DavieD55
11-01-2013, 01:52
BRISTOL — A Panhandle jury found suspended Liberty County Sheriff Nick Finch not guilty on charges that he tried to cover up his role in intervening in a gun case. The jury took about an hour to reach its verdict Friday afternoon. Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order reinstating Finch Thursday afternoon.
"Sheriff Nick Finch will be reinstated immediately. I would like to thank the members of the jury in Liberty County for their service in this trial. I would also like to thank Interim Sheriff Buddy Money for his service to the state of Florida," Scott wrote in a statement.
Finch was charged with official misconduct, a felony, as well as falsifying public records.
Prosecutors insisted that Finch tried to destroy and alter records in the arrest of Floyd Eugene Parrish. Parrish was arrested in March following a traffic stop where he was discovered carrying a pistol in his pocket without a concealed weapons permit.
Finch, who testified on his own behalf during the three-day long trial, said he let go Parrish go because he believed that 2nd Amendment gun rights trumped state gun laws.
Read more
http://www.newsherald.com/news/crime-public-safety/updated-gov-scott-orders-sheriff-reinstated-after-acquittal-1.227632
"Sheriff Nick Finch will be reinstated immediately. I would like to thank the members of the jury in Liberty County for their service in this trial. I would also like to thank Interim Sheriff Buddy Money for his service to the state of Florida," Scott wrote in a statement.
Finch was charged with official misconduct, a felony, as well as falsifying public records.
Prosecutors insisted that Finch tried to destroy and alter records in the arrest of Floyd Eugene Parrish. Parrish was arrested in March following a traffic stop where he was discovered carrying a pistol in his pocket without a concealed weapons permit.
Finch, who testified on his own behalf during the three-day long trial, said he let go Parrish go because he believed that 2nd Amendment gun rights trumped state gun laws.
Read more
http://www.newsherald.com/news/crime-public-safety/updated-gov-scott-orders-sheriff-reinstated-after-acquittal-1.227632