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The car barreled down a county road at more than 100 mph before it slammed into a Mitsubishi Galant, killing one woman, seriously injuring another and hurtling a child through the windshield.
At the wheel of the speeding vehicle: an on-duty Florida Highway Patrol trooper.
FHP found the trooper, Detrick McClellan, at fault in the horrific crash, fired him, and cited him with three traffic violations.
But when his case came up in court, the trooper who issued the citations wasn't there. Another trooper in attendance said that though he couldn't represent the agency, he would not object to dismissing the tickets, and the judge did just that.
McClellan walked out with no consequences, and even got handshakes from his fellow law enforcement officers.
"If the FHP allows it to stand, what they're saying is the law does not apply to us, even if we kill people," said Dennis Kenney, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and a former Florida police officer.
The hearing, captured on video, contributed to the firing of an FHP commander, and on Friday FHP announced that a sergeant would be recommended for demotion.
The trooper who issued the citations has been exonerated FHP found he had a legitimate reason to miss court but seven other troopers remain under investigation for their conduct in the hearing. FHP is still trying to sort out what happened in the courtroom.
"We really can't speculate," said Capt. Nancy Rasmussen, spokeswoman for the highway patrol. "Hopefully, through those investigations we'll find out."
A Sun Sentinel investigative series last year found extreme speeding by South Florida law enforcement officers, both on and off duty. A culture of professional courtesy resulted in cops being cited and punished far less frequently than other drivers, even when their speeding caused deaths or serious injury.
The crash that landed McClellan in court happened on a two-lane road in rural Gadsden County, west of Tallahassee, with a speed limit of 55 mph. The trooper, who joined FHP in 2006, was on duty the afternoon of Feb. 10, 2012, when he responded to a call about someone throwing rocks from an overpass.
Accelerating with no emergency lights, the trooper reached 102 mph in his Crown Victoria, heading toward a curve with a recommended speed limit of 35 mph, according to FHP records. Coming the other way was the Mitsubishi with two women and a 12-year-old girl, on their way home to Quincy after picking the child up from school, relatives said.
As McClellan reached the curve, he veered off the road, then swerved into the other lane and smashed into the Mitsubishi. Passenger Michelle Campbell, 51, died several hours later from her injuries. Campbell's granddaughter, 12, flew through the windshield, and the other woman, her niece, suffered serious injuries, records show.
FHP Cpl. C. Brooks Yarborough investigated the crash and found McClellan responsible. Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, determining that the trooper's driving did not rise to the level of vehicular homicide.
"He responded to [the call] rapidly because that's a dangerous thing, rocks hitting cars," Willie Meggs, state attorney for the circuit that includes Gadsden County, told the Sun Sentinel. "We made the conclusion that there was a life lost, but he was trying to save a life."
Yarborough cited McClellan for careless driving, speeding, and failure to use his emergency lights non-criminal traffic infractions typically punishable by fines.
A hearing was set for Nov. 5 before Gadsden County Judge Kathy Garner. Two hours before it started, Garner's assistant got a call saying Yarborough wouldn't be there, the judge announced at the hearing.
Yarborough had a "medical emergency" and notified his supervisor, Sgt. Aaron Stephens, that morning, said Rasmussen, the FHP spokeswoman. But Stephens failed to send someone else or request the hearing be rescheduled, she said.
When the case came up, seven troopers were in the courtroom, although the reason is unclear. FHP wouldn't say, and McClellan's lawyer said they may have been present for other cases being heard that day.
The judge asked if any of them was able to represent FHP against McClellan, and none said they could.
One trooper, Cpl. Michael Cross, stood before the judge but said he had no authority to speak for Yarborough. Next to him was McClellan and his lawyer, Stephen Webster of Tallahassee.
Webster turned to Cross and asked if he would agree to a dismissal of the citations.
"Why not?" Cross said. "I'm easy to please."
The judge had been temporarily distracted doing paperwork at the time.
"So y'all want it dismissed?" she said.
Cross shrugged, and Webster said, "Nobody here objects."
The judge, seemingly shocked, responded: "There's no objection? C'mon, y'all Candid Cameraing me?"
Even Webster seemed surprised, and said, "If the agency felt this strongly about these citations, they certainly would have someone here."
After a short exchange, the judge agreed to toss out the tickets. The whole proceeding took just over two minutes.
"Hearing no objection, or no one's here, I will go on and dismiss the citations," Garner said.
The video recording of the session ends then, but people in the courtroom told the Sun Sentinel that the troopers shook McClellan's hand.
Relatives of Campbell, the woman who died from the crash, are still in disbelief. They said they were never notified of the hearing but watched the recording of it later.
"It was appalling and it hurt because I feel like they were cheering, rooting him on, for a death he caused," said Campbell's daughter, Annekquah Knight, of Quincy. "They knew he was wrong. I think it's just because he was a trooper, and they look out for each other."
Son Rasheik Campbell, of Tallahassee, said the justice system let his family down.
Campbell said it was his daughter who was in the car. Now 13, she's had surgery, has permanent scars on her face and sees a counselor to cope with the aftermath of the crash.
"She doesn't sleep well," he said. "It's been extremely hard for my family."
The judge declined a request from the Sun Sentinel for an interview. McClellan could not be reached, but Webster, his lawyer, told the newspaper that the trooper regrets what happened and had been planning to fight the citations.
His defense? FHP had failed to maintain his car, and the trooper lost control because he briefly glanced down when the "check engine" light came on, Webster said. His speed at collision, the attorney noted, was about 90 mph.
Webster said the trooper was just doing his job and already has paid a big price FHP fired him in October for violating policy with his driving that day. He said the trooper's former colleagues who shook his hand in court may have just been "happy to see him have some good news for a change."
All the troopers in the courtroom, along with Yarborough, the crash investigator, were assigned to Troop H, an eight-county region in north Florida that includes Tallahassee.
Two days after the hearing, FHP fired the Troop H commander, Maj. Timothy Ashley. His Nov. 7 dismissal letter says only that he "is terminated effective today, at close of business."
FHP's Rasmussen said the agency "didn't feel that he was performing up to standards."
Asked if the dismissal was related to the court hearing, she said: "It was his troop. He's responsible for his troop."
An internal FHP investigation that concluded Friday cleared Yarborough, finding that he properly notified his boss, Sgt. Stephens, that he couldn't make the hearing. Stephens faces a demotion to trooper but has an opportunity to appeal.
The crash caused a death, said Stephens' demotion letter, and his "failure to ensure that the state be represented at the hearing undermined public perception that the Florida Highway Patrol is committed to justice in investigations involving troopers."
An investigation into the conduct of Cross and the other six troopers in court that day is still pending.
"From looking at the video, it just didn't seem like that's what should have gone on," Rasmussen said.
Kenney, the professor and former cop, said FHP owes it to the public to do a thorough investigation.
"The question is, what are they going to do about it?" he said. "Do the same rules apply to FHP as the rest of the citizens of Florida?"
Speeding cop case dismissed, even though person died - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
One of the most disturbing things I've read in a while. This is no different than a criminal organization behaves.
did I just read....
