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Caught on Video: Candidate And Wife Charged With Stealing Campaign Signs
November 7, 2010
A former candidate and his wife will face criminal charges for the theft of political signs belonging to newly elected District 1 State Representative Doug Broxson.
Gregory Brown, Jr. and his wife Jennifer were each charged with one count of petit theft. Both have entered into a pretrial diversion program and will be required to complete 50 hours of public service and write a letter of apology to Broxson.
In July, the Browns were caught on video as they removed campaign signs belonging to opponent Broxson from an intersection near Milton. Greg Brown maintained that the signs were on private property where he had permission to remove them.
An investigation later determined that the signs were on public right of way along Highway 87, not far from Whiting Field. Florida State Attorney Glenn Hess said there was insufficient evidence to charge Doug Broxson or his son Jason Broxson with placing the signs on the right of way because there was no evidence who actually placed the signs and when that occurred.
Hess also determined that there was no violation of Florida law when Jason Broxon used a night vision camera to video the Browns during the theft. The State Attorney’s Office said there is no expectation of privacy in conversations that take place on the public right of way.
“The video in question was deliberately taken and distributed to appear as if I had participated in some type of juvenile campaign trick.” Brown said in July. “After witnessing me removing the signs, as I had permission to do, rather than call the property owner or myself, Doug Broxson’s campaign anonymously dropped off the video with press, email lists, and the Sheriff’s department to discredit me.”
The video has sound, with Brown and his wife caught speaking. The volume of the conversation is very low; however, text superimposed on the video suggest what is being said.
“Is that good?” the video alleges that Jennifer Brown said after removing signs.
“Wait…your fingerprints are still on the ones laying down,” the video claims Brown responded.
Broxson defeated Brown in the primaries and went on to win the House seat during the November general election. The State Attorney’s Office delayed any charges in the case until after the election to avoid any impact on the political process.
Pictured top: This still frame from a night vision video camera shows Florida House candidate Greg Brown and his wife Jennifer removing an opponent’s campaign signs from Highway 87 near Milton. The video is below.
Comments
15 Responses to “Caught on Video: Candidate And Wife Charged With Stealing Campaign Signs”
REGARDING:
“Doug Broxson should be charged with voilating Florida election laws for placing his signs in the public right-of-way….”
Go ahead and charge him. First prove it was HIM who did it, not someone else. We figure he did it. They pointed out there was no PROOF.
Get proof, get a conviction, get HIM to do community service too. Soon all our roadways will be spotless.
David for having the fellows pick up signs
now that it’s legal to do so
A pretty good indicator of the class of people seeking public office. Some of them win.
Signs are illegal if placed in right-of-way. How could Gregory Brown, Jr. and his wife Jennifer be arrested for removing them…. Doug Broxson should be charged with voilating Florida election laws for placing his signs in the public right-of-way….
REGARDING;
“Nice that our squeaky clean newly elected representative who used campaign funds to buy a night vision camera wasn’t charged. ”
Not that I care, but DID he use campaign funds to buy a night vision camera or did he already have one for hunting related activities and just use it for a secondary purpose?
AND
“Where is the alleged ‘land owner’ & why didn’t they remove the signs???? ”
We are told the State of Florida was the actual land owner where the signs were placed, the presumed land owner likely knew where his land lay and didn’t touch what didn’t belong to him. For that matter, it seemed he didn’t care about the signs anyway but supposedly gave permission to remove those placed on his property. Gave permission, didn’t request as in “don’t care if you do, don’t care if you don’t.”
David thinking about getting some signs now
LAMPADA…..you beat me to it!
NEITHER ONE OF THESE GUYS WERE ANY GOOD…..
BUT THEN THEY NEVER ARE……
Jane, statutes dictate how stiff penalties can be based in part on the value of the goods at issue. In this case, there have been no penalties yet, just a pretrial offer. Penalties without a guilty verdict or plea are unconstitutional. Now that would be stiff.
Oversight, the delay was to stay out the political process until after the election. Within a week, the state attorney made a decision.
And didn’t Broxson admit on channel 3 that he knew right where those signs were and intended that they be there? Nice that our squeaky clean newly elected representative who used campaign funds to buy a night vision camera wasn’t charged. Can you say “home cooking?”
Disgraceful. They deserve that humiliation. Who would want them in office if they can’t even fight fair?
My question has been & still remains……Where is the alleged ‘land owner’ & why didn’t they remove the signs???? Hmmmmmmm…..
Not that is what you call FUNNY!
The fact that this candidate actually thought it would net him more votes by removing the opponents little roadside signs should disqualify him on the basis of being too stupid to hold public office. But, as we all know, an IQ test is not required to be a successful politician.
If his morals and character are that low for him and his wife to do something like that can you imagine what liberties he would have taken if elected? It makes me upset when people think they are above the law….
Probably not. It was a petty thing to do, hence petit crime. Worst part of it for him was being seen being petty. Cute that they can’t prove Broxson put up the signs but can prove Brown took them down.
Given the facts, the voters have spoken.
Or so it seems to me.
I can’t help but think that if you or I had done this the penalty would have been much stiffer……
The sad thing is, I was going to vote for him before this !!!!!!!!!
The delay in justice is in fact an injustice. If there is probable cause to perfer charges, we should all demand that our elected state attorney move foward with the process at that instant and not wait because it may be unpopular.