Justice for Sergeant Doakes
by Mallory Pendergrass

New York Times - October 6, 2017

Next week marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Miami Metro PD's Sergeant James Doakes, the officer wrongly believed for years to be the vigilante serial killer known as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Though never caught despite a brief international manhunt, he was found dead among the charred ruins of a cabin in the swamps of Florida with all available evidence at that time pointing to a suicide. Although never confirmed, most investigators now strongly believe that the cabin may have been an elaborate trap set up by the real killer himself in an attempt to frame Doakes and keep him from telling his side of the story. Others believe the suicide came out of desperation over being framed on nigh irrefutable evidence, rather than an attempt to escape justice.

Coincidentally or not, today also marks an end to a lengthy legal battle between the Doakes family on one side and the Miami Metro Police Department as well as the FBI and the state of Florida on the other, with the final ruling being in favor of the Doakes family. Doakes was survived by his mother and two sisters, Jess and Roni. Although everyone has been in agreement for years that Sergeant Doakes was innocent all along and played no role in the Bay Harbor murders, disputes arose after the Bay Harbor Butcher trial in 2015 over whether or not Sergeant Doakes should be posthumously decorated as a hero and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant as is commonly practiced when a member of the police force is killed in the line of duty, and whether or not the surviving family should receive the benefits that normally come with such deaths. Another disputed issue as part of the lawsuit was whether or not Miami Metro PD and the FBI had acted in good faith and without reckless disregard of the evidence during the initial Bay Harbor Butcher investigation in 2007. The judge once again ruled in the family's favor citing discarded evidence that would have cleared Doakes if carefully examined as well as failures on both Miami Metro PD and the FBI's part to investigate leads that may have pointed to the true killer, such as suspicious patterns of searches in the computer criminal database as well as one missing file that is estimated to have contained 10 hours of critical surveillance footage over the marina used by the killer. Though the judge did acknowledge Doakes' hostile work conduct and suspension, he noted in his ruling that this was no excuse for the poor management of the situation by the defendants and that better cooperation could have prevented this tragedy. Racial bias has also been alleged by the family though this could not be substantiated. Nevertheless, the Doakes family was awarded a settlement of 1 million dollars plus attorney's fees.

A memorial is set to be built next week by the city and Sergeant James Doakes will receive a posthumous promotion to Lieutenant. Despite objections from the current Captain of Miami Metro, Andrew Bates, most of his former co-workers welcome this. The head of the FBI Nick Winterson however has admitted following the ruling that things could have been handled better and has announced that he is stepping down after almost two decades of activity.

Meanwhile, the true Bay Harbor Butcher, former forensic analyst Dexter Morgan, remains at large.

Butcher's Lawyer Disbarred
by Mallory Pendergrass

New York Times - May 23, 2019

Florida based high profile criminal lawyer John Billsworth has been disbarred from practicing law, officials recently announced.

The former attorney is also facing a criminal trial of his own on charges related to harboring fugitives, money laundering, tampering with evidence, forgery, witness intimidation as well as numerous violations of court orders over the years. Mr. Billsworth had made a successful career out of representing high profile cases including that of Dexter Morgan, the Bay Harbor Butcher. It is widely believed that he almost won that case until Dexter Morgan fired him and confessed to his murders at the last minute.

It's now believed that his success in getting other seemingly guilty criminals off had a large part to do with his willingness to go far beyond the ethics and even the legality of his profession. If convicted Mr. Billsworth could face up to 20 years in prison.

Years after the infamous trial, the convicted serial killer Dexter Morgan, continues to evade the authorities after being sentenced in absentia following his mysterious escape. Dexter Morgan's supporters have called this a witch hunt on social media calling for the lawyer's release and have even forwarded a petition to the President of the United States to pardon both him and Dexter Morgan, though authorities insist Mr. Billsworth's crimes go back at least a decade before the Bay Harbor Butcher trial and that this is nothing more than fake news.

THE END (revised)