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Friday, July 07, 2017
St. Johns County Sheriff's Deputy SCOTT O'CONNELL Arrested for Punching His Wife, Beth
Troubling that St. Johns County Sheriff DAVID SHOAR is still investigating alleged crimes by his deputies, instead of recusing himself. Is Sheriff DAVID SHOAR caught upon the horns of a dilemma?
SCOTT and BETH O'CONNELL are pictured at right in this Dr. Phil television program image.
Three stories below about the domestic violence arrest of Sheriff's Deputy SCOTT O'CONNELL.
Public defender David Raymond Cianci is defending Deputy SCOTT O'CONNELL, not ROBERT "MAC" McLEOD, II, who is still representing him in his civil lawsuit against FDLE Agent Rusty Rodgers. The misdemeanor criminal case is set for a hearing before Judge Charles Tinlin July 20, 2017 at 1:30 PM.
St. Johns County Sheriff's Scott O'Connell's wife BETH EATON O'CONNELL called Sheriff DAVID SHOAR personally, her handwritten witness statement says, accompanying the arrest report. BETH O'CONNELL called Sheriff SHOAR, after husband SCOTT O"CONNELL allegedly punched her in the face during a marital argument on July 5. O'CONNELL spent the night in jail on July 6-7 and was released on $500 bond on a misdemeanor battier charged.
SCOTT O'CONNELL once fervently believed his sister Michelle was murdered by Deputy JEREMY BANKS.
Special Prosecutor BRAD KING refused to prosecute JEREMY BANKS, refusing to take the evidence to a grand jury.
SCOTT O'CONNELL threatened to blow up the Sheriff's office.
SCOTT O'CONNELL WAS FIRED for it.
SCOTT O'CONNELL landed a job cleaning toilets.
He then begged for his job and claim he was coerced by Special Agent Rusty Ray Rodgers, suing RODGERS and FDLE for "intentional infliction of emotional distress."
SCOTT O'CONNELL became friends with Deputy JEREMY BANKS again, a fact reported on NBC News Dateline and Dr. Phil programs.
BETH O'CONNELL was present in the April 8, 2013 "interview" of SCOTT O'CONNELL by Sheriff DAVID SHOAR. The bizarre unsworn "interview" was recorded and transcribed by a court reporter and not under oath. Read the transcript. The "interview" was mischaracterized as a "sworn statement" by Sheriff SHOAR. The "interview" and a hand-picked selection of propaganda may be read for insight on the High Sheriff's website.
Read the High Sheriff''s inculpatory index of 36 selected Michelle O'Connell related documents.
Most, like the "interview" were generated in response to The New York Times investigation, long after the case was "closed" by Special Prosecutor BRADLEY KING, whose 19-year old son SHOAR hired as a Deputy and who listed SHOAR as the first of ten references for his unsuccessful application for a seat on the Florida Supreme Court, halted by tough questions by Judicial Nominating Commission Chair Jason Unger of GrayRobinson.
The O'Connell family has reached out to their son and brother, SCOTT, hoping to hear from him. Will y'all kindly pray for them?
The Sheriff'soffice has apparently seized SCOTT O'CONNELL's work cellular telephone and is apparently in the process of kicking him to the curb (again). Sheriff SHOAR'S brother-in-law/spokesman told The Record a decision is expected "next week." SCOTT O'CONNELL has filed an "affidavit of indigency" and is being represented by the Public Defender.
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From Historic City News: Deputy OConnell arrested and charged with domestic battery
St Johns County Deputy Sheriff Scott James O’Connell, the brother of homicide victim Michelle O’Connell, was arrested and charged with domestic violence battery yesterday, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The 33-year-old deputy was terminated after an outburst and threats to “blow up” the sheriff’s office when he learned that the state attorney would not prosecute Deputy Jeremy Banks for his sister’s death in 2010.
Sheriff David Shoar re-instated O’Connell, and returned him to duty, after O’Connell publicly proclaimed that he was wrong to express his emotions in that way, and that he now believes that Banks did not kill his sister.
Deputies responded to a call at O’Connell’s residence on Wednesday, July 5th, reporting that the female victim, said to be O’Connell’s wife, suffered a close-fisted strike to the face while the couple was sitting on the bed watching a movie.
According to the arrest affidavit, O’Connell was having marital difficulties. The victim told investigators that since 2011, O’Connell would be loving towards her one day and mentally or verbally abusive to her the next. The couple live together in the house with two young children who were reported to be at home at the time of the incident.
Deputy Kendall Lloyd, the first officer on the scene, photographed the victim’s injuries that included a red mark above her right eyebrow and redness to her cheek. Her right cheek, underneath her eye, appeared slightly “puffy”, Lloyd wrote. Corporal Jennifer Burres also observed redness above the victim’s right eye and redness, with possible swelling, under her right eye in her cheek area.
When O’Connell came to the Sheriff’s Office yesterday, Corporal Dominick Russo interviewed him. O’Connell admits the acrimonious nature of his marriage, but told Russo that he never laid hands on his wife. He said that during a verbal argument with the victim, he took his wedding ring off and put it inside the dresser. When she noticed the ring missing from his hand, O’Connell says she began crying loudly in front of the children, so he told the children to go with him into the bedroom. The victim followed them into the bedroom, O’Connell says, continuing to ask about the wedding ring. O’Connell admits he provoked the victim further with comments about their relationship. O’Connell told Russo that upset her again and caused her to say, “I’ll show you then!” At that time, O’Connell says she left the bedroom and contacted the sheriff’s office.
