Story Archive

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

When the Clay County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from a young girl that she was sexually assaulted by an older boy named Cody Williams, deputies arrested Cody Lee Williams, 18, charged him with the sexual battery of a child younger than 12, and dumped him in jail. Williams had no idea what the charge was about, however, and the sheriff’s deputy didn’t bother to do a photo line-up to confirm Williams was the culprit. He wasn’t: investigation found that the alleged culprit is Cody Raymond Williams, 18, who goes to the same school as the other Cody Williams. Cody Lee spent 35 days in jail before the truth came out. Three deputies have received reprimands, and the deputy considered most at fault, Johnny Hawkins, received a public reprimand from the sheriff (“As a result of your incompetence, an innocent man was arrested for an offense that he did not commit,” Sheriff Rick Beseler told him in writing). Beseler also suspended Hawkins for 10 days, and transferred him from jail duty — to patrol. (RC/Florida Times-Union) ...Great: there’s an even higher percentage of innocents on the street.