Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 2-26-10
Note: Best of the Blogs is featured weekly as part of Progress Florida's popular free Daily Clips service.

Taxpayer’s American Express Card? Rubio Never Leaves Home Without It!
By Inkberries
Beach Peanuts
Fiscal conservatism. Tax cuts. Small government. Marco Rubio (R-West Miami) has based his campaign for the U.S. Senate on these issues.

Is Crist laying the groundwork for an independent bid?
By Peter Schorsch
St. Petersblog 2.0
Either Gov. Charlie Crist realizes he can’t escape the stimulus, or he’s leaning toward an independent run for Senate.

Florida meet the DREAM Act
By Juan Saaa
Progress Florida
Florida as a whole has seen a increased upwelling in the area of immigration reform lately, mostly in part from youth activists who have had enough of living in the shadows and are mobilizing all across the state to make a push to move the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act.

Ray Sansom Resigns to Avoid Ethics Hearing
By Beach Blogger
Pensacola Beach Blog
Northwest Florida state representative Ray Sansom (R-Ft. Walton Beach) resigned his seat at 8 pm last night rather than proceed with the state ethics hearing he had requested.

Florida as a whole has seen a increased upwelling in the area of immigration reform lately, mostly in part from youth activists who have had enough of living in the shadows and are mobilizing all across the state to make a push to move the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act.

A federal piece of bi-partisan legislation, the DREAM Act addresses the situation of students across the country who were brought by their parents at a young age, or fell victims to the significantly dysfunctional immigration system currently in place, and became undocumented as a result. If passed, such legislation would deem said students as “conditional” permanent residents which could eventually apply to citizenship, it goes without saying however, that the requirements to qualify are very specific in denoting who qualifies as a ‘DREAM’ student.

   Read More »

Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 1-22-10
Note: Best of the Blogs is featured weekly as part of Progress Florida's popular free Daily Clips service.

Why FL just got High Speed Rail
By NoFortunateSon
Daily Kos
As a Pinellas County native, I have been waiting 25 years for the announcement heard today: $1.25 billion would be granted for construction of a Florida high speed rail.

What's Crist to do (besides dropping out and endorsing Kendrick Meek)?
By Steve Schale
Steve Schale
If I had a dollar for every question I've gotten about the Crist campaign, just in the last 96 hours, I wouldn't be driving a seven year old car with 130,000 miles.

I suspect the new kid on the block is a bully
By Geniusofdespair
Eye on Miami
The only person who signed the Corporate papers (filed January 21st) for this 501c4 is Richard E. Coates, a Tallahassee lobbyist, who also happens to have as a client Barney Bishop's "Associated Industries of Florida".

CBS Tainting Super Bowl Broadcast
By Daniel Tilson
Progress Florida
In rolling out what they claim is a new policy to begin broadcasting "approved" paid advocacy group advertisements, the CBS TV network is clearly taking the sensitive, low-key high road - airing the first such spot during Super Bowl 44, being played Sunday in our South Florida backyard, with a few additional folks tuning in from around the globe.

Six amendments make the ballot
By Bill Newton
FCAN Blog
It will be another busy year for voters. The Legislature wants us to give up public campaign finance, and we have a chance to make Florida's election districts more fair and eliminate gerrymandering.

In rolling out what they claim is a new policy to begin broadcasting "approved" paid advocacy group advertisements, the CBS TV network is clearly taking the sensitive, low-key high road - airing the first such spot during Super Bowl 44, being played Sunday in our South Florida backyard, with a few additional folks tuning in from around the globe.

First one out of the box is an Anti-Choice propaganda spot from the Christian Right group, Focus On The Family. They have paid CBS 3-million dollars for 30 seconds of access to untold millions of viewers worldwide. Their ad features Florida college football star quarterback, Tim Tebow, telling a very personal story about his own family, a story I won't go into detail about here - but one that is already being questioned (rightly or wrongly I cannot say) all over the Internet for its full factual veracity.   Read More »

Pdf documents supporting statements made in my letter to Florida Today are available by e-mailing studio8@infionline.net and putting "pdf please" in the subject line. I'm too ill and tired to address how asinine an Innocence Commission is with a mainstream media promoting incumbent thugs and peacocks with ongoing, glaring omissions of facts (peacocks as in Haridopolos and Crist, and thugs as in Wolfinger and Moxley). Exonerees don't confuse compensation with justice; they want and deserve both. Criminal prosecutions are the most visible of all activities for police, prosecutors and judges; true miscreants show the full spectrum of their behaviors in matters that get less attention, as previously addressed in my blog about Executive Orders in October. Only a full-fledged federal investigation and criminal prosecution will address all the harm done.




From: Susan Chandler
Date: December 14, 2009 12:18:48 PM EST
To: John Glisch , letters@floridatoday.com
Cc: Governor Charlie Crist , cig@eog.myflorida.com, Debbie Mayfield , larry.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov, Senator Mike Haridopolos , atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov, jrusso@pd18.net, Norm Wolfinger , Scott H Maxwell , TCPalm Daily Newsbreak , Gretl Plessinger , Sandy D'Alemberte , mschlakman@admin.fsu.edu, "Barry Scheck, Innocence Project" , "Maddy deLone, Innocence Project" , Seth Miller
Subject: "Motion Denied in Dillon case" 12/4/09; "Lawyers call for a squad on innocence" 12/12/09, etc.

Dear Florida Today:

I write once again to document information that discounts Gannett's reporting.

