Assistant State Attorney Files Complaint Against Officer

[Joe_]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- Escalating tensions between Jacksonville prosecutors and police have led to an internal investigation at the sheriff's office.

An assistant state attorney recently filed a formal complaint about a run-in with a police officer that she described as frightening.

Earlier this week, Sheriff John Rutherford blasted State Attorney Harry Shorstein, saying the state attorney's office dropped the ball on a gun case, putting his officers in danger.

The issue began when Vernon Pandy was arrested and charged with a felony for carrying a concealed weapon. On July 7, Pandy's charge was reduced by the state attorney's office to a misdemeanor after the office received a call from former Jaguar Tony Boselli on Pandy's behalf.

The officer who arrested Pandy, Jason Lederman, said he was never informed about the change and questioned assistant state attorney London Hairston about why it happen and why he was not kept in the loop.

Hairston has filed a complaint against the officer.

Channel 4 was told the conversation between Hairston and Lederman became very heated; however, the head of the police union said it was civil.

"(He) told her he was displeased. He said,'Yes, I did raise my voice, but at no time was it to the point that there was anything unprofessional said. But, I was very displeased with the way this was done and why they did it because it was my life being risked out there,'" said Fraternal Order of Police President Nelson Cuba.

Hairston told Channel 4 a different story about what happened. She said she felt very threatened and had never been treated like that before. That's why she filed the complaint.

"So she had 12 days that if she wanted to file a complaint and she was so intimated or scared or whatever she was saying of Officer Lederman, she could have done that in the meantime. She didn't do it until after this letter came out," Cuba said.

However, Hairston said, "I did have a meeting the day after the incident."

She said the issue would be over if Lederman or Cuba would apologize.

"Someone needs to take responsibility," Hairston said.

A check of the Lederman background revealed 19 complaints from citizens about the officer ranging from rudeness to conduct unbecoming of an officer. All of those were dismissed.

Lederman also has had several internal complaints that involve improper action and interfering with an investigation.

The latest complaint filed by Hairston remains under investigation.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/16982603/detail....

[Joe_]

You know, this is getting ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

The police and state attorney's office should be untied against crime.

Goes to show how pathetic our local government really is.

[Skating]

Joe_ wrote:

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- Escalating tensions between Jacksonville prosecutors and police have led to an internal investigation at the sheriff's office.
An assistant state attorney recently filed a formal complaint about a run-in with a police officer that she described as frightening.
Earlier this week, Sheriff John Rutherford blasted State Attorney Harry Shorstein, saying the state attorney's office dropped the ball on a gun case, putting his officers in danger.
The issue began when Vernon Pandy was arrested and charged with a felony for carrying a concealed weapon. On July 7, Pandy's charge was reduced by the state attorney's office to a misdemeanor after the office received a call from former Jaguar Tony Boselli on Pandy's behalf.
The officer who arrested Pandy, Jason Lederman, said he was never informed about the change and questioned assistant state attorney London Hairston about why it happen and why he was not kept in the loop.
Hairston has filed a complaint against the officer.
Channel 4 was told the conversation between Hairston and Lederman became very heated; however, the head of the police union said it was civil.
"(He) told her he was displeased. He said,'Yes, I did raise my voice, but at no time was it to the point that there was anything unprofessional said. But, I was very displeased with the way this was done and why they did it because it was my life being risked out there,'" said Fraternal Order of Police President Nelson Cuba.
Hairston told Channel 4 a different story about what happened. She said she felt very threatened and had never been treated like that before. That's why she filed the complaint.
"So she had 12 days that if she wanted to file a complaint and she was so intimated or scared or whatever she was saying of Officer Lederman, she could have done that in the meantime. She didn't do it until after this letter came out," Cuba said.
However, Hairston said, "I did have a meeting the day after the incident."
She said the issue would be over if Lederman or Cuba would apologize.
"Someone needs to take responsibility," Hairston said.
A check of the Lederman background revealed 19 complaints from citizens about the officer ranging from rudeness to conduct unbecoming of an officer. All of those were dismissed.
Lederman also has had several internal complaints that involve improper action and interfering with an investigation.
The latest complaint filed by Hairston remains under investigation.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/16982603/detail....

In re to "The officer who arrested Pandy, Jason Lederman, said he was never informed about the change and questioned assistant state attorney London Hairston about why it happen and why he was not kept in the loop": is it policy that when there is a change in a charge or even when a charge is dropped all together, that the police officer in question gets notified along the way? I did not think that was policy and if that is really true, then why is that officer getting his knickers in a twist?

[Skating]

I wonder, has London ever filed a complaint against any other officer/person?

[scott1]

the whole city should file a complaint against this moron who reduced charges just because bosselli said he was a good guy. guess what? he has several arrests, including another illegal possesion of a handgun..which shorstein dropped.

[CERTAIN]

London Hairston is one of the most aggressive and most skilled prosecutors at the SAO. Ask anyone who knows her. I would hardly call her a moron because of one decision. Even if Pandy pled to the felony, the judge wouldn't have convicted Pandy or sentenced him to any jail time. That is not a guess. Again, ask around.
Scott, your position on Shorstein is well known on these boards, but you should really investigate how many instances where the judge undercuts the State. "Aggressive prosecution" without an aggressive judge is worthless. Please go to courtroom #2 and #5 sometime and then report back to Topix.

[Northside cop]

CERTAIN wrote:

London Hairston is one of the most aggressive and most skilled prosecutors at the SAO. Ask anyone who knows her. I would hardly call her a moron because of one decision. Even if Pandy pled to the felony, the judge wouldn't have convicted Pandy or sentenced him to any jail time. That is not a guess. Again, ask around.
Scott, your position on Shorstein is well known on these boards, but you should really investigate how many instances where the judge undercuts the State. "Aggressive prosecution" without an aggressive judge is worthless. Please go to courtroom #2 and #5 sometime and then report back to Topix.

I have been waiting for just such a defense of Ms. Hairston. This is neither the first time an officer has complained about Ms. Hairston's "agressive prosecution," or the first time she has complained against an officer for challenging her decision. She is very intelligent but she is also one of the attorneys that is part of the problem at the SAO. She often does not treat officers as a partner in the process. She is but a piece of the overwhelming problem down there. They justify not doing their job because of juries or judges and yet I never justify not arresting someone because the SAO won't follow through. Too many of our attorneys are all so worried about that conviction rate and would turn a blind eye to justice if they can keep it at 100%. I am still amazed at how aggressive the misdemeanor attorneys are in comparison to the felony attorneys. I often get vastly more subpoenas and contacts from the misdemeanor attorneys on arrests than I do with the felony ones. Of course the misdemeanor attorneys are trying to make felony court and prosecute everything in sight.

As far as your defense for Ms. Hairston that the judge would not convict, I suggest you complete your homework. I have pulled the case from the court system and he was facing Judge Arnold. I have yet to be in Judge Arnold's courtroom on a case and not see the maximum sentence or very close passed. He is one of the few feared judges down there. The lack of aggressive judges goes once again to the system for the past 12 years that Shorstein has been in charge. Most judges come from the SAO office. They have been raised in a legal system of no consequences and have brought that to the bench. That is why Angela Corey's election will not be an overnight fix. There will be an immediate impact, but it will take years to purge the office and courts of the lax treatment of criminals.

The best example yet is the recent grand jury investigation into Sunshine law violations. He stated that they proved violations of the law but he would not prosecute anyone no matter how egregious the violation. Now the city council members have a free pass to violate the law all they want, Harry won't prosecute.

Of course all that being said, there are a bunch of aggressive attorneys down there that have not yet been indoctrinated into the Shorstein way of doing things that have already begun to make an impact and improve the relationship between officers and the SAO. These next elections will make or break Jacksonville and we need Angela Corey to clean up the current broken system and rebuild it into one that works.

