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EXCLUSIVE - Cloud of Suspicion
2010-01-07 11:32:38 | Source

There's a cloud of suspicion hanging over the office of the Pinellas County medical examiner's office.

Two emotionally charged controversies center around autopsies performed by the Pinellas County medical examiner's office and at the heart of both controversies are the same individuals, Dr. Jon Thogmartin (above, left), Dr. Charles Siebert (above, center) and Dr. Stephen Nelson (above, right).

In fact, according to minutes of meetings of the Florida Medical Examiner's Commission, chaired by Nelson and of which Thogmartin is a member, although a probable cause panel recommended that Siebert be suspended for negligence following their investigation of his past work, Thogmartin and Nelson instead moved to place him only on supervised probation.

One of the controversies involving the District Six Medical Examiner's office concerns the family of 18-year-old Michael Niesen.

Another involves the family of Terri Schindler Schiavo, the brain damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed by court order last March at the behest of her husband-in-name only. She died of dehydration after 15 years of legal wrangling between her family and her husband who had been living with other women for more than a decade and fathered children with them.

Despite the suspicious nature of Terri Schiavo's initial collapse in 1990 which resulted in her incapacitating injuries and the extreme controversy surrounding Terri's death, except for consulting with Nelson, Pinellas County medical examiner Thogmartin refused to allow any other medical examiner or forensic pathologist to observe the autopsy , common professional courtesy.

Initially, Michael Schiavo (left) and his attorney, George Felos (right) had tried to claim that it was their decision to allow an autopsy but yet another lie of the Schiavo-Felos team was exposed when Thogmartin said that law dictated the autopsy because of the cremation planned by Schiavo and the "allegations of unusual circumstances".

Even with those allegations swirling, Thogmartin refused to allow renowned forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht of Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, to observe. Wecht said he considered Thogmartin's rebuke a mistake.

Felos had announced that his client had "ordered" the autopsy because it is "important to have the public know the full extent of the damage to Mrs. Schiavo's brain".

So far, there hasn't been a second review of medical and hospital records, tissue samples and specimens from the Schiavo autopsy which Schiavo claims "vindicates" him.

Then there's the family of Michael Niesen. Despite another coroner finding a crucial error in the autopsy of the teenager conducted by the Pinellas County ME's office and Thogmartin refused to correct it and it appears that any records created by Siebert in regard to that autopsy have since disappeared.

Like the Schindler family, the Niesen family has been stonewalled, threatened, lied to, called delusional and conspiracy nuts. Journalists who have tried to conduct investigative reports about the deaths of Clearwater police officer Ronald Mahony and Michael Niesen have been stonewalled and denigrated including a former executive producer for ABC Action News who sued the Clearwater Police Department which settled the claim out of court.

Siebert is currently the center of controversy in the boot camp death of Martin Lee Anderson, the 14-year-old boy who died in January at the Bay County Boot Camp. On Jan. 6, Siebert had made a determination that Anderson had died of complications from sickle cell trait, a blood disorder, which had not been previously diagnosed. However, a second autopsy performed by Hillsborough medical examiner Vernard Adams following an exhumation indicated that the teen didn't die from natural causes but rather as the result of suffocation at the hands of the boot camp guards who had shoved ammonia capsules up the boy's nose, blocked the boy's mouth and forced him to inhale the ammonia that caused his vocal chords to spasm, blocking his airway. Seven guards and a nurse have been arrested and charged with aggravated manslaughter in Anderson's death.

Anderson's family had refused to accept Siebert's findings and charged that a cover up existed in the boy's death. Siebert continues to stand by his original determination. The Adams autopsy and subsequent criminal charges seem to support the family's claim.

After attorney General Charlie Crist this spring asked the Florida Medical Examiner's Commission, chaired by Nelson and of which Thogmartin is a member, to investigate autopsies conducted by Siebert that may have contained "fundamental flaws", the commission rejected a Probable Cause Panel's recommendation for Siebert's suspension and instead voted 4-1 to place him on supervised probation.

The three-member probable cause panel found that Siebert had been negligent in performing at least 35 of the nearly 700 autopsies reviewed, finding that Siebert "failed to perform the duties required of a medical examiner".

The commission said that Siebert used "canned" autopsy reports, seemingly using a template and the same terminology to detail conditions of organs and body parts instead of individualizing cases.
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cjst/mec/MEC%20Mtg%20Minutes/Min8-2006.pdf

The Siebert autopsies reviewed by the commission dated back to August 2003, when Siebert left Pinellas County to become medical examiner in Bay County, the 14th Judicial Circuit, which is located in Florida's Panhandle, including a 2004 autopsy report in which he said that a woman who died in Hurricane Ivan had "unremarkable testicles".

Siebert has his roots in Pinellas County where he served in the District 6 Medical Examiner's office with Thogmartin until 2003 when he received the Bay County assignment.

Thogmartin had been handpicked to become Pinellas County Medical Examiner by Pinellas-Pasco state attorney Bernie McCabe (left) following the resignation of former Pinellas County ME Joan Wood who was forced out of office by McCabe as the result of the 1995 death of Lisa McPherson (right), a Scientologist whose last known address was coincidentally the Fort Harrison Hotel, a Church of Scientology property and the location where the ambulance carrying Michael Niesen to Morton Plant Hospital broke down on July 13, 1977. McPherson died of severe dehydration in December 1995 after 17 days in the custody of Scientologists after suffering minor injuries in an automobile accident. When McPherson became critical, instead of transporting her to the nearby Morton Plant hospital, Scientologists took her to a hospital 24 miles away where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

McCabe has consistently stonewalled all allegations of abuse and criminal wrongdoing in the Schiavo case too, refusing to open a meaningful and objective investigation. He served as chairman of the committee to find a new medical examiner and then handpicked Thogmartin.

The official report of the Clearwater Police Department from 1977 says that 18-year-old Michael Niesen was ejected from his vehicle, was found unconscious at the accident scene on Memorial Causeway on July 13, 1977 at 9:50 p.m. by the first responding officer, Mark Cairns. Cairns' report says Niesen never regained consciousness and died of head injuries sustained in the accident on July 14, 1977.
Accident Scene Photos & Autopsy Photo (Warning! Graphic!)

Niesen's family including his brother, John and mother, Mary Riley, say the teenager was killed as the result of a beating administered by police in retaliation after Clearwater police officer Ronald Mahony was fatally injured in the accident. After Mahoney initially stopped Niesen to issue him a traffic citation for careless driving, he then learned through a computer check of the pickup truck's license plate that the 1968 pickup with Georgia plates had been reported stolen.

When he reapproached the truck, Niesen sped off and Mahony jumped into the truck box.

Siebert had reviewed the Niesen case in 2001 at the request of McCabe and the state attorney's office on direction from the Governor's office. John Niesen charges that Siebert quashed the state investigation of his brother's death, supporting the finding of the first autopsy which contained an admitted error.

Niesen's death was re-examined in 2001 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after his family asked the governor's office to look into it. Niesen's family had an autopsy done by Dr. Gerald Gowitt of Lawrenceville, Ga. Gowitt's autopsy concluded that "Niesen received his head injuries some time after the motor-vehicle accident and while in the custody of local authorities."

Siebert, then working for Pinellas County, re-examined the 1977 autopsy, Gowitt's autopsy, police reports and newspaper photos, according to a 2001 investigative report done by the State Attorney's Office in the 6th Judicial Circuit.

John Niesen questions if his brother was badly injured and unconscious as reported by the police reports, why would he have been handcuffed.

"I have been trying to obtain the truth regarding the death of my brother for 29 years and there has been no real investigation into his death while in the custody of the Clearwater police.

John Niesen says that in February, 1992, the Niesen family made the Pinellas County ME's office aware of a mistake in the original autopsy report on their brother and son and requested that the ME's office correct their mistake. Two large head wounds were listed as surgical incisions. "We were told this was just a typographical error but the mistake was not corrected. We continued to request the mistake be corrected and on Jan. 23, 1996, the former Pinellas ME, Joan Wood, also refused to make the correction".

In February 2000, Niesen says Thogmartin was contacted and he too refused to correct the original autopsy report. In September 2001, McCabe sent two agents to investigate the Niesen family complaint. Niesen says to conduct the review of his brother's autopsy, Siebert used a report that he admitted was technically flawed to render his opinion that "my brother's injuries that caused his death were consistent with a deceleration type injury".

"Dr. Siebert goes on to state that there is nothing he sees based on information supplied to him that would cause the case to be reopened albeit the information supplied was technically flawed and falsely reported", Niesen says. "He comes to this conclusion without reading or interviewing any of the witnesses on their statements, he didn't even bother to find out what information forensic pathologist Dr. Gerald Gowitt of Georgia relied on to render his opinion before he spits out his opinion that Gowitt is wrong".