Roger Dale Chapman appeared at William Dillon's compensation hearing in Tallahassee, ostensibly to apologize to Dillon for lying about him on the stand and support Dillon's exoneration compensation claim, but noticeably more concerned with claiming he'd been coached to lie by former Brevard deputy Thomas Fair. As Chapman wasn't due to be rereleased until February, I've requested contact information for the appropriate records custodians to get the facts surrounding Chapman's somehow getting out early yet again, apparently without supervision this time. It's more than a little suspicious for a dangerous career felon to continually get early releases.

Florida Today's December 4th article, "Motion denied in Dillon case," portrayed Fair successfully getting his "belief" on the record in Dillon's exoneration compensation hearings that supported State Attorney Wolfinger's spurious claims that Dillon was released on technicalities, belied by DNA tests, Chapman's lies, misrepresented evidence, witness intimidation, officer misconduct, the use of John Preston's phony scent evidence expertise, etc.

Florida Today allowed Wolfinger to state that he had investigated cases involving Preston after Wilton Dedge's 2004 DNA exoneration in "Trials in which dog was used to be reviewed" on July 25th, 2009. Wolfinger did no such thing; I've known this since November of 2008 through asking Wolfinger's records custodian for his list of Preston's appearances. There isn't one. Wolfinger's custodian wrote that I was requesting an investigation, and that I would have to pay for it.

According to Wolfinger's records custodian, no one from the media had requested a list. And that is not as bad as it gets.

Florida Today reported on December 4th, "Fair, in his affidavit, calls Chapman's testimony "slanderous, libelous and defamatory to the good moral character of myself, Investigator Dan Wilmer and Judge Dean Moxley." Hanging Dillon out to dry - Florida Today did not print any of its archived information about Wilmer, Moxley or Fair, information that doesn't support Fair's glowing character endorsements.

Dan Wilmer - perhaps there are two; one honest, one not. Florida Today challenged the Sheriff's office over Wilmer's denial of the existence of a memo linking a prostitute to another deputy, with that challenge proving that Wilmer lied, according to the November 1995 Brechner report.

Judge John Dean Moxley - whether he's goes by John or Dean, there's but one Moxley involved, and he has a low moral character. Florida Today previously reported that he helped prosecute Juan Ramos, Wilton Dedge and others using untenable trial tactics like those listed above.

Thomas Fair - according to Florida Today's October 27, 2008 article, "Ex-police tester says he got fired unjustly," Fair claimed he'd been dismissed for speaking up about financial mismanagement. It's feasible that Chapman's statements at Dillon's hearing were solicited to undermine Fair's credibility in fighting to get his job back; it's also feasible that Fair is playing along with a dark charade to get reinstated. The latter seems the likelier scenario; Moxley was the initial judicial assignment of Fair's employment lawsuit.

Florida Today's ongoing disinterest in its own archives and public records remains married to its determination to steer the course of events away from a rule-of-law resolution of clouded convictions, as further evidenced by appending Annette Clifford's comment to John Torres December 4th article, implying a Grand Jury investigation of Preston cases is appropriate.

Grand Juries conduct secret hearings with evidence and testimony requirements that are inferior to our courts. The public, nationwide, has been endangered by Preston's perjuries for close to thirty years. Secrecy is obviously not in the public's best interest when it leaves miscreants on the job and felons on the streets. When Preston's, Keith Pikett's and other DNA discredited dog handlers are scrupulously investigated, there will likely be a bloody body count resulting from putting the wrong men behind bars based on their "scent evidence."

Florida's Chief Inspector General is obligated by statute to initiate investigations of public misconduct; CIG Miguel has refused to do so and Gov. Crist hasn't requested her resignation for nonfeasance. Florida's Bar and Judiciary aren't self-policing themselves. Florida's Legislature refused to step up and check and balance the Executive and Judicial branches despite knowledge of the scale of false expert testimony, including Preston's testimony in the 9th Judicial Circuit resulting in Linroy Bottoson's execution that gives that district a vested interest in upholding Preston-tainted convictions and makes Crist's Executive Order Number 09-147 yet another untenable tactic deployed against Gary Bennett, unless - of course - Preston testified in every judicial circuit in Florida.

It's the FBI's job to investigate bogus scent evidence experts involvement in prosecutions, including at their behest. Through an issuance resulting from accepting a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus, the FBI can be compelled by the US Supreme Court to immediately adhere to its mandates. A Petition stands a good chance; one of my requests for an FBI investigation included reporting an Internet scam that abused the FBI logo; the FBI e-mailed a prompt response to the scam. Additionally, the FBI protected dogs ahead of men in investigating dogfighting operations in several states this year while men framed by canine scent evidence remained caged.

Florida Today's December 12th article, "Lawyers call for a squad on innocence," suggests that there was a "mistake" involved in Willton Dedge's prosecution, as if there could possibly be no malice behind pressing for "finality" - the bizarre Brevard prosecutorial pretense that innocence has an expiration date - to hide the deployment of Preston and the same coached jailhouse informant used against Gerald Stano, the latter fact omitted by Florida Today in its graphics, "Cases involving Preston." That snitch recanted, too, but Florida Today didn't connect the dots from Clarence Zacke to Chapman. Nor is there any attempt of record, to my knowledge, of Florida Today trying to find out who coached James E. Gilmore to testify against Juan Ramos, or any mention of the two inmates who testified against Gary Bennett.

Despite Gannett's contrary conviction, callousness is not contagious; those fighting for impunity for civil servants that ruined the lives of innocent men remain an aberrant minority. As the majority doesn't always remain silent and the US Supreme Court is unpredictable, Gannett would be wise to report factually before the finger-pointing Fair initiated becomes earnest. Relieving employees of being mired in misanthropic muck would undoubtedly be a welcome holiday bonus.

