I never thought I would swim in a shirt and tie.

February 7,2006, I was working evenings that day as we are scheduled to work evenings every six weeks. I grabbed some cases and headed out of the office to see what I could find to get into. Lt. Keough was my on call Supervisor and I loved working with him and for him. I told him as I walked out that if he needed me, just call me. As I drove through the west part of the county I heard on the radio as I scanned all the channels that they had an Aggravated Domestic Assault on the east side of the county. The suspect had fled on foot when the first deputy arrived and they were setting a perimeter to use the k-9 dog to track. I slowly headed that way just incase they needed some extra help. I was dressed in nice dress pants a long sleeve shirt and a tie. I always tried to dress nice while at work because it just looked professional. Some guys in the office refused to wear a shirt and tie unless they had too, but not me I loved it.

When I got to the area where the crime happened and the suspect had ran from it had been almost thirty minutes. I saw a slick top (car with no light bar) parked in an old abandoned store parking lot. I pulled up in my beautiful Blue Chevy Impala that screamed cop car all over it. Sgt. Joel Perez was sitting there in his slick top just listening to his guys run around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. Joel and I were zone partners when I worked E30 in patrol as he was the day shift unit that I relieved. Joel was a great man, but kind of lost his mind when he got promoted but that happens a lot. After listening to Joel and what had happened I told him that the suspect was outside of the perimeter that they had set up. I told him he needed to expand the perimeter, but he insisted that the perimeter was fine. I told Joel to have a good evening and I drove off.

Now I had taught perimeter control at agency specifics to the new deputies and I could clearly tell if thirty minutes had passed and K-9 hadn’t located him he’s either outside the perimeter or in a car way far away. I sat at the intersection of 45th street east and SR 70 which was the eastern part of their perimeter. I saw that there was a lot of cars at the softball fields so I had a description of the guy so I thought I would drive through and see if I saw anyone suspicious. As I drove through the park and the fields I didn’t have my lights on or anything. I saw this guy come running toward my car he was one of the players from the game and he was waiving his arms at me. I got out of the car and walked to the fence. He asked me if we were looking for a white male wearing blue jean shorts and no shirt and bald. Well it was exactly what we were looking for except the shirt he had taken it off I guess while he ran. The guy told me he saw him about 5 minutes ago running along the wood line towards the river. I thanked the guy and got back into my car and slowly drove that way.

I didn’t call anything in on the radio yet I just wanted to see for myself if I could see him and give a location myself. This way I could set the perimeter on top of this guy. As I sat at the intersection of Natalie Way and SR 70 the river was about two hundred yards to my left. I sat there with my window down listening because it was all thick brush and palmetto brush through there. Sure enough wouldn’t you know it I heard a lot of commotion coming from the wooded area, and it was coming at me. The only problem was there was an eight foot high chain linked fence between where I was at and where he may be at. Out of the thickness of the brush he appeared right at the fence line. As soon as I saw him I called in my location to dispatch. I knew it was a far shot but when he saw my car he stopped. I exited the car and challenged him at gun point to get on the ground knowing he wasn’t going to listen. Sure enough I was right he took off and I went right over the fence after him. The only down fall was the top of the fence when I put my hand on it to get over went about an inch into my hand.

My adrenaline was rushing so much that I didn’t even feel it except for a pinch. I ran into the bushes seeing that there were paths back there I could see brush moving ahead of me and I knew we were getting close to the river I started to walk incase he was expecting me to run in and try to ambush me. Just about that time I heard a big splash. I turned around and ran back to my car calling it out over the radio that the suspect had jumped in the river. When I got to my car I drove over to the bridge that crossed the river where there were around 6 deputies just standing up there watching the suspect swim down the river. I asked them if they were just going to stand there and watch him swim away and they all just looked at me. I ran down the embankment under the bridge and started walking the shore line until I had no choice to get in the water myself. I had a gun radio and hand cuff on me and my badge that was it. I radioed to dispatch that I was in the river with the suspect. I could hear a K-9 officer to my right yelling to me that he was coming to me but couldn’t get over the fence with his dog. The water was starting to get deeper as it was over my knees and coming up to my waist. I kept walking and the suspect was in the middle of the river swimming and I could tell he was getting tired and he started swimming toward the bank. Soon I was waist deep and only fifty yards from the suspect. I took my gun and radio off and threw it on the bank in a little opening patch. I then pulled my cuffs out and started walking down the suspect. When I got about twenty yards from the suspect he stopped and faced me and started punching his fist into his hand and was begging me to come after him.

I started telling the suspect that when I got to him I was going to drown him if he tried to fight with me. I must of had the sincere look of doing so on my face because he changed his demeanor. When I was telling him to turn away from me and put his hands behind his back the most beautiful noise came from the woods. It was a barking 100 lb Sheppard with sharp teeth and his owner. I handcuffed the suspect in the river and he started running his mouth as they usually did. As I was walking him out of the river I tripped on something and the suspect fell forward under the water for about five seconds. I stood him back on his feet and asked him if he was ok? He started screaming that I was trying to kill him. I looked up on the bank and the K-9 handler was just smiling shaking his head. I walked him out to where everyone else was at and they just stood there looking at me Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants, and deputies. I just looked at them and said “I’m glad CID could catch your suspect for you”

Little did I know I was sitting 100 yards from a planned Murder in Progress.

As I stood there on the sidewalk I kept thinking to myself that I couldn’t believe this was the fourth Homicide in the last two weeks. Not that I was surprised that it happened, but they were all at Hispanic bars. The scary part about the situation was they were doing the murders right in front of everyone and with high caliber rifles and weapons. I knew that the people doing the murders weren’t local guys, so my only other thought was these guys were being sent here to commit these crimes. I stood by and watched as crimes scene, video taped, and collected evidence at the scene. The medical examiner arrived and conducted their investigation and removed the body for the autopsy.

A couple days later I was sitting at my desk working on a couple cases when Sgt. Ramano walked up to me and asked me to come into his office. Sgt. Ramano was a great guy he really took good care of me, so I tried to do everything I could to help him out. Ramano told me that they had an informant coming into the office that they were going to send into the same bar where we just had the Homicide the other night. He explained to me that they were going to wire him so they could listen to his conversation. Ramano told me that he wanted me to check out an unmarked car and head down to the bar and run some tags in the parking lot. I asked Ramano if there were any specific tags we were looking for and he said “no”. Looking back at it now I like to think that he just felt comfortable with me in the area of the bar. I asked Ramano if I needed to take my Swat gear with me, and he said he told me that I wouldn’t be there long.

As I was walking out of the office Detective Debbie Kirkland walked up to me and told me she was going with me. I was grabbing my take down duty vest and black t-shirt that said Sheriff on it. I got the undercover car out of the garage and drove around to where Debbie was waiting at her car. When Debbie got in the car and sat there and looked at her. She looked at me and said “what are you looking at?” I asked Debbie where her vest was at, or her gun, or her radio. Debbie said you got all of that, besides we won’t be there long let’s go. Now Debbie was in her late forties and had been a police officer for twenty years and was the most loving lady but didn’t take crap from anyone. So I just laughed and drove toward the bar. When we got to the bar we drove through the parking lot of the bar which was in a shopping plaza that also had a Circle K convenient store a hair salon and one or two small businesses. The bar was on the far left of the shopping plaza and there were around seven to eight cars in the parking lot area of the bar.

I was on the CID channel on the radio and I told Ramano that we had arrived and we were driving through the parking lot running tags. Ramano acknowledged on the radio and then beeped me on the Nextel and said that the informant had just arrived and they were setting everything up. Ramano told me that he would keep me updated over the Nextel what was going on and that after the informant left they were going to have a quick meeting and then they would be heading that way. Debbie and I found a used car lot across the street from the bar about 100 yards where we could just sit and watch what was going on at the bar and the whole shopping plaza. While we sat there Debbie and I did the usual laughing at each other and talking about whatever she brought up. I noticed a black truck pull up in the parking lot and three Hispanic males exit the truck. I looked at the tag through my binoculars and could see that the truck had Texas plates on it. When I saw the Texas plates on the truck it through up a huge red flag for me and I told Ramano over the radio. Ramano beeped me back on the Nextel and said that the informant had just left the office and was heading to the bar. I explained to Ramano that the fact that a truck from Texas with three males had just arrived at the bar and was a little unusual. Ramano said that they were listening to the informant in the office and they were walking into their meeting and would keep me updated.

After around fifteen minutes Ramano came across the radio telling me that the informant was pulling into the parking lot in a black car. I saw as the car pulled into the parking lot and watched as he parked and got out of his car. As the informant exited his car a bud light truck pulled up in the parking lot to deliver to the convenient store in the shopping plaza. Now to paint a better picture for you from where I was sitting the shopping plaza was shaped like the letter L. The long part of the plaza was facing us and she short side of the plaza was pointing towards us and the bar was at the end of the plaza. In between me and the entrance to the bar was 15th street east which was a very active roadway. Now with the Bud Light truck pulling into the parking lot it blocked half of the parking lot, but fortunately I could still see the part of the lot that I needed too.

The informant walked inside the bar and we just sat there and waited to hear from Ramano on what was going on or what he needed us to do. As we waited a big yellow truck pulled into the parking lot and it too also had Texas tags on it. Two Hispanic males exited the truck and walked into the bar. I just had this feeling in my gut that something wasn’t right with this situation. It was around twenty minutes when Ramano came across the radio and said that the informant had called them on his cell phone and said that he was nervous because there were some shady looking guys showing up inside the bar. Ramano beeped me on the Nextel and said something was going on because they had turned up the music in the bar so loud they couldn’t hear what the informant or any one else in the bar was saying.

Not even thirty seconds after Ramano said that the door to the bar flew open and the informant came running out of the bar holding his head. It happened so fast I didn’t even realize that it was the informant running from the bar. Suddenly Ramano was yelling over the radio “Fitz, Fitz, move in move in, they just tried to shoot the informant.” Little did I know as I sat there inside the bar they had just tried to execute the informant inside the bar? They asked him to play pool and when they started playing pool they turned the music up really loud. The informant walked away into the bathroom and that’s when he called Ramano on the phone and told him about the guys showing up at the bar and they were acting weird. The informant went back out and wanted to leave, but they wouldn’t let him they wanted him to play a game of pool. During the game the informant bent over the table to take his shot and felt someone move in behind him. The informant moved his head to the side to turn around and look and that’s when one of the guys that showed up in the trucks from Texas fired a round at the back of his head point blank.

The informant was hit but it was a graze wound on the side of his head and he pushed the guy and ran away out the front door. As I watched the informant run out the front door he ran across the parking lot. I lost him as he went behind the Bud Light truck and then I saw him run behind a dumpster and hide. I drove out of the car lot and flew across 15th street into the parking lot of the shopping plaza. As I was crossing the road I saw one of the Hispanic males that were in the trucks from Texas walk out the door holding what looked like a black bag in his hands. Now remember I have Debbie in the car with me with no gun, no vest, no radio, and an informant that I have no clue on how bad his injuries were. I wanted to jump out of the car and challenge the guy walking out of the bar, and what I mean when I say challenge is come out at gun point at him. Instead I drove to the corner of the lot where the informant was hiding behind the dumpster. When I got out of the car I ran to the informant who was on the phone talking to our detectives. Debbie was asking for my radio, but I told her to use her phone I could see the informant was fine as he was bleeding a little from the graze of the bullet.

I turned and saw the Hispanic male that had the black object in his hand was at the black truck driver’s side with the door open. I told Debbie to stay there and I ran around the car and started walking toward the truck which was only 30 yards at the most from me. When I started toward the truck the Hispanic male looked up and saw me and closed the door to the truck and took off running for the bar. I tried to keep as many cars in between me and the bar because the windows were dark and you couldn’t see inside. I knew that the suspects of the murders had been using high powered rifles and I needed to find cover and wait for back-up. Now I can’t begin to explain to you the chaos that was going on in this parking lot. It all happened so fast yet it was in slow motion. I made it to the black truck and there were no more cars between me and the bar. I looked into the passenger side window of the black truck and I saw three handguns that had been wrapped up in a black shirt. So that’s what the Hispanic male was carrying out of the bar and I was sure that one of the guns sitting there had been used to try to kill the informant.