"The mistake you refer to and attribute to Dr. (Rehana) Nawab consisted of incorrectly using the word "surgery" where she intended to use the word "suture", Larry Bedore, director of operations for the Pinellas ME's office said. "Dr. Nawab is from India and has a significant accent. It is entirely possible that she dictated the word correctly but that the secretary typed it from dictation incorrectly. Regardless of the cause, it was nothing more than a typographical error according to our discussions with Dr. Nawab". Nevertheless, the office refused to correct it.

In January 1996, former Pinellas ME Joan Wood had also refused to make the correction and recused herself from further examination because she was afraid office was going to be sued.

Siebert based his opinion on the original autopsy report which attributed the severe head injuries, one a four inch opening and the other a five inch open wound, to surgery. However, the hospital report indicates that Niesen had the head wounds upon his arrival at the Morton Plant emergency room and never underwent surgery. Although the Pinellas County medical examiner's office claimed that the statement contained in the original autopsy report is a typographical error, both former District Six medical examiner Joan Wood and current ME Jon Thogmartin refused to correct the report.

In reviewing Siebert's work, this past August, the Probable Cause panel said when Niesen's death had occurred in 1977 and the original autopsy was performed in 1977, Siebert had been 15 years old. "Dr. Siebert's only involvement in this case was to review in back in 2003, as other medical examiners within the District 6 office have done since the death", the Panel wrote. But the Panel couldn't examine Siebert's review of the Niesen autopsy because "Dr. Siebert failed to document his review of the case file and any subsequent discussions with the decedent's family".

Although Siebert's second Niesen autopsy couldn't be reviewed, probable cause was found that Siebert violated Florida Statutes while working at the Pinellas County ME's office by "negligence or the failure to perform the duties required of a medical examiner with that level of care or skill which is recognized by reasonably prudent medical examiners as being acceptable under similar conditions and circumstances", the panel wrote in their report.

John Niesen, and others, want Siebert removed as a medical examiner.

Benjamin Crump, the Tallahassee attorney who represents Anderson's parents in litigation against Bay County, has said that "Dr. Siebert always covers up for law enforcement. The first is an instance, the second time is an occurrence. But the third time is a pattern".

The Niesen family believes there has been a cover-up in the 1977 death of Michael Niesen, their brother and son.

It's been 29 years.

Michael Niesen's brother and his mother know the truth about his death.

Now they want justice. They want the persons responsible for his death held accountable.

But they're battling falsified and manipulated reports they say have been perpetuated and restated over the past 29 years to cover up what they say was the murder of the teen by police, those reports being the original police report, the initial autopsy report and three reports prepared by the Pinellas County state attorney's office.

They say that every time they present new evidence and ask to have the case reopened, their efforts are stymied.

In early July, when John Niesen approached Gov. Jeb Bush's office with new evidence and asked to have the case reopened, he says associate general counsel Victoria Brennan of the Governor's office told him that his problem was that he refused to accept the prior determinations and that there would be no new investigation, telling him that it just "ain't gonna happen" and that he could go "piss up a rope".

Former assistant U.S. attorney Jeffrey Del Fuoco has entered the case to represent the Niesen family and there are new witness accounts which contradict the original reports that say Niesen was unconscious after the accident.

Del Fuoco has now by letter threatened to sue the the City of Clearwater for $100 million in a claim that that the police and city violated Michael Niesen's civil rights.

After years of rejecting Niesen's requests, Clearwater Police Chief Sid Klein has now asked federal prosecutors to review the case and in particular, the allegations of police misconduct which have been raised. No doubt Klein's renewed "interest" is due in part to the threatened litigation and allegations of civil rights violations, but John Niesen says it's not about money, it's about making "the wheels of justice turn".

After receiving the report that the truck Niesen was driving had been reported stolen, as Mahony approached the truck, Niesen sped off and Mahony jumped on the tailgate. The pickup began fishtailing and Niesen lost control, with the truck traveling on two wheels and then rolling over about 1,000 feet down the road, throwing Mahony from the truck bed. Mahony was struck by the truck and died approximately an hour and a half later. Niesen died at 3:05 p.m. the following day of serious head injuries, injuries which paramedics, eyewitnesses to the accident and the second officer at the scene say that he did not sustain as a result of the accident.

The Niesen family says the Clearwater Police Department, the Pinellas state attorney's office, the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have engaged in a cover up of the real cause of Michael's death.

Not only do paramedics at the scene that fateful night and numerous eyewitnesses seem to support the family's charges, but so does the third autopsy completed in 2001 and renewed statements about the case made by forensic pathologist Gowitt this past summer.

Sworn statements from four paramedics at the scene, the second police officer who arrived within minutes of the accident and at least nine eyewitnesses say that Michael Niesen was not ejected from the truck, did not have serious head injuries when they first saw him and evaluated him. They say that the teen was conscious and sitting at the time they initially saw him. Nevertheless, the state attorney's office under the direction of McCabe has refused to reopen an investigation into the matter, saying in essence that the paramedics, a police officer and all the eyewitnesses are mistaken, that only the first responding police officer, Mark Cairns, a good friend of Officer Mahony, is telling the truth, an officer who witnesses said had to be restrained at the scene and removed by other officers along with a woman who witnesses heard screaming for officers to stop beating Michael because "you're going to kill him".

The heart of the controversy centers around the initial reports of the Clearwater Police Department and state attorney's office, hurriedly marking the case closed with virtually no interviews or written statements of eyewitnesses or paramedics with a conclusion that Michael Niesen died as the result of injuries suffered in the accident. Although additional cosmetic claims of investigations were performed by the Pinellas County state attorney's office in 1991, 1995 and 2001, although the SAO investigators cite statements they claim were obtained by interviewing various individuals, those individuals state no representative of any law enforcement agency ever contacted them, indicating that the statements attributed to them by McCabe's office are allegedly falsified.

Sgt. Paul Meissner was one of the Clearwater officers in charge the night of the fatal accident, the officer who Inv. Charles Butler says "advised" him of the facts of the case. Paul Meissner Jr. is now the division chief for the Clearwater office of McCabe's office, the agency which has steadfastly refused to reopen an investigation into Niesen's death, even in the wake of substantial evidence which conflicts with the original autopsy and police reports.

According to reports, representatives of the state attorney's office were on the scene of the accident. At the time, James Russell was the state attorney and Bernie McCabe was an assistant in the office.

From 1972 through September 1992, McCabe held the positions of chief assistant state attorney, executive assistant state attorney and division director in St. Petersburg and in Pasco County.

Butler's report says he was called at home about 10:30 p.m. on July 13, 1977, about 40 minutes after the accident occurred. According to his report, he never went to the scene but instead went to the police department, arriving about 11 p.m. where he says he was told of the incident by Meissner. Although Butler's report is the official finding and with a determination that the case was closed by exceptional clearance due to the death of the suspect, it is based on hearsay of other officers without supporting written sworn statements of witnesses or paramedics, after another detective "filled him in". The conclusions of his alleged investigation are seemingly not based on evidence but rather on his subjective opinions, hearsay reports and his "feelings". Butler's report also fails to mention the mysterious breakdown of the C&R Ambulance in front of the Fort Harrison Hotel, three blocks from the hospital, the ambulance which was transporting Michael Niesen.

Butler's report makes no mention of the transfer of Niesen to a rescue vehicle of the Clearwater Fire Department. Although the hospital was only minutes and three blocks away, a significant lapse of time occurred before the fire vehicle arrived at the hospital. C&R personnel say after their vehicle was repaired, they proceeded to the hospital to file their run report, a report which has disappeared as have the reports from the run sheets from the fire department despite it being a double fatal accident.

While the police report says that Niesen would have been charged with the murder of a police officer had he survived and others say he was handcuffed and in custody at the scene, there is no indication in any of the reports that a police officer accompanied him in the ambulance and both the ambulance driver and attendant say that no police officer rode in the ambulance with him.

In fact, both the driver and attendant state that Niesen did not have head wounds when they first came in contact with him at the scene and paramedic Denise Kingsley says that she was "totally surprised" on her return to work several days after the accident to learn that Niesen had died. She said that when he "left my ambulance to be transported by the Clearwater Fire Department, he was in serious condition but I didn't think it was fatal". She says that when she first saw him at the accident scene he was conscious, sitting up and appeared alert and not in need of immediate medical attention. She says that when she first saw Michael at the accident scene he "was sitting and/or standing. When leaving, he was lying on a stretcher".

Steve Lovengouth, driver of the C&R ambulance, says that they were "kept away" from Niesen by law enforcement. He says paramedics were told not to approach Niesen and that it appeared that his condition "deteriorated considerably from the time we arrived until we departed". He too says Niesen was conscious at the time they arrived and did not have the serious head wounds from which he died.

Cairns, the first police officer on the scene, who says he witnessed the accident and who claimed that Niesen was unconscious and never regained consciousness, later left the Clearwater Police Department and became a firefighter. He retired from the Clearwater Fire Department, the department which transported Niesen to Morton Plant, with full pension in 2005.

