So what's the big deal about altering an email?

No big deal for you and me as average citizens but a completely different situation if you're a government employee or heaven forbid an elected official!  We left off last time discussing the issue of a potentially altered and forged email that City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman allegedly forwarded to her minions.  The email was originally from the City of South Miami assistant city clerk and as we said the other day, the original email was fairly innocuous.  

The problem arose when Commissioner Newman forwarded that innocent email to her friends, somehow there was a whole other paragraph in that email that magically appeared when it left the commissioner's outbox, here it is in case you need your memory refreshed...

By inserting this extra paragraph or so into the original email, it appears as if the intent was to make the reader believe that this text came from non other than the assistant city clerk.  In case either our readers or the folks over at the Miami Dade County Ethics commission haven't been able to figure out why this is wrong and downright ILLEGAL, let's take a look at Florida Statute 839.13...

Title XLVI CRIMES  

Chapter 839

OFFENSES BY PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

839.13 Falsifying records.—

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if any judge, justice, mayor, alderman, clerk, sheriff, coroner, or other public officer, or employee or agent of or contractor with a public agency, or any person whatsoever, shall steal, embezzle, alter, corruptly withdraw, falsify or avoid any record, process, charter, gift, grant, conveyance, or contract, or any paper filed in any judicial proceeding in any court of this state, or shall knowingly and willfully take off, discharge or conceal any issue, forfeited recognizance, or other forfeiture, or other paper above mentioned, or shall forge, deface, or falsify any document or instrument recorded, or filed in any court, or any registry, acknowledgment, or certificate, or shall fraudulently alter, deface, or falsify any minutes, documents, books, or any proceedings whatever of or belonging to any public office within this state; or if any person shall cause or procure any of the offenses aforesaid to be committed, or be in anywise concerned therein, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(2)(a) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards an official record relating to an individual in the care and custody of a state agency, which act has the potential to detrimentally affect the health, safety, or welfare of that individual, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415.
(b) Any person who commits a violation of paragraph (a) which contributes to great bodily harm to or the death of an individual in the care and custody of a state agency commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “care and custody” includes, but is not limited to, a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415.
(c) Any person who knowingly falsifies, alters, destroys, defaces, overwrites, removes, or discards records of the Department of Children and Family Services or its contract provider with the intent to conceal a fact material to a child abuse protective investigation, protective supervision, foster care and related services, or a protective investigation or protective supervision of a vulnerable adult, as defined in chapter 39, chapter 409, or chapter 415, commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits prosecution for a violation of paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) involving records described in this paragraph.
(d) This section does not prohibit the disposing or archiving of records as otherwise provided by law. In addition, this section does not prohibit any person from correcting or updating records.
(3) In any prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary to prove the ownership or value of any paper or instrument involved.
History.—s. 19, Feb. 10, 1832; RS 2571; GS 3483; RGS 5357; CGL 7492; s. 1023, ch. 71-136; s. 1, ch. 2002-386; s. 2, ch. 2007-174.

That's right!  If you're caught screwing around with documents or in this case emails, according to the letter of the law...

 ...the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

LOL!  That's some pretty serious shit right there folks, if indeed Commissioner Newman did alter this email, her ass is toast.  Like we said on Tuesday, we've already filed a formal complaint with the ethics commission outlining the potential infraction, now let's sit back and see what happens.  

Tomorrow we'll discuss the potential ramifications of this alleged act of forgery and we'll also discuss the back of this email, a story so disturbing it may make you not want to ride your bike through the City of South Miami!