Crime Scene Cover-up at the Escambia County Sheriff's Office

PRESS RELEASE

TO:         All News Editors
FROM:    Leroy Boyd, Movement for Change & David Craig (Investigative Reporter)
RE:         PRESS CONFERENCE
TOPIC:    Evidence Casts Suspicion on CST Haley Rhodes Hill.  Cover-up May Compromise Multiple Cases
WHERE: Center for Social Justice, 1603 North Davis Highway, Pensacola, Florida
WHEN:   1 PM Wednesday, March 7th
Contact:  David Craig (850) 505-4966 or realityus@aol.com
 
"Tarnished Justice" exposes another attempt by the ECSO to cover-up major felony allegations against one of their own.  Jan Johnson, Forensics Supervisor at the ECSO alleged numerous acts describing felony misconduct committed by CST Haley Hill in 2003.  See Report.  The Chief Deputy Larry Smith & then Captain Bill Price also alleged violations of law all related to evidence gathering by Ms. Hill.  The depth and seriousness of the misconduct described required an official investigation.  None was done.  Hill resigned and has been working as a CST at the Penscola regional office of the FDLE on crime scene investigations in a 10 county area.

The guarantee of a fair trial is at the very heart of our justice system.  The Brady Rule requires prosecutors to turn over to the defense any evidence that might tend to negate guilt or reduce punishment.   The failure to adequately inform the defense (of Hill's extensively documented negative reports) in all cases involving CST Hill from 2003 to the present has greatly expanded the fallout from what was originally a containable crisis.  CST Hill did extensive work on the jail death of Jerry Preyer which is coming to a Coroner's Inquest shortly.    

The impact will likely be widespread.  Attorneys for Ryan Green, convicted killer of retired PPD Sgt. James Hallman, have said they will use this information to seek post conviction relief for Green who is on death row in Florida State Prison awaiting lethal injection.  Haley Hill was a key prosecution witness in the murder trial of Alfred Bruce Hall who received a 25 year sentence.  This trial took place during a period when CST Hill was receiving bad performance reports from Jan Johnson who referred to numerous compromised cases in her detailed assessment.

Defense attorneys will be present to address the matter and to offer a legal perspective.  Detailed documentation will be provided to all media representatives present.  Special key documents, not yet posted at the "Tarnished Justice" online evidence library will be revealed at the Press Conference.

We urge you to offer in depth coverage of this story which is central to the survival of American democracy.  "Society wins not only when the guilty are convicted, but when criminal trials are fair."  Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas