Sheppard's Letter

The blog was removed because the Web site used to attach the letter contained some very inappropriate ads and pop-up ads.

Thanks, MCS for removing the offensive site. It was not soon enough for me, however. 

New blogger, 1wordbreaksacodeofsilence, has joined other Taylor supporters Fastone, insider, adios, (to name a few) that we have seen posting scurrilous remarks about  the sheriff over the last few months. Never anything positive about Taylor, though. We all know that this will continue until Aug 26, Election Day.  It's no longer hard to connect the dots to Taylor and desperate campaign workers.

The site adios and 1wordbreaks directed readers to contained offensive pictures and pop up ads. Not only would it offend many, it certainly has not helped Taylor's cause.

Since when does an 8 page letter written from Defense Attorney Bill Sheppard who is trying to throw blame off his guilty client onto the police have any credibility? It also appears to show the state attorney in collusion with the defense attorney by asking Sheppard to "keep taking sworn statements".

Hmm... Why would a prosecutor ask a defense attorney to do that unless it was for dirty politics because the sheriff is endorsing Angela Corey and they want to try to embarass and discredit him?

After reading the letter, I looked beneath the surface of the self serving letter which did exactly what it was intended to do---get a murderer set free and earn a FAT paycheck for Sheppard. Shame on the State Attorney.

Adios, with supporters like you, I almost could feel sorry for Taylor. Thank you, however for helping me connect the dots. 

Pioneer;

I'm with you. I downloaded the document. Nice letter from a defense attorney. This is not 'proof'. It is one side of the story and we already know that the defense is not held to the same level of truth as the prosecutor.

Now I'm not particularly impressed by the SAO to begin with and not impressed at all by defense attorneys. So big whoop for the letter.

Take a look at where Taylor is getting his money and follow it back to its source. Law Enforcement all over the place. My guess is that some of them folks down there aren't happy that Ricky is peeing on their Union parade.

As to the Beseler Bashers, what can one say? If this is the best Taylor can get to support him he probably should seek employment opportunities elsewhere. I hope he hasn't given up his day job yet.

This whole crew (Adios et al) sounds more like the cast of 'Bring on the Clowns'. There may be some problems in the CCSO but I can't figure out how anyone could think that Taylor is going to fix it. If the FOP doesn't like it you can bet that it isn't going to happen under Taylor.

And I'm not sure I care a whole lot for the bunch running the local FOP whoever that is. They act like the old crowd re-incarnated under a fancy name. There must be a pretty big shed someplace that Taylor is using to make all those signs. I wonder where that is and who owns it?

If he hasn't been out here trying to distance himself from this bunch then he must be a party to what is going on. And this is not the type of individual I want in charge of CCSO. 

Mike Heemer

I was one of the many who voted against Sheriff Lancaster. I voted for Beseler for Sheriff. This time around I will not be voting for Beseler for many reasons. I have not decided who I will vote for but we have 3 candidates left to make a choice from for now. The candidate Ennis has placed his support behind Taylor. Anyone interested should make an effort to attend the debate this week to hear the other 2 candidates and see what they have to say.

I hardly think we should beat up on Bill Sheppard for doing his job. He gets paid to defend his client. Sheriff Beseler gets pay to run the CCSO and oversee his employees. His failure to lead the agency is the problems that allowed this man to go free.

When you start changing documents in a case a good defense attorney is going to drive a freight train through that hole sideways. I think we can see that was exacty what he did and this man goes free.

I think the State Attorney did the CCSO a favor by not taking this to trial because Mr. Sheppard would have made mince meat out of the Sheriff's Office. He would have humilated the officers, the Sheriff, and his agency. When on trial and the jurors hearing the officers changed several documents it would have had the same outcome. The Sheriff's explanation (lame excuse) in a court it was only done to comply with Florida Department of Law Enforcement requirements for crime reporting statistics. Well I don't see how that could fly but nose dive in to pure stupidity on the part of all involved.

A man goes free and a women is buried.

This is why we should look into abolishing the Sheriff's position as a constitutional officer and put them under the Charter. Let the county hire a professional law enforcement officer to lead the agency instead of a good politician.