Another common denominator in the Anderson and Niesen cases is Guy Tunnell, then commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement who had established the Bay County boot camp when he was Bay County sheriff. Tunnell had tried to prevent the release of a videotape which showed the boot camp guards beating Anderson. He resigned earlier this year as a result of his role in the controversy. While the Department of Justice is reportedly reviewing the Niesen case, a federal probe into Anderson's death was also initiated by the U.S. Attorney's office in Tallahassee and DOJ's Civil Rights Division.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/052806AnatomyCoverup.html

Tunnell was forced to resign in April by Gov. Bush after he made racist remarks about activist Jesse Jackson and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Unbelievably, after Tunnell's ouster from the FDLE, he was then appointed by Bay County state attorney Steve Meadows to be the coordinator of cold case squads in the 14th judicial circuit's six counties which includes Bay County.

In August, 2003, a group of 20 Bay County citizens had tried to block Tunnell's appointment by Bush as FDLE commissioner, saying that based on findings in federal court, there was evidence that indicated that Tunnell was not qualified for the job and court, there was evidence that indicated that Tunnell was not qualified for the job and that Judge Steven Minkle had identified substantial evidence of racism on the part of Tunnell involving an African-American business in Panama City.


FDLE spokesman Tom Berlinger has said that the FDLE had done follow up work in the Niesen case in 2005 and January 2006 when Tunnell was still in command.

Berlinger claimed that "a review of John Niesen's complaint filed this summer revealed no new evidence that would warrant a reopening of the investigation by the FDLE", He claimed that a special agent wrote that no prosecutors are willing to take this case because of a "lack of evidence and the expiration of the statute of limitations".

However, according to a taped statement given to John Niesen by Dallas Johnson, that special agent who was an investigator of the Office of Inspector General, a division of the FDLE, Johnson was stymied in his attempt to reopen the Niesen investigation after John Niesen produced new evidence from Gowitt, the forensic pathologist. Johnson says that former FDLE director Tunnell and two high ranking FDLE supervisors, chief inspector Rick Loeber and Michael O'Connell, told him as recently as last fall that Michael Niesen had been murdered but that there would be no prosecution and the matter was closed. After allegedly being ordered to close his investigation, Johnson reportedly submitted his resignation in disgust and retired.

There is no statute of limitations for murder.

A third medical examiner, Dr. Gerald Gowitt of Decatur, Ga., not affiliated with Florida law enforcement, performed an autopsy following exhumation in 2001 and stated in writing that "Niesen received his head injuries some time after the motor vehicle accident and while in the custody of local authorities".

Dr. Gowitt, a forensic pathologist of Forensic Medicine Associates Inc. says that the head injuries sustained by Michael Niesen likely did not occur as a result of the accident.

When Richard Yerby, an investigator with the state attorney's office, recounted his conversation with Gowitt in June about Gowitt's previous determination, Yerby misrepresented Gowitt's findings, precipitating Gowitt to state in writing in late June that Yerby had misrepresented his statement and that the head injuries suffered by Michael Niesen were "consistent with having been inflicted with almost any blunt object including a nightstick or flashlight".
PDF Of June 28, 2006 letter

In his report, Gowitt had said that "It certainly appears to the undersigned that the injuries causing Mr. Niesen's death are inconsistent with descriptions of him at the scene. He probably was not ejected from the truck when it rolled over. It is extremely difficult to imagine that he was talking, conscious and able to sit under a tree with the amount of head injury described in the initial autopsy report and to some degree, found at the third autopsy. More likely, Niesen would have been rendered unconscious and would have been severely bleeding from the left side of his scalp had these injuries occurred because of the motor vehicle accident. Since these scalp lacerations would have freely bled, it is inconsistent that so many observers did not notice any blood on his person as he was sitting under the tree Furthermore, at least one witness indicates that he was surrounded by police officers with raised nightsticks suggesting that the scalp lacerations and some of the head injuries may have occurred after the accident".

"Based on the witnesses' descriptions of Mr. Niesen, the first and third autopsy findings and my training, education and experience, it would be highly unlikely that Mr. Niesen sustained the injuries described in the first autopsy from the motor vehicle accident. More likely than not these wounds resulted from some altercation after the initial rollover of the pickup truck. If these injuries did not occur at some later point in time, I would be forced to ignore the statements of several eyewitnesses that failed to describe serious trauma or bleeding with respect to Mr. Niesen and found him in the motor vehicle after the accident".

The first officer on the scene in 1977, Mark Cairns, said he saw the pickup truck on two wheels.

"Writer was dispatched to the west bridge of Memorial Causeway to back up Patrl. Mahony in reference to a hit on the computer", Cairns report says. "Writer was westbound on Memorial Causeway at Island Way when I observed a pickup truck eastbound on the causeway. When I observed the vehicle it was on two wheels (passenger side was off the ground) and was sliding down the causeway on the two wheels. The vehicle was almost on its side. Writer observed Ptl. Mahony and appeared he had been in the back of the truck. The vehicle overturned and Ptl. Mahony fell to the ground. The truck then overturned onto Ptl. Mahony across his head. The vehicle then slid off the road. Writer pulled in front of Ptl. Mahony and called for help. Writer turned Officer Mahony on his side to attempt to assist with his breathing. Writer attempted to revive him with negative results. Writer then found one white male lying off the road at which time Ptl. (Michael) Egger arrived and attempted to help Officer Mahony. Writer then attempted to help the white male by bracing his head back and by clearing his airway. Clwr. FD arrived and then took over on the subject. Writer then went back to Officer Mahony and assisted the firemen on mouth to mouth resuscitation, Officer Mahony was then transported to the hospital. Writer then inventoried the vehicle for impound. Writer at no time observed anyone inside the cab of the pickup. (This appears to have been added deliberately because witnesses dispute this statement)

The statement prepared by Patrolman Michael Eggers follows:
"Writer while enroute westbound on memorial causeway to assist Officer Mahony of this agency with stolen auto observed the stolen (1968 white over blue Ford Pickup truck) eastbound on Memorial causeway at a high rate of speed. First eye contact with the stolen auto was approximately 1/8 mile of Island Way.

Writer made "U' turn on Memorial Causeway. After observing Officer Mahony's cruiser vacant, then took up pursuit. At almost the same instant this writer heard code signal (10-24) Officer needs assistance at Island Way and Memorial Causeway. Writer arrived at that location seconds later.

"Observation at that scene included: the pickup truck on the south side of the causeway lying on its left side. Officer Mahony was lying in the middle of the eastbound lane of Memorial Causeway. Profuse bleeding was evident from left ear, nose and vomitous projectiling of blood from the mouth. No respiration was present at first contact. (There is no indication of the location of Officer Cairns). Writer removed debris and blood from Officer Mahony's mouth and cleared the airway. Unassisted respiration spontaneously was reestablished. Writer was able to stop some of the profuse bleeding from nose and mouth but bleeding the from the ear continued in an apparent relief of intracranial pressure. Officer Mahony went into respiratory arrest several times before fire rescue arrived at the scene. Writer performed mouth to mouth resuscitation and external cardiac massage, regaining respiration and carotid pulse. Due to excessive bleeding and blood loss, aspiration of blood was virtually impossible.

"Fire rescue arrived at the scene. Writer maintained resuscitation and assisted rescue personnel as much as possible. Writer went to hospital in the ambulance with Officer Mahony and was relieved by hospital personnel in the emergency room. At no time while this office was in attendance from first contact until arrival at the hospital did Officer Mahony regain consciousness".
Eggers seems to avoid saying anything about Cairns.

John Niesen was able to locate former Clearwater Officer Edward R. Garner after FDLE Inv. Dallas Johnson and that agency had closed their investigation. Garner had been a rookie cop, the first day on the job and riding with Officer Eggers at the time of Niesen's accident, but Eggers never mentions that he had a partner in his patrol car, never states that he and Garner were riding together.

Garner says that he saw Niesen "largely uninjured" upon his arrival at the scene after the accident but that when he later saw pictures of Niesen, the teenager had "significant wounds". Garner now maintains that he was "coached" on his reports and recitation of the events concerning the Niesen accident.

At the time of the accident, Frank Daniels was the Clearwater police chief.

According to John Niesen, Johnson told him that his superiors at FDLE would not allow him to investigate the case.

After Garner was located, he was provided a copy of the Clearwater police report and accident photos which had been taken by news photographer Chuck Deloach of the Clearwater Sun as well as copies of witness statements.

Garner says that the patrol car he and his training officer Eggers were in was the second police unit to arrive on the scene. He told Niesen that over the years, he had never been contacted by any law enforcement agency about the case.

