always liked Colbath. He was my favorite for years.
        I’ve been in his court a dozen times.
        I thought always he was a good judge with a great demeanor.
        until he covered up for Judge Colin and Judge Howard Coates. Its partially not his fault, He’s 2nd generation judge, and judicial corruption is likely a cyclical phenomenon. Once he covered up for Judge Colin and his piggish wife, I changed my view.
        Perhaps he was raised and groomed the good old boy way,

        Once a person victimizes children or the elderly, anyone who helps to cover it up, is just as much a scum bag as the ones committing the crimes.

        https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20180908/report-savitt-involved-with-corruption-collusion-of-judges

      2. 4

        0

        Nobody Beats Father Time?????
        Or, times are a changing?????
        He May Leaving Corruption County Because It’s Getting
        The 15th Circuits Mascot Jeff Epstein, is only the tip….
        Its Ready To Blow, And “Nobody” Escapes.

        Enjoy The Show.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akl_xVMOQBo

  28. 8

    0

    We applaud Mike Satz for his actions on this matter.

    State attorneys help to restore voting rights

    Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced on July 28 a plan to deal with the new law, which requires ex-felons to not just just complete their prison and parole, but to pay off all fines, fees and restitution before they get back their right to vote.

    Miami-Dade now intends to establish a “rocket docket,” in which judges will set aside some of those financial penalties. They’re able to do that because of a provision in the law that allows judges to “modify” a sentence by converting fines to community service hours or stipulating that some financial penalties won’t affect one’s voting rights.

    Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, in his own announcement on July 29, said that he is “encouraged by Miami-Dade’s approach to this issue and am optimistic that we can develop something similar in Palm Beach County that fulfills the promise of Amendment 4.”

    Broward County is doing something similar. “Court fines should not get in the way of voting,” Broward State Attorney Michael Satz said in a statement.

    And so is Hillsborough County, which includes Tampa. The state attorney there, Andrew Warren, announced a “rocket docket” allowing mostly low-level offenders to ask a judge to convert fines to community service. As in Miami-Dade, offenders who still owe restitution to a victim won’t be eligible for a waiver.

    From:
    https://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20190813/editorial-state-attorneys-help-to-restore-voting-rights

  29. 10

    0

    Chuck Shaw molested elementary children on the D.C. trips.

  30. 7

    0

    Snakes like Det. Greco will surface as Bradshaw panics.
    Greco is part of the 5% that will sell their souls for an opportunity to slither up to the third floor.
    95 % of PBSO corruption is located on the 3rd. floor.
    5%=95% , Trump and DeSantis and knows it.
    Let’s watch the $nakes at the zoo.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlel1caNtXE

  31. 0

    0

    Was this a cover up?

    Lurid sex claims against Ft. Lauderdale police major and the difficulty of coming forward

    By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org

    Fort Lauderdale Police Maj. Eric Brogna
    FORT LAUDERDALE POLICE MAJ. ERIC BROGNA

    One evening in mid-summer 2010, the 13-year-old niece of Fort Lauderdale Police Maj. Eric Brogna fell asleep in the bedroom of his six-year-old daughter, whom she was babysitting.

    Around 2:30 a.m., male hands pressing on her breasts jolted the adolescent girl awake. She quickly shifted her body and saw the silhouette of a tall man. “I turned on the TV because I was like freaked out,” the girl recalled three years later during a police interview. “So then I just stayed up the rest of the night.”

    She identified Brogna, who was the only male in the house that night, as her attacker, according to an Aug. 29, 2013 sworn statement the teen gave to Detective Jeff Payne of the Coral Springs Police special victims unit.

    “He touched me inappropriately,” she said.

    Even though Detective Payne believed the teenager was telling the truth, the Broward State Attorney’s Office declined in October 2013 to prosecute Brogna for lewd and lascivious behavior, citing a lack of physical evidence.

    Last year, Fort Lauderdale police internal affairs investigators probed Brogna for alleged conduct unbecoming a police officer. But after Brogna denied under oath any wrongdoing and accused his ex-wife, the girl’s aunt, of lying to get back at him, the charge was not sustained.

