HAMILTON COUNTY, FLORIDA – Robert “Bob” Burton was arrested on Sunday, June 5, 2011 and charged with recording a telephone conversation with Ryan Tyson, the former Chief of Staff of Florida Senator Charlie Dean. Burton was detained at the Hamilton County jail before posting a $50,000 surety bond on Friday, June 10. He is awaiting trial for unlawful interception of communication and unlawful disclosure of electronic communication under Florida statute 934.03.
Circuit Judge Gregory S. Parker
During the recorded conversation, Tyson allegedly admitted that state agencies were engaged in illegal activities. Burton later posted this recorded conversation on YouTube as evidence of corruption.
Within days of this recording being published, Burton’s home was raided, and his computer and other electronic equipment were seized by the FDLE. YouTube deleted Burton’s video under orders from a Florida judge. At roughly the same time, Tyson’s employment with Senator Dean’s office was terminated.
See our previous story: Whistleblower’s home raided by armed FDLE agents.
After multiple attempts, I was able to speak with Tyson by phone. However, upon identifying myself, Tyson immediately hung up and would not answer attempts to reconnect. All attempts to contact Senator Charlie Dean for comment, including two visits to his office in Tallahassee, have been unsuccessful.
There also seems to be a reluctance among circuit court judges to hear the case. The first judge to preside over the Burton case, Circuit JudgeGregory S. Parker, recused himself without officially citing a reason or conflict. I contacted Judge Parker to ask why.
Parker said he recused himself from the case because of an Internet blog comment that he attributed to Burton. Parker said that members of a local tea party group contacted him to alert him of the blog post, which they said was threatening in nature. While Parker said that he did not feel threatened by Burton’s comments, he chose to recuse himself to ensure there was no appearance of retaliation for Burton’s comments in his ruling.
Parker declined to comment any further about the case.
After Parker recused himself, the case was then assigned to acting Circuit Court Judge Sonny Scaff, who also recused himself from the case without citing a reason. Messages to Judge Scaff’s office for comment were not returned.
READ MORE: http://1787network.com/2011/06/breaking-news-burton-arrested-held-without-bond-for-exposing-government-corruption/1677
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