In describing how he arrived at the accident scene, Garner said that he and Eggers "were just leaving the police department parking lot after picking up some forms. A call for backup came across the radio from Officer Mahony regarding a possible stolen vehicle. Two cars were dispatched to assist Mahony. My training Officer Eggers said since we were in the area, head out on the causeway at regular speed to help out. I heard an engine reving on a vehicle heading toward he mainland. We kept our driver side window down all the time so we could hear outside activity while on patrol. Officer Eggers told me to ignore that vehicle and go to the cruiser of Officer Mahony. Ptl. Mahony's cruiser had its red lights on and was stopped at the south side of the east bound lanes. No one was there. An officer in trouble went across the radio by Ptl. Mahony. Me and Eggers immediately went code 3 back toward the mainland arriving at the accident scene shortly thereafter.

Garner identified a picture of Michael Niesen shown to him to be the driver of the pickup truck. He said he only had brief contact with him but the photo of Niesen is the man that he remembered at the accident scene. He said that when he first observed Niesen at the accident scene , he was sitting off the south side of the roadway with his back leaning against a tree.

He said he wasn't sure if Niesen was in police custody when he first observed him. He said Niesen's arms were at his side "but I did not note or remember if handcuffed or not" Garner says Niesen was conscious when he first observed him. "I left the injured officer who was being attended to by Officer Eggers to check on the condition of the driver, Mr. Niesen. I talked to Mr. Niesen briefly to see if he had any serious pain or trauma. He told me he thought he was okay so I returned to assist Officer Eggers".

Garner says that when he first observed Niesen at the accident scene, he did not have two large wounds to the head, wounds which he later had when he arrived at the hospital. In the photos showing Niesen being treated at the scene for injuries, Garner says those injuries were not present when he first observed Niesen at the accident site but that he doesn't know how Niesen sustained those injuries.

The Clearwater Police statement says Niesen was found on the side of the road unconscious by the first responding police units and further states the teen never was conscious at the accident site which Garner says is not a true statement. He says he never saw Niesen combative with the Clearwater Police and says that while Niesen did not have the injuries which are shown in later photographs, he doesn't know how Niesen sustained those injuries.

Garner said that while he was talking with Niesen, he didn't observe any signs of serious trauma or bleeding. "He was lucid and very responsive during our conversation", Garner said. "Shortly after returning to aid officer Eggers, many other police and emergency units arrived", and the next time Garner saw Niesen, he had life threatening injuries.

"I was instructed to go to the median of the causeway at Island Way to direct traffic around the scene", Garner said. "It was very chaotic and high traffic volume. All my attention was devoted to directing traffic. It was my first day on the job as a sworn officer".

Garner's 1977 statement says "This writer was westbound on Memorial Causeway to assist Officer Mahony. Just past Island Way, approximately 200 yards, we saw 1968 pickup bearing Georgia tags passed this writer's vehicle in the eastbound lane at a high rate of speed and still accelerating. This writer continued west on Memorial Causeway to where Officer Mahony's cruiser was parked in the east bound lane. Upon seeing that Officer Mahony was not at his cruiser, this writer made a U turn and continued east on Memorial Causeway looking for Officer Mahoney. When this writer arrived at the scene of the accident at the intersection of Island Way and Memorial Causeway, he noted Officer Mahoney lying in the eastbound lane, the white and blue pickup was on its left side approximately two feet off the roadway. The driver of the pickup was midway between the south curb lane of the eastbound lane and his vehicle". Garner makes no mention of Niesen's condition.

"This writer assisted Officer Egger and Cairns in giving CPR to Officer Mahony and the driver of the pickup truck. Respectively this writer directed traffic around the accident scene and later interviewed witnesses to the accident".

Cairns is the only police officer who says he found Michael and gave him CPR but while Cairns claims that he administered CPR, the run sheet of the Clearwater Fire Rescue says no cardiac massage was performed. The run sheet indicates that Niesen was bleeding moderately and unconscious at 22:17, 27 minutes after the accident.

The report by McCabe's Inv. Butler made it a point to say initially that officers found Michael unconscious by the side of road and were giving him CPR. Butler says that Niesen was never conscious. Butler relates that he "came out that evening and worked on the accident-called at 10:30 at night. He claims that he interviewed witnesses and he then went to hospital, stating that Niesen never regained consciousness.

Garner's original report filed in 1977 doesn't state that he spoke with Niesen at the accident scene. John Niesen says in his opinion if Garner had found Niesen unconscious, he would have put it in his report, even if just a rookie, but if there was nothing distinguishable to note---that he was talking etc.---- that explains why there's nothing about Michael's condition in the report.

"It's what he doesn't say in the 1977 report that's important", Niesen says.

The police reports and autopsy claim that the head wounds sustained by Michael Niesen were from surgery but John Niesen points out that no surgery was ever done on Michael. He was never in the operating room. Hospital reports indicated that he was sutured in the emergency room indicating that his head wounds existed at the time he entered the emergency room. Garner says that Niesen's head wounds were not present the first time he observed him at the accident scene which indicates that the wounds happened between the time that Garner initially saw Niesen upon arriving at the scene and the time Niesen arrived at the hospital. Photographs show paramedics treating Niesen and then transporting him on a stretcher. Garner arrived on the scene within a minute or so of the accident occurring and the pictures were taken somewhere around 10:30 p.m., 40 minutes after the accident happened.

Butler had been notified at home at about 10:30 p.m. and his report says that "several uniformed" people were at the scene when he arrived. Niesen didn't arrive at the Morton Plant Hospital until after 11 p.m., more than an hour after the accident.

The report of Denise Kingsley, the paramedic on the C&R ambulance, shows that the ambulance arrived at the scene 8 to 10 minutes after the first police officer. The C&R ambulance transported Niesen from the accident but not all the way to the emergency room as the vehicle broke down in front of the Fort Harrison Hotel. According to witnesses, the Clearwater Fire Department picked up Niesen and transported him the rest of the way to the hospital, indicating that it took 30 minutes to transport Niesen to the hospital, a short distance from where the accident happened.

Although the ambulance broke down three blocks from the ER and the Clearwater Fire Department finished the transport, there is no record of the fire unit or any run sheet from Kingsley's ambulance although she says she went to the ER after the ambulance was operating again and turned in the run sheet.

In a statement given by Kingsley in September 2003, she says that she observed Michael Niesen at the accident scene sitting beside a palm tree, next to the roadside where an accident had occurred. He was in police custody when she first observed him. She says she didn't speak with him but he was sitting up and appeared alert and was conscious. She is emphatic that Niesen did not have two large head wounds on her first contact with him and says he did not appear to be in need of any immediate medical attention.

She witnessed him standing and talking with police but says she doesn't know if there was any altercation between police and Niesen or if his injuries are a direct result of such an altercation.

Kingsley says she is familiar with paramedics Rick Walton, Steve Lovengouth, Ed Donohue, Liz Flower, Gary Vickers and Jim Sorrell and that they were present at the scene.

She says that when she first saw Michael Niesen, he was sitting and/or standing-- when he was leaving the scene he was lying on a stretcher. She said this change in his condition was the result of "injuries caused by something" but she doesn't know by what.

She says that the Clearwater Police report that says Niesen was found unconscious by the first responding police officer and that he never regained consciousness is not a true statement.

When advised that the police report says that Michael Niesen was found unconscious by first responding police officer and that hel never regained conscious, she says that's not a true statement. Butler had stated in his report that he had interviewed Kingsley but she says Butler never talked to her.

In regard to statements given by Mike Walton and Ed Donohue, she concurs with them that Niesen was sitting upright next to a palm tree and he was alert and talking, able to stand when she first arrived at the scene. She saw him speaking with police officers but says she did not see a fight or altercation between them. She says in a taped interview that she saw the police officers stand Niesen up, they "were in his face" and there was a verbal confrontation.

"I was totally surprised upon my return to work several days later to hear about Michael's death because when he left my ambulance to be transported by Clearwater Fire Department he was in serious condition but I didn't think it was fatal", Kingsley says.

Butler's report also says that he interviewed Lovengouth and claims that Lovengouth told him that Niesen was not conscious. Lovengouth, was has since headed EMS services at several locations, was the driver of the C&R ambulance which, with Denise Kingsley, transported Niesen from the scene.

In a statement, he says he was dispatched as a responding unit to accident with injuries, that he observed Michael at the scene. He says he did not initially come into contact with Niesen because even though he was EMS personnel, he was kept away by law enforcement. He says he observed Niesen sitting on the ground against a tree. Niesen appeared to be in police custody, Lovengouth says, and that he and Kingsley were not allowed to approach the subject. He appeared to be conscious. He does not recall the extent of any injuries and does not recall that he was in any medical distress upon their arrival. He says he didn't witness any altercation and confirms that Ed Donohue, Liz Flowers and Denise Kingsley were at the scene.

Lovengouth says it appeared to him that Niesen's condition deteriorated considerably from the time they arrived until they departed but he doesn't know what caused the change in his condition.

When told that the Clearwater police report states that Niesen was found unconscious by the first responding officer and that Niesen never regained consciousness, Lovengouth says that based on his observation on their arrival, not having direct contact with him and the fact that he and Kingsley were told by Clearwater police not to approach Niesen, he says that he believes the police report to be untrue.