I laid my arms across the hood of the truck and pointed my firearm at the bar in case I took any fire from the bar or anyone else walked out of the bar with a weapon. The hood of the truck was so hot that I burned my forearms. I wanted to try to make myself as small a target as possible so I laid down on the pavement of the parking lot behind the tire using it and the engine block as cover. It was around 95 degrees that day and lying on the pavement of a parking lot that was black top in a black shirt black vest and black pants isn’t recommended. I got up and just used the hood to hold my position. I could hear sirens coming and a lot of them. I kept telling the responding units that we needed to get people to the back door of the bar so they couldn’t run out the back. As I stood there for what seemed like for ever I watched as patrol unit after patrol unit parked on 15th street about 100 yard from the bar. No where near where they needed to go and not only did they park there but they gathered there and stayed.

I was telling dispatch that I needed units to come to the front of the shopping plaza to take positions next to me and secure the bar. We also had a victim and another detective behind me that needed to be treated. I couldn’t believe that I was sitting there watching every unit that arrived was parking 100 yards away on 15th street and not one person was coming to the front of the bar with me. For a good three minutes I called on the radio for units to come to the front. I saw an unmarked Crown Victoria gray in color pull in next to me and Sgt. Dale Couch (Yes LT. Dale Couch) get out of the car with his shot gun and took a position next to me. Other unmarked units started finally arriving in the front parking lot, and K-9 units.

Other Swat team members arrived relatively quickly and did a quick entrance on the bar taking the occupants in the bar out front and on the ground. K-9 began to track from the back door to a local apartment complex where the dog led the handler and other deputies to an apartment door that had been kicked in. They located the suspects inside the apartment in a bathroom. The detectives that were working the Homicides responded to the scene to conduct interviews and obtain search warrants for the trucks from Texas. They tried to get me to do the search warrants for them, but this was one time that I had done enough for the day and I went home when everyone else got there.

Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, I don't think those were fireworks guys.

It was around 7:00 PM and we had just finished wrapping up a Homicide Investigation. Lt. Keough, Det. Bill. Waldron, and myself had been going strong since 10 AM. A guy had been stabbed to death during a drug deal on US 41 behind the old Publix shopping center. We were able to find the suspect and clear the case with a confession of the crime and we were starving. As we walked into Chili's we were ready to eat and relax a little and discuss the day. After dinner we walked out into the parking lot and were standing by our cars discussing what we needed to do Monday. As we stood there we heard "boom,boom,boom.boom,". Lt. Keough said, I don't think those were fireworks guys. Before anyone could say anything there was a female deputy yelling on the radio that there were shots fired and she had a car upside down in the median on fire.

We jumped in our cars and with lights and sirens blaring we drove toward her location which was only a mile away. When I pulled up to the scene I saw the car upside down and still smoldering as deputies put the fire out with extinguishers. Nobody knew what had happened, EMS and Fire arrived and the driver was pronounced deceased, and was also stuck in the car. It was a confusing scene because I was thinking to myself "where do I begin on this one". I was holding onto the hope that the car accident caused the death, then the Florida Highway Patrol would work the investigation. Then I heard over the radio "I got gun casing in the road down here"

I drove down to where the deputy was at and saw the casings on the side of the road. The casings were marked for collection and photographs. A deputy walked up to me and said "is this yours Fitz" I looked at him and just smiled and said "probably will be". The deputy said there were some witnesses up at the Shell station that saw what happened and they were giving statements. I drove up to the Shell and met with the witnesses. They all stated the same thing as I spoke to all three of them individually. They saw the car that was upside down now, stopped in the middle of the road. There were two guys standing on the passenger side of the car. As the witnesses drove closer the two guys standing outside the car began shooting into the car The witnesses told me the car drove off down the road and straight into a tree in the median and flipped over, catching on fire. The two guys doing the shooting got into what looked like a white truck and drove off.

When I got back to where the victim was at in his car, the fire department was still cutting the car apart to get him out. The Florida Highway Patrol was there and so was the Medical Examiner as we were waiting to examine the victim to start the investigation. After an hour of cutting the car apart the driver was removed from the car and placed on a sheet in the grass. As the Medical Examiner examined and rolled the body he stopped and looked at me and said "this one's yours Fitz". The Examiner lifted up the drivers right arm and showed me four bullet holes under the drivers arm pit on his side. I looked at Lt. Keough and said "I'm going to need some coffee

Now that I knew that this was my investigation my gears switched from being reactive to proactive. The only thing was I was already two hours behind. I started handing out assignments to other deputies on scene and some detectives. The first thing I needed to do was head back to where the casings were located in the road. I had already released the Bolo (be on the look out) for the white truck. The shooting occurred at the entrance of a mobile home park for a retirement community. I knocked on several doors attempting to see if any of the residents had seen anything. Nobody had any information that could help me out so I started walking back to the shooting scene. I heard a voice behind me trying to get my attention it was a guy that lived by the entrance. He told me that he had heard the gun shots and looked out his window to see a male running down the road.

He was unable to give me much of a description. I called the K-9 unit to respond to the scene to do a track. I knew we didn't have much of a chance but I wanted to cover everything I could. The K-9 tracked for over a mile on a steady pace until they hit a fence and then they lost the track. On the other side of the fence was SR 70 which was a very heavy traveled highway. The victim had been moved to the Medical Examiners office for the autopsy. The casings were video taped, measured, photographed and collected. The caliber of the casings were 9mm. When I went back to the car if had been flipped back over on it's wheels. The car which was a big part of the crime scene had been burnt and dismembered so I had the car towed to inventory it later. As I walked the around the car I looked in the backseat and saw a gift bag in the backseat. I reached in and took the bag out and saw there was a card in the bag. I just closed my eyes and shook my head when I saw the bag said Happy Birthday on it.

After the scene was cleared the road was opened back up. I was able to obtain an address for the victim and was gearing up to go to the house. I will tell you that there's not much harder than having to tell someone that their loved one was dead nor less murdered. As I made the 15 minute drive to the house I was thinking about the wounds to the victim. They were consistent with him putting his arm up in a defensive manner when they started shooting at him exposing his organs. I was wondering if this was a road rage incident, or if something else happened. When I got to the house it was in a very nice neighborhood. The porch light was on and I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. It was after 2am by now and I knew that whoever was inside was asleep. When the door opened up I took a big breath and introduced myself. A female answered the door and I asked her if she knew the victim, and she replied "yes, he's my husband"

I asked her if I could come inside and speak with her. As I walked into the house two children a male, and female walked out of their rooms. Their mom told them to go back into their rooms. I showed her a picture and asked her if it was her husband and with the 1000 yard start on her face she answered "yes". I placed my hand on her shoulder and told her that I was terribly sorry, but her husband had been killed. She stood there staring at me and then turned around and went straight to the kitchen. I saw on her face that she had just went into shock, as she started making coffee, but was putting kool-aid in the coffee maker. I went over and guided her out of the kitchen and asked her to sit with me.

I explained to her what happened as much as I could and she sat there and cried on my shoulder. I handed her the birthday bag that was in the car. I told her I just felt like I should bring it with me. She then told me it was their daughters birthday yesterday. When he left he said he was going to the mall to get her present since they had a house full of kids and he hadn't got her present yet. She thanked me and hugged me for bringing it home so their daughter would get the present. I set in the house with her for 2 hours talking to her and just being there for her as family members started arriving. I gave her my card and said I would see her later in the that afternoon.

I really had no leads to go on, and had an autopsy to attend in five hours so I headed home to get a little sleep. I knew I would be up for a day or two once I woke up and started hammering away on the case. A couple hours later I was up and hammering at the coffee as I drove to the Autopsy. I had a thousand things going through my mind on where I needed to start. I arrived at the autopsy and observed the Medical Examiner conduct his investigation. The bullets were recovered from the victim and collected to be sent off with the casings for analysis.

The investigation started out slow from the beginning and was continuing to got that way. I found out that the victim worked at a car lot in town so I went there to speak with them. I found out that they paid the victim on the side as he collected late payments for the car lot. The victim was a big guy and could see how he would be intimidating if he came to collect from you. I started wondering if he may have made someone mad by doing this. Then I found out that the victim had made a deal with a guy that had some friends in Mexico. The victim was given $100.000 dollars to get ten S10 pick up trucks and have them delivered to Brownsville Texas. The car lot owner said that about a week ago a cargo truck showed up to pick up these trucks, but they weren't there.