Despite denying that he struck the victim, Corporal Russo arrested Deputy O’Connell at the sheriff’s office and escorted him to the St Johns County Detention Facility without incident.
During a first appearance hearing this morning, Judge Charles Tinlin allowed bail. O’Connell was released from custody after posting a $500 appearance bond and signing a pre-trial release order stipulating that he has no contact with the victim.
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Posted July 7, 2017 12:00 pm - Updated July 7, 2017 12:08 pm
By SHELDON GARDNER sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com St. Johns County deputy arrested on domestic violence charges
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A deputy with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Thursday night on a battery charge, according to Sheriff’s Office records.
A heavily redacted arrest report said that said Scott O’Connell, 33, hit a woman in the face. The incident, which the report refers to as a domestic battery case, appears to have taken place in his St. Johns County home.
“He’s currently on administrative suspension pending outcome of the internal affairs review,” Sheriff’s Office Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan said.
That investigation will determine what disciplinary actions may need to be taken, and the review will likely be finished next week, Mulligan said.
“We handled it like we would handle any incident we go to,” Mulligan said.
O’Connell’s first appearance in court was scheduled for Friday morning, Mulligan said.
The bond amount had been set at $500 and O’Connell was released before 11 a.m., according to jail records.
At the time of his arrest, O’Connell was a patrol deputy. Because he’s a law enforcement officer, his photo and address are not listed.
O’Connell denied hitting the person, according to the report.
Because it’s a domestic case, the sheriff’s office can’t identify the person who filed the report.
O’Connell is the brother of Michelle O’Connell, whose death was the subject of a New York Times investigation.
Michelle O’Connell, 24, was found dead of a gunshot wound in the home of her boyfriend Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Banks on Sept. 2, 2010.
The gun that killed Michelle O’Connell was Banks’ service weapon, and her family has said that she wouldn’t have harmed herself. Banks, who placed the 911 call the night she died saying that she shot herself, maintains his innocence.
The case has since been reviewed by multiple medical examiners and remains classified as a suicide, and at least two special prosecutors have looked at it and found there is not enough evidence to bring charges against Banks.
When it was announced several years ago that no charges would be filed, Scott O’Connell reacted with anger toward Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agent Rusty Rodgers and State Attorney Brad King of the 5th Judicial District. Scott O’Connell was fired from the Sheriff’s Office; he was later rehired.
7 Comments
Kevin Austin
WHy no picture?
SHELDON GARDNER
Because he is a deputy, his photo is not provided by the Sheriff's Office.
Kristin Thomas
They show everyone else's picture now don't they?
SHELDON GARDNER
Just to clarify for you both on my previous comment: The Sheriff's Office by law can't release the photo because O'Connell is a deputy and requested that it not be released, according to their spokesman Chuck Mulligan.
Tom Reynolds
Another VERY BAD GUY of THE STREETS !
Oh wait he got $500.00 bail.
“We handled it like we would handle any incident we go to,” Mulligan said.
Anyone else would of had a FELONY CHARGE CHUCKLES,
....................................................LOCK HIM UP ! .........................................................
....Nice try Tough Guy !........... KARMA ......... NOBODY ESCAPES IT.............
YOUR FIRED PUNK ! ........................Now go ...................... BEAT IT PUNK
Jaclyn Mascheck
When are they going to to a arrest Officer Jeremy Banks for killing Officer Scott O'Connell's sister Michelle O'Connell? We all know the cornenor covered that murder up. It's been proven! Also did the woman that Officer O'Connell supposedly hit, did she hit him first? If she did, she deserves charges as well.
gerry robison
Almost too hot to walk on the beach today...
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. - A St. Johns County deputy who is the brother of a woman at the center of one of the most controversial death investigations in the county's history was arrested Thursday on a domestic battery charge.
According to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, Scott O'Connell punched a woman he knows in the face after she said during an argument that she wished he would die. She told investigators that O'Connell has been abusive toward her since 2011.
O'Connell's sister, Michelle O'Connell, died in 2010 from a gunshot wound inflicted by her boyfriend's gun. Her mother and sisters believe that her boyfriend, St. Johns County Deputy Jeremy Banks, killed her, but her death has been ruled a suicide by three medical examiners.
A special prosecutor was then appointed, and his definitive report concluded suicide, as well.
Scott O'Connell initially thought his sister was killed by Banks, but has since said that he believes her death was a suicide.
A Florida Department of Law Enforcementinvestigator pursued the death investigation and convinced a local medical examiner to change Michelle O'Connell's cause of death to homicide, but that ME later changed the opinion back to suicide.
That FDLE agent, Rusty Rodgers, was later disciplined for his investigation tactics and is being sued, along with the FDLE, by O'Connell's family.
O'Connell's mother and sisters asked the governor for a coroner’s inquest into Michelle's death, but that was denied.
Scott O'Connell is facing a first-degree misdemeanor charge in the battery case.
News4Jax has contacted Scott O'Connell's attorney for comment but we have not heard back yet.
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