3.17.2014

"Not . . . On My Watch"





(Source) — The executive director of Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers is facing up to two weeks in jail on a contempt of court charge for stuffing an anonymous tip in his mouth instead of handing it over to a judge Friday. Richard Masten was appearing before Judge Victoria Brennan when he refused to share information related to a tip in a cocaine possession case. Instead, he ate the paper containing the tip while sitting in court. “We promise the people who give us information to solve murders, serious violent crimes in this community, that they can call with an assurance that they will remain anonymous and that nothing about them or their information would ever be compromised,” he said. “The case today started creeping into that… it’s not going to happen on my watch and I understood the consequences.”

Gotta love this guy. A true man of his word.

(From a legal standpoint, I've always questioned the tip to Crime Stopper's being "confidential". In fact, the Texas Government Code requires the disclosure of a Crime Stopper's tip if it tends to show that a person accused of crime is not guilty.)