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Mayra Martinez’s Attorneys Respond to Undercharging and Defamation by State Attorney Office

On June 8, 2016, the State Attorney’s Office released information, dubbed a “disposition report,” indicating Officer Borisade would only be facing one simple battery charge for his encounters with Mayra Martinez. The State Attorney released irrelevant, sensational and defamatory information about Ms. Martinez, further breaching her civil and human rights.

The “disposition report” was not only given to the media, it was solicited to them, with an employee of the State Attorney calling and even telling one reporter who said he didn’t ask for the report that the other two stations already had it. Yet, the report was not, in any way, released to the victim or her counsel. The Report, sent out to exclusively to media, was posted online by media.

The State Attorney’s Office then scheduled press interviews for ASA Mantei. At no time was the fact he was giving a statement, much less a defamatory statement, announced to the victim or public in any way. Instead, he went on television for no other reason than his own publicity to demean her.

The videos of the encounters between JSO and Ms. Martinez speak for themselves. The victim’s medical records speak for themselves. If asked, Ms. Martinez’s physicians would happily express the extent of her injuries. Instead, this State Attorney’s office went on a defamation media campaign.

Given the apparent bias and desire to irrelevantly disparage a victim, on June 9, 2016, our office held a press conference of our own. We requested a special prosecutor be named in the case of State of Florida v. Akinyemi Borisade.


June 8, 2016 Media:

5 PM:

WJXT (2:23) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a1kVo_sVSw

(Borisade plead not guilty to one count of simple assault. News anchor Jim Piggott says the video of the “beating” sent “shockwaves through the community. Attorney for Mayra Martinez describes difference between simple and felony battery. Assistant State Attorney Mantei says “we can’t sustain Ms. Martinez sustained any injury that the courts have defined as meeting that threshold.”)

FCN (0:41) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TJat1g0h00

(Borisade pleads not guilty to misdemeanor and only charged with misdemeanor because the state questions the victim’s credibility.)

6 PM:

FCN (2:03) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omxVGW2nJsk

(A report from the State Attorney shedding new light on charges. The State Attorneys Office says security video shows Martinez running around topless and quote on something besides just alcohol. The report says she punched and kicked officer and knocked glasses off of his head. The report finds officers committed no criminal act in the parking lot. Because Martinez is facing felony charges and had drug and alcohol in her system, the State Attorney is calling her credibility into question.)

WJXT (5:10) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COFt53vd52E

(The State Attorneys Office released new information about a video and released a “disposition statement.” It “basically says” Martinez was at fault. According to Assistant State Attorney Rich Mantei, Martinez got into “another fight.” Mantei states, “in the intake vestibule, got in a fight with a female corrections officer and several additional male correctional officers had to intervene to additionally restrain her after that.” Evidence doesn’t suggest “she was injured enough.” Mantei says, “He punched her 3-4 times depending on which witness.” Mantei states the punches “resulted in great bodily harm. In this case, the punches did not result and cant be proven to have resulted in great bodily harm.” Injuries likely from somewhere else. “She got in a rather serious car crash while she was participating in an armed robbery in 2004, down in the Orlando area. The car is described as having flipped several times and gone at speeds at over 100 miles an hour and she sustained injuries in the car crash… The evidence doesn’t show there was a loss of consciousness or a concussion at least at the time. She certainly didn’t report that. She denied it specifically… She actually denied that night even having any back pain…  It is impossible to tie those injuries to this particular incident with any clarity at all and if I cant do that, I cant charge him.” )

10 PM:

Action News (2:17) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVknbAeZ7m0

(The State Attorney released a “7 page disposition statement.” Anchor says, the “video is violent.” According to the reporter based on the release of the report, it outlines several accounts of Mayra Martinez being under the influence of at least alcohol and possibly drugs. According to the report, a CSX Police Officer told investigators Martinez was abusive, kicked Borisade twice and Martinez “only acted hurt.”)

WJXT (3:35) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnlXsAWFRNo

(The State is combing through facts. The information released in the “disposition statement” outlines why they feel that misdemeanor battery is appropriate. Mantei states, “She got in a rather serious car crash while she was participating in an armed robbery in 2004, down in the Orlando area. The car is described as having flipped several times and gone at speeds at over 100 miles an hour and she sustained injuries in the car crash.” Based on the report, the media released that “aside from the 2004 armed robbery arrest, the state shows in 2012 Martinez was arrested for DUI after drinking three long islands and smoking marijuana and then in 2014, she was arrested in Orange County for resisting and disturbing the peace. She was convicted of brawling and fighting.” )

11 PM:

FCN (2:26) – https://youtu.be/ngVsx1wcUag

(The State Attorney has released a “new report.” The report says security video shows Martinez running around topless and quote on something besides just alcohol. The report says she punched and kicked officer and knocked glasses off of his head. The State Attorney publicly calls her credibility into question.)

WJXT (1:17) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppo9ezCfxD4

(Recap of above WJXT stories.)

Action News – https://youtu.be/zLmd6kNe3RI

(Much the same as above.)

11:30 PM:

FCN (2:26) – https://youtu.be/wNORWS6kaqI

Basically same as above.


June 9, 2016 Media:

5 PM:

FCN (1:19) – https://youtu.be/fMNphOrZ1eo

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(JSO released a statement that it is looking at policy violations. No further arrests will be made.)

WJXT (6:34) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hVyFJxtVzs

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(When ASA Mantei asked why the information was released about victim Martinez, Mantei says, “Well anytime we are having to assess the relative credibility of any witness, be that the defendant, be that any other witness in the case, victim or otherwise, all of those things are relevant. We have to take all of that into account and a lot of other things as well. But we don’t get to ignore it or not mention it. Those are written internal documents. They are our justifications for what we are doing. But it’s not as though as if that stuff is irrelevant. The jury, if the case where to go to trial, would be instructed they could consider all of those things.”)