[nomansland]

Northside cop wrote:

<quoted text>
I have been waiting for just such a defense of Ms. Hairston. This is neither the first time an officer has complained about Ms. Hairston's "agressive prosecution," or the first time she has complained against an officer for challenging her decision. She is very intelligent but she is also one of the attorneys that is part of the problem at the SAO. She often does not treat officers as a partner in the process. She is but a piece of the overwhelming problem down there. They justify not doing their job because of juries or judges and yet I never justify not arresting someone because the SAO won't follow through. Too many of our attorneys are all so worried about that conviction rate and would turn a blind eye to justice if they can keep it at 100%. I am still amazed at how aggressive the misdemeanor attorneys are in comparison to the felony attorneys. I often get vastly more subpoenas and contacts from the misdemeanor attorneys on arrests than I do with the felony ones. Of course the misdemeanor attorneys are trying to make felony court and prosecute everything in sight.
As far as your defense for Ms. Hairston that the judge would not convict, I suggest you complete your homework. I have pulled the case from the court system and he was facing Judge Arnold. I have yet to be in Judge Arnold's courtroom on a case and not see the maximum sentence or very close passed. He is one of the few feared judges down there. The lack of aggressive judges goes once again to the system for the past 12 years that Shorstein has been in charge. Most judges come from the SAO office. They have been raised in a legal system of no consequences and have brought that to the bench. That is why Angela Corey's election will not be an overnight fix. There will be an immediate impact, but it will take years to purge the office and courts of the lax treatment of criminals.
The best example yet is the recent grand jury investigation into Sunshine law violations. He stated that they proved violations of the law but he would not prosecute anyone no matter how egregious the violation. Now the city council members have a free pass to violate the law all they want, Harry won't prosecute.
Of course all that being said, there are a bunch of aggressive attorneys down there that have not yet been indoctrinated into the Shorstein way of doing things that have already begun to make an impact and improve the relationship between officers and the SAO. These next elections will make or break Jacksonville and we need Angela Corey to clean up the current broken system and rebuild it into one that works.

This is a perfect example of a sorry cop. He uses his badge to stand behind when he posts, that is if he is really a cop.

Whats your badge number, boy?

[scott1]

Northside cop wrote:

<quoted text>
I have been waiting for just such a defense of Ms. Hairston. This is neither the first time an officer has complained about Ms. Hairston's "agressive prosecution," or the first time she has complained against an officer for challenging her decision. She is very intelligent but she is also one of the attorneys that is part of the problem at the SAO. She often does not treat officers as a partner in the process. She is but a piece of the overwhelming problem down there. They justify not doing their job because of juries or judges and yet I never justify not arresting someone because the SAO won't follow through. Too many of our attorneys are all so worried about that conviction rate and would turn a blind eye to justice if they can keep it at 100%. I am still amazed at how aggressive the misdemeanor attorneys are in comparison to the felony attorneys. I often get vastly more subpoenas and contacts from the misdemeanor attorneys on arrests than I do with the felony ones. Of course the misdemeanor attorneys are trying to make felony court and prosecute everything in sight.
As far as your defense for Ms. Hairston that the judge would not convict, I suggest you complete your homework. I have pulled the case from the court system and he was facing Judge Arnold. I have yet to be in Judge Arnold's courtroom on a case and not see the maximum sentence or very close passed. He is one of the few feared judges down there. The lack of aggressive judges goes once again to the system for the past 12 years that Shorstein has been in charge. Most judges come from the SAO office. They have been raised in a legal system of no consequences and have brought that to the bench. That is why Angela Corey's election will not be an overnight fix. There will be an immediate impact, but it will take years to purge the office and courts of the lax treatment of criminals.
The best example yet is the recent grand jury investigation into Sunshine law violations. He stated that they proved violations of the law but he would not prosecute anyone no matter how egregious the violation. Now the city council members have a free pass to violate the law all they want, Harry won't prosecute.
Of course all that being said, there are a bunch of aggressive attorneys down there that have not yet been indoctrinated into the Shorstein way of doing things that have already begun to make an impact and improve the relationship between officers and the SAO. These next elections will make or break Jacksonville and we need Angela Corey to clean up the current broken system and rebuild it into one that works.

thanks for the extra info on this woman. and you are right, until there is massive change down at the SAO's, jax will never get better.

