interesting reading folks now that the election is over.

Ok...so this case was dropped.  And they agreed to keep this man's secret of using escorts.  Of course, now the entire world knows.
What is this REALLY about?  What's up with this?

What this means is that any LE official or DA that assures you he or she will keep your name confidential if you assist in bringing others to so-called justice, is selling you a bill of goods. Judges in most jurisdictions will invariably require the government to disclose to the defense the names of potential witnesses, and informants, or order the case dismissed. Exceptions are rarely made and only in cases where the witnesses or the informants life might be in jeopardy if there name was disclosed.

You have a right to a speedy trial.  If the DA delays a trial excessively then the case will be dismissed on the fault of the DA.  I believe all jusrisdictions have a set number of days that the DA can delay or continue a trial or else the case will be dismissed because of the right to a speedy trial.  

The defense wanted to know the names of witnesses and they were witheld too long.  They battled this issue for a long time largely because the DA promised the politician that they would keep it a secret.  I think the battle would not have been as hard and long if the politician was not involved.  

All the time it took to battle the secrecy of the informants was counted toward delays on the fault of the DA.  I am uncertain, but I believe the defense did finally get the names of the witnesses.  However,  the Judge did not think that this evidence came timely enough for the defense to properly prepare the case for trial so the case was continued. That continuance date exceeded the time allowed for a speedy trial in the state of Florida.

Techincally the case has not been dismissed, but it is anticipated since the date exceeds the right to a speedy trial.  Currently the DA is at a loss for what to do.  We can all aniticipate a sucessful dismissal for a lack of a speedy trial.  

I must say it was very bold of the judge to set a continuance date beyond the deadline for a speedy trial.  I am pretty certain that the judge used a customary timeline and that the date was based on a normal estimate, but it is still shocking.  One would have expected the judge to take into account the resources the state wasted on the investigation and would have risked violating the defense's right to prepare in order to preserve the trial.  Maybe the Judge was not impressed with the DA's evidence to begin with and resented the big battle of keeping the names secret.  It is an amazing case.  I wonder what they will do next?

He wasn't actually an official.  The SWP and detective didn't know anything about his line of work.  He was the former county president for the Democratic party years ago and had just announced that he was running for city council.  Naturally, after the news article, he had to withdrawal from that race.

There was a hearing the week before the trial when the judge denied the motions of the defense to continue the case based on late disclosure of evidence.  It is *very* strange that a week later on the day of the trial she grants the continuance.  The names were handed over in late November, even though the press (Tampa Tribune)made it looked like they only that day received the name of the wannabe official.