As I continued to investigate I found out that the trucks were for some guys in Mexico, but the victim had taken the money and gambled it away. When the guys from Mexico arrived to get their trucks again they weren't there. I knew right then and there that these guys from Mexico were responsible for this. It was very frustrating investigating this because I knew my suspect whoever that was had fled the country already, and nobody knew anything. I met with the victims wife several times and kept her updated on the investigation. Unfortunately I was never able to solve this case, and as every case it really bothered me. I had become very close to the victims wife and would stop and visit with her children and her even months after the case went cold.

I knew right then I'd never be a cop at the city of Bradenton.

Since the State Attorney had appealed my case after Judge Henderson had dismissed the charges, the DUI case had just been sitting stale for a couple months. Don was going back and forth with the state attorney on different items, preparing for another hearing if needed. April of 2009 I got a call from Don that it was over finally and to come to the office. I drove straight there and he showed me the documentation that he had just received from Judge Hawthorne who was the highest judge in the 12th judicial circuit. Judge Hawthorne had written a very lengthy synopsis stating that he concurred with Judge Henderson that all charges against me should be dropped. Judge Hawthorne stated that my civil rights had been violated and that the arrest was completely illegal, and there was never probable cause for the arrest.

The state attorney office faxed over the nolle prosse paper work stating that all charges had been dropped against me. I couldn’t believe that it was finally over two years later and it was finally over. I drove straight to Bradenton Police Department to see the Chief Radilowski as he had told me the whole time that as soon as I was clear I would go on the road. I felt like I had new life and was so anxious to show the Chief the paper work. When I walked into the Chief's office I showed him the paper work and the Chief just smiled and shook my hand and told me that was great. "That's great" I thought to myself. The Chief wouldn't even look at me as he sat at his desk. Right then and there I knew I would never work as a police officer at the Bradenton Police Department.

I had life again and I was more determined than ever to get back in a uniform. I started applying at places all over the state of Florida. Everyone at Bradenton PD kept asking me when I was going on the road. I I would look at them and just say with a smile "I'm not" they would ask me if the Chief said that? I would look at them and say "he didn't have too".

When reality hits it hits hard!!!!

 When I got home, I sat on the couch in my house all by myself. I made phone calls to family and friends. It was a rainy afternoon and I sat on the back porch watching it rain and still trying to comprehend what happened. Around 6:00 PM, I walked into the house and sat down and turned on the television to see this!!!!

 Manatee County Deputy DUI

What had seemed like a dream in some way, just became reality. " I would've stayed home" I remember when I said those words staring and Dale and Franzyk, I was choking back tears. My phone went off as I sat there and I saw it was someone from work. I ignored the call and turned the television off. I walked out the front door and took off walking down the road in the rain. I walked about 3 miles and was back at the house  about an hour later, and I was soaked. I changed clothes and went and sat in Sydney's room in the floor just staring at her stuff. I just lowered my head and started crying. I yelled at God so loud my throat hurt. I blamed him for this, as I felt he had turned his back on me after I asked him to help me for so long. Now I can only picture God looking down at me and saying " My child you asked for my help, and I answered your prayer" Sometimes your prayers are answered, just not in the way that you would like. It took me 3 1/2 years to realize that my prayers were answered. I just had to finally give up to realize it.

A clearer picture.

Do I sin? Absolutely, I do everyday, we all do, but I try to live each day as sin free as I can and I try to make the Lord proud in everything that I do. You are going to have day’s where you can’t help but be down or negative that’s part of being a human being. It’s also the devil getting into your mind and hearts telling you things are horrible and they will never get better. My friend the devil walks this earth among us today. Satan is in many shapes and forms preying on the weak, the helpless, and even the believers. I always said as a police officer that I was a soldier for Christ.  I was a Sheep dog out there protecting his sheep from the wicked and I really believed that. Well now I’m a messenger for Christ and I’m going to deliver his message in any way that I can to the people that need it. Or to the ones who know him and just need that extra influence to submit to him.

