VOLUSIA EXPOSED.COM
                   



The Michael Morrison Shooting

Was it actually an accidental discharge?

Can FDLE be trusted to investigate it?


Updated
November 18, 2012
"Every organization rests upon a mountain of secrets." - Julian Assange



DEADLY FORCE
Were the police in fear of their lives?
Or was it an accidental discharge?



THE SHOOTING OF MICHAEL MORRISON

During the late night and early morning hours of October 21-22, 2012 - Mr. Michael Morrison had a run in with both the Daytona Beach and Holly Hill police departments. This "run in" would end with Morrison being shot in the back, and him facing serious criminal charges, to include, allegedly pointing a gun at a police officer.

The below video media link does an excellent job of explaining the events that lead up to Morrison's shooting by a Holly Hill officer. We invite you to review the below video report.

WFTV Channel 9 Video Report
on the Morrison shooting


First, according to the above video report, the Daytona Beach police reported to Morrison's Holly Hill home late at night in order to secure his girl friend's cat and arrest him for domestic violence, for an incident that had occurred in Daytona Beach hours earlier. Does that sound logical?

Domestic Battery is merely a misdemeanor crime. The alleged victim and the alleged suspect were separated by time and space. So why did Daytona Beach police find it imperative to report to an address outside their city limits, in the middle of the night, to effect such an arrest? Yes, to all our animal lovers, we have not forgotten about the cat.

Usually, local police departments instruct the alleged victim of domestic violence to seek an order of protection from the courts prior to attempting to secure property and making such an arrest. The securing of a DV Order of Protection is a simple process. The victim reports to the court house and fills out an affidavit to the court, a judge then reviews it for cause, and usually the victim walks out with the Order of Protection. Law enforcement then usually escorts the victim to the residence, makes an arrest, serves the court order and allows the victim to collect his / her property.

Therefore, it is our opinion, that the manner in which both Daytona Beach and Holly Hill initally handled this matter is outside the norm. Why?








Second, according to the above video report, the police were expecting trouble - why else would they strap on their bullet proof vests? However, the below Holly Hill arrest report indicates a very strange occurrence once the police did arrive at Mr. Morrison's residence. They (the police) allowed the alleged DV victim, to attempt to crawl through a window, in order to gain entrance into Mr. Morrison's residence.

Holly Hill PD's
Arrest Report


Just for a second, imagine the scene outside Mr. Morrison's house. Also imagine, that you are the police sergeant in charge of this operation. It's approximately 1 A.M. in the morning, Morrison is most probably asleep inside the house. The alleged DV victim has advised you that her and her cat live there, but she has no key to the house, that it is not unusual for her to gain entrance via crawling through a window. Should any of this start ringing alarm bells in your law enforcement brain?

Well, sadly, for the actual police sergeant in charge of this operation, no such alarm bells were apparently ringing. They allowed an alleged DV victim to start crawling through the window of her alleged attacker's residence at 1 A.M. in the morning, as they (the police) watched safely snuggled in their flack jackets. Hard to believe - don't believe us (VolusiaExposed), rather, watch the WFTV video report and read the HHPD arrest report.

I'm going to kill you mother fuckers!


According to the above police report, after the police had knocked on Morrison's door, apparently identifying themselves as police officers, and after they (the police) had allowed an alleged DV victim to attempt to crawl through a window - Mr. Morrison allegedly yelled the threat - "I'm going to kill you mother fuckers!".

In our opinion, the police had already assumed way too much. First, they were assuming that the alleged DV victim was telling the truth regarding her residence status at the address. Further, they are apparently under the assumption that Morrison was aware that they were the police. Is it standard police practice to have an alleged victim crawl through their alleged perpetrator's window at 1 AM in the morning to rescue a cat? It's our opinion (VolusiaExposed), that the assumptions of the police were leading them down a very unnecessary and dangerous path.

Police Training - Why didn't it kick in?


Most police officers are trained to shoot their weapons in a technique that is commonly called "double tap". In short, two rounds fired very quickly.



Double Tap Shooting technique

So, we believe it to be an appropriate question - why did Cpl. Armstrong only fire one shot? Logically, if Cpl. Armstrong was in real fear of his life, his training would have taken over - he would have fired two, not one shot. Maybe, Cpl. Armstrong was not trained in the double tap technique? However, this is somewhat unlikely, and at the minimum, should be addressed in the FDLE investigation.