    The city’s Citizens Police Review Board, whose members included several current and former police officers, later accepted that finding despite hearing from the girl’s aunt that the family had “text messages, emails and photographs that contradicted the officer’s statements” and had not been given “an opportunity to provide this evidence,” according to the board’s April 2014 meeting minutes.

    Brogna, who heads the department’s administrative support division, did not return two phone messages and emails seeking comment. His boss, Police Chief Frank Adderley declined to comment, as did Brogna’s ex-wife Lynn Michelle Brogna and her two sisters, including the victim’s mother.

    DIFFICULT FOR VICTIMS TO COME FORWARD

    The criminal and internal affairs investigative files in Brogna’s case illustrate how uncomfortable it is for victims of sex crimes to come forward.

    Consider the case of Fort Lauderdale Detective Tim Shields, who is still with the department. On July 7, 2004, two women accused him of exposing himself and demanding sex from one of them, according to the minutes of a 2005 meeting of the Citizens Police Review Board and a 2006 Sun-Sentinel article.

    Shields denied the allegations even though a tracking device in his cruiser revealed he was at their house that day for 28 minutes. He claimed he was reading a magazine while conducting surveillance of a stolen car, but investigators turned up evidence that Shields wasn’t part of the surveillance detail.

    Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley
    FORT LAUDERDALE POLICE CHIEF FRANK ADDERLEY

    Broward prosecutors nevertheless cited insufficient evidence in declining to file criminal charges against him. Internal affairs investigators also cleared Shields in January 2005 of a conduct-becoming charge, recommending a one-day suspension for not telling dispatchers he’d gone back on duty at the time of the alleged incident.

    The review board, however, was troubled by the case and issued an opinion that the unbecoming conduct charge against Shields should have been sustained. “It doesn’t make any sense to me,” said then-board member Ted Fling, questioning Shields’ story. “It’s just insane.”

    Further, the board found that Internal Affairs detectives had violated the city disciplinary code by withholding the Shields case from it, the city manager and the public for nearly a year – long enough that its outcome, and Shields’ light punishment, could not be changed.

    The case against Brogna traveled along a similar path. His family troubles began shortly before the alleged groping incident in 2010.

    Lynne Brogna was married to Maj. Brogna at the time. Her twin sister, Dana Calvo, her other sister Jodi Hansen and their mother Linda Robinson later provided sworn statements that they caught Brogna masturbating at the dining room table after Thanksgiving dinner in 2009.

    According to her Aug. 30, 2013 sworn statement to Detective Payne, Robinson said: “I looked under the table, and he was masturbating and you could see the top of his penis.”

    On Oct. 10, 2013, Calvo relayed a similar account to Detective Payne: “I could see right under the table and he had his penis out. And I could see he had it in his hands.”

    When contacted by FloridaBulldog.org, Calvo and her twin Dana did not want to comment, stating they wished to move on from the ugliest chapter in their lives. They said Robinson and Hansen also did not want to talk about it.

    WIFE CONFRONTS HUSBAND

    Lynne Brogna told Coral Springs and Fort Lauderdale police she confronted her then-husband after being informed of the incident. She said in her Aug. 29, 2013 statement to Detective Payne that Brogna blamed his behavior on a combination of medications he was taking and beer he consumed during and after the holiday dinner. Lynne Brogna also retold her account to Internal Affairs investigators on Jan. 17, 2014.

    Lynne Brogna told investigators their marriage quickly fell apart after her niece told her mom and her about what she said had happened in 2010. In both of her sworn statements, Lynne Brogna claimed her husband never denied groping the girl.

    “Of course he cried and he begged,” Lynne Brogna said during her interview with Internal Affairs detectives last year. “I told him he needed to move out and told him he needed to get help.”

    Lynne Brogna and her relatives said fear, shock and embarrassment prevented them from immediately reporting him to law enforcement. They also told investigators that Brogna agreed to seek counseling if they didn’t report him.