I sit here today and I chuckle a little when I look at everything that has happened in my life. I see and understand that it had all happened for a reason and it couldn’t be any clearer to me. From everyone that I’ve met to everything that has happened. All of the incidents haven’t just been a coincidence. It has been God’s plan and he’s doing the same thing in your lives as you read this.

I can't do this anymore!!!!

I can’t do this anymore Don, why are they trying to do this to me. Seemed like everyday I was saying those words to my lawyer. All I wanted was to move forward in my life and get some sort of normalcy. Don kept telling me to be patient and let him do his job. Bills kept piling up and Jack and Betty kept giving us the extra money we needed just to stay a float. I was embarrassed and ashamed to except their help, but was also appreciative. I had been moved to midnights as a dispatcher and I worked the 10pm to 6 am shift. It was good because I could pick some overtime up every now and then, but it also gave me a chance to spend my afternoons with Sydney. I loved it when she would crawl in bed with me in the morning and sleep with me. I knew I only had and hour or two before she would be pulling me eyelids up saying “daddy are you awake”.

Don called me one day and told me that he needed me to get to his office as soon as I could. When I walked into his office Don looked and me as he stood behind his desk smiling at me. “I FOUND IT” Don yelled at me, I found the hole in their case that we needed. I just sat there looking at Don. He sat down and he said ok let me explain this to you. Don had piles of paper work on his desk that related to my case, not including his other cases. Don had recently done depositions on all the witnesses and individuals involved in my case.

I sat there and just stared at Don with a big smile on my face. Don told me that his assistant was already typing up the paper work to send to the state attorney and the clerk of the court for a suppression hearing. A suppression hearing is a hearing in front of the judge where the defense argues that evidence and testimony not be allowed into the courts and or be used at trial. With what Don had found he was trying to get everything that happened that morning thrown out meaning the state attorney wouldn’t have a case at all.

 Judge Henderson called my case and I moved to the front of the room and took my seat at the defendants table with Don and Jimmy Delgado.  The deliberations began around 2:00 PM and one by one Don and the State Attorney in the case Rebecca Mueller questioned the witnesses. Sgt. Frank was the first on the stand, followed by Orval Walker, Mark Young and then Lt. Couch. For an hour Don ripped Dale’s testimony that he gave at earlier depositions to pieces. Everyone in the courtroom knew what Don was doing including the judge. Don was going after Dale’s credibility on the stand and it got so bad that Judge Henderson stopped Don in the middle of his questions. Dale sat there on the stand beet red with anger because Don had just made him look very foolish in front of a lot of people. Dale had made comments about me that weren’t true and had wrote things in his paper work about me that weren’t true and through the DMV hearing and the depositions that Dale had given to Don his stories had changed every time and now Don was tearing Dale’s statements apart on the stand.

Don and the State started arguing their case to the judge after 5:00 pm. The only way to describe the way the arguments went are “titter totter” one second the judge was on the defense side and the next minute he was backing the state. This went on for more than a hour as the state was throwing case law at Judge Henderson and so was Don. It seemed like everything Don had done was falling apart right in front of me as Judge Henderson ruled in favor of the state. I just shook my head and laughed as I listened to Henderson tell Don why he was taking the side of the state. Just then Corey Holmes came in the courtroom, little had I known Corey had been was sitting in the back of the courtroom listening. Corey used too be a Deputy for the Sheriff’s Office and had lost his job over unrelated matters. A lot of people didn’t like Corey, but I always got a long with him. Corey was now an assistant for one of the well known defense lawyers in town. 

Corey walked up to Jimmy Delgado and handed him some papers. Jimmy read them very fast and then stood up and yelled “your Honor may I approach” Judge Henderson allowed both parties to approach and Jimmy handed the judge the papers that Corey had given him. It was a recent from northern Florida that had the same circumstances as my case except the defendant wasn’t a police officer. It was a couple months old and the Florida State Supreme court had ruled on the case and found in the defense favor. Judge Henderson read the paper work and then looked at the state and said that it was clear to him now. Judge Henderson said he now found in the defense favor and all charges were dropped. The state did their best to argue their case and Henderson listened for a bit, then he said I find in the favor of the defense on all charges. Judge Henderson banged his gavel and got up and walked out of the courtroom.