Rick Walton was dispatched to the accident scene to provide emergency medical treatment to any victims and to transport those victims to local hospital. He says he arrived later at the scene after others had been there and was on the second C&R ambulance that was dispatcher, that Kingsley and Lovengouth were on first one.

In a statement given in June 2003, Walton says that when he first saw Niesen, he was sitting with his back up against a palm tree handcuffed on the south side and a little to the east of the intersection. He had no visible injuries, was looking around and showed no signs of any major difficulties, Walton says. He was conscious. Walton says that Niesen was sitting until police stood him up and walked him behind the truck. "Afterwards he was not able to sit, stand, talk or walk", Walton says.

On visual inspection, at first contact with Niesen, Walton says Niesen did not seem to need any immediate attention. He was having no trouble breathing, was not bleeding from head or mouth. Walton emphatically says that upon his initial contact with Niesen, he did not observe any of the injuries listed in the autopsy report and thee were no head wounds as shown in the autopsy photo present when he first came into contact with Niesen.

Walton says he witnessed an altercation between Clearwater police and Niesen and after the altercation, the head wounds shown in autopsy photo were present. He treated Niesen for his injuries following the altercation.

When shown the photos at the accident scene showing Niesen being treated for severe head injuries, Walton says those injuries were not present upon his first contact with Niesen. Upon his arrival at the scene. he says Niesen was in custody, cuffed and sitting up against a palm tree. "When I tried to examine him, I was ordered not to do so by police and warned 'not to go near my prisoner'," Walton says. He says whenever saw Niesen being combative with police.

When asked about the Clearwater police report stating that officers had found Niesen unconscious and that he never regained consciousness, Walton said "this is a flat out lie".

"I saw Clearwater Police take Mike cuffed and walk him behind the overturned truck. I saw several police officers form a tight circle around him and being raising and striking toward him with nightsticks and flashlights. I heard people in the crowd who had an unobstructed view of them yelling "someone stop them, they're going to kill him". He says there was also a young woman just screaming, then other police officer ran over and stopped the assault, taking one of the officers away, (Mark Cairns) restraining him and put him in a car. They also took the screaming woman and a few other people, put them into unmarked cars and drove them from the scene".

Walton's statement was given to McCabe's office and FDLE, Clearwater Police and the mayor's office but Walton says that the only agency who made an attempt to contact him was the FDLE.

Walton said he agreed to take a polygraph. He has a blood disorder which affects his oxygen levels. He says he told the FDLE they would have to take the test early in the day because he became fatigued in afternoon which would affect the results of the polygraph. He says for the first test scheduled, FDLE was late picking him up and then held him a room for three hours until a polygraph operator showed up. He says FDLE held him at the police station until after 1 p.m. By that time, he was having difficulty breathing and could not take the test so it was set it up again for 9 a.m. the next day. This time the polygrapher didn't show until noon.

Edmund Donohue worked for Florida Ambulance which transported officer Mahony from the scene to the ER with his partner Liz Flowers. Donohue says they were the first medical unit on the scene. He observed Niesen at the scene, sitting in vicinity of overturned pickup truck by a palm tree. He was conscious and oriented to time, place and person. He was cooperative and answered questions readily. He was in no apparent life threatening distress. Donohue says he never saw Niesen standing or walking, he was sitting and talking when he was assessed. He was not in need of immediate medical attention when he first saw him. He had been in an auto accident and had multiple abrasions and minor contusions.

Donohue says Niesen was not in no acute respiratory distress and was not bleeding from his head or mouth "to any significant extent". He did not observe any of the injuries which were listed in the autopsy report and he emphatically says that the head wounds shown in the photos were not present when he first came into contact with Niesen. He did not witness any altercation. He was the driver of the first ambulance to arrive on the scene and performing initial physical assessments.

While photos taken at the scene show Niesen being treated for severe injuries, Donohue says none of injuries were present upon his first contact with Niesen, that he was alert and responsive, complained of handcuffs being too tight, had no acute respiratory distress or significant hemorrhage . He was in police custody, handcuffed with hands behind his back. He says he never saw him being combative with police, never witnessed him in an unconscious state.

Steve Canfield says he witnessed the accident. He was shown snapshot photos of Niesen which had been taken at the accident scene showing no injuries but those photographs have disappeared. Canfield was headed to the beach when he saw the lights from the dead officer's patrol car and then saw the truck and officer roll. Canfield says when he first observed Niesen at the scene, he was handcuffed sitting next to palm tree by the crashed truck. He was in police custody and handcuffed. Police told him he was too close and an officer told him to move away from Niesen. He says Niesen was conscious when he first observed him, didn't witness any altercation, didn't hear any woman screaming. Canfield is yet another witness who did not witness any head wounds when he first observed Niesen at the scene, he had no trauma to the head, only minor abrasions. Canfield too is emphatic that the injuries for which he was being treated in photos taken at the scene were not present when Canfield first observed him at the scene. He says he doesn't know how Niesen received the injuries, "can only guess". He said he didn't see Niesen receive any medical treatment. "He wasn't in need of treatment when I witnessed him", Canfield said. "There was an officer guarding him, had told e-unit medic that he was fine, to treat the officer in the road".

When asked if ever saw Niesen denied medical treatment, he said when he was told he was too close to Niesen, the same officer that asked me to move away told a medical personnel that Niesen was okay, 'go treat the officer down'.

Canfield too says the police report is not a true statement. "I was at the scene very soon, when I went to PD to give statement, there was a series of pictures shown to me and I was asked to identify Michael and his picture was from scene showing him in good health".

Those pictures have apparently disappeared.

John Niesen says those pictures were never shown to him and he was told they were not available. Canfield told Niesen in a tape recorded statement that Clearwater police had thrown five or six photos down on the table. The statements of Canfield who was among the first civilians on the scene is in direct conflict with the police report and that of the state attorney's office.

Are all the witnesses, Officers Eggers and Garner, paramedics wrong?

Canfield says that Niesen wasn't combative and rather looked humble and submissive.

Terry Christopher, another witness to accident, observed Niesen at the scene and says, like many other, that when he first observed Niesen, he did not have any of the injuries which were later shown in photos. He was conscious when he first observed him, able to stand, was not bleeding about his head, neck or shoulders, was in police custody and handcuffed. Life the others, Christopher says the police report is not true, that Niesen was not unconscious and he has confirmed statements made by Walton and Donahue.

"I saw the accident happen", Christopher says. "Minutes later after turning around and coming back, I saw Mike standing near the truck by a tree. As police were pushing and shoving him to a sitting position, I saw he was handcuffed behind his back. I was about 15 feet or from him. I could see no injuries at all". Christopher says he did not see Niesen receiving any medical attention at scene and was "totally shocked" to learn of Niesen's death. He said when he initially passed by, the police were there but no ambulances had yet arrived. He passed by turned around and went back. Clearwater police were there first, then Canfield and Christopher.

Another eyewitness to the accident is Cynthia Hyde-Hartline. She says when she first observed Niesen, he was "coming out of the truck and standing up" She says he was not unconscious and not ejected from truck as police claimed. The police were around him when she first came in contact with him, he was conscious when she saw him and able to sit, stand, walk and talk. He had no head wounds and none of the injuries were present as shown in photos of him being treated. She witnessed Clearwater police officers with nightsticks in their hands, did not see officer kick Niesen, couldn't see as they were all around him. In taped statements in 1995, she says she saw officers take Niesen into a circle. She says Niesen "disappeared into that circle, officers were walking towards him with nightsticks and flashlights in hand, officers were holding him, punching him in chest with nightstick".

She says she was never interviewed by anyone including police agencies or asked anything about that night. She says she didn't hear anymore of that night until at least 10 years later. She also says the statement by police that he was found unconscious on side of road and that he never regained consciousness is not true. She never saw him being combative, did not see him receive any medical attention.

She says she can't recall if a Clearwater police officer was being restrained by other police officers, didn't witness officers take a restrained officer's gun away from him and place him in a marked police car. When asked to describe the officer who was being restrained and if he participated in assault on Niesen, she now says she can't recall. She said she could confirm the statements made by Walton, Donahue and Christopher that Niesen did not have serious injuries when she first saw him at the scene. When asked if Clearwater police beat Niesen at the scene, Hyde-Hartline says "They did something for him to look like that. The pictures show a different man then the one I saw climbing out of the truck".

While she says she was never interviewed by anyone after the accident, Butler claims he interviewed her. In a taped statement given in 1995, she had identified the restrained officer as Mark Cairns and said that she saw other officers take his gun away from him but in a later statement, she said she couldn't recall.

A family from Atlanta, Ga., in Florida on vacation, went to police headquarters to question what Niesen had died from after learning of his death. The Smallwood family said that Clearwater police would not take a statement after family members said they had seen him walking and talking at the accident. They were told the case was closed.

