You may recall that we discussed the disturbing case involving the shooting of Andrew Lee Scott, 26, an entirely innocent man who was killed by Florida police after they went to the wrong home to arrest an attempted murder suspect, did not announce they were officers, pounded on a door at 1:30 am and then shot and killed Scott when he pointed a gun at the strangers at his door. They were looking for Jonathan Brown who is suspected of attempted murder and insisted that they had little choice in the shooting. Now, to compound the tragedy, it turns out that Brown was also completely innocent. Brown was exonerated after being charged with attempted murder when witnesses established that there was no crime to begin with. In fact, the witnesses suggested that Brown was something of a hero. The family is now in court and, while the charges were dropped some time ago, I wanted to run an update on the case.
The incident occurred at a party when two of Brown’s friends got into a fight over a girl. Brown intervened to try to break up the fight and then left on a motorcycle. A Leesburg Police Department radio transmission however said that Brown was charged with assault and was fleeing on a motorcycle. It is not clear how a false assault report became an attempted murder charge. Brown parked his motorcycle near his residence and police for some unexplained reason just assumed that whatever door was closest must be his apartment. That is when they started to bang on the door at 1:30 in the morning. They were not in uniform. They did not identify themselves and they tried to partially conceal themselves from people in the apartment. It is little surprise that Scott thought they might be robbing him or trying to break into his apartment. When he answered the door with a gun in his hand, he was shoot repeatedly by Deputy Richard Sylvester. Notably, reports indicate that one of the bullets went through the door before striking Scott.
Brown was later arrested without incident in his apartment. Brown said that he was then abused by police officers and correctional officers. His lawyer objected that police overcharged the case in an effort to make it look more serious in the aftermath of the killing. The fact that he was charged with attempted murder rather than assault seems to support that theory.
It took five months for the truth to come out — long after the story of the “attempted murderer” had passed from the media. In the meantime, Brown said that he was kicked out of school, lost his job, and many of his friends. He was studying to become a licensed practical nurse.
The Lake County Sheriff’s office issued a statement saying simply, “The dismissal of the Leesburg Police Department charges against Jonathan Brown does not impact the situation involving Andrew Scott in any way.” The police cleared all of the officers, including Sylvester, and found that they acted appropriately in the death of Andrew Lee Scott.
The family has filed a lawsuit in federal court.
Source: Tallahassee News
I’m referring to much more than police overreach occurring in Florida. Florida seems to have more crimes against children, pedophiles, abductors, and then there are the vigilante fools, etc. Just my observation about Florida. Maybe it’s too hot and humid.
Annie – you make a rather broad statement about Florida and its crime rate. Would you like to back that up with some statistics?
nick, you have it backwards. Bad behavior, especially by cops, is what’s “picked on”. It just happens that most of this bad behavior happens in red states.
above is part 2; sponsored by The Rutherford Institute
The Second Amendment (Part 1 of 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZN8FJ852ps
Tough Love?
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfqOXs2zdZg#t=131
Paul, Picking on Red States is the national pastime here.
If we had a decent DOJ I would ask for a Civil Rights violation hearing.
It happened in Los Angeles county too, when officials wanted land for Malibu state park. Sheriffs entered a residence in the early A.M. under the suspicion that the property owner was growing pot. Living in a rural area he reached for a gun next to his bed and they killed him
Annie – police overreact everywhere, even WI. I would not pick on a particular state. I think it is a particular mindset we are dealing with that is the problem.
Yes, why Florida, so often? Makes one wonder what’s in the drinking water.
Sick indeed. Welcome to the police state where the police can do no wrong.
Suri_mike
The linked article states a federal lawsuit was filed on March 6, 2013. Has the case been heard?
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The case was actually filed in state court, Seminole County Circuit Court, in January of 2013.
It was removed to federal court, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, in February of 2013, by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
It is a heated case with the original lawyers on both sides withdrawing.
Motions for sanctions, etc.
Mediation conference was ordered, but it ended in impasse on 4/24/14.
“Pretrial statement due by 10/14/2014, All other motions due by 9/3/2014, Plaintiff disclosure of expert report due by 3/3/2014, Defendant disclosure of expert report due by 4/1/2014, Jury Trial set for the trial term commencing 11/3/2014 in Orlando Courtroom 6 B before Judge John Antoon II.”
More and more of these stories in Florida – I used to think it might be nice to retire to the sunshine state, now my feeling is that it is a place to be avoided at all costs !!! How shameful and completely out-of-control these morons are.
I see these developments as just the reality of where the country is going with the crazy guns situation. Why is anyone surprised – put a gun in someone’s hands and he (notice they are generally ‘men’?) will behave like a lout – got power, will kill !
Makes me think of them all as schoolyard swaggerers.
How on earth to take away the guns, I have no idea, I watch in amazement at the stupidity of it all. CIVILIZED?? HUH ?? You have no idea what that means.
It is time to stop the abuse by the police. We don’t need police who act like vigilantes. The killing by police of the elderly, the mentally ill, etc is out of control, we might as well use the militias in Florida and Texas. They might prove to be better than our paid police. Demand justice.
I have always been outraged at the police saying that it is better to be judged by twelve than carried by six. This shows the callous disregard cops have for their fellow citizens, and that we are lesser mortals who have to be sacrificed for THEM. We are supposed to honor cops because they supposedly put their lives on the line for the public good, but this motto says the exact opposite. That WE are supposed to be sacrificed for their safety. It is imperative that all chiefs who are in charge, make this saying outlawed, and that any cop who thinks or acts in such a manner is kicked out to find another line of work.
Sick.
If the police did no wrong, we need to change some laws. Innocent people shouldn’t die for the sake of officer safety or false accusations. The police are not accomplishing anything when acting like this. What is it we are always told, “We have to catch them doing it first”. If thats the case why are innocent people beaten and killed if they were not caught “doing it”. The law is made to catch criminals, not punish innocent citizens.
Reblogged this on Citizens, not serfs.
The linked article states a federal lawsuit was filed on March 6, 2013. Has the case been heard?
There are bands of people roaming around with guns. They are dangerous and they are wearing uniforms and carrying badges. Stay away from them if you can.
Nothing will happen. It rarely does in these situations.
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