Why were no shots fired by Officer Kelley?


During the incident, Daytona Beach Police Officer Kelley was with HHPD Cpl. Armstrong. In the above police report, it states that Officer Kelley saw Morrison point a firearm at them (Armstrong and Kelley). The report further states that Officer Kelley had "imminent fear of being killed by Morrison". However, stranger then why Armstrong only fired one shot, we are left wondering why Officer Kelley did not fire any shots, especially given the alleged fact that (s)he felt in "imminent fear" of his / her life. Again, at a minimum, the FDLE investigation should explore this fact.

Why such Poor Marksmanship ?


According to the above photo of Mr. Morrison he was shot in the back, with the bullet entering the left of his back and exiting his mid-back. Basically a glancing shot. While this wound might be consistent with Mr. Morrison pointing a gun towards the officers in a side stance. The shot would also indicate rather poor marksmanship by Cpl. Armstrong.

Accidental Discharge ?


So, what could explain all of the above - no double tap, no shots fired by Officer Kelley and Cpl. Armstrong poor marksmanship? We suspect maybe an accidental discharge.

Is it so hard to believe? With adrenaline pumping through his body, with his gun pointed down range towards Morrison, did Cpl. Armstrong apply too much pressure to his firearm's tigger? Did it happen as he was attempting to get to better cover, with just a slight movement by his trigger finger?

So why lie ?


First of all, there are only three people in this world that knows who is lying. They are - Michael Morrison, Officer Kelley and Cpl. Armstrong? If Michael Morrison is lying, and he did indeed point a gun at the officers, then Cpl. Armstrong acted appropriately by firing his weapon. However, we will be left to wonder why Armstrong only fired once, why Kelley did not fire at all, and whether Armstrong could use some more range time. Yes, Morrison has a reason to lie, obviously he does not wish to go to prison.

However, Cpl. Armstrong also could be lying as well, he has a career and a city government to protect. Is it wrong for us to even entertain this possibility? No, because such a possibility is the rationale in having FDLE investigate all officer involved shootings.

Would civil liability attach to the City of Holly Hill if Cpl. Armstrong admitted to an accidental discharge? Sure it would. Further, at any civil trial, we suspect several of the questions and concerns discussed within this web page would be addressed in a court room, much to the displeasure of Daytona Beach and Holly Hill officials.

Better to convict an innocence man, then to embarrass the cities of Daytona Beach and Holly Hill - right? Sound a little far fetched? Why, the local State Attorney has in the past opted to not prosecute a felony charge in order to save the Volusia County Sheriff Department from embarrassment. Once again, don't believe us (VolusiaExposed), read it for yourself - read page 2 - paragraph 5 of the below Deputy Duggan internal affairs investigation. The local State Attorney dropped viable felony charges against a defendant in order "not to embarrass the VCSO", due to Deputy Duggan's unethical and probable criminal behavior with a female suspect.

Deputy Duggan
Internal Affairs Report


The Deputy Duggan Scandal

So why is it so hard to believe, that a criminal justice system that is willing to drop criminal charges on a defendant in order to avoid embarrassment, would not also falsely prosecute a defendant, on false charges, in order to avoid embarrassment and / or civil liability?

FDLE roots out police corruption - right?


Yes, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is suppose to safeguard the citizens of Florida against police corruption. However, recent and past events appear to support that the FDLE actually participates in the corruption.

It was only a handful of years ago, that the then commissioner of FDLE (Guy Tunnel) had to resign under heavy suspicion of wrong doing, to include possible involvement in the scandal that eventually lead to the criminal conviction of the then, Florida State Corrections Commissioner, James Crosby.

Media Article - regarding
Ex-FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnel's resignation
and Former Florida State Corrections Commissioner James Crosby's criminal conviction.



In addition to possible connections in the James Crosby scandal, Former FDLE Commissioner, Guy Tunnel was criticized for circumventing the timely release of certain evidence, in the in-custody death investigation of 14 year old Martin Anderson.

The video to the right of the screen is the evidence that former FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnel attempted to prevent from being released.

The In-Custody Death
Of 14 year old
Martin Anderson




FDLE continues to evade in-custody death investigations.