Action News (5:05) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjr2jZ6nTcM

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei spoke again, saying “I’ve got to prove who did it and exactly when. It’s not enough to simply say well its sometime when she was in the custody of the Sheriff’s office. That’s fine for a civil case. Because you are suing the whole office. I’m prosecuting an individual and that’s a very different standard.”)

(JSO said, “Although a private attorney, representing the defendant Martinez, has chosen to release materials obtained through the discovery process as part of his public defense campaign, this agency will honor the public records law that exempts us from releasing that video, as it is not public record and releasable by this agency. (F.S. 281.301)

Our agency investigation has focused on the actions of our personnel involved in the arrest and booking of Ms. Martinez. Officer Borisade was arrested and terminated by JSO when his actions were reported to supervisors and the video reviewed by the Sheriff and me, that same day.

The JSO investigation has also looked at the remainder of the booking process, and no criminal wrongdoing by any employee has been found to have occurred. Currently the administrative investigation is underway, which focuses on any policy violations. When that portion is completed, the full findings of our internal investigation will be released.”)

6 PM:

Action News (5:15) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fav-HLWbbdA

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei said, “Police and prosecutors work together. We have to work together in certain cases. As far as prosecuting them. Look when they step across they line, they understand that they are going to face the consequences just like you and I would.” Said he has no concerns and would leave special prosecutor appointment up to the governor.)

(JSO said above statement).

FCN (3:13) – https://youtu.be/E_YTpj8ns8k

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei said, “(Pause) Do I believe that I libeled her? I think that this disposition statement sets out a lot of facts. So unless someone is going to say those facts were wrong. Again if they are going to file a libel complaint, I suppose they will.”)

WJXT (8:41) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIokRh9XVrU

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei said he’s not trying to run some type of smear campaign or make Martinez seem dishonest. All he’s doing when wrote this disposition is he put the facts that he feels the jury and anyone requesting this disposition needs to know. Mantei said on camera, “If her injuries occurred during that parking lot incident, it is going to cause me a problem. What I think I heard today is they want us to add an additional charge for what happened in the parking lot. The problem is we reviewed that activity. As unfortunate as it is, she is violently resisting her arrest. And she is continuing to do that throughout. The measures that they took, while they aren’t pleasant to look at, they don’t arise to the level of a crime.”)

(JSO released statement above.)

6:30 PM:

Action News (4:58) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RAxfVuuTJE

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei said much of what was released, and “(Pause) Do I believe that I libeled her? I think that this disposition statement sets out a lot of facts. So unless someone is going to say those facts were wrong. Again if they are going to file a libel complaint, I suppose they will. And we will wait and see what happens.”)

(JSO said above statement).

WJXT (3:31) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ff41YTk5T0

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei said he would leave special prosecutor appointment and reaction about same up to the governor. He said the disposition he wrote and the way he is handling the case is extremely fair. He said, “It’s not a comment on honesty. I don’t think anybody… The statement I read… that I wrote didn’t really call her dishonest. What it said is you’ve got some issues that are going to reflect adversely and a jury is going to be permitted to draw inferences about the credibility of her and everyone else.)

10 PM:

WJXT (3:36) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSQP4JjDLjM

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei stated, “In this scenario, if there are injuries that occurred that would meet a threshold for a felony charge. I would then have to establish that they occurred a) at the hands at the person I am accusing and b) during the incident which was actually criminal.”)

Action News (5:48) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7nrCOP-mZM

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei stated, “They kindof force some clothing on her and then restrain her. You do see that happen. That is going on. Are there other things going on? It’s kindof hard to see.” And, “That’s fine for a civil case. Because you are suing the whole office. I’m prosecuting an individual and that’s a very different standard.” Dale Carson said, you don’t expect professional members of the law enforcement community to behave like this. “You look at that tape and tell me you can say exactly who’s doing exactly what at the bottom of the scrum? Can you say that the back injury didn’t occur then? If we accept that it occurred during this incident? You know the bottom line is Honestly I cant prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.” Mantei denied libel, saying they just laid out the facts which would include her personal history.)

(JSO said above statement).

11 PM:

WJXT (4:24) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYLA7dzOVZg

(Our rebuttal is played.)

WJXT adds forensic psychologist opinion to the discussion. Feels officer regretted his actions.

(JSO said above statement).

FCN (2:50) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHh2DpbWwJM

(Our rebuttal is played.)

(Mantei said, “(Pause) Do I believe that I libeled her? I think that this disposition statement sets out a lot of facts. So unless someone is going to say those facts were wrong. Again if they are going to file a libel complaint, I suppose they will.”)

Action News (5:34) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2JCk8jsKZ0v

Safety Expert Ken Jefferson notes Borisade showing “remorsefulness” and said there was no reason for an officer to respond the way he responded.

(Mantei, said, “They kindof force some clothing on her and then restrain her. You do see that happen. That is going on. Are there other things going on? It’s kindof hard to see.” And, “That’s fine for a civil case. Because you are suing the whole office. I’m prosecuting an individual and that’s a very different standard.” And, “You look at that tape and tell me you can say exactly who’s doing exactly what at the bottom of the scrum? Can you say that the back injury didn’t occur then? If we accept that it occurred during this incident? You know the bottom line is Honestly I cant prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.” Mantei said when they released the statement, they just included all of the “simple facts.”)

(JSO said above statement).


June 10, 2016 Media:

6 AM:

Action News (1:43) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt5CiKG4iS0

 


PRESS CONFERENCE

 

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