Regards,

Susan Chandler

We call District Attorneys "State Attorneys" here in Florida. And we have to stop.

There is no southern-steeped tradition that's worth risking that the United States Supreme Court misunderstand the role of key players when the Justices are formally asked to compel the FBI adhere to its mandate to investigate the cover-up of decades-old multiple malicious prosecutions that assured the reelections of miscreant civil servants - election cycle after election cycle - while keeping killers on the streets and innocents behind bars.

State Attorney Norm Wolfinger's behaviors contributed to my having standing to file a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus with the US Supreme Court to request that the Justices author an issuance that directs the FBI to immediately adhere to their mandate to investigate nationwide public corruption surrounding use of DNA disgraced dog handlers that affected the outcome of trials and elections.

Florida Today reported on August 2, 2009, "Wolfinger says he ordered an examination in 2004, when Dedge was exonerated, to identify cases "where limited evidence raised a question of actual guilt," and believes only four men in prison today meet that standard, and that at least three of the convictions are sound." ["Our views: Not good enough - Full investigation of state attorney's office use of fraudulent dog handler still needed"]

It's possible that Wolfinger made his 2004 list of those DNA disgraced dog handler John Preston testified against, checked it twice, and then threw it out, but I double-damn doubt it.

It simply doesn't jibe with what Wolfinger's records custodian Patty Crowell wrote on November 19, 2008 in response to my request for a list of cases Preston had participated in, "What you are actually requesting in your email is that this office conduct a research project."

Bill Dillon lost 27 Christmases with his family, Wilton Dedge lost 22, Juan Ramos lost five. There are many others that the Justices have to decide to compel the FBI to find and secure justice for, turning the tables of the granddaddy of Grinches - Norm Wolfinger - whose heart is more than two sizes too small. Wolfinger knew all about men like Ramos, Dedge and Dillon when he took office in 1985 and defied all that's legal - and all that's holy - to look the other way.

Keeping in mind that Preston is reported to have been involved in @100 Brevard criminal investigations, Ms. Crowell's words were ominous, "There is no list of cases that identifies John Preston as a witness."

Crowell notes that the Innocence Project of Florida and the Brevard/Seminole Public Defenders Office made the same request for a list of Preston's appearances. Period.

Crowell apparently received no requests from Florida's Chief Inspector General, Attorney General, Governor, Legislators, the Florida Bar Association, the American Bar Association or anyone in the media - not even wire services.

Having done no credible research, Florida Today loftily lamented in the final lines of the August 2nd opinion piece, "... the wheels of justice have turned slowly for the known victims of Preston' frauds. It's past time to find out if there are more."

While Florida Today works their Ouija Board, I'll keep writing formal requests for information and working on my Petition for a Writ of Mandamus.



Begin forwarded message:

From: "WEBMASTER"
Date: November 19, 2008 10:29:35 AM EST
To: "Susan Chandler"
Subject: Re: William Dillon 05-1981-CF-001746-AXXX-XX Status Hearing 11/3/08

Dear Ms. Chandler:

The address for Sandra Weeks is listed on a two page discovery document.
There is no list of cases that identifies John Preston as a witness.
There have been public record requests by the Innocence Project of Florida and the Brevard County Public Defender’s Office that sought information about John Preston, but they have also been advised that there is no list of cases. A copy of their public record requests are available and are a page or two in length.

What you are actually requesting in your e-mail is that this office conduct a research project. To create the lists that you request would require a hand-search of numerous case files and hours of review. As mentioned in the prior e-mail, the requester of such a search would be required to pay the hourly rate of the person who did the research.

Should you wish for the discovery document or the public record requests mentioned above to be copied and mailed to your, please contact Cathy Romans at (321) 617-7510 and she will verify with you the number of pages and the cost. Ms. Romans can also coordinate with you should you wish to review other documents that may be available for inspection that you could review for some of the information you are requesting be compiled into lists.

Patty Crowell
State Attorney's Office, 18th Circuit

Republican political opportunism.  That, in a nutshell, is the Sunshine State’s worst and not so well hidden tax burden.

Two stories that broke in recent days help highlight the shameful mess that the Florida GOP has made of both the state’s economy, and its tax code.

Some will object to such finger pointing, claiming it’s the national economic crisis that put Florida in the financial pickle it’s in. That would constitute a half-truth, at very generous best – as would any attempt to argue that the Democrats are equally responsible for the state’s unfair, dysfunctional tax system and the havoc it has created for working and unemployed families.

   Read More »

Jeff Abramowski likely envisions Judy Foley and her son retracting their testimony, explaining why Brevard framed him and let them walk. I recently discovered Judy died last year, and Michael may follow soon, depending on whether he stopped doing drugs or stopped getting caught. He served about a month all told, with no sign that treatment was ordered. Perhaps eFACTS has inaccuracies, but Michael’s self-destruction would be convenient for officers, prosecutors and judges.

DNA identified the hair found on Cortney Crandall’s body as Judy’s; DNA found in a sink trap matched Michael. Their fingerprints were present, Jeff’s weren’t. There were two murder weapons; burly young Jeff wouldn’t have needed one. The FDLE DNA expert said that Jeff’s DNA - hitting on two of 15 markers - was a match due to the uniqueness of 17.3 at D18S51; government sites say it’s present in one in 16,500 males.

