Do Florida Governor Rick Scott and State Attorney David Aronberg Really Want Justice?

On December 29, 2013 “Archangels” sent a letter to the Governor of Florida requesting an “….immediate investigation into alleged criminal conduct of Lieutenant (now Captain) Michael Ewing and the ensuing cover-up by officials of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and others.” (Exhibit #1) 

Only this week, did we accidently learn that Governor Scott had ordered the appointment of a prosecutor from a different county on February 10, 2014 apparently “… to avoid a conflict of interest or any appearance of impropriety...“  The person he selected is the Palm Beach County State Attorney David A. Aronberg.  (Exhibit #2)  Palm Beach County is the next county South of Martin County.  No explanation has been provided as to why we were never notified of the order.  The day after “Archangels” publicly disclosed the order the detectives finally began to contact the victims.  Obviously they have been following us.

“Archangels” has learned that both Martin County William Snyder, the person who heads the main entity of the alleged cover-up, and State Attorney know each other, probably too well to avoid another conflict or at least the appearance of one.  Both served in the Florida State Legislature, both recently worked together on a Florida 7 person panel concerning gun laws, and both appear to be friends sharing a laugh in a video we have obtained.  (Exhibit #3) 

QUESTIONS: Did State Attorney Aronberg advise Governor Scott of his connection with Sheriff Snyder, the main person he was ordered to investigate?  Do you really believe that he will act impartially in his investigation into our complaint?  Do you believe that Governor Scott is a party to this apparent fraud or was he duped by Aronberg?  Can you now see how they work to maintain a cover-up but pretend they are seeking impartial justice?

Authored by:

Ira B. Robins                                                             Salvatore E. Rastrelli

EXHIBIT #1:

________________________________________________________________________

December 29, 2013

  

Governor Rick Scott
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001

Re: Request for immediate investigation into alleged criminal conduct of Lieutenant (now Captain) Michael Ewing and the ensuing cover-up by officials of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and others.

Dear Governor Scott:

We are investigative experts, with more than 80 years of investigative experience, and have been notifying thousands of viewers about the misconduct, criminal violations, cronyism and related cover-ups engineered by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.  The FDLE refers complaints to the State Attorney who refers the victims of very provable criminal misconduct right back to the MCSO where their complaints are buried without further action.   There is abundant evidence to show that the State Attorney is working to protect the MCSO and has become complicit in this matter and others like it.  Something must be done immediately to correct this pattern and practice of dishonesty in order to restore our faith in the criminal justice system.

In the attached case, the victim and her victim husband declined to support William Snyder in his 2012 run for Martin County Sheriff.  They had absolutely no contact and/or communication with Lieutenant Michael Ewing who was an ardent supporter of Snyder and had been actively working on his campaign.  After learning the victims were withdrawing their support for Snyder, Lieutenant Ewing illegally entered the Drivers and Vehicle Information Databank (DAVID) System without a valid police reason and repeatedly searched the personal information of the victim and her husband.  He deliberately failed to enter a valid and legal reason for his search as is required by the State of Florida. 

The victims filed the attached complaints with the MCSO and Ewing received a verbal reprimand for Misuse of Communications Facilities and a written reprimand for Engaging in Political Activity On Duty.  Both of those violations violate Florida State Statutes.  MCSO refused to address the very provable Misuse of Official Position and Untruthfulness violations. They allowed Ewing to lie during their Internal Affairs investigation which is a crime and should have been referred to the State Attorney for criminal prosecution.   Upon conviction the FDLE should have withdrawn Ewing’s certification.  The Martin County Sheriff’s Office had orchestrated a cover-up by falsely writing that they had conducted a “thorough” and “complete” investigation and had taken the appropriate action by reprimanding Ewing.  The internal affairs investigators and all of the supervisory personnel who refused to address all of the misconduct and then signed off on that report are parties to the criminal cover-up also. 

MCSO rules state that an employee receiving a reprimand is ineligible for promotion within a year after receiving a reprimand. Approximately two months after being reprimanded Lieutenant Ewing, Sheriff Snyder’s political crony, was promoted to Captain and received a substantial raise in pay.  That is just one example of the “game playing” being perpetrated upon the citizens by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney.  That conduct must stop.

Therefore, we hereby request that you commence an immediate investigation into the aforementioned criminal violations, verify each and every one, and take the necessary actions to protect our citizens and stop this embarrassment to our way of life.

Thank you very much.

Respectfully submitted,

IBR                                                                                           SER

Ira B. Robins                                                                           Salvatore Rastrelli

________________________________________________________________________

EXHIBIT: #2

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

EXHIBIT:#3 ________________________________________________________________________                    

Florida Panel Concedes Stand-Your-Ground Needs Change

A seven member panel of stand-your-ground opponents and proponents debated the law before an audience of 600 guests in Florida a few days ago, in a discussion hosted by the Forum Club of Palm Beach.

Top row (l-r): State Atty. Dave Aronberg; Judge Krista Marx; Palm Beach Urban League president Patrick Franklin; Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.
Bottom row (l-r): State Sen. David Simmons (R); State Sen.Chris Smith (D); State Representative David Kerner (D).

The panelists were

• Republican State Sen. David Simmons who, while in the House of Representatives, was one of the authors of the controversial law, and still supports it;
• Democratic State Sen.Chris Smith, the highest ranking black elected official in Florida, who has called for the law to be revisited or repealed
• Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Krista Marx who was on a special task force which reviewed the law and issued a report supporting the core principles of it. She has said the law is too broad and vague
• State Rep. Dave Kerner, a former police officer who has been appointed to a house committee that will review the law this fall. He supports revisiting the law
• Martin County Sheriff William Snyder, a former state legislator and outspoken supporter of the law
• Palm Beach County State Atty. Dave Aronberg, a former state senator, who supports a review and has blamed judges for expanding the law beyond what it was intended for
• Patrick Franklin, president of the Urban League of Palm Beach County. The Urban League has called for review and revision of the law

The general concensus after the discussion was that, at the very least, stand-your-ground laws need some changes. The panel was moderated by WPTV News reporter Michael Williams, who issued the following news report: