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Former Prosecutor's Side Business: Testifying Made Simple

By Brian Tannebaum, Esq.

With no fanfare, this story hit the South Florida Sun-Sentinel yesterday.The headline?"County commissioner's daughter paid to teach deputies how to testify."The focus of the story? Well, it began with this:The daughter of Palm Beach County Commissioner Jess Santamaria has received more than $56,000 in taxpayer money to teach sheriff's deputies how to testify in court.Yes, rile up mom and pop taxpayer - the story is nepotism - the daughter of a politician got a gig at the expense of taxpayers.Then we have the "oh, by the way:"Sheriff Ric Bradshaw signed a contract with Michelle Santamaria last year, after she proposed the classes for deputies and sergeants. The office had never offered training in court testimony, Bradshaw said.Of course continuing on the focus of the story being the use of taxpayer dollars, we have the typical and shallow denials:Bradshaw and both Santamarias said Jess Santamaria's position as a commissioner had nothing to do with his daughter's contract...continue to full post

Full post as published by Criminal Defense on December 07, 2009 (boomark / email).