Grady Judd signals he's fine with exonerating Leo Schofield; politicians should listen
I am also requesting any public records related to an internal "review" of the Schofield case that State Attorney Brian Haas claims he ordered back in 2016 or 2017. We'll see if any exist.
Everyone with interest in overturning Leo Schofield’s wrongful conviction — or just in a powerful human story of human endurance, justice, and grace — should read Richard Bockman’s extraordinary recent update on Leo in the Tampa Bay Times.
It includes so many powerful and important tidbits about the status of the case, now that Leo has been paroled (but not exonerated) for a murder he didn’t commit. Mostly, Bockman’s skillful reporting makes it clear that everybody obviously knows Leo is innocent, especially including the people who put him in prison. I’ll come back to multiple specific examples in future articles.
But for now, go read for yourself how the banal stupidity of pretending to fake believe Leo is a murderer comes through in the words and behavior of current State Attorney Brian Haas and long-time former State Attorney Jerry Hill. Every Polk prosecutor and judge who ever touched the case personally owes their professional career and personal status to Hill, including Haas. I assure you that is the only reason Leo continues to suffer in this Sartre-level absurdity trap.
I do have two important, specific elements of Bockman’s story to highlight today. Both, I think, subtly break important news.
This is Grady Judd giving public political permission to exonerate Leo
My working political theory on the Schofield case — and this is entirely a political matter now because the Jerry Hill-compromised judicial branch has proven itself incapable of exonerating an innocent man — is that Polk Sheriff Grady Judd, not Haas or Hill, is the key player in determining Schofield’s fate.
I don’t think DeSantis — or whoever is detailed to review this case with GOP State Sen. Jonathan Martin — will pull the trigger if they expect the flamboyant sheriff to attack the decision. Well, here is Grady from Bockman’s story:
But when it comes to Schofield, the sheriff has been restrained. He declined to be interviewed for this story. “He’s not interested in discussing the Leo Schofield case,” a spokesperson said.
You know what that says? When DeSantis or Uthmeier or whomever finally orders exoneration or a truly independent conviction integrity review, they will get all the political benefit and good press of doing the right thing (might even be good for Casey’s campaign against Byron Donalds and Larry Wilcoxson). Grady’s spokesman will just say: “He’s not interested in discussing the Schofield case. The majestic legal system has worked.”
And unlike Jerry Hill and Brian Haas, Grady Judd truly is not on the hook for what happened to Schofield. He was a very young administrative investigative leader in a time of chaos at the Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutor John Aguero bullied Grady’s investigators with addled testimony Aguero arranged with “witnesses” in his office. Honestly, Grady owes Aguero’s ghost some payback. And all the worst parts of the case are on prosecutors and judges, not cops.
And keep in mind: the state of Florida’s official position is that Leo Schofield (not serial killer Jeremy Scott, who has confessed to killing Michelle Schofield multiple times and left evidence on her car) slaughtered his wife in an unimaginable rage. The state of Florida officially insists Leo slashed Michelle more than 20 times with a knife. Meanwhile. Leo Schofield has never wavered in asserting his innocence.
So Leo is officially, supposedly a savage woman-killer who won’t take any responsibility for his actions. And Grady Judd doesn’t want to discuss his release back into a society?
Come on; it’s absurd, and Grady knows it as well as anyone else. That’s why he’s giving DeSantis low-key permission to act.
About this internal case review, State Attorney Haas
The other really important piece of news — at least for me — in Bockman’s story is this — Brian Haas’ claim that he ordered some sort of Schofield case review way back in 2016 or 2017.
When I was elected many years ago, I had a fresh, in-depth review of the Schofield case conducted by prosecutors and investigators in my office, independent of John Aguero (who prosecuted Schofield) or the previous administration. Their conclusions were consistent with the multiple appellate judges and trial court judges who have upheld the Schofield conviction many times over the years, based upon a complete and accurate examination of the facts.
Oh; you don’t say.
Here’s the public records request I sent to the 10th Circuit State Attorney’s Office this morning.
Good morning. Pursuant to Florida statutes, I am requesting all written records related to the "fresh, in-depth review of the Schofield case conducted by prosecutors and investigators in my office, independent of John Aguero (who prosecuted Schofield) or the previous administration" that State Attorney Brian Haas referred to in the Tampa Bay Times in this article. State Attorney Haas claims he ordered this review "when I was elected many years ago." Haas was first elected in late 2016. So this review likely occurred in 2017, but he should be able to specify the timing.
Records in this request include, but are not limited to:
Any written summary of the case issues and John Aguero's behavior.
Any analysis of evidence or testimony.
Any written conclusions about the validity of Schofield's conviction.
Thank you.
Exoneration is coming. This conviction will collapse of its own hideous absurdity. Tick, tick, tick.