It’s been more than eight years since then Ryan Model He was shot and killed at an apartment complex in Lee County. In the nearly decade since then, his father, Sandy Modelproceed with the closing through the appropriate courtroom channels and then through A Advertising campaign.
But the grieving father said politics had repeatedly pushed itself into the path of justice. The prosecutor was right Fox princess The murder was deemed a “stand your ground” self-defense case to gain approval from the National Rifle Association. He said Fox later pressured him to provide information about a political opponent in exchange for a reconsideration of the trial, although that never happened.
“This is an obvious murder,” Sandy Modell said. “The only person who doesn’t see a murder is the prosecutor there, Amira Fox. She can’t explain herself.”
He sees Fox’s actions as corrupt. However, he believes there is political favoritism between Fox and the former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi And the loyalties between Bondi and the current prosecutor Ashley Moody Prevent any consequences Prosecutor’s misconduct.
Eight years after a fateful move into the wrong apartment cost the 32-year-old his life, Bundy awaits confirmation to become president-elect. Donald Trump Attorney General. Modi appears to be the front-runner to be appointed to a seat in the US Senate. Foxx won election to state attorney general, and some allies hope she will run to succeed Modi as state attorney general (although many expect her to run for her local seat again).
But Ryan Modell is still dead, and the shooter is still free.
Ryan Modell, a native of Winter Park, He died on March 20, 2016. Official reports show the 32-year-old entered a house James Stephen Taylorwhose apartment looked similar to Ryan Modell’s girlfriend’s apartment. Taylor pushed the man out of his home while his wife called 911. Taylor then grabbed a gun and went outside, where he found Model, shot and killed him after an apparent altercation.
Fox at the time served as the state’s top prosecutor and handled the case when it came from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. She then worked in the State Prosecutor’s Office Steve RussellBut its president had already announced his retirement and Fox was running for his position. She ultimately decided that Taylor should not be charged, citing the state’s “stand your ground” law that allows the use of deadly force by individuals who feel they or others around them are facing a physical threat.
Sandy Modell didn’t think the law applied, especially since police advised by phone that Taylor should not leave his home.
“Fox didn’t want to deal with a major crime during the election,” he said. “And she was flirting with the NRA.”
The powerful gun lobby had pressured Florida to pass its expanded “Stand Your Ground” law in the first place, and Modell believes a desire to win that group’s support, which she did have, played a role in her decision not to pursue charges. . Modell eventually provided support for Chris Crowleya former prosecutor who also ran for state attorney general in 2018. He funded Billboards In Lee County, he criticizes Fox for being “soft on murderers” as the election begins. But Foxx beat Crowley in the Republican primary In August That year with more than 57% of the vote.
Two years later, Sandy Modell said he tried to reach out to Fox and see if she would reconsider now that she had won the state’s attorney’s job. He reached out through a mutual acquaintance, Ralph Singer. Through the call, Modell said he was told he must withdraw his support for Crowley in future bids. He did so in an email to Crowley sent to Singer, which Singer forwarded to Fox’s official email.
Singer’s email also references a 2018 post attacking Fox, which was at the center of Florida Bar Complaint Against Crowley calling Fox “corrupt” and attacking the fact that her father wrote a book supportive of Palestinian violence against Israel.
“They talked about Amira’s Islamic background. ‘That’s true, that’s realistic,’ said Sandy Modell. ‘But I had nothing to do with it. I’ve never seen that. I’ve asked people, do you have any of those brochures, and I’d like to see one. “I’ve never seen it.”
Singer said in his email to Fox that Modell acknowledged that funding from a political committee likely helped pay for the booklets but had nothing to do with the production. Fox said in an email to Singer that she had appointed the sheriff Carmine Marceno “To make sure that happens,” but she explicitly does not agree to reopen the case. To this date, it has never done so.
Modell eventually detailed all of this in a complaint to the Florida Ethics Commission and in a short book, Murder and corruption in Florida.
But the statewide complaints ultimately went nowhere, much to Sandy Modell’s frustration with the Ethics Commission and the Attorney General’s Office. In his book, “The Dirty Girls Club,” he opens a chapter with an illustration of pigs named “Pam,” “Ashley,” and “Amira,” detailing how he feels political advantages protect Fox’s office from scrutiny.
Bondi, the prosecutor at the time of Ryan Modell’s 2016 death, had been criticized for his involvement in the matter. allegations The investigation was dropped Donald Trump Around the same time she accepted a $25,000 donation to her campaign from the future president.
Attorneys general in California and New York sued Trump University and reached multimillion-dollar settlements, but because Florida opted out of the case, the state received nothing. When complaints were made to the state about the decision, then-Gov. Rick Scott He referred the matter to prosecutors in Fort Myers, but Fox deemed there was no inappropriate action on Bundy’s behalf.
Sandy Modell believed this ensured that the state would not intervene when Fox’s office decided not to press charges against Taylor. Even after Bondi left office, there are believed to be attorneys for the state, most notably an assistant attorney general Elizabeth MillerHe continued to protect Fox for years on the issue. Miller stayed on after Modi won the election to succeed Bondi as attorney general in 2018.
When Sandy Modell filed an ethics complaint against Fox in 2020, he hoped the commission would at least investigate. But Miller, who was serving as an attorney for the Ethics Commission, submitted a nine-page report stating that there was no probable cause to believe that Fox sought or received a favor in exchange for taking action in her public capacity.
“I recommend that the commission find no probable cause” that Fox violated the law, Miller wrote.
The panel took this advice and decided in March 2022 that there was no evidence that Fox “considered commencing a murder prosecution in exchange for a promise not to provide financial or other support to a political opponent.”
Miller has since resigned from her position in the district attorney’s office amid an investigation that she misused the state’s driver and vehicle information database to look up information about an individual. Details quoted from Florida Bulldog Earlier this year. Miller did not return an email about Modell’s case. The Ethics Committee submitted all reports relating to the handling of her case.
Modell tried every way he could think to get some prosecutors to take the case. He donated money to the government. Ron DeSantis‘ gubernatorial campaign in 2018 and said he had spoken to him about moving the case to another jurisdiction if he won, but said the governor had not returned calls since he won the election. Modell even financed a Billboard in New Hampshire While DeSantis campaigned for president hoping to draw attention to the lack of interest in the issue.
The governor’s office and the Attorney General’s office did not respond to inquiries about the case.
Sandy Model notes that his son died more than a year after his wife.
He said: “I’ve spent 35 years raising my family and I’ve lost two out of three in 14 months, which is bad. But what’s worse is that the government is saying it’s not appropriate for us to do anything about it for things that have nothing to do with crime.”
Post views: 0