Family members were present at the scene. They too say that when they first saw Niesen, he didn't have the multiple injuries shown in the later photographs. He was He was conscious when they first observed him, they never saw him unconscious He was in front of a tree and had no head wounds when they first observed him. They heard the crash and drove to the accident scene to see what happened. They estimate that from the time they heard the crash until they arrived at the scene, five to seven minutes had elapsed and they saw Niesen squatted down in front of the tree beside the overturned truck. They said he did not have any blood or bleeding. He was not in custody when they first observed him and didn't appear to be in immediate need of medical attention. They didn't not see him receive any medical attention, did not appear close to death when they observed him. They heard a female screaming "stop them, somebody stop them, they are killing him". The next morning they heard on the news that Niesen had died from injuries received in the accident. They could not believe it and went to the Clearwater PD to try and find out how Niesen had died. They say police refused to discuss it and said all the police would say is he was dead at the scene".

They too say that the police statement saying that Niesen was found unconscious by first responding officer is untrue and corroborate statements made by other witnesses that he was not seriously injured. Family members who saw him right after the accident happened say Niesen was beside the tree.

"He was moving his head and hands and arms and bending knees. He was looking around like he may have been in shock", Norma Smallwood said. "He did not have any blood or bleeding that I could see. At that time I had never seen him before and did not know who he was. But the next morning when I heard on the news that he died, I wouldn't believe it".

She says that when first saw Michael he was asking people what happened, 'tell me what happened'. She says they arrived at the scene five to six minutes after the accident. She saw no one holding him and says nothing was stopping him from walking away when they first saw him. But later she remembers hearing a girl screaming.

She said police never took a statement from them. The officer said all the people that were at the scene had "gone home now and the man was dead at the scene. The case is closed. We don't need your information and they were told you go home".

"Here's a family who witnessed the whole thing and they were turned away", John Niesen says, "without a statement being taken by Clearwater Police. The state attorney's office said in a 2001 report that ALL of the witnesses were simply mistaken about what they saw. None were ever interviewed by Butler, SAO, FDLE the only one FDLE interviewed was Rick Walton. They played games with the polygraph and the rest were never contacted".

Wayne Wise of Ontario, Canada, is yet another witness to the accident and saw Niesen at the scene. He says when he first came into contact with him, he didn't have the head wounds are shown in the later photographs. He says he never saw police take Niesen into custody.

Wise says that when he first saw Niesen, he looked like he was sleeping. He didn't see Niesen receiving medical attention. "When I arrived at the scene I was one of the first handful of people. I just quickly observed the scene which consisted of Officer Mahony on the pavement being given what I would call his last rites in Latin by a lady kneeling over him. Then I noticed Mr. Niesen lying on the ground. He was breathing okay, looking like he was sleeping. Of course he had assorted small abrasions. Then when I was gong to leave, I picked up the revolver that belonged to Officer Mahony that was sitting on road. I gave gun to the officer in charge, then was told to give statement to police" He too agrees that Niesen had no visible injuries and was not in acute respiratory distress.

According to Morton Plant Hospital, no surgery was performed on Niesen. But the Clearwater Police told the FBI that he had undergone. A news release issued on Aug. 9, 1977, several weeks after the accident, said that Mahony "hung along the flatbed portion of the truck and subject swerved violently attempting to dislodge him" and that both the officer and the subject were thrown from the truck as it overturned, rolling over the officer who was pronounced dead at Morton Plant Hospital at 11:35 p.m." Mahony had jumped into the rear at the tailgate, he wasn't hanging on the flatbed portion of the truck. Eyewitnesses to the accident also say that Niesen wasn't thrown from the truck.

The report issued by the FBI, based on information provided by Clearwater Police also stated that "Subject underwent surgery on July 14 for head injuries and other injuries and reportedly will be a vegetable if he survives and if he survives will be charged with murder during commission of felony. Clearwater PD requests that NO investigation desirable in view of circumstances but will call upon FBI if any out of state leads or laboratory assistance is required".

An inquest was held on July 15, a day and half following the accident. None of the paramedics, none of the eyewitnesses were called to testify, only Cairns. John Niesen and Mary Riley were not allowed to attend.

The inquest report was succinct, "Writer feels after viewing the photographs taken by Patrolman Ellis of the accident scene and photographs of tire tracks leading from the point of where the truck first took off at a high rate of speed with Patrolman Mahony apparently standing beside the driver door, that subject Niesen intentionally tried to run over Patrolman Mahoney. Writer feels that Patrolman Mahony had to take evasive action by either jumping onto the cab of the truck or onto the side of the truck to keep from being hit. Case closed, exceptional clearance. With death of suspect".

The other officers first on the scene were never interviewed as part of the inquest.

Two years later, July 11, 1979, John Niesen contacted Clearwater Police Sgt. Glover and said he believed that Clearwater police officers beat his brother to death in back of the ambulance while being transported to the hospital. Niesen said he told them of the witnesses who had observed his brother at the accident scene, breathing and with no sign of blood. He had spoken with Richard Yerby, investigator from the State Attorney's office. Niesen says that Yerby delayed for two years, did nothing. Niesen had contacted the Governor's office and was told they didn't not intervene in local matters. He contacted the justice department and was informed they had found no violation of his civil rights.

Over the past 29 years, as John Niesen has amassed new evidence and information he has attempted to reopen the case only to be met with stonewalling and excuses.

In April 1991, J.C. Brock, chief investigator with the state attorney's office, said he had spoken to Niesen on several occasions over the past 18 months. Brock told Niesen that in September 1990, then assistant state attorney Bernie McCabe had reviewed the file and found no reason to reopen the case. As one of his excuses, Brock said that their file showed that soon after Michael's death, the family had made numerous similar allegations that he had suffered head injuries which were not caused by the crash. John Niesen says that Brock told him that he and McCabe had reviewed the autopsy report which clearly states that the wounds to Michael's head were the result of emergency surgery at the hospital, surgery that was never performed.

In May 1991, Dick Hill, assistant city attorney spoke to SAO Inv. George Jackson who said that the Governor's office had instructed the state attorney, then James Russell, to re-examine the Niesen case. On May 6, McCabe assigned Jackson to the case.

Four days later, Jackson issued his report concerning alleged official misconduct.

Jackson said that the Clearwater police report dated July 13, 1977, at 10:03 hours indicated that Patrolman Cairns had "radioed in the fatal accident that took the life of Officer Mahony and Michael Niesen.

However, the Clearwater PD had told the FBI the accident occurred at 9:50 p.m., 13 minutes earlier.

"Two other Clearwater police officers, Egger and Garner were at the scene in moments". Jackson's report continues "Officer Stephen Brooks arrived at the scene at 22:06, just three minutes after the accident happened", which is an erroneous statement.

"This unit had Lt. Edward Bossom, Tom Culbertson and Wes Chesser on that particular unit which was directed to proceed to Officer Mahony's location due to the fact he was definitely the most critical. At the time that the first fire rescue unit arrived and began working on Officer Mahony, Officer Cairns then assisted MN in trying to clear his air passage and make it easier for him to breathe. Officer Cairns advised that both Mahony and Niesen were unconscious and groaning or gurgling at the time that he was assisting them (which is untrue according to eyewitnesses and paramedics as well as other officers) The second fire rescue unit arrived at 2212 hours and was manned by Art Carpenturi, Jack Callahan, Mel Actan and Dusty Hoffman. This unit assited MN. The Clearwater Fire Rescue report (Cairns just retried from there) that was filed with the hospital, indicated that Niesen was lying on the side of the road in critical condition unconscious. Ambulance report missing. Respiration was labored and he had moderate bleeding. Writer interviewed Lt. Edward Bossom who advised that at the time of the accident they were directed to Mahony because he was the most critical of the two injured. He stated that he worked on Ronald Mahony and had no knowledge of Michael Niesen whatsoever. Writer interviewed Mark Cairns who is now with the fire department but at the time of the accident, in 1977, he was with police department. He advised that he was the first officer on the scene and saw Mahony thrown from the vehicle (eyewitness places Niesen in the vehicle) He stated he called in for backup and went to Mahony first, who was unconscious and in bad shape. He stated he gave mouth to mouth resuscitation, until fire rescue arrived and then he went to where Michael Niesen was lying, approximately 30 feet away near the side of the road and sidewalk (all witnesses and medics say he was sitting, conscious and alert) He (Cairns) stated that Niesen was unconscious and gurgling. He cleared his airway and helped, until more fire rescue units arrived and relieved him. He then went back to Mahony and went to the hospital in the ambulance. He stated that they left the scene with Mahony before the ambulance left with Niesen. Writer also interviewed Tom Culbertson who is now with the County Emergency Medical.