    “There are a lot of reasons I didn’t,” Lynne told IA investigators. “I didn’t want to be embarrassed. I didn’t want my kids to be embarrassed.”

    Hansen, the victim’s mother, said she initially wanted to turn Brogna in as soon as she found out, according to her Aug. 29, 2013 sworn statement to Detective Payne. “Shame on me, I waited,” Hansen said. “I was thinking about my sister and my nieces. I didn’t want them to have to deal with any burdens.”

    Part of her also wanted to protect Brogna, Hansen conceded. “I was also thinking of my brother-in-law,” she said. “He’s a police officer. I didn’t want him to have any consequences. Maybe I could just quiet things down and pretend it didn’t happen, but it did.”

    By the time Brogna’s ex-wife and her family finally decided to file a police report, the divorce had been finalized and he had remarried. Brogna also told Payne and internal affairs investigators that her ex-husband lied to her about getting therapy and not drinking alcohol.

    DELAYS IN REPORTING ABUSE

    Delays in reporting sexual abuse are common due to embarrassment or fear.

    “It can take decades for some people to come forward,” said Jeff Dion, deputy director with the Washington D.C.-based National Center for Victims of Crime. “Victims feel no one will believe them especially when the perpetrator is someone in the family.”

    Still, while Detective Payne believed the now 18-year-old victim, he informed her mother that the delay was a problem.

    “The biggest thing that’s gonna raise a flag for everyone is why a three-year delay in reporting,” Payne told Hansen, according to her Aug. 29, 2013 sworn statement.

    Indeed, Brogna’s Fort Lauderdale defense attorney Mitchell Polay called the timing of the allegations against his client “highly suspect,” according to Payne’s narrative report.

    Polay provided Kristin Kanner, then the Broward assistant state prosecutor assigned to the case, with text messages and witnesses that purportedly supported Brogna’s claim that his ex-wife and her family were making up stories to get back at him.

    However, in her Oct. 31, 2013 closeout memo, written as she was leaving to take a new job as director of the state’s Sexually Violent Predator Program, Kanner wrote that Brogna “had to walk around the bed to [the victim’s] side of the room, so it couldn’t have been an accidental brushing while he was checking on his daughter (which is the first defense).”

    Still, Kanner identified several difficulties with the case, specifically noting that any admissions Brogna made to Lynne would be subject to marital privilege. The prosecutor also cited Polay’s argument that Brogna’s former wife was motivated by jealousy over his recent nuptials.

    “Again, another hard to surmount defense hurdle,” Kanner opined. “There is no physical evidence and no admissible admissions of any kind,” she added. “As such, there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.”

    BROGNA VEHEMENTLY DENIES WRONGDOING

    The internal affairs probe, completed on March 31, 2014, was even more favorable to Brogna. Unlike the criminal case, he provided a sworn statement for IA investigators.

    Brogna vehemently denied masturbating in the presence of his in-laws as well as fondling his then-niece’s breasts. Brogna claimed the allegations were part of his ex-wife’s “methodology and an attempt to control him.”

    “It was a blackmail tool that she attempted to tell me how I was gonna live my life,” Brogna said. “And I lived like that for three years until I couldn’t live with it anymore.”

    Lynne Brogna told IA investigators that she had proof Brogna was being untruthful. “It’s all in text messages,” she said in her sworn statement. “He can lie all he wants.”

    Backing Brogna up were Chief Adderley and Thomas Harrington, an assistant chief under Adderley who joined the Broward Sheriff’s Office in 2013.

    An Internal Affairs summary report says that on March 11, 2014, Harrington told investigators, “Brogna expressed his belief that his ex-wife was trying to make his life miserable by making some allegation about him touching his ex-wife’s niece.”

    Adderley recalled the same day Brogna telling him that Lynne had sent him text messages threatening to file a “criminal allegation against him if he did not sever his relationship with Eric’s now wife.” The chief said he advised Brogna to file an incident report with the Coral Springs Police that Lynne was trying to extort him.

    Adderley declined through a spokesman to talk about his statement or say why he gave Brogna personal advice about how to handle the situation.

Comments are closed.