Testimony regarding a knife purchase placed Jeff in Melbourne. Former SEAL Chief “Patches” Watson hooked me up with the former Gerber knife sales manager, employed when Crandall when killed. Wal-Marts didn’t sell black-bladed knives (too expensive, too military), but indeed there had been a cutlery shop in the Orlando mall Jeff named that sold Gerber knives, next to a Foot Locker, as Jeff described. The knife turning out to be a knock-off means nothing. Watson, author of “Point Man” and designer of SEAL equipment aside from his knives that Gerber manufactures, confirmed that retailers frequently foist knock-offs on customers (in shorter, saltier words appropriate to lost incomes).

Brevard prosecutors attempted to get two incarcerated men to lie on the stand about Jeff. One made it all the way to the courthouse before backing down.

My blog gets hit hard enough to stay near the top on Google, Yahoo and Bing - if you're reading this, Michael, flip on Brevard.

Email A.G. Eric Holder.

Make a mark; don’t leave a stain.



http://webinfo4.brevardclerk.us/facts/name_search.cfm

I Inter-tripped over a means to compel the FBI to investigate clouded convictions and the media’s related manipulation of information that affected the outcome of elections, including the number of candidates.

After some research and collaboration to assure airtight arguments and proper format, I’ll file a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus requesting that the U. S. Supreme Court direct the FBI to immediately investigate DNA-discredited scent experts, clouded convictions within the same judicial jurisdictions and the media omissions of fact that recklessly endangered the public, artificially enhancing the reputations of public servants while forestalling their investigation and prosecution.

It’s fitting to go straight to the Supreme Court, even if bogus crime scene dog handlers aside from John Preston are addressed as footnotes; Stephen Epperly is still incarcerated in Virginia from a Preston no-body homicide conviction, making it beside the point whether or not all other remedies in lower courts have been exhausted.

A portrayal of related coached informant testimony will cement the need to address clouded convictions related only by virtue of arrests, prosecutions or trials conducted by the same civil servants, with Jeff Abramowski’s being a case in point. Questionable case transfers, like Gary Bennett’s, will more concretely tie in other jurisdictions that superficially seem benign.

Other Executive Orders portraying suspicious jurisdictional changes resulting in wrist slaps will be supplemented with other cases that are unrelated to incarcerations, opening the door for justice for all, at long last.

That the media made no mention of many dereliction dots, making it impossible to connect them, will be inherently apparent, but explained, none-the-less.

With a little help from political cronies and the media, State Attorney Wolfinger ran unopposed last year, although betraying his constituents since taking office in 1985, and Sen. Haridopolos is in line for Senate President.

I received a call from a friend who says she can't get emails through to me today. I checked my mailbox, it was only at 17%, so it wouldn't have kicked anything back automatically. It could be she just typed my address wrong, or it could be high-tech game playing in response to my email to the FBI early this morning on their Tips and Public Leads web form:

"Please immediately investigate convictions in which self-acclaimed
DNA-discredited "scent evidence" experts were involved. Keith Pikett and John Preston both lied on the stand about their credentials. Please investigate the Associated Press, Gannett and any other news organization whose failure to disclose information forthrightly and in full skewered elections and recklessly endangered the public.

Please advise me by return email that you will open an investigation today. The remainder of Pikett's and Preston's victims deserve hope for the holidays."

Friends have claimed sporadically for years that they their emails to me get returned; I've been writing to the FBI sporadically for years, requesting that they adhere to their mandate to investigate public corruption that affects trial outcomes.

The additional request to investigate news organizations may be ground I've covered before, but I'm not going to open each pdf to check. There's too many, and this day is already gloomy enough without me reminding myself how many times I've written "please" to the FBI.

According to both political parties and most media sources, Floridians only have two choices for Governor in 2010, choices that the Orlando Sentinel's Greg Dawson parodied John Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage" to describe as displaying "Profiles in Porridge."

Dawson expressed displeasure that the anything-but-dynamic duo were arguing over who should protect Floridians from unscrupulous debt collectors. Each, of course, claims the responsibility falls to the other.

You know their names: Alex Sink and Bill McCollum.

And you know that they both have a lot of money behind them. Millions and millions and millions.

And you know that they both have unapologetic, unexplained party endorsements that circumvent our primary system.

The media covered each un-American anointment as if there is nothing unusual with both parties telling their registered members that no matter how much time and money they contribute, their preferences for candidates are (select one or all, according to how you believe the puppeteers perceive you) beside-the-point, ill-conceived, ridiculous, inconsequential, naive, plebeian, moronic.

I frankly don't care how the puppeteers perceive me or my fellow Floridians. It's time for them to care if we Floridians perceive them as (select one or all, according to the level you've personally been betrayed) power drunk, putrid, bought-and-paid-for, shallow, callow, delusional, despotic, despicable.

I'm backing Michael Arth for governor. With his powers of persuasion and power tools, he's made a life-sized working model of a revitalized Florida in Deland. No one needs to take my word for it, his website is very informative. [http://www.michaelearth.org/] Arth's not for sale personally, and he won't sell Floridians out. He doesn't claim to have all the answers, but his site proves he's given all the hard questions deep thought. His positions are admittedly open to change if new information warrants a revision.

Arth proved he can turn a hellhole into a haven; when someone displays the abilities to achieve that spectacular success, we ought to give ourselves the chance to benefit by a statewide application of the same principles.

There's evidence that neither Sink nor McCollum even has the capacity to care whether the average Floridian flourishes or perishes - taking Dawson's parody a step further, they're "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, nine days old," appetizing to only the most dispirited among us.

Despite the heartbreaking injustices I blog about, I'm anything but dispirited. I'm saying it loud and clear, "Don't tread on me."

