Jury trial Monday for St Augustine commissioner

The State of Florida vs Errol Donledy Jones comes before Judge Charles Tinlin for jury trial tomorrow morning on two first-degree misdemeanor charges; alleging that the St Augustine City Commissioner obstructed a police officer and tampered with a witness in a misdemeanor proceeding.

At the time of Jones arrest on October 22, 2011, he was originally charged with resisting arrest; however, a month later, prosecuting attorney Ben Rich announced to the court that those charges had been amended to obstructing a city police officer and new witness tampering charges had been added.

The drama will play out in Courtroom 216 of the Richard O Watson Judicial Center in St Augustine beginning at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning, March 19th.

Former St Johns County prosecutor Patrick Canan is defending the sometimes controversial and outspoken commissioner. In past interviews, Jones told reporters it was the officer’s inexperience that led to the arrest. “This never should have happened in the first place,” Jones told Historic City News.

Chief of Police Loran Lueders made a decision, soon after the arrest, to invite a review by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to determine if proper police procedure was followed by the officers involved. Although offering no opinion on the merit of the charges against Jones, FDLE found no officer misconduct in making the arrest.