From Historic City News and The St. Augustine Record:
Sheriff shields another employee: this time for drunk driving
Sheriff David Shoar, who once told local Historic City News editor Michael Gold that he is a recovering alcoholic, is discovered protecting another employee from prosecution. This time it is 61-year-old Cynthia Lynn Graham, who resides with her ex-husband at 1792 Carter Road in St Augustine, not far from where she admitted to deputies that she drove her blue Honda Civic into a ditch following a night out drinking in Jacksonville.
In numerous articles during his term in office, television, radio, and Internet broadcast, as well as the occasional newspaper, St Johns County Sheriff David Shoar is caught shielding one of his employees; refusing to bring criminal charges, or, and this is my favorite, claiming his officers, investigators, or, supervisors “made a mistake” and now it is “too late” to go back and make an arrest.
“Supervisors misunderstood the circumstances of the crash after the deputies relayed that the car could no longer be driven,” The Record reported they were told by Shoar’s nimble contracted spokesperson, Charles E. Mulligan. “Supervisors understood that to mean that there would be difficulty proving that Graham had been in physical control of the car at the time of the crash.”
Really? “Supervisors” misunderstood that?
Graham, a correction control operator at the St Johns County Jail since 2006, was discovered just before 3:00 a.m. on March 10, 2018, by Deputy Sheriff Jerry Tillett in the ditch alongside Carter Road near the intersection of CR-214. Contributed SJSO photo.
“The vehicle was still running with the lights on and occupied by the registered owner Cynthia Graham,” Tillett wrote in the original incident report. “Cynthia was the sole occupant of the vehicle.”
Deputy Tillett observed, and recorded in his report, that Graham had alcohol on her breath, it appeared that she spilled the contents of an open Michelob Ultra onto the seat and floorboard, leaving the aluminum beer bottle lying on the front right passenger side floorboard, and she admitted that she had been out drinking before she lost control of her vehicle and drove into the ditch. Further, Tillett noted “heavy damage” on the driver’s side of the car. Before coming to a final rest, Tillett wrote that the vehicle appeared to have struck a wooden power pole, and a pay telephone on the side of the road. Tillett found her, still behind the wheel.
The narrative of the incident report from the night of the crash says that Graham told Tillett she spent most of her night at a Jacksonville bar named “Cheers”. Tillett wrote that Graham told him that she consumed a “large quantity of alcohol”. He asked her how much she had to drink, to which she replied, “too many to count”, according to published reports.
Shoar has an arrangement with the Florida Highway Patrol. Unless he requests otherwise, he will investigate his own traffic crashes within the county. Do you think that a state trooper finding the same evidence and circumstances would believe he had probable cause to arrest the sheriff’s employee and book her into the same jail where she works?
Graham was not given a breath test the night of the crash.
The following month, in April, instead of being issued a Uniform Traffic Citation for driving under the influence of alcohol, Graham, who is paid $42,242.00 annually plus benefits, was given a letter of reprimand for “conduct unbecoming an employee”.
The St Augustine Record was a source in producing this article, as well as WJXT in Jacksonville and Action News Jacksonville and Historic City News archives.
‘TOO MANY TO COUNT’: No DUI for Sheriff’s Office employee after 3 a.m. crash
By Jared Keever
Posted Jun 12, 2018 at 5:38 PM
Updated Jun 12, 2018 at 5:38 PM
St. Augustine Record
Deputies with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office who responded to the scene of a March single-car crash on County Road 214 opted not to arrest the driver involved despite the alcohol noted on the woman’s breath, the appearance that she had spilled an open beer inside her vehicle and her admission that she had been out drinking before she drove her car into a ditch not far from her home.
The March report, filled out by two deputies and approved by Cpl. Napolian Staggers, does not make clear what ultimately happened to 51-year-old Cynthia Lynn Graham that night, but it does note, at the end, that she works for the Sheriff’s Office.
She still does, and, in April, was given a letter of reprimand for “conduct unbecoming an employee” stemming from the crash.
According to the offense report written the night of the wreck, Deputy Jerry Tillett first responded to an area near the intersection of C.R. 214 and Carter Road just before 3 a.m. on March 10 after receiving a report of a vehicle that was stuck in a ditch.
Upon arriving, Tillett wrote, he found the blue Honda Civic in the ditch alongside Carter Road.
“The vehicle was still running with the lights on and occupied by the registered owner Cynthia Graham,” he wrote. “Cynthia was the sole occupant of the vehicle and still behind the wheel upon my arrival.”
The report goes on to say that Graham was conscious, had no obvious injuries, refused help from County Fire Rescue and that she told Tillett she was driving home from Jacksonville when she lost control of her vehicle.
“Cynthia advised she had spent most of her night prior at a bar in Jacksonville called ‘Cheers,‘” the report says. “Cynthia admitted to consuming a large quantity of alcohol while at the bar. When asked how much she had consumed, Cynthia stated ‘too many to count.’”
Once out of the vehicle and before a tow truck could pull the car from the ditch, Tillett noted an open case of Michelob Ultra beer on the back seat of the car.
“There was also one individual Michelob Ultra aluminum beer bottle lying in the front right passenger side floorboard of the vehicle,” he wrote. “This lone beer bottle was found open and its contents spilled onto the seat and floorboard. When questioned about the beer within the vehicle, Cynthia stated she purchased the beer on her way home from the bar, but only consumed one prior to her crash.”
Tillett also noted “heavy damage” on the driver’s side of the car and that it appeared to have struck a wooden power pole and a “phone box” on the side of the road.
A supplemental narrative filled out by Deputy Tyler Quinney also mentions the empty beer bottle and case of beer on the back seat and notes of Graham that he “immediately recognized her as intoxicated.”
The report says that Graham told Quinney she lives on Carter Road with her ex-husband and requested his assistance.
“I made contact with the ex-husband and he refused to assist Cynthia and advised Cynthia is an employee of the Sheriff’s Office,” Quinney wrote.
That sequence of events, as they are listed in the report is much the way the deputies received their information during their investigation at the crash, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan.
“They had no idea who she was through most of this,” he said.
Once they found out they called their supervisors.
That she wasn’t arrested for DUI, Mulligan said in a Tuesday phone interview, came down to a communication failure on the part of the supervisors who took that phone call or phone calls.
“Apparently there was some verbal miscommunication,” he said. “That’s what I am hearing.”
Mulligan, who said he wasn’t aware of the incident until contacted by The Record, said he spoke with some of the people involved in the decision to not arrest Graham and was told that supervisors misunderstood the circumstances of the crash after the deputies relayed that the car could no longer be driven. That, it seems, was understood to mean that there would be difficulty proving that Graham had been in physical control of the car at the time of the crash.
While that turned out to not necessarily be the case, Mulligan said, it was what the supervisor at the time understood.
Graham was not given a breath test the night of the crash.
When the report was reviewed the next day with the full details of the crash, the misunderstanding was discovered, but by that time it was too late to make a DUI arrest, he said.
The deputies were “counseled” regarding the miscommunication, Mulligan said.
Graham, he said, took some personal time off after the incident and when she returned was given the letter of reprimand.
“On March 10th you were involved in a motor vehicle crash on Carter Road,” the letter opens. “Upon investigation ... it was determined the you drove a vehicle after consuming several alcoholic beverages and struck some fixed objects before placing your vehicle in a ditch.”
The letter calls that a “direct violation” of the “conduct unbecoming an employee” policy and warns against future infractions.
“This type of conduct cannot and will not be tolerated,” the letter says. “Future violations of SJSO policy may lead to more serious discipline.”
There are no other disciplinary actions against Graham noted in her personnel file, Mulligan said.
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