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The May 2010 shooting by the VCSO of Iraqi Veteran, Joshua Gerard

We invite you to read Joshua Gerard's account of what transpired, so that you can compare his account to that of the VCSO / FDLE investigative findings.

Are there inconsistencies in the VCSO / FDLE investigations?

Does the physical evidence support the deputy's account of what transpired?

Updated
December 6, 2011

"God is Gonna Cut You Down"- Song Writer, Johnny Cash

THIS WEB PAGE WAS UPDATED ON DECEMBER 6, 2011 AFTER RECEIVING ADDITIONAL RECORDS - PLEASE SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF WEB PAGE

EDITOR'S COMMENTS
VolusiaExposed.Com would like to clarify that this article was developed to question both the events of May 9, 2010 and the VCSO and FDLE investigations into those events. This article should not be considered a condemnation, in the entirety, of either agency. We keenly appreciate that our local men and women of law enforcement, routinely put their lives in danger, so that we all can live in a safe community. A prime example of this can be seen within the below linked media article.

However, no agency is perfect, free of mistakes, or problems - therefore, the true measure of a credible agency is how it handles these types of problems. Most agencies will freely correct problems that don't put them at risk of civil or criminal liability. However, sometimes, when law enforcement agencies are faced with situations that can cause great embarassment, or the attachment of civil / criminal liability, there arises the temptation to cover up the events of those particular situations. During these particular situations, our law enforcement agencies need close monitoring from the public - a kinda of check and balancing of the scales of justice. Our founding fathers realized the importance of this, that is why, freedom of speech and the press are included in the first and not the tenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

VolusiaExposed.Com has provided this service in the past to the VCSO. During the below linked "Osowski incident" - the VCSO, was prepared to allow him to retire without conducting the mandated (per Florida law) internal affairs investigation. Upon VolusiaExposed's advisement to the VCSO, they acknowledged their responsibility to conduct the internal investigation and thanked us for our advisement.

So, please do not consider this web page as a condemnation of law enforcement, but rather, as a commitment to both the principles of justice and our U.S. Constitution.

In the Spring and Summer of 2010 - Volusia County Sheriff Sergeant Mejias was involved in three separate suspect shootings.

MEDIA ACCOUNTS OF SHOOTINGS

This VolusiaExposed.Com article will examine the events surrounding the May 9, 2010 shooting by VCSO Sgt. Mejias of Joshua Gerard. Did Sgt. Mejias provide an accurate account of what transpired? Are there some serious inconsistencies in the VCSO / FDLE investigation into this shooting that calls into question, not only the veracity of Sgt. Mejias, but also the veracity of the entire investigation that justified the shooting of Joshua Gerard as a legal authorized use of force?

We invite you to read Mr. Gerard's extensive military record, to include his deployment to a Stryker unit in Iraq.

We also believe it is important for our readers to have an understanding of the VCSO's USE OF FORCE policies - therefore, we have attached them within the below link.

VolusiaExposed invited Mr. Gerard to tell us his side of the events of May 9, 2010, so that we could publish his point of view of what transpired.

Mr. Gerard states that without warning, that VCSO Sgt. Mejias charged him from behind, shooting him three times in the back. Mr. Gerard also states that Sgt. Mejias' sworn statement is not consistent with his (Gerard's) recollection of the events attached to him being shot. Mr. Gerard further states that his wife witnessed the actions of VCSO Sgt. Mejias and that she can verify that Mejias charged Gerard from behind and without warning, shot Gerard three times.

VolusiaExposed.Com finds no relevance to Mr. Gerard's statement that the VCSO had been advised that his (Gerard's) shotgun was unloaded. We realize that law enforcement MUST consider all firearms to be loaded - regardless of any reports to the contrary. We are fairly sure that while in Iraq, Mr. Gerard assumed that all suspected IEDs were armed. However, we believe it is of great significance that Sgt. Mejias' account of the shooting appears to have some inconsistencies to the evidence attached to the event. Further, we question whether the VCSO and the FDLE properly and fairly investigated the events of May 9, 2010.

The initial VCSO reports offers some significant information - the incident started as a domestic call, the neighbor reported that he (Justin Wines) saw nothing, the fact that Deputy Mott (the second deputy on scene) arrived after Sgt. Mejias had shot Gerard and that Gerard was transported to the hospital, via helicopter (VCSO AirOne).

It is of interest that Mr. Wines' spouse, Tammy Wines' account of what transpired was not apparently covered in these initial reports. Especially after reviewing the 911 recording, whereas, it is obvious that someone was assisting Mrs. Gerard with her observations of her husband.

This shooting was turned over to VCSO Major Case Investigator, Mike Campanella. Some of our readers might remember Investigator Campanella. In September 2009, Investigator Campanella was assigned to investigate the in-custody death of Volusia County jail Inmate Tracey Veira.

During his initial investigation into the death of Ms. Veira - Investigator Campanella noted in his report, that he and the Medical Examiner investigator noticed some inconsistencies regarding the rigor mortis attached to Ms. Veira's body and the last alleged documented interaction with jail staff. Investigator Campanella stated that he would further investigate these inconsistencies, but no such follow up was noted in his final report. VolusiaExposed suspects that his failure to follow up on these inconsistencies, failed to properly address whether jail staff had falsified their documented interactions with Ms. Veira prior to her death.

VolusiaExposed.Com highly suspects that the Veira death investigation was manipulated in order to not address the falsification of reports by law enforcement officers, in order to prevent or reduce the attachment of civil liability to the Volusia County government. We invite you to review our particular concerns regarding the Veira death investigation.

