Huge news on the Michelle Spence-Jones case.

Some of you may remember the embattled City of Miami commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones who was first arrested for Grand Theft and then months later indicted by a grand jury on charges of bribery.  The grand theft charge was based on a letter from former county commsioner Barbara Carey-Shuler authorizing the release of $50,000 to Spence-Jones and her company Karym Ventures Inc, only problem is that both Carey-Shuler and the state attorneys office said that the letter was a forgery.  That forged document was the basis of the states case against Spence-Jones, according to Francisco Alvarado's article in the Miami New Times today, there seems to be a problem with that letter that the state insists was forged...

During last month's deposition (obtained by New Times and WPLG's political reporter Michael Putney), Spence-Jones' criminal defense attorney Peter Raben showed Carey-Shuler two drafts of the February 15, 2005 correspondence. One draft, dated January 9, 2005, contained several handwritten edits, including a notation that said: "should release the $50,000 to Karym."

"Whose handwriting is that?" Raben asked Carey-Shuler. "It's mine," she replied. 

When Raben quizzed her if the final version -- the one prosecutors alleged was a forgery -- was "genuine," Carey-Shuler said: "That's correct."

UH OH!  Let's take a look at that first draft with Carey-Shuler's handwriting all over it...

bcareyletter

Pretty hard to deny that huh?!  The article goes on to say...

Carey-Shuler explained that Scruggs did not show her the draft with her handwritten notes when he questioned her this past September on two separate occasions. How Scruggs, a former federal prosecutor who sent mass murderer Yahweh Ben Yahweh to prison, could have missed a key piece of evidence is a total head scratcher. The drafts were in a box of files stored by the county after Carey-Shuler left office. The box was marked "Cafe Soul," the name of the property on NW 7th avenue Karym was going to renovate with the grants. In other words, it was readily available when Scruggs subpoenaed hundreds of county records pertaining to the $50,000 that went to Karym.

And here's the best bit...

When Raben asked her if she had been tricked or misled to redirect the $50,000 to Karym, Carey-Shuler's response was "no."

You have to wonder, was the exclusion of this draft version of the letter simply an oversight by the prosecutor preparing the case or was it a calculated dirty trick designed to mislead?  Carey-Shuler goes on to say...

When Raben asked her if she had been tricked or misled to redirect the $50,000 to Karym, Carey-Shuler's response was "no."

Now consider the magnitude of this "new" evidence, would there have been a case if this letter was made public before?  Could charges have been brought against Spence-Jones if the state couldn't allege that the Carey-Shuler letter was a forgery?  Wouldn't you think that the state should have used an abundance of caution before bringing charges against ANYONE let alone a public figure like Spence-Jones?  After all this draft of the letter that the state alleges was a forgery was in the evidence that they subpoenaed!

I'm sure your asking yourselves, what does this have to do with our tales of mortgage fraud?  Sadly dear readers this exact same thing happened in the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case.  We'll have to wait a little while before we can discuss.  This certainly doesn't look good for Prosecutor Scruggs!