Cummings-Croslin video releasedTape of alleged drug sale sent to Nancy Grace
Posted: February 20, 2010 - 12:04am
By RICHARD PRIOR
Attorneys for Ronald Cummings, father of missing HaLeigh Ann-Marie Cummings, and Cummings' ex-wife, Misty Croslin, were practically speechless Friday when they learned that videotape of the couple's alleged drug-dealing had been sent to a nationally televised entertainment program.
"I'm a little shocked they would mail out the video," said Cummings' lawyer, Terry Shoemaker, of Mowrey, Shoemaker Beardsley in St. Augustine. "That's the whole case.
"I've never, ever seen that happen."
Although the attorneys said they had not yet received their videos, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office sent a copy of the alleged drug transactions to the Nancy Grace show.
The footage was scheduled to be aired Friday night.
Shoemaker said the attorneys had been told they could view the "unredacted" version at the sheriff's office.
His office sent a check for a copy of the "redacted" version, which blocked the identities of undercover officers. He said he had not received a copy by Thursday.
Friday afternoon, Shoemaker was driving back from Miami, where he had been attending a conference. Audioclips from the video were being played on a Miami radio station, he said.
"It's all over the place," Shoemaker said.
Lt. Johnny Greenwood with the PCSO said copies had been sent to local television stations as well as Nancy Grace, whose representative calls him "just about every day to see what's new."
Not unusual
He said it's not unusual anymore for law enforcement officers to release video of alleged crimes. He cited the images from stores' surveillance cameras that capture robberies and shootings.
"Really, this is not out of the ordinary," he said. "This is a very high-profile case."
Croslin, for a short time, was the stepmother of HaLeigh Cummings, who was 5 years old when she disappeared from her father's Satsuma mobile home the night of Feb. 9, 2009.
The teenager, who was Ronald Cummings' live-in girlfriend at the time, was babysitting HaLeigh and her younger brother while their father worked a night shift as a crane operator.
The two were married March 12, one month after the child disappeared.
They were divorced on Oct. 15.
Cummings, Croslin and three others were arrested in Putnam County on Jan. 20 and charged with multiple counts of drug trafficking.
An undercover officer allegedly bought oxycodone and hydrocodone several times and then offered to sell the pills. The 330 pills involved had an estimated street value of $3,900.
Cummings, 26, was charged with five counts of trafficking in prescription drugs.
Croslin, 18, faces eight counts (including one in St. Johns County).
Also charged were Croslin's brother, Hank Croslin Jr., 23 (one count); a cousin, Hope A. Sykes, 18 (one count); and Donna Brock, 44 (one count).
Chris Kelly, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, said there was nothing unusual about the video release.
Following the law
"Our obligation is to comply with Florida's Public Records law," he said.
The only exemptions from that law are for a suspect's alleged confession and when an investigation is "ongoing," he said.
His case falls into one of those categories, Shoemaker said.
"As long as the case is being litigated, it's an ongoing investigation," he said.
Croslin's lawyer, Robert Fields of Dowda & Fields in Palatka, said he agreed "100 percent" with Shoemaker.
Fields still didn't have a copy on Friday.
Of all the media outlets the sheriff's office could have sent the video to, Fields particularly objected to a copy going to Nancy Grace, whose program bills itself as "television's only justice themed/interview/debate show."
"How in the world could an entertainment show like that get copies of this court discovery prior to the parties' attorneys?" he asked. "And it is just an entertainment show. It's not a legal show. It's not journalism.
"So they're pumping this out to Nancy Grace. There's a strategy there.
"I have a strong opinion about what their strategy is, but I'm not at liberty to say what that is."
http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-02-20/cummings-croslin-video-released