VolusiaExposed has concerns that the Major Case investigation into the Gerard shooting has indications that it too was manipulated, to reduce possible civil liability to the Volusia County government. In the particular, we note that on page 2 of Investigator Campanella's report, he states that Gerard was "transported to Halifax Health where he received treatment for his NON life threatening injuries". VolusiaExposed finds it of interest, that Gerard was shot up to 3 times, at close range with the deputy's .40 caliber side arm, had to be transported, via Air One, and upon arrival had to be rushed into emergency surgery - but some how, Investigator Campanella wishes to assign Gerard's injuries as NON life threatening.

It should also be noted that several inches of Gerard's intestines had to be removed in this alleged "NON-life threatening injury. We invite you to review pictures of Mr. Gerard's injuries, then we leave it to you to determine if Mr. Gerard's life was ever in danger. (see link at the bottom of this web page) If you conclude that Gerard did sustain life threatening injuries, then you must ask yourself, if the VCSO investigative reports contain other misleading statements, that are being presented as facts?

Notice that VCSO Sgt. Morgan completed the internal affairs investigation on the Mejias / Gerard shooting on September 29, 2010 - but VCSO Chief Deputy William Lee did not approve it until February 8, 2011. VolusiaExposed finds it a little strange that it took 10 (ten) months to complete this internal affairs investigation - especially since Florida Statutes 112.532(6)(a) requires that these investigations are to be completed within 180 days, with only a few exceptions.

VolusiaExposed wonders if it is of any significance that Chief Deputy Lee's approval came after Mr. Gerard had accepted the State of Florida's plea deal? Why would the VCSO or State of Florida offer Gerard such a sweet plea bargain? After all, didn't he allegedly point a firearm at a deputy, or did he?

Was it Gerard's past service to his country that inspired the rather sweet plea bargain - or were there some obivious problems for the VCSO regarding the shooting? Did the VCSO need Gerard to accept responsibility for the incident, in order to reduce civil liability to the Volusia County government? Would that account for the rather long internal affairs investigation? After all the State Attorney had already cleared Sgt. Mejias of any criminal wrong doing, so why the long wait to complete the internal affairs investigation?

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates all officer involved shootings. We invite you to read the FDLE investigative report summary as prepared by FDLE Investigator Kati Kennedy. Notice that Kennedy's summary indicates that several audio recorded statements were secured from the witnesses. VolusiaExposed believes that these recorded statements are important for a proper understanding of what transpired during the shooting. An example of how important these recordings are, can be seen in Mr. Gerard's documented statement within Agent Kennedy's report. Mr. Gerard appears to indicate that both Sgt. Mejias and Deputy Mott were on scene prior to the shooting. This does not appear to be consistent with either Mejias' or Mott's account. Therefore, VolusiaExposed has put in the below public record request for these audio recordings, in order that we may hear for ourselves (VolusiaExposed and the public in general) exactly what these individuals said.

Further, FDLE Agent Kennedy was recently (2009) involved in the Beach Patrol sex scandal investigation. This scandal included allegations that sworn Beach Patrol law enforcement officers were engaging in underage sex with part time lifeguards. In the below September 2009 Daytona Beach News Journal article, Agent Kennedy initially cleared these officers of any criminal wrong doing. However, apparently after a local attorney applied some pressure towards the governor's office, these matters were "re-investigated", whereas several of these officers were eventually criminally charged.

Maybe, it's time to apply at little pressure towards Tallahassee and the Governor's Mansion?

UPON RECEIPT OF THE AUDIO STATEMENTS THAT ARE MENTIONED IN THE FDLE SUMMARY REPORT, VOLUSIAEXPOSED.COM SHALL MAKE THEM AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW. WE ANTICIPATE ADDITIONAL INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN THE AUDIO RECORDINGS AND THE FDLE AND VCSO REPORTS.

VolusiaExposed did request any patrol car dash cam videos, but we were advised that VCSO patrol cars do not have dash cams.

VolusiaExposed.Com requests that our readers address the following question. Does the below linked pictures of Mr. Gerard's injuries support Mr. Gerard's account that he was shot from behind or Sgt. Mejias' account of shooting Gerard from the front? You decide !

UPDATE - December 6, 2011 - VolusiaExposed.Com now has the audio recordings from the FDLE investigation.

We invite you to read both the FDLE / VCSO and Gerard accounts of what transpired during the shooting incident. Then, we suggest you listen to the below audio recordings, we believe you will discover inconsistencies in both the accounts of FDLE / VCSO and that of Mr. Gerard.

While the audio recordings shed some light on what transpired during the shooting, VolusiaExposed.Com felt that Sgt. Mejias' patrol car dash camera might have helped resolve exactly what happened the night of the shooting. After all, here recently the FDLE questioned the validity of a police shooting involving several Orlando police officers. Video evidence was the key component in that FDLE investigation.

We requested the dash cam video from Sgt. Mejias' patrol car, but were advised that no such video exists, because the VCSO does not have dash cams (see below email from VCSO PIO Gary Davidson). We invite you to watch a 20 / 20 news article from approximately 20 years ago. This article highlighted the tactics that the VCSO employed, to identify which cars were transporting drugs up the I-95 corridor. Watch the 20 / 20 article closely (especially at 4:50 - 5:10) - it is clear, that 20 years ago the VCSO had video dash cams in their patrol cars? Why didn't Sgt. Mejias' car have a dash cam?

Maybe, just maybe, the VCSO gave up their dash cams in the early 1990s, because the VCSO came under an FBI investigation. We invite you to read one of many media articles available on this subject. Video doesn't lie - just ask the Orlando police officers involved in the above mentioned shooting, and the officers involved in the infamous Rodney King incident