Will governor remove Darryl Daniels? Why charge him in the middle of an election? - WJXT News4JAX

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It reads like a steamy work of fiction, but it’s real life: A married sheriff involved in a years-long affair then accused of ordering one of his deputies to illegally arrest his former mistress.

That all-too real drama came to a head Thursday night when Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels was reportedly given an ultimatum by a special prosecutor: either turn yourself in or resign. He turned himself in.

Daniels faces four charges including tampering with evidence, which is a felony and three misdemeanor counts of knowingly giving false information to law enforcement.

Legal analysts wonder why, since Gov. Ron DeSantis has the power to suspend Daniels, they are using the threat of prosecution or actual prosecution if the misconduct is so clear.

RELATED: Sheriff Daniels arrested on 4 criminal charges | Political opponents on Daniel’s arrest | Events that led to sheriff’s arrest

Curtis Fallgatter was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for 17 years and is now a well-respected criminal defense lawyer.

The governor has plenty of authority to remove public officials, as we’ve seen,” Fallgatter said. “He’s (DeSantis) done that up here in Duval County. He’s removed City Council members -- two of them. He has removed sheriffs around the state. If you are Brad King, (the special prosecutor) appointed by the governor, why aren’t you having that conversation with the governor? If you think he should be removed…  go ahead and do it. Don’t threaten it in the context of a criminal prosecution, said Fallgatter. “Let the governor exercise his constitutional right to remove a sheriff if the evidence is that strong. Don’t just threaten it.”

“Again, those should be separate actions, make your prosecutorial decisions,  make your decisions as a governor-- but mingling the two in the middle of an election is a rather unusual combination,” Falgatter said.

Watch Bruce Hamilton’s full interview with Curtis Fallgatter on The Morning Show

With mail-in and early voting already underway in Daniels run for re-election and possibly half the ballots in the Aug. 18 primary already cast, Fallgatter weighed in on the timing of the charges.

“The FDLE report, I think was tendered up here in Duval County back in June or July,” Falgatter said. “So, why five days before the election? You know this has five components. He might win; he might lose. If you want to threaten a man to lose his job, you can do it now, you can do it five days from now. And of course, if he loses the election, they don’t need to make that threat. So it is pretty peculiar to issue an ultimatum in the middle of an election process where a lot of people have already voted.”

Daniels said Thursday night he intends to stay in the race. If he wins, he can continue in the position until he is convicted of a felony or removed by DeSantis.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"middle" - Google News
August 14, 2020 at 09:07PM
https://ift.tt/3fXtKIL

Will governor remove Darryl Daniels? Why charge him in the middle of an election? - WJXT News4JAX
"middle" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2MY042F
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update