Why Does This FL State Attorney Still Have A Job?

I am a law student.  I have been through two years of hell (with one to go), only to listen to countless jokes ridiculing my future profession.  You've heard the jokes; for example:

Q - What do you call 100 attorneys at the bottom of the ocean?

A - A good start...

I constantly battle stereotypes (from friends, family and the checkout lady at Publix who responded, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that", when I told her that I had just moved to the area to go to law school) and often get into discussions with my fellow classmates revolving around the subject...  So, how did lawyers get such a bad rap?  I mean, the profession used to be well respected; hell, 22 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were  attorneys and 9 were judges (source).  Over the last 232 years the public's view of this profession has (at least according to the most recent study of "Public Perception of Lawyers" done in 2002 by the American Bar Association) gone South.  Now, I'm here to tell you that like any profession, there are great attorneys, good attorneys, mediocre attorneys and there are always a few douchebags that seem to ruin "it" for everyone (i.e. Jack Thompson).  I believe, after reading the Daytona Beach News-Journal's "Special Report" on FL State Attorney John Tanner, that we may be close to adding another name next to Jack Thompson's on the "Thanks For Bringing Down the Public View of the Profession" award list.

This whole issue stems from an article I read today reporting on a Judge's acquittal of a Flagler Beach police officer (for those of you from out of town, Flagler Beach is a city in FL near St. Augustine) on a perjury charge.  The officer's perjury charge and subsequent prosecution by the state attorney's office stemmed from Officer Nathaniel Juratovac's 2005 arrest of a female and her male roommate.  The male roommate, Michael McGuirk, was arrested for trying to run over Officer Juratovac.  The female was arrested and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest... she happened to be, Lisa Tanner, whose father is 7th Circuit State Attorney John Tanner.

After Ms. Tanner and Mr. McGuirk's arrests, and Ms. Tanner was strapped into a "restraint chair" while in the Flagler County jail; John Tanner began an investigation into the Flagler Beach Sherriff's Offices' jail system and its deputies.  Eventually, after spending a whole lot of tax-payer's money, the State Attorney's office brought charges against 4 Flagler County deputies (all of whom had their charges dropped before trial).  In turn, the Flagler County Sherriff's Office has repeatedly called for an investigation into Mr. Tanner after he asked the court to have his office's report, from their investigation into the Flagler County jail, sealed from the public and have the jail probe's slate wiped clean.  This is still an ongoing matter and I'm not saying that John Tanner has done anything wrong (I'll leave that up to the court system and you); however, after reading through the News-Journal's "Special Report" and the Flagler County Sherriff's Office investigation into Mr. Tanner,  it sure doesn't look like he's done much right.  What's your take on the matter?

- Zac Papantoniou (Guest Writer)

Comments

[Phelps]

In other words, the cop probably did lie on the stand, because that is the pattern and practice of the police when testifying. Unfortunately, they are usually protected from any sort of consequences by the state attorneys, who always exercise discretion to not pursue the falsehoods (and tacitly encourage them, with no sort of consequences, because of blanket immunity.)

In this case, because the state attorney was immediate family to the victim of this perjury, he chose pursue it. Unfortunately, the judge decided to back the good 'ole boy system and let the cop slip.

And I know all the lawyer jokes -- I work in Litigation Support (Trial Services.) I am in (civil) court somewhere between 10-25 weeks a year, and I have never seen a cop testify truthfully. They will lie even when the truth suits them better. It is just how they think.

[Dave]

Zac, I can truthfully say that I would rather have a sister working in a whorehouse than a brother as a member of the Bar. At least whoring is an honest profession.

If you want to improve the public's opinion of lawyers get some of your lawyer buddies to stop running for public office to pass laws designed only to enrich the legal class. Repealing a few would be a refreshing change.

No malice intended but I have to tell my favorite lawyer joke:
What's the difference between a lawyer and a
Barracuda?

A: One is a lowlife scum sucking bottom feeder. The other is a fish.

Have a great weekend!

[AbuNudnik]

Without law, man would revert to an animal status. Without lawyers, no one could debate, refine, test or apply it. Half the anti-lawyer animus is anti-Semitism because Judaism is a religion of laws and Christian is antinomian to the core.

[Lisa Tanner]

Zac, the charges you have listed in this article are completely wrong. There were 2 seperate arrests involving the same officer and myself, Mcguirk was involved in the second incident. Unfortunately you didn't do your reserach too well otherwise you would have known that the restraint-chair incident occurred in March; the arrest you have attempted to write about occurred in November. I would suggest you nail down these skills before you graduate from law school and take the bar as I believe such a blatant mistake as this would cause you great embarassment in the courtroom.

[Zac Papantoniou]

Lisa,

It appears that I got the November and March arrests from 2005 mixed up.

Undoubtedly, this was merely an innocent oversight, due to the involvement of Officer Juratovac's name (in the article I was referencing as a source for this blog post) with both arrests.

To clarify, you (Lisa Tanner) were arrested in March 2005 "[o]n charges of disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence that led to Tanner being strapped into a restraint chair at the Flagler jail." - Source (http://www.myfcso.us/docs/News_Clippings/Charges_dropped_Juratovic.pdf)

After the arrest in November of 2005, you (Lisa Tanner) were "charged with battery, resisting an officer without violence and obstruction of justice. McGuirk was charged with aggravated assault." - Source (http://www.myfcso.us/docs/News_Clippings/Charges_dropped_Juratovic.pdf)

"The March 2005 charges were dropped by 18th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Norman Wolfinger . . . [A] grand jury led by Polk County-based State Attorney Jerry Hill dropped the [November 2005] charges." - Source (http://www.myfcso.us/docs/News_Clippings/Charges_dropped_Juratovic.pdf)

Thanks for catching this mistake and allowing me to clarify.

- Zac

[Lisa Tanner]

Wow, you still didn't get them 100% right, but I see that you went to the Flagler County Sherriff's website for your information. Were you really thinking that you would find reliable, unbiased and accurate information there??? You will need 2 things to get it straight: 1.) Common Sense 2.)Public record.

Good Luck.

[Zac Papantoniou]

Lisa,

I have to disagree with your opinion of the source I used.

You are correct in the fact that the domain address of the source is linked to a PDF document obtained from the Flagler County Sheriff's website; however, it is merely a PDF version of the article, "Perjury, other charges dropped against Juratovic," written by Kenya Woodard, for the "Daytona Beach News-Journal" and published on May 23, 2008. (See - http://www.news-journalonline.com/special/flaglerpolice/newFLAG01052308.htm ).

That information was right at the top of the PDF document, did you go to the link, or just read the "myfcso.us" part of it and assume that I didn't take the time to actually research and review the actual source of where the Flagler County Sheriff's website got it from?

I'm merely quoting a journalist's news article; if the information in that article (in your opinion) is inaccurate, unreliable or biased, I'd suggest that you contact Ms. Woodard (her email address is at the bottom of the article page) and make her aware of any inaccuracies you believe exist in her writing. Heck, share your viewpoint of the inaccuracies, I'd actually like to hear your thoughts.

You're making broad assumptions about my personal character and intelligence without even knowing me; that's a shame, because I'm not the idiot/jerk you seem to have already concluded that I am. I'll go out on a limb and say that if you talked to me for 5 min., you'd probably change your mind and at least consider me a tolerable person to converse with.

Alternately, I'll politely ask that you refrain from suggesting that I lack common sense or that I am in any way looking to offer a biased viewpoint on the issue of how information is presented; information, that is readily available to anyone using an internet search engine.

Like I said, I'd love to hear your side of what you suggest is inaccurate with the news article, because if law school has taught me anything, it's that there are always two sides to a story, and both should be heard before coming to any conclusion.

I look forward to hearing from you.

- Zac

[Lisa Tanner]

Listen, I'm sure you are a stellar guy, but the fact that you are inclined to believe that you have a decent source of information via the website of the sherriff's office that directly linked you to the News journal leaves me under the impression that you are either lazy or just not that bright.

Did you honestly believe that you were getting accurate information considering your sources?? Would you research the Daytona Beach News Journal before you went to court to either defend or prosecute an individual? I can hear it now: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in the Saturday paper, uh, on page 4D....behind the Dear Abby column...you will find all of the evidence that you will need that proves that my client is NOT guilty!!"

Oh my, listen, I'm not trying to be too rough with you, but you should really try and walk a mile in my shoes...what I see is some guy (you) hopefully of reasonable intelligence and education that just wants to bash some guy (my dad)because he doesn't like the way he does his job. Fine, that's definately something you are entitled to. Unfortunately the guy who writes the article (you) does a crap job of research and flubs the entire thing. I could care less what Woodward has to say, she's a reported with what? MAYBE a 2 year degree. You had to graduate from college before getting into law school- I would expect that you would be the more intelligent of the 2...not that you would be relying on her inaccurate information.

The only thing I want to know is this: WHY didn't you check the public records?

I have to go now, a busy week with lots of homework ahead of me so you probably won't ever hear from me again, but good luck and take care...and please don't forget to make sure you have an accurate source from here on out.

[attorney in Minneapolis]

Amazing!, discussion between this author and the concern person(Ms.Tanner)leaves me on the edge of my seat!I like them debating on this issue. This blog is the best (so far). Keep on writing Zac.