Bureaucratic abuse in Orange County

From time to time, CourtWatch comes across cases that appear, on the surface, fairly straightforward. And then we encounter cases that are rather complex. This is one such case. This is the story of one man’s apparent attitude of entitlement and members of the County government that seem to support and perpetuate that attitude.

Farling Rivera, a secretary in the Probation Unit of Orange County Corrections has been married to William Rivera, Manager of Human Resources for Orange County Corrections, for 7 years. They work in the same building and are currently in the throes of a divorce.

On February 1, 2010 the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was called to the Rivera home for an alleged domestic violence situation. Once Mr. Rivera identified himself and his position with Corrections to law enforcement, the deputies chose not to arrest either party and indicated that they believed it to be a situation of mutual combat. Mrs. Rivera subsequently applied for a temporary injunction. Mr. Rivera reciprocated 3 days later. A hearing date was set for March, with no temporary injunction granted to either party.

In March, Judge Bronson denied William’s request to return to the home in order to retrieve additional personal belongings.

A permanent injunction was granted to Farling on June 1, 2010 for six months.

On June 2, 2010, OCSO Deputy Luna served the final injunction on William and told him that he was not to return to their mutual place of employment. Rivera defied the court order the following day by coming to the work address (which was prohibited by the court order) and remaining there, with Management’s knowledge, for approximately 6 hours. When he learned that a deputy was on the way to arrest him for violating the injunction that afternoon, he was aided and abetted by Corrections Management to elude them. He was escorted to a golf cart that quickly took him to his vehicle so that he might evade arrest.

William has returned to the home, which is expressly prohibited by the injunction, on several occasions. He repeatedly told his wife that he was very powerful and that she could not stop him from doing what he wanted. Sadly, it appears as though the County is sending her the same message.

CourtWatch is shocked at the conduct of Corrections managers by their collusion with an employee in his effort to evade arrest. CourtWatch is also disappointed at how the Office of Professional Standards and the County Attorney’s Office have responded to our inquiries relating to the conduct of Corrections management in this matter. We are perplexed as to why the County Attorney, whose job it is to interpret the law and represent the County, has to ask Corrections what they can release to us in response to our public records requests under Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes. Finally, CourtWatch is extremely concerned that there appears to exist either (1) a gross lack of documentation or (2) an effort to withhold information from our organization by the Sheriff’s Department as it relates to the times they were called to the Rivera residence.

Mr. Rivera is clearly well connected with law enforcement in our community. The apparent abuse of power by him and others on his behalf should not be condoned. It would indeed appear as though Mr. Rivera’s position has given him preferential treatment by several County agencies.

A comprehensive timeline of events, and supporting exhibits is available at the links below:

• Timeline of events
• Exhibit A: February 1, 2010 police report
• Exhibit B: June 3, 2010 police report
• Exhibit J: Farling's Affadavit
• Exhibit K: Witness Benzer's Affadavit
• Exhibit G: Memo 6/8 from Sr. Corrections Officer Smedley to Management detailing his concerns regarding their handling of the situation
• Exhibit I: Response 6/8 from Jill Hobbs, Acting Deputy Chief of Administration
• Exhibit H: CourtWatch correspondence 6/29 with Commissioner Brummer requesting investigation
• Exhibit C: CourtWatch correspondence 9/24 - 9/26 with County Attorney's Office
• Exhibit D: CourtWatch correspondence 9/29 with Office of Professional Standards
• Exhibit E: Sheriff's Department report 9/30 showing no calls for service all year to the Rivera home
• Exhibit F: CourtWatch correspondence 10/5 with County Attorney's Office

It should also be noted that only AFTER the media began to inquire about this situation last week, did CourtWatch receive a copy of the 6/8 email from Corrections Officer Smedley to Management that we verbally requested on 8/26. It was made available for pickup 10/12.

A motion to dismiss Mr. Rivera’s criminal case 2010-MM-010839-A-O (violation of injunction) was denied without prejudice on October 11, 2010. The prosecution is in its early stages and a trial date has not yet been set.

CourtWatch intends to not only follow the court cases until they are concluded, but also pursue accountability for the county officials whose collusion with a high ranking Corrections Department official has left his victim in fear for her safety.

Mr. Rivera's next court date is 11/24/10 for a Motion to Modify the injunction in the Domestic Relations case.

Equal Justice Under the Law, Part 2

On Wednesday, April 21st, the jury returned a guilty verdict to one cout of Sexual Battery with Physical Force [with a special finding of penetration] in the case of State of Florida v. Josh Bailey (2008-CF-018462-A-O). See earlier blog here. 

The lowest permissable sentence Baily could receive, due to his 211.4 sentencing points, was 137.55 months in the Department of Corrections. The maximum sentence would have been LIFE. 