"Culbertson advised that he remembered that evening. He stated he worked on Mahony when he first arrived. He did not realize there was a second subject until later. He stated Mahony was in the street. The second subject was approximately 30 feet away but he didn't realize or see him at first. He went to the hospital with Mahony and they left before the second ambulance. He doesn't recall anything about an ambulance breaking down. Writer then interviewed Art Carpenturi,. He is still with fire department (1991) He stated that this was 14 years ago and that he doesn't remember much about the accident. He stated that he can remember the subject he worked on, that he had two IV's in the subject because of the bleeding. He stated that he tries to block out a lot of the bad accidents for personal reasons and he could not remember anything else about the accident other than that he believes the two subjects were both unconscious. Writer then spoke with Mel Actan who is also still with the fire department. Actan advised that he remembered that it was late at night. He stated that he does not recall who went to the hospital with the subject stating that he believed that he stated behind to clean up at the scene. He stated that he recalls that both subjects at the scene were unconscious".

Jackson never interviewed any of the ambulance personnel, only co-workers of Cairns at the fire department.

"Dusty Hoffman advised that when they arrived, the subject was off to the side of the road and was unconscious. He stated the subject was choking and he believed he was choking on a broken tooth or other object (autopsy shows no broken teeth). His airway was cleared and that is approximately all that Hoffman remembers about the incident on that particular night. Writer then interviewed Jack Callahan who is also still with the fire department, He stated that that was so long ago, that it was very sketchy in his mind but he stated that the subjects he worked on were unconscious. He advised that fire rescue would usually follow an ambulance to the hospital but he cannot remember whether or not they did that particular evening or if the ambulance broke down. Writer then interviewed Steven Lovengouth---he advised he had spoken with Niesen on phone several months ago (1991) He didn't remember any open wounds at that time. Says he didn't remember brother as being in that condition as shown in newspaper article or wearing the clothes in the picture.

"On way to hospital, there was one paramedic accompanying them. He stated ambulance broke down at Fort Harrison in front of hotel. He stated it was only moments before fire rescue was there to continue the transport. He isn't sure if that unit was called by the paramedic who was accompanying them or if it was following them from the scene. He stated emphatically that there were no police officers escorting them to the hospital either in the ambulance or following behind. Denise Kingsley, advised her memory is sketchy. To best of her recollection both subjects were unconscious that Neisen never regained consciousness while in ambulance, Ambulance broke down on Fort Harrison in front of hotel .and believes a fire rescue unit was following and continued transport. She advised that there were only paramedics and no police officers accompanying them. (Although this is in Jackson's report, Kingsley says no one ever interviewed here indicating that this may be a total fabrication by Jackson.)

"Records from Morton Plant indicate Niesen arrived at 10:50 p.m., five minutes after Mahony. The report indicates Niesen was transported by C&R ambulance and Clearwater Fire Rescue. Patient history showed Niesen comatose since the traffic accident and never regaining consciousness. Obtained pictures from Clearwater Sun which showed MN with what appeared to be bandages on his head as well his right hand prior to being transported to the hospital in the ambulance and then alter by the Clearwater fire Rescue unit.

" On July 14 (1977) assistant state attorney Lee Fugate and his secretary Lynn White had a state attorney's investigation into the accident. Present were James Laufec, Patrolman Cairns, David Peckham, Allen Peckman, Gary Garrison, Richard Guccione, Lori McPherson, Michelle Gorges and Det. Charles Butler who all gave sworn testimony at that time which indicated no wrongdoing on anyone's part other than that of MN. Including a letter to Ms. Mary Riley dated May 4, 1978, the Niesen family had an extensive interview with the ME's office at the time of the incident back on July 15, 1977, and on July 29, 1978. Inv. Dick Yerby of the state attorney's office had a very long discussion with both John Eric Niesen and Mary Riley for 4 ½ hours, explaining and answering their questions in regards to the incident. It was established back in July of 1977 in May of 1978 and now again in 1991 that there was no wrongdoing by anyone other than MN in this incident".

"Russell told Mary Riley, Niesen's mother, that on the night of her son's death, Paul A. Meissner Jr., division chief from the Clearwater SAO office, was dispatched to scene of accident and subsequently to Morton Plant. He along with officers of Clearwater Police Dept., took statements from witnesses and reviewed the radio tapes made by Officer Mahony just prior to incident involving MN. We found nothing during the course of our investigation to indicate there was any foul play of any kind on the part of any police officer", Jackson concluded.

Inv. Richard Yerby of the SAO issued yet another "investigative report" on Nov. 8, 1995 and addresses a letter from Dale Beightol, a representative of the Niesen family, from August, 1995 which contained two "new" statements attributed to witnesses previously interviewed by law enforcement. Based on Beightol's assertions that two of the original witnesses to the Niesen accident changing their testimony, Yerby said that he had located and interviewed Cynthia Lynn Hade.

Yerby concluded that "these most recent revaluations cannot be substantiated. John Niesen says Yerby's own report substantiates that Nisen was not ejected, was not unconscious, did not have major head wounds, was not in respiratory distress, that Cairns did not check him. Niesen says there are serious problems with the SAO witness and Yerby report.

Niesen says in his opinion the statements in the 1977 Clearwater Police Department report are the most important. "Cairns killed my bother and Eggers helped cover it up", Niesen charges. It's also important to note that Yerby was the state attorney's investigator that witnesses told me was at the accident scene along with assistant SAW Meissiner.

On April 3, 1998, at the request of now Clearwater police chief Sid Klein, Deputy Chief Desmarais briefed deputy city manager Kathy Rice on the matter and it was decided the city would stand by its initial investigation and would not reopen the case.

The state attorney's office and McCabe issued another report in September 2001 refusing to objectively review the case. This "investigation" by Robert Schock of the SAO was prompted by a letter received by FDLE dated July 30, 2001. The Governor's office had received correspondence from Niesen again alleging that his brother had died at the hands of the Clearwater Police Department. Schock's report said that these allegations had been brought up several times in the past and had been investigated, effectively blowing off Niesen's evidence.

In June 2001, Dr. Gowitt submitted his autopsy report, listing the cause of death as blunt trauma to the head and chest, manner of death undetermined. His findings were based on information and material submitted by Niesen and the previous autopsy reports. In his summary of opinion, Gowitt found the injuries of Michael Niesen inconsistent with witness descriptions supplied by John Niesen.

Schock's report said that after completing his review of the Niesen file, he had set up a meeting with Dr. Charles Siebert of the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's office.

"During this meeting he (Siebert) was shown the original autopsy report from the Pinellas County Medical Examiner from 1977, scene photos, medical records from hospital, newspaper reports, paramedic reports from the scene".

Niesen charges that all reports were falsified from beginning and so-called investigations were only based on previous reports and not reviewed anew. Siebert made his findings without seeing the body.

Schock's report says that Siebert advised the autopsy showed a torn aorta and he stated that is not consistent with a beating, this injury is consistent with a deceleration type injury. After completing review, Siebert's observations were that he did not see any marks on the face, hands of chest of Michael Niesen which he would expect to find if a beating occurred, but he did not see the body. He further stated that the lacerations on Niesen's head are not consistent with objects such as nightstick or flashlight----contrary to what Gowitt says.

Siebert blocked the reopening of the Niesen case, stated that he saw nothing based on information supplied by SAO that would case the case to be reopened. He wanted the SAO to contact Dr. Kris Sperry who conducted second autopsy to see why his report had not been included and also asked if SAO would contact Dr. Gowitt and find out what information he relied on. Gowitt had physically performed his autopsy on Niesen's exhumed body, Siebert did not. It appears that Siebert never contacted Gowitt directly.

Reports indicated that on Aug. 27, 2001, Schock contacted Dr. Sperry at the Georgia Bureau of Investigations' ME office. Sperry stated he did conduct an autopsy after body was exhumed on March 30, 2001. He stated he did not didn't find anything inconsistent with the first autopsy. He also stated from his observation at autopsy that he would have expected to find certain injuries if a beating occurred and that he did not.

Schock made contact with Gowitt of Forensic Medicine Associates Inc. who stated he did conduct an autopsy and that information was supplied to him by Niesen regarding witness statements. Gowitt told Schock that statements of victim's status at scene were inconsistent with the injuries that he observed.

Niesen says that Schock lied in his report, saying that during the conversation with Dr. Gowitt he was asked whether the injuries on the head would be consistent with an instrument such as a nightstick or flashlight. Schock claims that Gowitt had indicated no, that it was not consistent with that. He did advise that the victim had head and chest trauma, however, the method of death was shown as being undetermined. Gowitt, in his June letter disputes the statements that Schock had attributed to him.

Schock says that based on discussing the matter of the Niesen death with Dr. Siebert, Sperry and Gowitt, he found no new information causing investigation be reopened.

On Sept. 12, 2001, Schock reports that he reviewed the case with McCabe's chief assistant SA Bruce Bartlett He agreed with Schock's findings not to reopen. Niesen maintains that there has been a cover-up from the beginning at the state attorney's office.

McCabe has consistently refused to step down for a special prosecutor to be assigned. Niesen has developed witnesses that differ from the results of the death investigation of Niesen.

Denise Kingsley-ambulance EMT in first ambulance transporting MN, claims he was stable and had no injuries that later appeared and resulted in death of Niesen.

