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Escambia Deputy’s Trial Delayed
June 2, 2011
Opening testimony was scheduled to begin Wednesday in the trial of an Escambia County deputy charged with sexually assaulting a woman, but now his trial has been delayed until July.
Mike Priest, 33, is accused of forcing a woman to perform sexual acts in his patrol car.
Priest had just completed a shift as an off-duty security officer at Captain Funs nightclub when he gave the woman a ride home. The victim told authorities that Priest threatened to take her to jail for public intoxication if she did not comply with his demands.
Priest, an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office employee since August, 2006, was charged with two counts of sexual assault – sexual battery on a victim over twelve. He remains free on $40,000 bond.
Comments
14 Responses to “Escambia Deputy’s Trial Delayed”
i agree w/the two jims previous comments….we do have a rule of law, last i checked….the exhonorarted teachers case (that molino jim mentioned) should have taught us a thing or two about prematurely convicting someone in the forum of public opinion, PRIOR to due process…..i think that you should be able to responsibly and objectively express your opinion here, without convicting a person before theyve had a chance to defend themselves properly in court…im sure that its hard for some to do…but, its the right thing to do…each of us would want that same benefit if it were US in the “hot seat”.
When you have nothing Good to say, you say Nothing at all. Everything is an Opinion and we all know they are…everyone has one!
Guilty, give him time for it = Not Guilty, give him peace about it
If she Lied, give her time for spending the taxpayers money and ruining his accountability within our society,
JIM W—- you are on the right track. I recall a few short weeks ago a music teacher was charged with touching a young girls breast. He was tried on NorthEscambia and all sorts of thing were said about what to do to him. Then what happen—she changed her story and said she lied about the whole thing so she could go to another school. The teacher has said he may not return to the classroom and that is everyones loss.
For you guys who are jumping on the band wagon convicting him this is for you. Like Molino Jim said: I guess there are a lot of folks on here who have good contact in the SO who told them what happen or are clairvoyant and don’t need to know what happen. There’s an old saying –don’t confuse me with the fact, I’ve already made up my mind.
I also agree if he did it let the system take care of it. But some of you already have convicted him before he even gets the chance to present his side of the story. Let the facts speak for themselves so far all you have to go on is what has been printed. All thopugh William is great at what he does he is not allowed to have all the evidence to present even as much as he would like to.
Just saying. I’m also saying how is a man suppose to get a fair and impartial trial with people like you having already concluded they guilty as a result of a news story? It could be you some day getting accused of something may or may not have done would you want someone drawing their conclusions before you got the chance to prove it different? I’m not trying to defend him I am just saying let the process bring the facts out then let the chips fall where they may. Becaus e if he did this then he should pay dearly but if he didn’t then he needs to be exonerated immediately.
wow. if he wasnt a former police officer, a regular citizen, he would have gotten NO BOND.why did this man get a bond??
It’s a sad day when a person is tried and hung from an old oak tree even before the facts are opened to the public. I guess there are a lot of folks on here who have good contact in the SO who told them what happen or are clairvoyant and don’t need to know what happen. There’s an old saying –don’t confuse me with the fact, I’ve already made up my mind. For this fellows I hope he didn’t do this–if he did let the system handle it. He made a mistake in taking the young woman home, I know that it happens but the SO does not run a taxi service. Also hope that many on here aren’t on the jury.
Sorry, JIM W. in uniform and in the patrol car, he’d be considered quasi on-duty till he got home and out of the car. As long as he was on the road, he is directed to respond to serious emergencies and to monitor the radio which makes him as if he were on duty. By the way what happened to the in-car video? Oh that’s right, the system was off so that there would be no recording of when and where he’d been. This officer has lost his integrity. In that, he demonstrated that he can’t do the right thing even when no one is watching. And so the blame the victim game continues – she was drunk so Priest is excused for taking advantage of her. NOT!!!
if he was off duty like it says, then he was using his authority as a deputy to intimidate this woman. this is an abuse of power. I understand he was “not on duty” but when he threatened to use his “on duty” power he crossed the line.
this is why most people have a bad feeling and do not trust law enforcement like they use to! sad!
Priest had just completed a shift as an off-duty security officer at Captain Funs nightclub. Off duty folks! I understand he is to be held accountable but don’t convict him before all the facts are presented for you to draw an intellegent decision on the matter. When people are drunk they can do some very random things and think it over later and place blame else where so they don’t feel guilty. Jst saying let the facts come out then if he is guilty he should pay the max price as he is sworn to and held to a higher standard.
Just saying!
I have let my emotions rule my trigger finger. The jury must judge the accused, not me! I apologize!
The coin has two sides!
He left work early for the night to take a girl home who he already “knew” several times. He apologized to his supervisor for putting the supervisor in the position to have to investigate this bogus case.
Why does the victim now say she wasn’t raped and she told her friends that night that it was consensual?
This guy is still a deputy? You’ve got to be joking, right? Come on, the sheriff’s department can surely do better than this! For gosh sakes he was in uniform and in his patrol car, and from another story there was something about a text message to a supervisor appologizing for doing it. But then again there is this jury thing and you never know how the members will rule, even when there is overwhelming evidence, they can come back with a not guilty verdict.
Either way, he has soiled the uniform (with pun) and tarnished the badge and it is way past time to let this bad apple go.
My tax dollars, Trash!