WADE MERCER
JACKSON CEILINTY IJUDGE

FIJLIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DF FLEIRIDA
SAY. GULF, HDLMEE, JACKSON. AND COUNTIES

4445 LAFAYETTE STREE
ROOM 104

MARIANNA, FLDSIDA
132445

PAMELA F. MURPHY
JUDICIAL ASSISTANT

September 18, 2018

Shalla Jefcoat

Chief Assistant State Attorney (Jackson County Office)
Marianna, Florida

H. Guy Green
Chief Assistant Public Defender (Jackson County Office)
Mariana, Florida

Mrs. Jefcoat and Mr. Green:

As you both know, I have been helping with Judge Patterson's felony caseload by

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presiding over felony arraignments for several months. In that time, i have accepted several

plea agreements after attempting to review the background of the case and the criminal
histories involved, given the time constraints of a large docket. At other times, I have
refused to accept many pleas for a variety of reasons.

I learned Friday that the State Attorney?s Office has filed a 3.850 Motion in just such a
case where the Defendant entered a plea at her arraignment court date (State v. Odom 18-
IUOCF). Although I was not the Judge in this particular case, I would have likely accepted this

plea also due to my desire to efficiently process our large dockets.

But, this is exactly the type of problem that occurs when our adversarial criminal justice

system is not allowed to work as designed. This Motion filed by the State, along with the

multiple dismissals last week related to the credibility issues of the same officer mentioned

in the State?s Motion, has convinced me that the appropriate action is to no longer accept

pleas to felony charges on Arraignment days.

In short, both the State and the Defense need to have ample time to investigate these
serious charges, review pleadings and determine if depositions should be taken or not. Every

Defendant has the right to view evidence against him or her, including any existing audio or
video recordings if he/she wishes and every Assistant State Attorney should have time to
review, and should review, these audio/video recordings also.

I am extremely thankful that ASA. Pumphrey?s diligence led to the discovery of these
apparently inappropriate actions of a law enforcement officer, and I cannot help but wonder
if this might have been caught sooner if more time was spent thoroughly reviewing our cases
by both the State and Defense but also by the Court. It is incumbent on me as a judge to
make sure that every sentence is fair and that every Defendant has had an opportunity, with
counsel, to fully understand the and weaknesses of the case against them.

it is apparent that no one was taking time to review the videos that have led to the rash
of recent dismissals and I want to do what I can to make sure that quick pleas at arraignment
don?t contribute to other future errors.

So, effective immediately, I will not be accepting pleas on arraignment dates to new
felonies absent extremely unusual circumstances. I understand that the 3 or 4 cases per
month that I have been sentencing on arraignment dates will now be pushed back to a later
date. But, I am convinced that the benefit of making sure that both sides have enough time
to fully investigate their respective positions is important enough to justify the delay. I would
rather do the right thing than do the quick thing; and I hope that we never find ourselves in a
position of letting an innocent person plea, just to get the case off our desk.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Wade Mercer

Jackson County Judge