As a registered Democrat and a Precinct Captain, I demand that Karen Thurman retract her spurious support of Sink and let the two Democrats debate; the sooner, the better. I hope that registered Republicans will make the same demand of their state party leader, and see if a non-porridge Republican subsequently throws his or her hat into the ring.

I received a personal plea from a well-intentioned lady looking to have others join her in entreating Gov. Crist to exhibit the spirit of Christmas by pardoning William "Tommy" Zeigler, who has wrongfully spent 33 years on death row. She's clearly under the impression that Gov. Crist is being treated unfairly by the media, when the truth is that the media's inattention to Crist's failed oversight borders on election tampering.

Here is my response to the kind-hearted Christian so very mistaken in believing she was addressing another in writing to Gov. Crist:

From: Susan Chandler
Date: October 29, 2009 2:29:22 AM EDT
To: "V...
Subject: Re: an early Christmas gift for Tommy?

Dear V...:

Gov. Crist's email address is Charlie.Crist@eog.myflorida.com. I copy him on emails frequently, probably twice a week on average. I can't honor your request to approach him directly requesting that he pardon Tommy Z in time for Christmas. Please bear with me if my pain medication makes my explanation less coherent than it should be.

Two Christmases ago, I repeatedly requested via email that Gov. Crist release Bill Dillon on recognizance pending the outcome of DNA results. Bill's mother has an inoperable brain tumor. It's stable now; it wasn't then. Just as A. G. Crist ignored my pleas concerning Wilton Dedge (freed, 2004) and others that I believe to have been wrongfully convicted or executed, Gov. Crist ignored my Christmas plea for Bill.

I believe it's a miracle, from so many of us praying, that Amy Dillon lived to see Bill walk free and has had almost a year to get reacquainted with her gentle giant of a son, so grievously harmed in prison - raped within the first hour and knowing no peace in the 27 years behind layers of razor wire that followed - and knowing no peace even now. Bill's essentially serving a second undeserved sentence, this one imposed on him by his conscience and Gov. Crist's callousness. Hearing Bill personally tell his story breaks the hearts of those that have them; he shouldn't have had to make one public appearance to spread the word that there are many innocents behind bars, let alone travel the state.

I'm fighting for peace of mind for Bill, Wilton, Juan Ramos, Alan Crotzer and others who have already won their freedom, and fighting for freedom for Crosley Green, Jeff Abramowski, John Dobbs, Gary Bennett and scores of others aside from Tommy that appear to have been wrongfully convicted, and fighting to clear the names of those that were wrongfully executed. I'm fighting for other Floridians that have gotten in touch with me after reading my blogs or letters to the editor. They were harmed by the same civil servants involved in the clouded convictions, who logically behave just as improperly in other aspects of their public employment. I fear for the safety of some that have reached out.

Gov. Crist knows that he is obligated by statute to protect the life, liberty and property of Florida's inhabitants. While ignoring Bill, Tommy and perhaps 100 others, Crist rapidly acted to pardon disabled attorney Richard Paey, who apparently had no basis for an innocence claim. This established Crist's belief in a caste system wherein precious few, if any, deserving Floridians will receive the benefit of Crist's adherence to his sworn and fiduciary responsibilities.

When Crist won his bid for Governor, I said, "Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do." I will pray the same prayer if he's successful in winning a Senate seat, which I will continue to try to prevent by reminding the FBI of their mandate to investigate public corruption that affects the outcome of trials. The FBI busted dogfighting rings in several states while ignoring over 1,000 clouded convictions related to DNA discredited "scent evidence experts" John Preston and Keith Pikett. They protected man's best friend ahead of actual men, keeping innocents locked up while killers and rapists found additional victims.

Too many people are crying themselves to sleep tonight because Crist has unlawfully decided that oversight is optional, V.... His caste system endangers the public and persecutes innocents, ruining or taking their lives and ripping their families apart. It is our Legislature's job to hold Crist in check; they have demonstrated rare cowardice in failing to do so. The criticisms of Crist, if earnest prayers are answered, will become increasingly harsh - Crist knows that State Attorney Lawson Lamar is disinterested in justice for Tommy, John Dobbs and others; it is why Crist transferred Gary Bennett's case to Lamar's jurisdiction. Sadly, the only reason that Crist wound honor your request, or any other request for oversight, is out of fear that he will soon be held accountable. It's a very reasonable fear, many of us are working very hard to have justice prevail over politics.

Warm regards,
Susan

When we're ill, most of us have odd comforts we allow ourselves. I've got YouTube playing Kermit the Frog singing "Rainbow Connection" in the background, reminding me of singing it to my daughter when she was little and under the weather. The very best thing that can happen is to have good wishes reach you out of the blue without anyone knowing you're sick.

Thanks to those who requested via email, along with kind words, copies of State Attorney Norm Wolfinger's awful letter to Special Master Kent Wetherell that spuriously attempts to portray Bill Dillon as unworthy of exoneration compensation for the 27 years of his life he lost after being maliciously prosecuted.

Wolfinger couldn't be so boldly blasphemous without enablers in Tallahasee and the media. Someday the dreamers will triumph over the dastardly, making the rainbow connection. Until then, we just have to keep writing letters as if innocent people's lives depend on them. Because they do.

From: Susan Chandler
Date: October 24, 2009 1:13:32 PM EDT
To: Senator Mike Haridopolos
Cc: Debbie Mayfield , cig@eog.myflorida.com, Governor Charlie Crist , letters@floridatoday.com, John Glisch , Norm Wolfinger , jrusso@pd18.net
Subject: "Matt Reed: Haridopolos tackles issues"

Dear Senator Haridopolos:

When a news article is well-written, the online comments section is absent information that the article should have contained.

