GOB (Good Ole Boy) System Holds in Clay County

[rpschutt]

Let's all remember this...it's perfectly okay to steal, as long as a hurricane is off the coast. Pardon me if I find this jurors comments idiotic. Basically, "It's okay to steal in this case, because we'd all do it."

Jury acquits Clay's Fitzgerald
She still faces other charges, but a court says she didn't steal sandbags and labor.

By Dana Treen, The Times-Union

ST. AUGUSTINE - Facing an impending hurricane, then-Clay County Commission chairwoman Christy Fitzgerald did nothing wrong in using county employees and county materials to protect her home from a 2004 storm, a jury said Thursday.

As Hurricane Jeanne was bearing down on Northeast Florida that September, Fitzgerald was only doing what others would do, said Mike Lester, one of six jurors who took just 20 minutes to acquit Fitzgerald of two counts of petty theft.

"I don't think she abused the system," Lester said after the trial. "I think she was getting ready for a hurricane."

The charges came during a larger investigation that began in 2005 with federal authorities looking into a dumping scandal and county government corruption.

The trial was in St. Johns County, where it was moved last summer because of pretrial publicity about Fitzgerald's indictment in a grand jury investigation of the same matters.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011808/met_237669817.shtml

[Charles Hunter]

Does it give that juror's address? I might want to go stock up some things - after all, it is going to be cold and wet this weekend.

[rpschutt]

Does it give that juror's address? I might want to go stock up some things - after all, it is going to be cold and wet this weekend.

He's not too far from the Duval County line, believe it or not.

[jbm32206]

Although, overall, I still believe that we (the U.S.) has the best court-based system...but there's still the problem with having idiots :crazy: sitting on a jury!

So if it's okay to do what she did because of a hurricane threat...then the looting, pillaging and rapes should've been okay in New Orleans, right? What makes it different....it doesn't! Theft is theft...and wrong is wrong!

[rpschutt]

Guess I need to get a job at a bank. Perhaps I'll be excused from loading up on cash if a hurricane is off the coast. After all, I'll just be doing what everyone else would do, right?

[spidey]

Comments like those made by that juror scare the daylights out of me. :brickwall:

[jbm32206]

"I don't think she abused the system," Lester said after the trial. "I think she was getting ready for a hurricane."
It eludes me as to how they came to that conclusion...to have used taxpayer dollars that purchased the materials and taxpayer paid employees to secure a private home, is indeed, theft! There's just no other way around it...and this jury has now given the go-ahead for anyone else to abuse the system, to steal from the taxpayers....as long as they're doing something to protect their personal property. Unbelievable!

Like I said earlier, it just goes to show that even in the best legal system (my opinion) that idiots can serve...

[Timkin]

I am CERTAIN that this isnt the first time something like this has happened in Clay County, nor will it be the last. I bet one would be amazed at how often this has happened.

[Claude91098]

I am CERTAIN that this isnt the first time something like this has happened in Clay County, nor will it be the last. I bet one would be amazed at how often this has happened.

You mean you didn't see FCN's report on FSP and the surrounding "secret city" piece?
It happens all over, not just in Clay County. But honestly, it seems to happen more and more the further out into the "sticks" you get!

[rpschutt]

Not only does Ms. Fitzgerald get back pay, but she is now looking to the taxpayers to reimburse her for her legal fees while she fought corruption charges.

Unreal.

Fitzgerald receives $127,568 back pay
By BETH REESE CRAVEY, The Times-Union


Another scene has unfolded in Clay County Commissioner Christy Fitzgerald's return to county government.

She has received $127,568 in back pay and retirement contributions earned during her two-year suspension from the commission.

Seven weeks ago, Fitzgerald was acquitted in the third of three jury trials in theft and official misconduct charges. Six weeks ago, Gov. Charlie Crist reinstated her to the commission. And on May 6, she received the payment from the county.

She declined comment Tuesday about the payment.

Also on Tuesday, the County Commission approved a $156,500 budget transfer to replenish the commission salary and benefits account. The transfer ensures there will be enough funds in the account to pay all five commissioners the rest of the 2008 term, said County Manager Fritz Behring.
The charges were an outgrowth of an illegal dumping and government corruption investigation that began in 2004; she was indicted and suspended from office by then-Gov. Jeb Bush in 2006.

But still pending is a legal dispute over payment of her legal fees.
A Clay County Circuit Court civil action filed in October by her attorney, Geddes Anderson, demands from Clay County at least $15,000 in legal fees and expenses incurred in defending the official misconduct charge.

Last August, Anderson had petitioned the county by letter to reimburse the expenses, but the commission refused to pay. County Attorney Mark Scruby has said the county was not liable for the legal expenses.

Meanwhile, the other Clay official who was indicted, former Public Works Director Arthur Ivey, is expected to go to trial Monday. Ivey faces four counts of official misconduct, four counts of grand theft, four counts of littering, two counts of violating state Department of Environmental Protection rules and six counts of petty theft.


http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/052808/met_283545557.shtml

[johnmeeks1974]

May 28, 2008

Fitzgerald receives $127,568 back pay

By BETH REESE CRAVEY,
The Times-Union

Another scene has unfolded in Clay County Commissioner Christy Fitzgerald's return to county government.
------------------------
She has received $127,568 in back pay and retirement contributions earned during her two-year suspension from the commission.

Seven weeks ago, Fitzgerald was acquitted in the third of three jury trials in theft and official misconduct charges. Six weeks ago, Gov. Charlie Crist reinstated her to the commission. And on May 6, she received the payment from the county.

She declined comment Tuesday about the payment.

Also on Tuesday, the County Commission approved a $156,500 budget transfer to replenish the commission salary and benefits account. The transfer ensures there will be enough funds in the account to pay all five commissioners the rest of the 2008 term, said County Manager Fritz Behring.

The charges were an outgrowth of an illegal dumping and government corruption investigation that began in 2004; she was indicted and suspended from office by then-Gov. Jeb Bush in 2006.

But still pending is a legal dispute over payment of her legal fees.

A Clay County Circuit Court civil action filed in October by her attorney, Geddes Anderson, demands from Clay County at least $15,000 in legal fees and expenses incurred in defending the official misconduct charge.

Last August, Anderson had petitioned the county by letter to reimburse the expenses, but the commission refused to pay. County Attorney Mark Scruby has said the county was not liable for the legal expenses.

Meanwhile, the other Clay official who was indicted, former Public Works Director Arthur Ivey, is expected to go to trial Monday. Ivey faces four counts of official misconduct, four counts of grand theft, four counts of littering, two counts of violating state Department of Environmental Protection rules and six counts of petty theft.

beth.cravey@myclaysun.com, (904) 366-6381

This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/052808/met_283545557.shtml.

[johnmeeks1974]

Don't forget the 'Good Old Girls' in the system :)

[Ernest Street]

And I'm sure that Jury was carefully selected...But why would they think she's so valuable to go publicly corrupt with an award of money like that?:huh: