Volusa County, Florida - Deputy lied in cases, Volusia officials say
Tanya Caldwell and Ludmilla Lelis, Sentinel Staff Writers, 03/21/07
A former deputy sheriff once considered a rising star in law enforcement now faces a criminal investigation for lying on police reports, officials said Tuesday. Anthony Crane's false reports forced prosecutors to drop or downgrade some of the charges against 11 defendants in a variety of unrelated cases. The most serious charge -- armed robbery -- was cut to an accessory charge because of Crane's lies, officials said.
State Attorney John Tanner said he wasn't aware of anyone who was wrongly convicted because of Crane, though his office was reviewing all of Crane's cases. "I have no knowledge of anyone in jail or in prison based on false testimony by Deputy Crane or any other law-enforcement officer," Tanner said. "If we did, we'd be taking immediate steps to get them out of jail."
Crane, 27, was fired from his only law-enforcement job last month after an internal-affairs probe found he lied on reports and contradicted himself when confronted about the discrepancies, officials said.
Sheriff Ben Johnson said such behavior is "unacceptable." "I'm disappointed over this whole thing," Johnson said. "It's something that you can't tolerate and you won't tolerate." Johnson described Crane, who was hired six years ago, as a one-time "star." Crane was honored as "deputy of the quarter" in May for solving nine criminal-mischief complaints and a fraud case and for arresting two suspected drug traffickers. Now his former bosses and state prosecutors are pledging to work together to see whether Crane did anything illegal and whether he should face criminal charges.
An internal investigation revealed drastic differences between what Crane wrote in his reports and what people said in their videotaped statements. In one case, Crane wrote that an attempted-murder and kidnapping suspect confessed to having a knife. A videotaped interrogation shows the suspect repeatedly denied being at the scene of the crime. He also threatened to "up the charge" of another suspect from simple battery to attempted murder if the suspect didn't admit to unrelated burglary charges, the report said. Crane later told investigators that he was "just bluffing."
"This is not indicative of the sheriff's office," said sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson. "This is indicative of someone abusing his power." The Crane investigation began in November after the State Attorney's Office said it noticed a "trend" of discrepancies.
Johnson fired Crane on Feb. 28 for falsification of official documents, untruthfulness, violating a code of ethics for public officials and violating county regulations. "We have no reason to believe that there are problems with any other deputies," Davidson said. "We're certainly going to look into how this happened and see if there are any issues that need to be addressed."
Crane, a graduate of New Smyrna Beach High School, has always received positive reviews on his job-performance evaluations, Davidson said. He was hired at the age of 21 with no previous law-enforcement experience.
He has received two minor marks on his record. In 2003, he hit another vehicle at a stop sign while driving a patrol car. In 2005, he was reprimanded for failing to wear a seat belt when someone else hit his patrol car, Davidson said. Crane was one of the first deputies who arrived at a Telford Lane home in Deltona where six people were beaten to death in 2004. Tanner, who led the prosecution in the Deltona massacre case, said Crane's brief involvement shouldn't jeopardize the murder convictions and death sentences for the people who committed the crimes, including ringleader Troy Victorino. "He was simply on scene," Tanner said of Crane's involvement with the Deltona massacre. "He did not collect any evidence. He did not interview any witnesses."
Tanner said his office is waiting for word from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office that a criminal investigation of Crane has been completed. The Sheriff's Office sent Crane's information to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is being asked to conduct a criminal investigation. Tanner said similar cases have led to charges of perjury, filing a false report or making a false arrest.
He said his office will review other cases that involved Crane and will ask local defense attorneys to advise him of any defendants who have complained about false testimony from Crane. "Once you begin to taint a criminal case by official misconduct by a law-enforcement officer," Tanner said, "the taint seeps through the case and it's difficult to reconstruct it."
Tanya Caldwell can be reached at tcaldwell@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7910. Ludmilla Lelis can be reached at 386-253-0964 or llelis@orlandosentinel.com.
