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U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SAYS FUGITIVE DROWNING DOES NOT INVOLVE CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
Washington, DC: Tuesday, June 1, 2010: The United States Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has concluded that the resulting fugitive drowning death of fugitive James "Little Man" Rayford, in his efforts to allude the Hernando County Sheriff Department's pursuit of him, "does not involve a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes."
Accordingly, in its letter dated May 25th, 2010, to civic activist Brian P. Moore of Spring Hill, Florida, signed by Elizabeth L. Brown, Paralegal Specialist for the Criminal Section, on behalf of Robert Moossy, Jr., Acting Section Chief, Criminal Section, U.S. Justice Department, stated that the U.S. Justice Department "carefully reviewed the information which you furnished." Ms. Brown's statement continued, "However, we have determined that your complaint does not involve a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes. Accordingly, we are unable to assist you." The letter suggested that Moore may wish to contact the nearest legal aid program or local bar association for assistance.
Brown's letter also indicated that its Civil Rights Division is responsible for enforcing federal criminal civil rights statues....relating to the investigation and prosecution of deprivations of civil rights under color of law. The letter continued that "These matters generally involve allegations of excessive physical force or sexual abuse by law enforcement officers."
Fugitive James Rayford, disappeared in Hunter Lake, Hernando County, Florida, on September 10, 2009, after being pursued by a Hernando County Sheriff department helicopter, and supposedly, according to the sheriff's department, "fell into the water" from his small eight-foot kayak as he was paddling to allude capture. Mr. Rayford's body came to the surface two days later, on September 12, 2009.
Civic activist Brian Moore had contended from the very beginning that the fugitive was pursued incorrectly by the Sheriff's Department, and that the sheriff department's use of a helicopter to pursue, harass, and pressure Rayford back to shore, caused Rayford's kayak to kick up into the air, thus throwing Mr. Rayford out of the small boat, and with the copter less than an acknowledged six feet away, and three feet overhead, its powerful propellers forced the fugitive under water several times until he was unable to surface.
Moore had visited neighbors bordering the lake, a day or two after the body was discovered, and found several eyewitnesses who confirmed what Moore suspected, but the eyewitnesses recanted their stories when approached by both the press and the sheriff department investigators later on. Moore was subsequently accused by his own eyewitnesses of misrepresenting their observations.
Moore sent formal letters of complaint to the Hernando County Sheriff's Department, in mid September, 2009, requesting an internal review, as well as subsequent letters in December, 2009, to the State of Florida, the governor, attorney general and its law enforcement agency in Tallahassee, after the sheriff's department cleared its pursuing officers of any wrongdoing. The state of Florida, around March or April, 2010, after reviewing the information sent them by Moore and the Sheriff's Department, and spending considerable time in delaying its decision, finally concluded that there was "no wrongdoing in Rayford's death."
Meanwhile, Moore had sent letters to the United States Justice Department, and its U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, on December 9, 2009, raising questions about the pursuit resulting in Rayford's death, and also questioned if there were any civil rights violations due to the fact that James Rayford was racially black.
Finally, after follow-up phone calls and additional letters to the Justice Department in Washington, DC, Moore received a response from the U.S. Justice Department five months and three weeks after his initial December 9, 2009, letter to them. Elizabeth L. Brown, the Paralegal Specialist, who signed the letter, and had spoken with Moore over a month ago by telephone, stated that "We apologize for our delay in responding."
Moore is now exploring the possibility of private law firms who might be willing to pursue the case pro-bono, on behalf of the Rayford family.
Moore said "an injustice was done here." Moore added, "Citizens have a communal responsibility to Mr. Rayford and to his family, to pursue the truth in this matter, and to hold those accountable for unnecessarily taking the life of a fellow human being, whether one be a fugitive, a convicted felon or an upright citizen." Moore has always contended, that "Human beings, all have a right to life."
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