Please, let it be known to the public, that I have no affiliation with any of the current citizens running for Sheriff, or any agency currently affiliated with these ongoings. My post of the documents is simply to inform and educate. And, therefore, should not be derived as an opinion of anyone. 

Actually I was supporting Ennis but that opportunity is no longer available. I like Gary Newman and I do not know much about Taylor. What I do know is that Sheriff Beseler took a very talented and effective agency and turned it upside down.This was accomplished through some of the most blatant "good ole boy" politics ever known to man.Bringing in 7 friends and giving them jobs which they are hardly qualified to hold.Example:Inspector (Hendry)- no duty assignment and no responsibility,Operations Major (Aldrich)- was once a city policeman in GCS, was a deputy at the CCSO for a couple of years, then an investigator at the SAO.  Took over all law enforcement operations (SWAT,Dive,FTO) except traffic and SRO, over 200 people with NO supervisor experience. Was introduced as the protege when the sheriff was sworn in, but later replaced by Terry LaCasse because he was ineffective and the sheriff hoped Terry could win the deputies over. Didn't work.Major Crossley (Jail)- best person brought aboard but had absolutely no experience in corrections. Turned all authority over to his captain and the result was a positive union vote and disharmony among the troups.Two Lts. The first had never been to a homicide scene until he went to one as the LT. in charge of homicide. The second was capable of his assignment but could not seperate doing the job and brown nosing to get noticed by the sheriff.SALO- Atyy brought aboard who is absolutely loyal but has given terrible advise since the day he arrived. Might know the correct answer but does not dare to givve advise without first knowing what the sheriff wants to hear. Very ineffective.Capt. of Invest.- very likable person with environmental and wildlife experience. Managed to take that experience and lower the clearance rate and bring about the debacle known as the Christy Fitzgerald trials (all lost).So, the letter from Sheppard which lists multitudes of mistakes and downright lies, is not the only factor in my desire to replace the Sheriff. The entire group is incompetent or at best not correctly managed or assigned.  Over three years and the agency is worse than it was. Speaks volumes as to the management.

How can Taylor keep the county from going under when he can't even keep his own kid out of trouble? Word on the street is he's been in trouble many a time. Can't we just get a good honest person to clean up this town?

Doc32;

I am certainly not a Taylor supporter as can be seen by my previous posts.

I didn't comment the last time you posted this comment because it was kind of buried and I didn't think it would be seen by very many people. My fault, I should have said something then.

I find your comment about his son very offensive and inappropriate. This is not about his children or the children of any of the candidates. I would not expect anyone to make comments about my children in my campaign to be the Chair of the BoCC and I certainly wouldn't make comments about someone else's family.

My opinion is that you can pretty much knock Mike Taylor all you want, but when you make scurrilous comments about his son you have crossed into territory that is not to be trod upon.

I may not support Mike Taylor but I have to respect his restraint in not responding to your comments.

Mike Heemer

I too have kept quiet while doc32 and pioneer have made scurrilous remarks about Taylor's child or children.  It is absolutely dispicable when adults would perpetuate rumors and inuendo to further their own political agenda.  I am with you, leave the children alone.  I see it as depserate attempts to support Beseler.

I am no Beseler fan.  I was originally an Ennis fan.  But, I don't have that option anymore.  Bottom line, I agree this is not about the children.  It is (or should be) about who can do the best job for our county! 

As for the Sheppard documents.  I too read those documents.  My problem is with the things Beseler admitted in his depositions related to this investigation.  I posted those quotes on a previous blog and I don't want to offend anyone by posting it again.  But, I am terribly concerned when reports were altered to cover incompetence.  I do believe that is corruption! 

I don't remember Pioneer making any remarks about Taylor's children. Pioneer has things to say just like we all do but if she said something about the children I must have missed it.

We are all pretty opinionated at times and Pioneer certainly seems to be a Beseler supporter but I have never known Pioneer to cross that line.

Mike Heemer

I understand your comments, Finder and pollwatcher. Maybe I should have reworded them, but I was trying to be sensitive. However, its not so much his child getting into trouble, rather when breaking the law, being "let off because of who his Dad is." THATS what concerns me in looking for a candidate to vote for. Is that what we want for a sheriff? Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Beseler fan either. For once, I want an honest person to run for the job and get rid of the "good ol' boy" system of politics.

I hear what you say and apologize for offending anyone. You're right. I wouldn't want anyone to hold anything over my kids' heads either. However, I can honestly say, my children have never been in trouble with the law and have never been let off the hook for who their Dad is.

Just my humble opinion.

Doc32, I respect your opinion.  It would bother me too if someone used their position of authority to protect another guilty of a crime no matter who that person is. 

I told you that I started out as a Leroy Ennis supporter.  I know him and others in the department.  So many in the Department are very frustrated and embarassed to see what some have attempted to do to Mr. Taylor's son for political gain.  It would boggle your mind. 

There have been many blogs written about it and as I have learned most were completely untrue.  I have done my homework.  The deputies know that these rumors are untrue as well.  It is sad that a teenager would be maligned due to halftruths at best or lies for political gain against his father.  I don't know who your source is, but mine is very close inside the Sheriff's Office and they have been very clear that the boy is a typical teenager.  One deputy told me that he knows the boy and his father and that the boy is an eagle scout, even.  He may not be a perfect kid, but who is?  I just think it is a shame to see a boy maligned like this.  

One thing is certain, this would not be happening to this kid or his father if his father were not running for Sheriff.  That is the thing that bothers me the most after speaking to deputies that know the real story. 

I would hope that responsible adults would at least do their homework before judging the boy or his father due to rumor.  Lord knows not everything on a blog site is true.

Like Finder, I commend the boy's dad for not reacting to the vicious stories and lies that have been told about him and his family.  Not sure he has my vote yet, but he has acted like a professional.  

Mr Finder, I hope I did that right.  Here is the story Pioneer not only crossed the line, but put out some absolute false statements about a young man that deserved better.  Attack the dad all you want, he entered a political race, but the boy is just a boy.

http://myclaysun.com/node/2487

According to the deputies that I spoke with that are very close to this case and know the boy, it was dropped for several reasons, it was NOT a felony, it was NOT a crime, the Sheriff attempted to single out one boy, the boy of the man running against him in the race.  No one else was treated as a suspect in the case.  I know several school teachers at the school that have also confirmed what the deputies told me.  One of the requirements of a crime is that the action be against a victim's will. 

There were 25 boys involved in this high school prank and they all did it willingly.  Some of the pranksters included family members of other high ranking police officials, school teachers and county commissioners.  Yet, none of their names and none of their children were persecuted.  In fact, one of the teachers told me that according to some of the statements, Mr. Taylor's kids were victims of the same prank last year.  Now, as a side note, if it really was a crime, the statute of limitations has still not run on their victimization.  But, no outcry to bring their offenders to justice...Mr. Taylor did not even cry fowl about that...  

To my knowledge Mr. Taylor has not lashed out or sued anyone for the many vicious things said about him or his child.  I don't know what I would do if people said those things about me and my son was not guilty of a crime.  I know it would bother me. 

I am all for spirited debate between different views and philosophies.  But, I am not interested in personal attacks.   We should expect better from ourselves.

Pollwatcher you should be ashamed of yourself to spread such inaccurate information. If your sources are inside the Sheriff’s Office I would evaluate their story. Did they investigate the case or are they just going on hearsay information that they heard at the water fountain? The Sheriff’s Office has so many rumor carriers and gossipers that is the only reason they come to work. A section called “Rumor Control” could be established just to manage the lies and mistruths that disgruntled employees spread in the agency daily. During the last election the rumors became so unreal about Lancaster it was a joke. The investigative report is available at the Sheriff’s Office records section. Make a request for a copy which will be edited of all juveniles names and get the real facts instead of giving incorrect facts. Look who the reporting party was and see if you see the Sheriff’s name in any of the reports or as the author of any reports. You can’t stand the truth so I doubt you would make the effort to get the real truth. If you believe the Sheriff or any other candidate for office would single out his opponent’s kid in an attempt to discredit the opponent you will believe anything. Most of us are parents and we can not be in the company of our kids around the clock and they will get into mischief. Politics 101 says you don’t attack the opponent’s family it’s a no no and a rookie running for office knows this.