In the case of the above-captioned Gannett Florida Today article this week, an informed reader commented on the gigantic oil spill off the coast of Australia that indicates that the new, purportedly safer offshore oil rig technology failed. Reporter Reed's failure to ask you about that spill did not take you off the hook for not addressing it; you're to represent your constituents' best interests, not Big Oil's. Out-of-work high-tech Space Coast residents that were paid government funds to make solar technology work in space should logically be paid government funds to perfect the same technology on earth to bring cheap, clean power to our nation. If they can come up with a vehicle that works on Mars, they can come up with an electric car. There likely isn't a single resident in your district that will be employed by endangering our coastline with oil rigs.

I didn't read all the comments; Florida Today's readers' rants, born of being misinformed, quickly become tedious, frightening and/or depressing. Hopefully, another enlightened reader countered your fiscal responsibility claims by commenting on your inability to effectively "tackle" DROP double dipping, which allows the likes of Norm Wolfinger and John Dean Moxley to exercise another form of predation on your constituents, aside from covering up the persecution of innocents for decades. Or perhaps a comment instead countered your fiscal responsibility claims by pointing out that you accepted professorial wages based on credentials you merely aspire to, along with a bogus "book advance," betraying your personal propensity for predation.

I hope that someone commented, "Where's Juan?" to counter your bragging about sponsoring Bill Dillon's exoneration compensation. Juan Ramos deserves his $250,000 to partially right the ruination caused by his five years on death row from John Preston's solicited perjuries. That Ramos' conviction was upset in 1987 is embarrassing for those who are still in the state employ - including Wolfinger and Moxley - that are responsible for the cover-up that kept Wilton Dedge, Dillon and many others behind bars and cost Gerald Stano his life. Through the electronic grapevine, I made Centurion Ministries aware that the 9th Judicial Circuit had used Preston to convict and execute Linroy Bottoson, and that transferring Gary Bennett's Brevard/Preston case there was conflicted. I've since found out that the 9th and 18th trade cases like baseball cards, with Gov. Crist's permission. Crist announced his intention to address South Florida's corruption on October 14th, continuing to deliberately ignore Preston's involvement in a reported 100 Brevard felony investigations.

Gannett pretended that Preston cases had been cleared nationwide 15 years ago. ["Convicted on false evidence; False science often sways juries, judges," authors Laura Frank and John Hanchette, USA Today, July 19, 1994; "The unmasking of Preston's dogs caused an uproar. Cases were overturned in Virginia, Ohio, Florida, Arizona and other states."] Despite Gannett's wiles, I'm even more confident now that there will be a federal investigation of the corruption and cover-up. The White House removed my comment from their facebook wall, "The FBI muddied their own credibility in protecting man's best friend ahead of actual men; after investigating dogfighting rings in several states, they have little choice but to rapidly investigate Florida's framing innocent men." Their censorship means that they read my message loud and clear, and so fast that no one got the chance to comment - this time. As of yesterday, I'm on Twitter and will learn my way around it as haltingly as I did facebook.

Reed claimed you're "one of the most influential Republicans in Florida." If true, what possible reason can there be not to use your influence to make it incumbent upon Florida's Governor to investigate any county wherein two upset convictions indicate use of an identical, untenable trial tactic to stop making taxpayers pay to be kept safe from harmless men like Ramos, Dedge and Dillon, then pay exoneration compensation of top of malicious prosecution costs. Roger Dale Chapman, who bragged to his brother about getting valid rape charges dropped by lying to tighten Dillon's frame-up, was apparently re-released Thursday after a sentence reduction. James E. Gilmore, who lied about Ramos, is a revolving-door offender, apparently released without supervision after the most recent offense. The harm done by coached informants that benefit by continual prosecutorial favors and actual perpetrators that innocents serve time for can only be stopped by an investigation that looks at every single Preston conviction and every subsequent complaint of prosecutorial malice.

So much is made of your ability to amass millions, so little is made of what little those millions actually pay for - pandering, predation, persecution, public endangerment. I have nothing against you personally and no ability to act on it even if I did, but I am forever wondering what it is that you personally have against your constituents and what prompts you to harm them so often.

Regards,

Susan Chandler

Although the writing was originally on two facebook walls, The White House removed it from theirs; it remains in place on mine.

Susan Chandler [to] The White House:
I wrote on my blog, "The FBI muddied their own credibility in protecting man's best friend ahead of actual men; after investigating dogfighting rings in several states, they have little choice but to rapidly investigate Florida's framing ...innocent men." And they really don't. I'm receiving supportive comments from other countries - it's only a matter of time before foreign news services decide to take a look at Juan Ramos', Wilton Dedge's and Bill Dillon's upset convictions and the dark deeds that Governor Crist has tried to help bury.   Read More »

Growing up in a community adjacent to Grosse Pointe, Michigan helped me to learn early on there are limits to "it's not what you know, but who you know" nonsense. We're about at the tipping point, and I likely have better instincts about it than those who think all they have to do is show up, look good, talk in circles and have ready access to large amounts of cash.



From: Susan Chandler
Date: October 18, 2009 7:50:13 PM EDT
To: Senator Mike Haridopolos
Cc: Debbie Mayfield , cig@eog.myflorida.com, Governor Charlie Crist , letters@floridatoday.com, John Glisch , Norm Wolfinger , jrusso@pd18.net
Subject: "Lawmakers' political committees draw big donations from special interests"

Dear Senator Haridopolos:

The above-titled article by Steve Bousquet and Shannon Colavecchio that appeared last month in the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald held no surprises. Your attention comes at a price that is out of the majority of your constituents' reach. That you named your current blitz - I'm aware there are others - to accumulate a $12M war chest from big business the "Freedom First Committee" is a new height in your hypocrisies, given that your constituents' inherent freedoms are demonstrably the last thing you care about.

