A private review of documents relating to grand jury proceedings in a case involving the death of an inmate at the Charlotte County Correctional Institute in 2014 is being requested by the Clerk of Court for Charlotte County.
That request was made in a response to a petition filed in June by Fort Myers Attorney Christopher Crowley seeking to have the sealed proceedings opened.
Crowley, currently on active duty with the U.S. Army, filed the petition in Charlotte County Court on June 17 and the case was recorded by the court June 19.
In addition to the request for the in-camera review, the response by Roger D. Eaton, Clerk and Comptroller of Charlotte County, also seeks to deny Crowley’s petition, citing specific aspects of the proceedings. In camera means a court meeting done in private, in particular taking place in the private chambers of a judge, with the press and public excluded.
Eaton is listed as the defendant in the case since court clerks are legally the keepers of such proceedings.
"He is sued in his official capacity as custodian of the 2015 grand jury materials that are subject to this action," the suit stipulates.
"All we want is a record of the Matthew Walker Grand Jury transcript made public," Crowley told WGCU. "All we need is an official record to confirm what the Charlotte Sun newspaper already reported, that Amira Fox performed improperly and inappropriately before a Grand Jury in a murder case. The Florida Bar has taken an issue with free speech, so now we need the official record to clear this matter up."
However, Eaton’s response said that judicial administrative rules require that testimony in grand jury proceedings be “reported by an approved court report, but shall not be transcribed unless required by an order of the court.” His response says no such order has been made.
“Essentially, Petitioner (Crowley) filed a petition demanding copies of documents which were never ordered to exist by the court,” the Eaton response said but also asks the court to execute an order to confirm no such order was made.
The Eaton response was filed Monday. There has been no response to a request for comment by Eaton.
Crowley on Wednesday said Eaton made no substantive arguments against his petition.
"They're just procedural objections," Crowley said, adding, "I'd be willing to pay for a transcript."
There is no hearing scheduled yet in the case, which is before Charlotte County Circuit Judge Geoffrey H. Gentile.
Crowley, who ran unsuccessfully for the state attorney post against the then 20th Judicial Circuit Chief Assistant State Attorney Amira Fox in 2018, said the issue involves claims brought against him by the Florida Bar.
Fox is the current state attorney of the 20th Judicial District.
The Florida Bar filed a complaint against attorney Christopher Crowley in April 2020 before the Florida Supreme Court alleging he violated Bar rules. Four judges acting as referees in the case have recused themselves for conflicts of interest, with a fifth judge now presiding.
That case has been on hold while Crowley is on active military duty.
Crowley's motion to reopen evidence includes an affidavit claiming evidence of corruption by Amira Fox.
The Florida Bar's complaint alleges Crowley "publicly disparaged his opponent through various political campaign materials, advertisements, and social media postings" among other rules violations, during the 2018 political campaign for state attorney.
Release of the grand jury proceedings in the Walker case, Crowley said, would help identify what happened in that case. Crowley added that, if the entire proceedings can't be released, at least the identity of who instructed the grand jury should be released.
In the petition, filed June 17, Crowley also asks " in the furtherance of justice, to order the Charlotte County Clerk of Court to produce, and the court to order, disclosure of copies of the testimony, minutes, transcripts of instructions and legal advice from prosecutors and other evidence presented to the 2015 Grand Jury investigating the death of Matthew J. Walker while in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections at the Charlotte County Correctional Institute."
A summary of the case claims:
"In 2014, a Charlotte County Corrections Officer, or Officers, murdered inmate Matthew Walker while he was in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections at the Charlotte County Correctional Institution. In 2015, the murder case was presented to a grand jury for investigation and the panel failed to indict anyone for the murder. After seeing the community outrage over the failure, a grand jury panel member revealed to the Charlotte Sun newspaper that a prosecutor, or prosecutors, improperly and inappropriately discouraged the panel members from indicting the perpetrator or perpetrators of the murder.
"In 2018, Christopher Crowley, a candidate for the office of State Attorney in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, politically attacked his opponent, Amira D. Fox, Chief Assistant State Attorney and one of the prosecutors who presented the Matthew Walker case. as “corrupt” for improper conduct before the grand jury. The charge was based on public disclosures by the panel member. The Florida Bar later took issue with Mr. Crowley's political comments about Ms. Fox's conduct before the grand jury as objectively unreasonable. When Mr. Crowley requested a copy of the grand jury proceedings, he was told the Charlotte Count Clerk of Court did not have the record.
"While the Charlotte Sun reported the improper conduct by the prosecutors believe the grand jury based on the disclosures of the panel member, the exact record of the grand jury proceeding is currently sealed. Mr. Crowley petitions the Court to exercise its statutory authority under Florida law and inherent its authority and first, order the Charlotte County Clerk of Court to produce and file the records of the 2015 grand jury proceedings to the Court and, in the name of furthering justice, grant Mr. Crowley access to the Matthew Walker grand jury proceedings to show the claim made by the panel member of prosecutorial misconduct, and relied on by Mr. Crowley, was truthful."
Fox did not respond to a request for comment from WGCU.
The Charlotte Sun newspaper covered the Walker case and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in its coverage of the state prison system and the aftermath of guards killing in Walker at the Charlotte Correctional Institution.
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