Even after the departure of Commissioner Tunnel, the FDLE, under the leadership of current Commissioner Gerald Bailey, refuses to investigate obviously suspicious in-custody deaths.

These in-custody deaths at the Volusia County jail include the falsification of official law enforcement records.

While VolusiaExposed.Com has several examples of questionable in-custody deaths at the Volusia County jail - we present Inmate Tracey Veira's September 2009 death as a prime example.

Volusia County Sheriff Investigator Campanella, along with others involved in the death investigation, initially questioned the state of rigor mortis of Ms. Veira's body, given her last documented interactions with jail staff. Investigator Campanella documented his concerns in his initial report (see the below link).

VCSO Investigator Campanella's Initial Report

However, Investigator Campanella does not seem to address these concerns in his final report (see the below link). Why not?

Investigator Campanella is supervised by VCSO Major Robert Jones. Many of the civil actions filed against the Volusia County jail are handled by Assistant County Attorney Nancye Jones. Robert and Nancye Jones are husband and wife.

Was Tracey Veira's (and others) in-custody death investigation(s) hampered by a direct conflict of interest?

VCSO Investigator Campanella's Final Report

Questionable In-Custody Deaths
Click Photos



Read our (VolusiaExposed) entire webpage on the Tracey Veira death - comprare the officers' reports of her last being seen alive, to Investigator Campanella's concerns regarding her state of rigor mortis when discovered. Were officers falsifying their observations?

You will note, that within the below page - FDLE does NOT care to investigate our concerns.

So, in the end, if FDLE does not apparently care that jail officers were falsifying their observations, do you really imagine that FDLE would care if law enforcement officers falsified their observations of whether a criminal defendant actually pointed a gun at them? ?

The In-Custody Death of
Tracey Veira




-----------------------------------------------





----------------------------------------------------



If you found this article to be thought provoking, we (VolusiaExposed.Com) invite you to review, the below linked, Special Investigative Report, exposing law enforcement corruption with the State of Florida.

SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE'S
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE SERIES ON LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRUPTION

UNFIT FOR DUTY
by Matthew Doig and Anthony Cormier
Tarnished badge, flawed system
Police unions / political clout
Predator in uniform?
What the personnel files reveal
Problems and solutions
Flagrant abuses invite little scrutiny
Problem officers still find work
How serious offenses go unreported
Sworn to protect....their pensions
Governor investigates CJSTC
Additional concerns surrounding the
Volusia County Sheriff's Department


VCSO deputy supplies underage females with alcohol.

VCSO deputy sexually approaches female prisoner?

Sex and the Badge
Extra-martial affairs within the VCSO?


VCSO deputy engaging in sexual relationship, while on duty?

VCSO deputy attempts romantic relationship with felony suspect?

VCSO deputy sexually assaults handcuffed woman.

VCSO deputy reprimanded for domestic violence arrest

VCSO Frangiamore-Carper murder-suicide incident


We look forward to your comments on this situation.
Drop us a line to let us know what you think.

EMAIL US



Sex Crimes
and
VCSO Press Releases


The VCSO issued a press release on the Stewart-Marchman molestation incident - but did not issue a press release of a jail rape - why not?

VolusiaExposed.Com article
No VCSO Press Release on Jail Rape?


VolusiaExposed.Com article
Rape at the Volusia Jail



---------------


DID A CONFLICT OF INTEREST
INFLUENCE THE JAIL'S
RAPE INVESTIGATION?


Assistant County Attorney, Nancye Jones handles many of the litigations coming out of the Volusia County jail.

Nancye Jones' husband, VCSO Major Robert Jones, supervises the deputies that investigate possible criminal violations within the county jail.

We have concerns that several criminal investigations have been possibly manipulated, in order to reduce the County of Volusia's civil liability.

Our concern includes this particular in-custody sexual battery investigation, and the below listed situations.

We invite you to review our concerns.

The Mary Knudsen Incident

The in-custody death of Inmate Tracy Veira
Falsification of Documents by County Officials



---------------


The Failure of the FMJS Jail Inspection Process, Florida needs to return to the independent FAC 33-8 Inspection Process.

Florida Jail Oversight in Retrograde



Follow Us on FACEBOOK