[CERTAIN]

Northside cop wrote:

<quoted text>
"She is very intelligent but she is also one of the attorneys that is part of the problem at the SAO. She often does not treat officers as a partner in the process. She is but a piece of the overwhelming problem down there. They justify not doing their job because of juries or judges and yet I never justify not arresting someone because the SAO won't follow through. Too many of our attorneys are all so worried about that conviction rate and would turn a blind eye to justice if they can keep it at 100%." ...
"As far as your defense for Ms. Hairston that the judge would not convict, I suggest you complete your homework. I have pulled the case from the court system and he was facing Judge Arnold. I have yet to be in Judge Arnold's courtroom on a case and not see the maximum sentence or very close passed. He is one of the few feared judges down there." That is why Angela Corey's election will not be an overnight fix. There will be an immediate impact, but it will take years to purge the office and courts of the lax treatment of criminals."

What is obvious is that you are ridiculously uninformed. Although Judge Arnold is a tough judge, do your really think Pandy would have gotten adjudicated and close to a five year sentence? That's silly and if you really are a cop and are familiar with felony sentencing, you would know that. I believe firmly that if you ask any defense attorney, judge, or your beloved County Court attorneys, they will all agree with my previous sentiments regarding Ms. Hairston. Let me ask you this, if the current SAO is so terrible, why isn't there the same kind of outcry in Clay and Nassau?
No use in debating too much here. You will believe what you want. But I believe that if the police were also responsible for prosecution, there would be a huge amount of cases that have no evidentiary merit or constitutional issues going forward. All because the arresting officer is personnally attched to the case. Although Ms. Corey is an incredible prosecutor, that is one of the dangers of her being elected; that she won't be able to do the prosecutor's job of examining a case without emotion and attchment to the police.

[NotAddingUp]

A man who had been caught embezzling millions from his employer went to a lawyer seeking defense. He didn’t want to go to jail. But his lawyer told him, "Don’t worry. You’ll never have to go to jail with all that money, and the lawyer was right. When the man was sent to prison, he didn’t have a dime.

[p rainwater]

suckersville cops and sao have been watching way to many police and law & order shows on t.v.

to both departments.....drop the acting and do some actual work. this is real life you are dealing with, not a script.

[Northside cop]

CERTAIN wrote:

<quoted text> What is obvious is that you are ridiculously uninformed. Although Judge Arnold is a tough judge, do your really think Pandy would have gotten adjudicated and close to a five year sentence? That's silly and if you really are a cop and are familiar with felony sentencing, you would know that. I believe firmly that if you ask any defense attorney, judge, or your beloved County Court attorneys, they will all agree with my previous sentiments regarding Ms. Hairston. Let me ask you this, if the current SAO is so terrible, why isn't there the same kind of outcry in Clay and Nassau?
No use in debating too much here. You will believe what you want. But I believe that if the police were also responsible for prosecution, there would be a huge amount of cases that have no evidentiary merit or constitutional issues going forward. All because the arresting officer is personnally attched to the case. Although Ms. Corey is an incredible prosecutor, that is one of the dangers of her being elected; that she won't be able to do the prosecutor's job of examining a case without emotion and attchment to the police.

I never said that Judge Arnold would have hammered him. What I did was challenge your assertion that the sentence he was given he would have gotten anyways. You specifically listed two courtrooms but failed to realize that he was in a courtroom with consequences. What I might have expected from Judge Arnold with Mr. Pandy's record had he gone to trial is an adjudication of guilt and 6 months to a year in county.

As far as Clay and Nassau counties go, even though they are under Shorstein their court personnel have a radically different attitude. Thanks to the cops without borders program we have frequent contact between each other now. I often speak with Nassau county officers who are amazed by the slaps on the wrists people get in Jacksonville. FHP, DOT, and every other state officer that I have spoken with has said the same thing. They are routinely dumbfounded by the slap on the hand from Harry's office.

Officers understand the plea bargain, difficulty in proving possession in some cases, and other issues that often occur. Thats not what bothers us. What bothers us is when we nail someone dead to rights and they get a slap on the wrist. When you have arrested someone for burglary for the fourth or fifth time and this time they still have the victim's property, and they only get four months county and adjudication withheld. Repeat violations of probation just to have it reinstated time after time and eventually terminated early.

We know there are some super liberal judges down there. As I had stated before they were brought up through the system and are a product of it. I have seen suspects run a line of bull on a judge and the judge take it hook line and sinker. Unfortunately there is nobody who advertises who they are and holds them accountable.

As far as Angela being able to view a case critically, I have seen her tell an officer that they made a mistake and the case couldn't go forward. She then sat down right there and explained to them why and how they could avoid the mistake in the future. She gets that we are supposed to be a partnership and when your partner takes a misstep, you help them and correct them, not stick the knife in their back and walk the other way. Thats how we feel like we are being treated now.

[p rainwater]

Northside cop wrote:

<quoted text>
I never said that Judge Arnold would have hammered him. What I did was challenge your assertion that the sentence he was given he would have gotten anyways. You specifically listed two courtrooms but failed to realize that he was in a courtroom with consequences. What I might have expected from Judge Arnold with Mr. Pandy's record had he gone to trial is an adjudication of guilt and 6 months to a year in county.
As far as Clay and Nassau counties go, even though they are under Shorstein their court personnel have a radically different attitude. Thanks to the cops without borders program we have frequent contact between each other now. I often speak with Nassau county officers who are amazed by the slaps on the wrists people get in Jacksonville. FHP, DOT, and every other state officer that I have spoken with has said the same thing. They are routinely dumbfounded by the slap on the hand from Harry's office.
Officers understand the plea bargain, difficulty in proving possession in some cases, and other issues that often occur. Thats not what bothers us. What bothers us is when we nail someone dead to rights and they get a slap on the wrist. When you have arrested someone for burglary for the fourth or fifth time and this time they still have the victim's property, and they only get four months county and adjudication withheld. Repeat violations of probation just to have it reinstated time after time and eventually terminated early.
We know there are some super liberal judges down there. As I had stated before they were brought up through the system and are a product of it. I have seen suspects run a line of bull on a judge and the judge take it hook line and sinker. Unfortunately there is nobody who advertises who they are and holds them accountable.
As far as Angela being able to view a case critically, I have seen her tell an officer that they made a mistake and the case couldn't go forward. She then sat down right there and explained to them why and how they could avoid the mistake in the future. She gets that we are supposed to be a partnership and when your partner takes a misstep, you help them and correct them, not stick the knife in their back and walk the other way. Thats how we feel like we are being treated now.

oh, poor little policemen. maybe some more overtime would make you feel better.

[2Cents]

p rainwater wrote:

<quoted text>
oh, poor little policemen. maybe some more overtime would make you feel better.

p rainwater is just pissed (no pun intended) that their love for hire was really an officer. p rainwater has been bitter ever since. i think there are evidence photos of his little winkie in the case file. you can understand how that could make some have displaced hate. Haaaaaaaaaaaa.

[p rainwater]

2Cents wrote:

<quoted text>
p rainwater is just pissed (no pun intended) that their love for hire was really an officer. p rainwater has been bitter ever since. i think there are evidence photos of his little winkie in the case file. you can understand how that could make some have displaced hate. Haaaaaaaaaaaa.

you are really intelligent. 2 cents worth of intelligence.

[2Cents]

p rainwater wrote:

<quoted text>
you are really intelligent. 2 cents worth of intelligence.

why, thank you. that coming from someone who calls themself p rainwater is quite a compliment. i'll keep that in mind.

[Joe_]

p rainwater wrote:

<quoted text>
you are really intelligent. 2 cents worth of intelligence.

2Cents wrote:

<quoted text>
why, thank you. that coming from someone who calls themself p rainwater is quite a compliment. i'll keep that in mind.

http://www.topix.net/album/detail/jacksonvill...

Please?