Where am I today? Focusing on updates to the Jim DeFede firing.
From the reaction of the journalism community, nobody has ever been fired before for poor judgement, ethics violations, or breaking the law. It's quite fascinating to follow this groundbreaking event as it unfolds.
UPDATE:
In the latest legal maneuvering, I'd say getting your State Representative to be your lawyer when the State Attorney is eyeballing you is about as slick as snot. I'm sure State Representative Dan Gelber makes his legal expertise and political power available to all his downtrodden constituents -- that's the kind of nice guy he is:
On Friday, DeFede gave a statement to Miami-Dade prosecutors and detectives investigating Teele's death. DeFede told reporters he spoke to prosecutors about his friendship and conversation with Teele.
The State Attorney's Office has not charged DeFede, said its spokesman, Ed Griffith.
DeFede's attorney, State Rep. Dan Gelber, said the facts do not support charges.
"At the end of the day what you're talking about in this case is a very distraught public official who called his favorite journalist an hour before he killed himself to tell his side of the story," Gelber said. "Our view is that those facts do not create the basis for prosecution under Florida's privacy law."
According to this news video, DeFede gave the illegal tape to the Herald editors and the Herald doesn't plan to give the tape to State Attorney, calling it "unpublished notes."
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Previous post:
Adios, Jim
I'm following this closely up in WPB.
On the surface, DeFede seems to be a dope for revealing this tape in the first place. Can't say I've ever walked into a boss's office and declared "hey boss man, I just comitted a crime, AND I'm stupid enough to walk in here and alert you to it to boot!"
100% USDA Dumbass IMO - this is what dumpsters are made for. I would have fired him not for making the tape, but being stupid enough to reveal it.
OTOH - I'm encouraged that Teele decided to step up at the end and "do the right thing" and save the tax payers millions of dollars that otherwise would have been spent prosecuting, incarcerating, and supplying medical care for his sorryass for the rest of his natural life.
Posted by: tony at July 30, 2005 02:47 AMWho knows how the subject of having a tape came out in conversation. If DeFede "admitted" it, then he knew he was wrong to do it. Do you think this is the first time he recorded people unawares?
Teele was corrupt as hell, no doubt. But this was a pathetic way to go.
Posted by: Donnah at July 30, 2005 10:59 PM