Retrieved March 31, 2007 from http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-vdeputyfired2107mar21,0,5361728,print.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
A former deputy sheriff once considered a rising star in law enforcement now faces a criminal investigation for lying on police reports, officials said Tuesday. Anthony Crane's false reports forced prosecutors to drop or downgrade some of the charges against 11 defendants in a variety of unrelated cases. The most serious charge -- armed robbery -- was cut to an accessory charge because of Crane's lies, officials said.
State Attorney John Tanner said he wasn't aware of anyone who was wrongly convicted because of Crane, though his office was reviewing all of Crane's cases. "I have no knowledge of anyone in jail or in prison based on false testimony by Deputy Crane or any other law-enforcement officer," Tanner said. "If we did, we'd be taking immediate steps to get them out of jail."
Crane, 27, was fired from his only law-enforcement job last month after an internal-affairs probe found he lied on reports and contradicted himself when confronted about the discrepancies, officials said.
Sheriff Ben Johnson said such behavior is "unacceptable." "I'm disappointed over this whole thing," Johnson said. "It's something that you can't tolerate and you won't tolerate." Johnson described Crane, who was hired six years ago, as a one-time "star." Crane was honored as "deputy of the quarter" in May for solving nine criminal-mischief complaints and a fraud case and for arresting two suspected drug traffickers. Now his former bosses and state prosecutors are pledging to work together to see whether Crane did anything illegal and whether he should face criminal charges.
An internal investigation revealed drastic differences between what Crane wrote in his reports and what people said in their videotaped statements. In one case, Crane wrote that an attempted-murder and kidnapping suspect confessed to having a knife. A videotaped interrogation shows the suspect repeatedly denied being at the scene of the crime. He also threatened to "up the charge" of another suspect from simple battery to attempted murder if the suspect didn't admit to unrelated burglary charges, the report said. Crane later told investigators that he was "just bluffing."
"This is not indicative of the sheriff's office," said sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson. "This is indicative of someone abusing his power." The Crane investigation began in November after the State Attorney's Office said it noticed a "trend" of discrepancies.
Johnson fired Crane on Feb. 28 for falsification of official documents, untruthfulness, violating a code of ethics for public officials and violating county regulations. "We have no reason to believe that there are problems with any other deputies," Davidson said. "We're certainly going to look into how this happened and see if there are any issues that need to be addressed."
Crane, a graduate of New Smyrna Beach High School, has always received positive reviews on his job-performance evaluations, Davidson said. He was hired at the age of 21 with no previous law-enforcement experience.
He has received two minor marks on his record. In 2003, he hit another vehicle at a stop sign while driving a patrol car. In 2005, he was reprimanded for failing to wear a seat belt when someone else hit his patrol car, Davidson said. Crane was one of the first deputies who arrived at a Telford Lane home in Deltona where six people were beaten to death in 2004. Tanner, who led the prosecution in the Deltona massacre case, said Crane's brief involvement shouldn't jeopardize the murder convictions and death sentences for the people who committed the crimes, including ringleader Troy Victorino. "He was simply on scene," Tanner said of Crane's involvement with the Deltona massacre. "He did not collect any evidence. He did not interview any witnesses."
Tanner said his office is waiting for word from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office that a criminal investigation of Crane has been completed. The Sheriff's Office sent Crane's information to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is being asked to conduct a criminal investigation. Tanner said similar cases have led to charges of perjury, filing a false report or making a false arrest.
He said his office will review other cases that involved Crane and will ask local defense attorneys to advise him of any defendants who have complained about false testimony from Crane. "Once you begin to taint a criminal case by official misconduct by a law-enforcement officer," Tanner said, "the taint seeps through the case and it's difficult to reconstruct it."
Tanya Caldwell can be reached at tcaldwell@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7910. Ludmilla Lelis can be reached at 386-253-0964 or llelis@orlandosentinel.com.
Retrieved March 31, 2007 from http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-vdeputyfired2107mar21,0,5361728,print.story?coll=sfla-news-florida