By Letter to the Editor
Published October 13, 2003
Re: No one believed he was the wrong Josh Evans, Oct. 5.
After reading this story, I realized this is a classic case of "guilty until proven innocent." The entire law enforcement group involved in this case showed total disdain for Josh Evans and his family. This includes the crass treatment he was given from the moment of the unjust arrest, to the hearing judge, to the Orient Road jail guards, to the prosecutor. In addition, the Plant City police failed to provide the prosecutor with necessary interview documentation, because they and their support staff are so incompetent and uncaring. The statement from prosecutors that "six months is not a long time for a case to wend its way through the system" is proof that nobody in the system cares one iota about fixing the process.
Law enforcement personnel today, in general, think of the general public as "sleazy civilians" that do not deserve decent treatment. This is true even if you are a law-abiding, taxpaying, decent citizen, which is the case for Evans. It makes one wonder how many other unpublicized cases like this have occurred throughout this country.