Steve Lovengouth-ambulance EMT in the first ambulance, driving the ambulance that broke down. Remembers MN sitting up against a palm tree and being of diminished consciousness.

Edmund Donohue-remembers MN sitting against tree and being dazed but conscious. Does not remember any injuries to the face or any bleeding down the face. Donahue surprised to hear of death.

Charles Deloach-photographer for Clearwater Sun. remembers MN sitting up against palm tree, being conscious without any visible life threatening injuries.

Wayne Wise-MN observed to be semi-conscious and did not appear to be seriously hurt.

Terry Adler--a paramedic for 12 years who advised that MN did not have any obvious trauma and was surprised to hear that Niesen died.

Lori Jane McPherson Heartline-she had been with Niesen sometime prior to the accident and advised that he had not been drinking or doing any drugs. Heartline was supposed to meet Niesen at 2300 hours that night. Learned of accident by driving by the scene on the way to meet him.

Mary Krause-advised that she saw MN stand up, have the handcuffs removed and lay down on the stretcher for transport.

Steven Canfield-saw MN sitting on side of road underneath palm tree with handcuffs on.

James Loufek-the first civilian witness on the scene, observed MN in truck right after the accident with no visible injuries to head or face and no bleeding. Loufek checked on Nisen per instructions of the first police officer on scene.

Terry Christopher--witnessed the accident and MN handcuffed without any visible injuries or bleeding about the face or head.

Cynthia Hyde--witnessed MN being handcuffed by the palm tree and then a swarm of police officers completely surrounding Niesen and they appeared to be swinging their flashlights in the direction of Niesen.

Dr. Kris Sperry, ME for Fulton County, Ga., reviewed the Florida autopsy report and advised that with the injuries described in that report, MN would have been bleedly profusely about the face.

In his June 2001 report of his autopsy findings, Gowitt told John Niesen that his brother's injuries "are out of proportion to what was described by many observers at the scene. Futhermore, it is improbable that he was thrown from the motor vehicle as eyewitnesses found him inside of the cab of th pickup truck after the accident.

"The injuries your brother sustained, particularly with respect to the scalp lacerations would have bleed profusely and should have been noticed by at least some of the observers at the scene. If I were to believe these injuries occurred from the motor vehicle accident, I would be forced to ignore the statements of many many witnesses.

"Therefore, it is my opinion that the scalp lacerations and probably the fatal head trauma your brother sustained most likely occurred sometime after the accident but prior to his arrival at Morton Plant Hospital Cause of death-blunt head and chest trauma, matter of death undetermined".

Gowitt comments that the official police report indicates that Mr. Niesen was "thrown from the vehicle".

"However, the statement of James Loufek, an eye witness to the accident, says he went over to the truck and that a person (presumably Mr. Niesen) was still in the vehicle and not hurt as badly as the officer in the street. He (Loufek) goes on to say the driver of the truck had no visible injuries, including the left side of his head and he was not bleeding. Mr. Loufek who gave a statement to the police was surprised to find out the driver had died", Gowitt writes.

Gowitt says a review of several scene pictures in which Niesen is being transported to an ambulance via a stretcher do not reveal any evidence of significant bleeding from the head.

"It certainly appears to the undersigned that the injuries causing Mr. Niesen's death are inconsistent with descriptions of him at the scene", Gowitt concluded. "He probably was not ejected from the truck when it rolled over. It is extremely difficult to imagine that he was talking, conscious and able to sit under a tree with the amount of head injury described in the initial autopsy report and to some degree, found at the third autopsy. More likely, Niesen would have been rendered unconscious and would have been severely bleeding from the left side of his scalp had these injuries occurred because of the motor vehicle accident. Since these scalp lacerations would have freely bled, it is consistent that so many observers did not notice any blood on his person as he was sitting under the tree Furthermore, at least one witness indicates that he was surrounded by police officers with raised nightsticks suggesting that the scalp lacerations and some of the head injuries may have occurred after the accident.

"Based on the witnesses descroptions of Mr. Niesen, the first and third autopsy findings and my training, education and experience, it would be highly unlikely that Mr. Niesen sustained the injuries described in the first autopsy from the motor vehicle accident. More likely than not these wounds resulted from some altercation after the initial rollover of the pickup truck. If these injuries did not occur at some later point in time, I would be forced to ignore the statements of several eyewitnesses that failed to describe serious trauma or bleeding with respect to Mr. Niesen and found him in the motor vehicle after the accident", Gowitt concluded.

In October 2003, Gowitt reaffirmed his findings, concluding that if witnesses are telling the truth, Michael Niesen died of closed head injuries, which involved the scalp and swelling of the brain. "The scalp wounds would have bleed profusely and been noticeable to even untrained observers almost immediately after their infliction", Gowitt said.

Mark Friedman, former executive producer of special projects and investigations for ABC Action News, and his team began looking into the circumstances surrounding death of Niesen in September 2002. He began collecting information including that from public records. Friedman had contact by telephone and email with Wayne Shelo, public information officer for Clearwater PD. Shelor sent letter by fax to Rick Morera of FDLE.

The exchange between Shelor and Morera demonstrates an unseemly collaboration between CFD and FDLE regarding the proposed public response to inquiries from 28 Action News Investigates, and maliciously suggests that John Niesen may be "deluded".

Shelor's fax to Morera in January 2004 stated that "this investigative editor isn't being up front anyway so I suspect his motives are less than honorable and his professionalism is less than ethical".

Florida attorney John Trevena who represented Friedman, says that the 2003 exchange between the Clearwater PD and FDLE was obviously calculated to stonewall any media investigations into the suspicious circumstances surrounding Neisen's death and to discredit and disparage anyone spearheading such an investigation.

"The actions of Wayne Shelor violated my client's constitutional rights, defamed him and tortiously interferred with Freidman's chosen line of work" Trevena said in the lawsuit filed against Clearwater PD. It was settled out of court.

In January, 2003, John Niesen filed a complaint against Sperry who had been paid to conduct a private autopsy on his brother. But Niesen says Sperry conducted the autopsy at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab at taxpayer expense and allegedly violation the conditions of his contract. The allegations were sustained and Sperry was disciplined by written reprimand and ordered to reimburse the state for the use of the morgue for his private practice.

In his written report of Sept. 11, 2003, Sperry concludes that the "actual cause of death was closed head injuries including injuries of the brain with swelling". Niesen asked Sperry if the head wounds marked in photographs taken of his brother bleed and would these head wounds have been visible to the medics that came in contact with him in the first 30 minutes after the accident. Sperry responded in the affirmative and said that "these wounds would bleed profusely and should have been readily visible by any medical professionals who observed him within the first 30 minutes".

Would the head injuries listed in both autopsy reports cause him to lose consciousness, Niesen asked Sperry.

Sperry replied that "the closed head injuries which involved the brain would cause him to lose consciousness. The lacerations themselves, separate from the brain injury, would not necessarily cause a loss of consciousness.

According to Sperry's report, Michael Niesen could not have been able to walk and talk and sit upright with the brain injuries and brain swelling but separate from these injuries he could have been able to walk and talk and sit upright with ONLY the head lacerations.

Niesen says that trained paramedics coming in contact with his brother in the first 30 minutes would have been able to detect any of the injuries to MN listed in both autopsy reports.

Would he have exhibited signs of pain or difficulty breathing from the chest trauma, broken ribs and head trauma listed in both autopsy reports and would these symptoms have been apparent to the responding medics checking MN for injury at the accident scene, Niesen asked Sperry who replied "If he were conscious, he would have exhibited such symptoms to medical professional who were evaluating him".

Niesen says that Noel Palma, deputy chief medical examiner from the Pinellas County ME's office reused to review Dr. Gowitt's report or any of the witness statements, Niesen said, but says Palma did review the flawed Nawab report from 1977.

Niesen says that Palma claims to have reviewed the entire file from the ME's office, autopsy reports from Nawab and Sperry, the police report, newspaper articles and communications of ME office with Niesen----but that refused to review the Gowitt report.

"After discussing this case with Dr. Siebert who spent several hours talking to Niesen, I called Niesen and discussed the findings", Palma's report says. "I told him that my opinion is that the MN died of blunt trauma to the head and torso sustained as the result of a motor vehicle crash that was described in the investigations".

Palma claims Niesen's injuries were inconsistent with the inflicted blunt trauma from nightsticks, flashlights that Niesen alleges. Gowitt disagrees.

Previously Clearwater chief Klein told Niesen that numerous independent news organizations and media entities had examined case over the years and that no one ever found any evidence to support your claims and allegations. He said he was "comfortable in the knowledge that your brother's death was result of his own actions and any questions raised over the intervening years were dismissed by numerous investigations---both official and ad hoc.

"Absent the presentation of any new compelling evidence the Clearwater Police Department will not expend any more manhours or any more taxpayers' money in addressing a case closed a quarter century ago.

Klein has changed his tune with his recent request to federal prosecutors to review the Niesen case, particularly the allegations of police misconduct, and if warranted, conduct a "criminal review".

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