To the informed, today's Florida Today editorial, "Our Views: Justice still Denied," gives a clearer picture of your disinterest in justice. In a repeat performance of championing Wilton Dedge's exoneration compensation, you've jumped into unearned limelight to champion William Dillon's compensation, with Florida Today's Editorial Board making it seem like you work hard and care deeply. As a legislator, there was much you were obligated to do to secure Dillon's and others' freedom when Dedge was exonerated in 2004 and Jeb Bush denied Floridians the oversight that would have ensured their safety.

Because Gov. Crist is also denying oversight and the Judiciary hasn't done anything to police itself, I often asked you to author legislation that would make it incumbent upon Florida's Governor to investigate any county wherein two convictions were upset for the identical, untenable trial tactic. That simple sentence should have come from you without a constituent having to suggest it; it is the function of the Legislature to check and balance the powers of the Executive and Judicial branches of government. Because you did nothing, John Preston's perjuries and other vile prosecutorial tricks Brevard pulled for "wins" keeps killers and rapists on the streets. In Dillon's case, charges were dropped against rapist/coached snitch Roger Dale Chapman. His DOC records indicate he'll be released from prison - yet again - on the 22nd. I pdf'd his sentence reduction. Crist transferred Gary Bennett's Preston matter to the 9th, where Lawson Lamar's questionable character as a double-dipper and participant in William "Tommy" Zeigler's 33 year persecution comes into play on top of Preston having testified there, resulting in schizophrenic Linroy Bottoson's execution.

My records indicate that I initially copied you on correspondence concerning Brevard's corruption as it regarded my personal affairs on December 17th, 2003, more than two years after I initially experienced the malicious incompetence of a number of Brevard civil servants. I have since written to you repeatedly about Brevard corruption that affected other individuals; the untenable trial tactics deployed against Dillon, Dedge, Juan Ramos and countless others who have waited decades for their first fair day in court are still in use - within your knowledge - the FDLE DNA testimony against Jeff Abramowski was ridiculous; two unsuccessful attempts were made to have jailhouse informants testify against him.

While Wolfinger publicly humiliates Dillon and Crist damns Bennett to unclean hands, you apparently plan to simply wait to see who else gets exonerated despite the denial of oversight and layers of corruption and then jump in once again to grab the spotlight in sponsoring exoneration compensation. It isn't a good plan, sir. There will be an FBI investigation, including an internal investigation that gets to the heart of the Brevard field office's negligence as well as former agents' now residing in Brevard untoward public support of an incumbent Sheriff who did nothing to investigate his agency's participation in multiple frame-ups. The FBI muddied their own credibility in protecting man's best friend ahead of actual men; after investigating dogfighting rings in several states, they have little choice but to rapidly investigate Florida's framing innocent men.

Sincerely,

Susan Chandler


http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20091018/OPINION/910180309/1006/NEWS01/Our+views++Justice+still+denied
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/lawmakers-political-committees-draw-big-donations-from-special-interests/1038466?comments=legacy
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/pubcorrupt/pubcorrupt.htm

Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for week ending 10-16-09
Note: the Best of the Blogs is featured weekly as part of Progress Florida's popular free Daily Clips service.

Bill Nelson's Health Reform Dyslexia
By Beach Blogger
Pensacola Beach Blogger
Merely to satisfy one Republican and the handful of Blue Dog Democrats left in the Senate who are not nuzzling too deep in the hog's trough of health insurance campaign contributions, over the past couple of weeks two compromise ideas have been floating around Washington, presumably to satisfy the 70 percent of Americans who want a public health insurance option while making it possible for politicians to claim otherwise when they're confronted with the remaining 30 percent.

Kathleen Ford & Bill Foster to get it on again, a debate, that is
By Mitch Perry
The Daily Loaf
If it’s Thursday, it must be time for another Bill Foster/Kathleen Ford debate.

The Grayson Game Changer
By Ray Seaman
Progress Florida
Congressman Alan Grayson two weeks ago: If you get sick, America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly. That's right. The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.

The new GOP.com: a minority report
By Sinfonaian
Blast Off!
Earlier today I told you about a rather glaring and embarrassing historical boo-boo the Republican Party committed on their brand-new (and very, very RED) website.

The Great Recession is over! Phew!
By Gimleteye
Eye On Miami
A survey released by the National Association of Business Economists found a strong majority of rear-view economists believe we have seen the worst of it: "The great recession is over", NABE President-Elect Lynn Reaser told Reuters.

The callous confidence that Florida's government displays in burying malicious prosecutions appears misplaced - The White House reads their facebook wall posts.


From: Susan Chandler
Date: October 14, 2009 10:44:09 PM EDT
To: John Glisch , letters@floridatoday.com
Cc: Norm Wolfinger , cig@eog.myflorida.com, Governor Charlie Crist , Seth Miller
Subject: "Wolfinger against compensation for Dillon"

Dear Florida Today:

William Dillon lives in Brevard County where Gannett's Florida Today makes its home and has made himself accessible to the press in his efforts to raise awareness of wrongful convictions. Reporter John Torres apparently failed to contact him to comment on State Attorney Wolfinger's deceitful letter to Special Master Kent Wetherell denigrating Dillon's exoneration claim. Dillon made his statements in the "In Your Voice" comments section of the article, along with the rabble Torres roused by once again understating Brevard's serial prosecutorial wrongdoing.

