VOLUSIA EXPOSED

VOLUSIA EXPOSED.COM

Does corruption exist within the VCSO and the Office of the State Attorney?

Should the criminal cases against Cara Odgers have been transferred out of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest?

Was there enough evidence to arrest Lt. Odgers for suspected domestic violence against his wife, Cara?

Does law enforcement and the local State Attorney enjoy TOO MUCH of a "working relationship"?

Updated
March 19, 2012

"Justice is open to everyone in the same way as the Ritz Hotel."- Judge Sturgess

Former Lt. Odgers, of the Volusia County Sheriff Department, was recently demoted, due to his failure to perform his duties of a VCSO supervisor, to an acceptable level.

VolusiaExposed.Com published an article detailing the events surrounding Lt. Odgers as well as Lt. Hughes demotions.

Upon VolusiaExposed.Com reviewing the documents attached to the VCSO investigation into Lt. Odgers, we discovered that Lt. Odgers wife, Cara, had sent Sheriff Ben Johnson an email, in which she appeared to suggest, that Lt. Odgers was using his law enforcement authority / influence, in the manipulation of domestic violence charges against her.

Cara's allegations were not, in our opinion, properly addressed in the VCSO's internal affairs investigation. We invite you to read the VCSO IA investigation and invite you to form your own opinion of whether Cara's allegations were properly addressed by the VCSO.

It is noted by VolusiaExposed.Com that, during these incidents (to include Cara's arrest), Lt. Odgers was the night Watch Commander for the VCSO, a fairly high level of responsibility within the VCSO. Further, per Cara's email complaint to Sheriff Johnson, she was the court liaison person between Stewart Marchman and the Seventh Circuit's courts. So why didn't the State Attorney's office request an executive order from the Florida Governor, requesting that the prosecution of Cara Odger's criminal charges be reassigned to another judicial circuit? After all, such reassignments are routinely done, and for far less of a possible conflict of interest.

We invite you to review some of the most recent reassignments ordered by Governor Scott.

In fact, just recently, State Attorney Larizza requested and received the Governor's authorization to move the prosecution of Jamesine Fischer out of the Seventh Judicial Circuit's Office of the State Attorney.

The entire rational for State Attorney Larizza's request was that Flagler County Sheriff Fleming would be called as a witness, and that Larizza had a working relationship with Sheriff Fleming.

Don't most criminal cases cause sheriffs or their deputies to become witnesses in criminal trials? Doesn't State Attorney R.J. Larizza enjoy a working relationship with all sheriffs, police chiefs and law enforcement officers within the Seventh Judicial Circuit?

We are left wondering, would State Attorney R.J. Larizza have had a working relationship with the night watch commander for the Volusia County Sheriff Department, ie. - Lt. Mike Odgers? If so, would that have been perceived as a possible conflict interest for Mr. Larizza's office in the prosecution of Cara Odgers? Further, could Cara Odgers' status, as the court liaison with Stewart Marchman, be perceived as a conflict of interest?

We (VolusiaExposed.Com) have searched all of the Governor's executive orders for 2011 - and we can find no such order - can you?

Obviously, these executive orders are requested and granted in order to avoid the perception that a conflict of interest was attached to the prosecution of a particular criminal case. VolusiaExposed.Com perceives a conflict of interest in the prosecution of Cara Odgers, do you?

Actually, we suspect, that State Attorney R.J. Larizza has an excellent working relationship with all local law enforcement agencies and officers. After all, this relationship has been directly linked to Larizza's successful 2008 bid to oust, then current SA, John Tanner from office. It is very doubtful that Larizza would have secured his office in 2008, absent the support he received from the law enforcement unions.

Oh and FYI - the current President of the Coastal PBA is Vince Champion, his spouse, Shannon is all mixed up with this on-going property room scandal within the Ormond Beach police department. Yeah, that's right, the scandal involving missing property and money from the evidence room.

Is this another conflict of interest that is flying under the radar? Are political favors being passed out in order for some to avoid criminal prosecutions? Come on, this is Volusia County, we were only the second most corrupt county in the USA in the 1920s and 1930s, we cleaned up our act since then, right? Might we suggest that you carefully review the below OBPD property room scandal, and then make a determination if Volusia County is still one of the most corrupt counties in the USA.