Sassoon, Alessandro

From: Goodyear, Tod <tod.goodyear@bcso.us>

Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2019 3:03 PM
To: Sassoon, Alessandro
Subject: RE: PRESS: Sheriff Ivey called Dr Nelson?

Mr. Sassoon,

This is the response to your questions from Sheriff Ivey:

“While as a rule I don’t normally respond to questions from the Florida Today, I am more than willing to respond to your
questions in this case as I am sick and tired of your repeated and completely unsubstantiated suggestions of wrong
doing by members of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. In response to your questions, the purpose of my call to Dr.
Nelson was to determine if he had in fact reviewed the work of another Medical Examiner as alleged by the Florida
Today, since the Florida Today has a history of misleading people they hope to manipulate into an interview, using
statements such as “we have spoken to so and so who told us such and such.” Once Dr. Nelson shared with me that he
had in fact reviewed the Medical Examiner’s report in this case, I inquired if he had done so in his official capacity as the
Chief Medical Examiner for the Florida Medical Examiner’s Commission, and if so, what protocols are in place for him to
have done so. Dr. Nelson informed me that he had only done the review of Dr. Qaiser’s report at the request of Florida
Today because he was told by reporters from the Florida Today that Dr. Qaiser refused to speak with them about the
case, and not for any other official reason, as there are in fact protocols in place to have a Medical Examiner’s work
reviewed by the Commission. I then made Dr. Nelson aware that if he had been told that by reporters with Florida
Today, he had been misled as Dr. Qaiser had in fact previously given a written response to the Florida Today. In
response, Dr. Nelson told me that he had also reviewed a number of other Medical Examiner reports from around the
State of Florida about Excited Delirium, at the request of Florida Today. As such, I inquired from Dr. Nelson if he had
actually reviewed all of the evidence in the Brevard case; if he had spoken to the investigators who worked the case; or
if he had even spoken to Dr. Qaiser about his findings prior to arriving at his own conclusion or sharing his opinion with
Florida Today. Dr. Nelson apprised me that he had not spoken to any of the involved investigators, nor Dr. Qaiser, nor
had he reviewed any actual evidence in the case, other than what was provided him by the Florida Today. Dr. Nelson
further stated that the case was a closed case, so he had no issue with giving his opinion. Prior to ending the call, I
informed Dr. Nelson that while the case had been appropriately closed by the Office of the State Attorney -- 18th
Judicial Circuit, with no criminal wrong doing by law enforcement or corrections personnel, there could be future civil
litigation on the matter. Dr. Nelson was advised that since he engaged in the review of the case and offered a
professional opinion thereafter, he would most certainly become a witness in any future civil proceedings.

Now that I have addressed your questions, I will remind you that my quote to your paper, including this sentence, is not
to be dissected, broken into separate quotes, or taken outside of context in any capacity as you have previously done to
try and legitimize your story!!”

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

Tod Goodyear
Public Information Officer
Brevard County Sheriff’s Office
340 Gus Hipp Blvd. Rockledge, FL 32955
(321)501-7594
tod.goodyear@bcso.us

1
From: Sassoon, Alessandro [mailto:ASassoon@floridatoday.com]
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2019 3:30 PM
To: Goodyear, Tod <tod.goodyear@bcso.us>
Cc: Block, Bobby <bblock@floridatoday.com>
Subject: PRESS: Sheriff Ivey called Dr Nelson?

Dear Tod Goodyear,

It has come to our attention that last Tuesday (October 22) Sheriff Wayne Ivey called Dr. Stephen J Nelson, the chief
medical examiner for Florida medical examiner district 10 and chairman of the FDLE’s medical examiner commission, in
regards to the Edwards case.

As a result we have a few questions for Sheriff Ivey.

1) Dr. Nelson has relayed to FLORIDA TODAY the nature and substance of the sheriff’s complaints to him. In the
interest of fairness, can the sheriff please explain the nature and substance of the sheriff’s complaints to Dr
Nelson? What specifically bothered the sheriff about Dr. Nelson’s analysis as he understood it from the email
forwarded to him?

2) What was the motivation of the sheriff’s call to Dr. Nelson? What did he hope to accomplish with the call?

3) It is our understanding that the Sheriff Ivey told Dr. Nelson that he was expecting a lawsuit in the Edwards case
and that Dr. Nelson’s comments meant that he could be a witness in such a suit. Assuming that is true, is the
sheriff in any way concerned that the call’s meaning could be misconstrued?
Best,

Alessandro

Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

Investigative Reporter

PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK

Mobile: 321.355.8144
Office: 321.242.3658
asassoon@floridatoday.com
www.floridatoday.com

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