Sheriff Nick Finch is Found Not Guilty.
Published: Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 13:57 PM.
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.
Finch was elated with the verdict and said he left a voice mail for Gov. Rick Scott, asking to be reinstated. 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.
But Assistant State Attorney Jack Campbell contended that Finch was lying about his reasons for letting Parrish go. He pointed out that other Liberty County sheriff's office officials were never told about a policy to not prosecute gun crimes.
"The 2nd Amendment doesn't have anything to do with this case," Campbell told jurors during his closing statement on Thursday. "It's about the truth."
Finch's case has divided this small rural county of 8,000 people located west of Tallahassee. It also gained attention among conservative media outlets and gun rights activists who have criticized prosecutors and Gov. Rick Scott for suspending Finch from office.
Replies
Yippee ! The jury got this right...oooorah to that jury.
God Bless Sheriff Finch! This is the kind of man that creats and maintains freedoms!
Glad your over this Sheriff. We Support you all the way. I even got onto Gov. Scott for what he did. We Need a Whole Lot More men of Honor like you.
Great News ! This Gov. should be recalled for misconduct in office.
Jury Nullification...................works...
bill
well, he should be going straight back to work..that Governor had no right or authority to suspend this Sheriff....he would have had to be recalled, since it's an elected position, right? Sure am glad to hear that the Jury knew what to do
I have heard that past Governor chris christie I believe is his name is going to be running for Governor again, and he has stated he is for Legal Medical Marijuana.
If you live with a debilitating disability, you should be allowed to use anything that helps. And any of you who disagrees, need to read the Bible and put away your Hippocratic crap.
This man was elected by the citizens of his county. I am not a legal anything but I am not sure the Governor has the authority to do what he did. I agree. The jury was 100% right and considering it only took an hour to decide I feel those that charged this man need to be investigated for their prosecution practices.
If Gov. Rick Scott is the man I hope he is he will right this atrocious wrong done to Sheriff Finch and reinstate him. If this was my county Sheriff I would be the gnat that constantly buzzes in the Governors ear. They make a simple couple of sentences so complicated when it is simple. The right to bear arms shall not be infringed. They argue about the word " militia". In the 18th century the militia was individual citizens that helped the Federal forces fight tyranny. Every day people. Sheriff Lynch is absolutely correct in stating that no law abiding citizen needs a piece of paper to carry a weapon to defend themselves, family and property. This administration is the exact reason the founding fathers wrote the 2nd amendment as they did. When the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor they wanted to have a ground attack. The head of the military told them it would be insane to do so because there would be a weapon behind every blade of grass. Yup the 2nd amendment works for me.