TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Smoke And Mirrors

ADVERTISEMENT

Bobby Duncan

Published: October 15, 2008

I read the Oct. 8 Highlands Today article titled" Convictions Come In 75 Percent of Grow House Cases," which has left a bad taste in my mouth. This was obviously more smoke and mirrors from the sheriff's office and an attempt by Highlands Today to soften the story and the impact on the sheriff. The headline is very misleading.

As I read the article, I noted that 59 of the 79 cases have been closed according to the sheriff's attorney, but there is no further details provided as to how they were closed, only that some of the "others were closed after pleas were entered." Later in the article, Capt. Randy LaBelle said from what he was seeing, "A lot of these people got probation or community control."

For those not in the know, this means they were released from custody and put back on our streets. I recall from reading all of the media hype as the grow houses were discovered and arrests were made, that many of those arrested were facing serious charges that could have resulted in prison sentences ranging from 5-30 years. Now I read that a lot of them only got probation or community control. The sheriff or her attorney should explain how this occurred and not leave it up to speculation.

Previous articles have indicated that many of the grow house cases were in jeopardy because of the manner in which the evidence was handled.

While I will agree that a conviction is a conviction, I would much rather have seen those arrested sent to prison. I do not feel that allowing them to plea to lesser charges should be called a success or even count as a conviction, especially if it were a result of missing evidence. So, were the 59 cases closed because the evidence was missing?

Bobby Duncan
Sebring

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT