ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Depositions in a lawsuit brought by a former St. Johns County judicial candidate over the alleged illegal release of a sexual battery police report to her opponent’s campaign reveal inconsistencies in law enforcement’s account of events.
St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick, former Undersheriff and current General Counsel Matthew Cline, and former St. Johns County Commissioner Jeremiah Blocker were all recently deposed under oath.
The sheriff’s office is being sued by a former judicial candidate and alleged sexual battery victim, who has claimed the police report she filed with the department in 2018 was illegally shown to multiple people.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
The lawsuit alleges that her decision not to pursue charges in the case and her effort to prevent the release of the police report were used to smear her during the campaign, which she ended up losing.
During his testimony, Cline recalled when he first learned Josh Woolsey, the husband of the alleged victim’s opponent, submitted a public records request seeking the police report.
“I had some real concerns about releasing it as a public record just ‘cause I knew that there was a political race involved and it was just gonna be a first class shit show,” said Cline.
Personal identifying information of alleged victims of sexual battery are exempt from public record, and violations carry the weight of a second-degree misdemeanor.
Read: First bid to construct new Duval County jail received by the city
Cline claimed Woolsey already had intimate knowledge of the details in the report and he agreed to show him an unredacted copy in an effort to discourage him from pursuing the records request.
“I said, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to let you look at this report because I want you to understand the gravity of it. You can’t take any notes. You can’t take any pictures of it,” said Cline.
Cline also admitted to discussing the sexual battery report with Commissioner Blocker during a meeting with Sheriff Hardwick.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Hardwick testified he didn’t remember any conversation with Blocker about the sexual battery report.
“I just don’t recall. I just don’t. I mean, I remember meeting with commissioners about the budget,” said Hardwick.
However, Blocker testified he was shown an unredacted copy of the report, which he claims the sheriff characterized as a “false police report”.
“I believe he said that David Shoar should have arrested her for filing a police, or false police report,” said Blocker.
Blocker also claimed the sheriff commented on how the report would be politically damaging to the candidate.
“You can’t survive this politically. She’s not going to win. We’re under pressure to release this by Josh Woolsey. To that effect,” said Blocker.
Cline, on the other hand, testified the discussion with Blocker and the Sheriff centered around litigation that sought to prevent the release of the report, and if Blocker were shown a copy of the report, it would have been redacted.
“It’s not uncommon to discuss our lawsuits that we have with the county. And the reason for that is, if there’s liability on the sheriff, and that liability exceeds the statutory amount, the county’s on the hook for that,” said Cline.
Action News Jax reached out to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office seeking comment on the different accounts of events between the three men’s depositions.
“It would not be appropriate for us to comment at this time out of respect for the active litigation,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office told us in an emailed statement.
Read: Federal agents raid Dymeng Technology Solutions in St. Augustine
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