During the 25 minute sentencing hearing, Judge A Thomas Mihok heard the victim, Tori Tyrelle, thank him for a fair trial and related that because of what happened to her, Orange County is making changes in the way transgender inmates are treated at the jail. She told him that she believed that Orange County Corrections Department bore responsibility for what happened to her. She also said that she didn't feel that the 20-yr old defendant should be incarcerated for the rest of his life.

Mr. Bailey's attorney, Tim Hartung, spoke on behalf of his client and told the Court that the defendant regretted what happened and that he was embarrassed by his role in the incident (Mr. Bailey is heterosexual and has children). He was having a difficult time accepting the fact that he was found guilty of sexual battery and being designated a sexual predator. Mr. Hartung felt that the defendant was no less a victim than Ms. Tyrelle because the jail put Ms. Tyrelle in the cell with Mr. Bailey.

Ryan Vescio, the prosecutor, responded that no one is ever put into a situation where they have to sexually assault on another person. Because both parties were in a 12x8 cell, the victim was confined and unable to escape. The defendant, as Mr. Vescio pointed out, is only a victim of his own actions, having shown no regard Ms. Tyrelle, nor has he shown remorse for his behavior.

Judge Mihok took note of the fact that in 2007 the defendant was convicted of burglary, theft and subsequently violated his probation in that case. He also had a juvenile record that included battery and robbery. The judge sentenced Bailey to serve 25 years in prison, ordered no contact between the parties, and designated Bailey to be a sexual predator.

I also learned that the jail was quite uncooperative in the prosecution of this case. Witnesses failed to appear for depositions. The note that Ms. Tyrelle passed to a corrections officer, in which she asked for help, mysteriously "disappeared." It seems to CourtWatch that the jail needs to investigate its handling of this situation and hold their own people accountable.

Equal Justice Under the Law

Above every judge's head in Orange County, one is reminded that "Equal Justice Under the Law" is what the judicial system strives to provide.

Everyone should expect to be treated fairly, whether they're a victim, defendant, witness, or any one of a number of other players that step into a courtroom on any given day.

CourtWatch monitored a case the past two days wherein one inmate was accused of sexually assaulting another inmate in the Orange County jail on December 8, 2008. 

The defendant, Josh Bailey (left), is currently 20 years old and is on track to spend a significant amount of his life behind bars.

The victim, Tori Tyrelle (right), is currently 39 years old and has accumulated over a dozen felony convictions. The victim was diagnosed at age 12 with gender identity disorder and has undergone several surgeries to be reassigned from male to female, including removal of the testicles and augmentation of the breasts.

The victim alleged that after spending 3 days in a 2-person cell with the defendant, he battered her and sexually assaulted her both orally and anally. At the time, he denied any sexual contact with the victim, but the DNA evidence confirmed the presence of his semen anally. There were also several large, fresh bruises noted by the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner a few hours after the incident.

Once Corrections Officers were apprised of the situation, the victim told the defendant that she was HIV positive, and one of Bailey's first requests after allegations were made was to be tested.  Bailey subsequently admitted to consensual contact the previous day and claimed he initially lied because he was ashamed.

Assistant State's Attorney Ryan Vescio treated everyone in the courtroom with respect and dignity. It was evident that Ms. Tyrelle deserved his best effort as a prosecutor.

The same could be said of Judge A. Thomas Mihok as he presided over the case.

However, Defense Counsel Tim Hartung's disdain for the victim was clearly evident. Judge Mihok once admonished him to stop laughing (a mocking sort of laugh) when cross-examining the victim. Mr. Hartung had trouble referring to the victim as a female throughout the entire trial, frequently saying "he or she" "Mr or Ms - whatever." A cynical smile was frequently pasted to his face and his rolling eyes were observed on several occasions as he walked back to his table while his back was turned to the judge and jury.

The defense contended that Ms. Tyrelle concocted a scheme to make $100,000 at the expense of the Orange County taxpayers by seducing his client and then alleging rape. Ms. Tyrelle is suing Orange County for alleged inadequacies in how transgendered inmates are taken care of at the jail (including, but not limited to this incident), although I have been unable to locate the case on the Orange County Clerk of Courts website.

In his closing argument, Mr. Hartung questioned how the victim managed to pay for all her surgeries thus far. Mr. Vescio, unfortunately, did not elicit any testimony from her on that matter (though I subsequently learned that she financed them herself). Mr. Vescio emphasized that in spite of the victim's crass language and alternative lifestyle, no one deserves to be a victim of sexual assault.

And that everyone should expect equal justice under the law.

4/21/10: The jury came back with a guilty verdict on one count of sexual battery w/physical force and a special finding of penetration.  Defendant is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, 4/23 at 9:00am in Courtroom 18D. The sentencing range is 137 months to LIFE.