Honesty takes a holiday
This case came across my radar today. It involves the case of a LEO driving a patrol car and striking a pedestrian. Apparently, Brevard County uses two people patrol cars and, well . . . I’ll let you read the rest and draw your own opinion.
County Judge Kelly McKibben acquitted a Brevard County sheriff’s deputy whose patrol car struck and killed a pedestrian last September.
In her seven-page judgment for acquittal, McKibben wrote the state could not prove Vincent Marino-Vitani was indeed the person driving the patrol car when it struck and killed 65-year-old Henrietta Strong on State Road 520 near Wilcox Avenue in Cocoa.
What this means is that a LEO refused to step up and take his or her medicine. It was a patrol car, so an LEO must have or should have been driving it.
“Florida Highway Patrol did not find Marino-Vitani, who was on his way to work, to be at fault in the death.
Other than the fact that the defendant was on the scene, there was no other evidence to prove he was the driver of the vehicle”
Who the hell else would have been driving the defendant’s car to the defendant’s place of work?
Dear Sheriff Parker,
I just read about a case where the State was unable to prove who was driving a patrol car belonging to BCSD at a particular time.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110811/NEWS01/108110329/Speeding-charges-dropped-against-Brevard-deputy-involved-pedestrian-s-death
I find this to be outrageous from several aspects. First, is the public to believe that you, as Sheriff, don’t know who is driving your official vehicles on official business? Second, since the State Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Departments (in general) are supposed to be working together to solve and prosecute crimes, for one to work against the other seems counterproductive at best. Third, do you typically employ people that refuse to step up and “take their medicine” when they suspect that they have done something wrong?
I do not live in your county and I can’t vote for or against you. Because of that, I don’t think it is normally proper to complain about things that happen in places where I am not a taxpayer.
I have to make an exception this time. It shocks my conscience and it should shock your conscience as well, to publicly admit that you have so little control over your employees.
Eric Vey
2340 Randall Rd.
Winter Park, FL 32789
Utterly disgusting. The article didn’t say, but I would hope the deputy in question was at least fired.
So he was charged with going 24 miles over the speed limit, but they couldn’t prove he was DRIVING THE CAR??? WTF….
Just wow. That’s beyond upsetting.
“there was no way he could have avoided hitting the woman” – except by driving the speed limit? Someone stepping into a crosswalk has every right to expect traffic is doing the speed limit when they make the mental calculations to determine if traffic can stop in time.
Unanswered questions abound on this. Like getting cited for speeding. Who signed the ticket? Hitting the lady. What does the 911 call record? This sounds like a coverup. The officer has a right not to incriminate himself, but the whole thing smells.