As Wolfinger chose to publicly extol his role in Wilton Dedge's exoneration yet again, it fell to Florida Today to reveal that the coached informant used against Dedge was the same one used against Gerald Stano, who was executed despite that informant recanting, a complete lack of forensic evidence and the sworn statements of six Daytona Beach police officers that Stano's "confessions" were the baseless result of Paul Crow's duplicity, with the first ghostwriter Crow hired to cash-in on framing Stano confirming the officers' allegations via his sworn statement.

That Gannett actively engages in election tampering by habitual "false light" reporting is obvious; less obvious is the resulting endangerment of the communities cross-country that keep Gannett in business with subscriptions, advertisements and taxpayer dollars (public notices).

FBI Director's Mueller's focus on investigating dogfighting rings instead of the harm done to thousands of Americans nationwide by John Preston, Keith Pikett and other self-acclaimed scent evidence experts is hideous, and spending scarce budget funds to mechanically refine scent evidence is ridiculous. Until dogs learn to talk, no one can be certain whether they "hit" on actual evidence or on scents they find pleasing.

A corporation can only lawfully behave as would a prudent person in the same circumstances, and no prudent person would facilitate the persecution of innocents - keeping killers free - so as to keep thugs in government office. Gannett is betting its life that Mueller will be allowed to continue his waywardness.

Regards,

Susan Chandler


P.S. Anyone wishing a .pdf of Wolfinger's letter to Kent Wetherell can request it by emailing studio8@infionline.net and putting Wetherell in the subject line.

If you haven't heard already, Progress Florida won Best State Blog and Netroots Organization of the Year in the 2009 Florida Netroots Awards.

I speak for all of the staff here at Progress Florida when I say thank you so much. We love doing the work we do, but we love it even more when we see that work validated.

What makes Progress Florida a solid netroots organization and a great group to work with is that we try and involve our supporters and subscribers. The most simple example of this is any of our petition campaigns, where we use the collective power of Floridians to challenge the right wing and push key debates in a more progressive direction.

However, we also engage our supporters on Facebook and Twitter, where we sometimes get great ideas...and where we always hear great humor and snark (a particular gift among progressives.)

So thank you not only to those voted for Progress Florida in the 2009 Netroots Awards, but thank you to those who participate in our actions. We as Progress Florida are an irrelevant organization without our supporters - so thank you so much for making us great! You made these awards possible.

That's what Mark Elliott wrote of Charlie Crist in a recent email, and the accusation rings true. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd orchestrated a call-out for Paul Johnson's execution and Crist delivered by signing a death warrant on Friday, undermining the judiciary to serve his political agenda - there's an appeal pending.

Elliott is the Executive Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and this time he's pulled no punches over Crist's abuse of power, "Signing Death Warrants is an effortless way to create the illusion of being “tough on crime” without having to spend the long hours and do the hard work to honestly make the public safer."

The growing list of exonerated Floridians indicates statewide systemic problems that leaves killers and rapists roaming the streets while innocents serve their time. To deserve the handle he lays claim to, "Chain Gang Charlie" would have to hold rogue officers, prosecutors and judges accountable, the hard work Elliott referred to that would legitimately ensure public safety.

There's a tipping point when Crist's refusal to uphold the statutes that direct him to protect the life, liberty and property of Florida's inhabitants becomes obstruction of justice; that point was likely reached when Crist affixed his signature to the Executive Order that put Gary Bennett's Brevard/Seminole case in the hands of Orange/Osceola. The only fitting transfer was to a circuit where John Preston hadn't committed perjury.

Elliott recommends a number of actions to stop Crist from abusing his powers to further his ambitions. Anyone wishing a copy of Elliott's email can request it by emailing studio8@infionline.net and putting Elliott in the subject line.

Attempts to document my previous concerns about suspected unavailability of justice for either Jack Durie or Gary Bennett in trading cases back and forth between the 9th and 18th Judicial Circuits led me down a dark path. I looked at 33 Executive Orders that Governor Crist issued this year, including Durie's and Bennett's.

There's evidence of arrogance that's pretty hard to miss - over 66% of the Executive Orders were necessitated by employees, friends and relatives of our State Attorneys and Judges being charged with a crime.

The percentages aren't echoed in the Chief Inspector General's Fiscal Year 2008/2009 annual report, which seems to indicate there's next to nothing happening anywhere in government that serious enough for a second glance (the random cases were selected from early in the year to make sure most were encompassed by the report).

At every turn in trying to free myself and others from crushing corruption, I learn more things I didn't really want to know. As I once whined, I'm an interior/exterior decorator, not an investigative reporter; I prefer to pursue endeavors I actually have credentials in.

Apparently, I'm going to have to learn to Tweet with the best of them, and start calling out all the players that stole 8 years of my life, 5 years of Juan Ramos', 22 of Wilton Dedge's, 27 of Bill Dillon's, along with Gerald Stano's very life. First, of course, I have to see how many of the transfered cases resulted in wrist slaps, outside of the public knowledge.

5 natural causes (deaths/weather) @15%+

11 friends or relatives of S.A. or judge @33%+

11 State Attorney employees @33%+

4 formerly represented by S.A. @12%+

2 unable to find original order @ 6%+ Jack Durie's and case involving three juveniles

@91% random search
@ 9% specific search including Jack Durie and Gary Bennett

@ 15+% continuances oldest order 2002 Jack Durie case(s) date to 1990's
@ 84+% new orders