If the chance occurred, State Attorney Bill Gladson said he had long considered incorporating a volunteer component into his office.
Recently, the region’s top elected prosecutor issued a public plea for assistance. According to Assistant State Attorney Cindy Harper, who oversees the program, roughly a dozen people, largely from The Villages, have stepped forward.
Paul Murray of the Village of Dunedin is one of them.
Murray did serve as a military policeman in Vietnam as a lieutenant in the United States Army. He added that once he left the military, he used his knowledge to get a position with the Hartford Police Department in Connecticut.
He worked for the department for five years while attending law school at the University of Connecticut. He became an assistant prosecutor after becoming a lawyer and served more than 30 years prosecuting criminals.
Murray rose through the ranks until he was designated state’s attorney for Tolland County, Connecticut, by a state commission. State attorneys in Connecticut are not elected but rather selected by a state board. In 2003, the same panel named him deputy chief state’s attorney for operations, the second-highest post for prosecutors in the state.
“I’ve always enjoyed law enforcement, and I’ve had a lot of experiences, and I’ll see what I can do to help them out,” Murray said while explaining why he offered to assist Gladson.
Gladson’s office has so far requested that he revisit some old cases involving a deputy whose departure from the sheriff’s office prompted questions about whether any of his investigations were contaminated, he said.
“My wife always told me I’d never retire, but in 2009, I walked away and never looked back,” said Murray. He stated that now that he’s been conscripted to assist Gladson, he added, “Maybe she was right. Maybe I do need that kind of stimulation.”
Mary Shoff of the Village of Collier is another volunteer.
Shoff began her career as a teacher. She had majored in social work and psychology in college and then went on to work in school administration. She worked as an assistant dean at a small college and pondered becoming a public school teacher after migrating to Maryland, she said.
However, after ten years of education, she realized she had an underlying interest in law and decided to enroll in law school. Shoff claimed that after becoming a lawyer, she chose to create her own firm to be able to support her family as a mother of two young children.
She had been practicing on her own for three decades, largely in criminal defense and immigration issues, but also experimenting with real estate law, she added.
Shoff works in Bushnell so that she can stay in the neighborhood, which will be a whole new experience for her.
“I’ve never been on the government side. I’ve always been on the defendant’s side,” said Shoff. “I think I can be really helpful and see where their cases could be shored up. I hope I can contribute in that way.”
Shoff further stated that she is eager to assist in any way she can.
“I’ve always like the variety and like to stay busy and do something worthwhile,” she said.
Gladson said the reaction from those who want to collaborate with his prosecutors in the 5th Judicial Circuit, which includes Sumter, Lake, Marion, Citrus and Hernando counties, has been positive.
Gladson added that some of them are retired elected district attorneys or have worked as prosecutors in other jurisdictions. Others, such as Shoff, present different perspectives.
“I always thought there was talent out there that could be tapped into, and many retirees are looking for something to do,” said Gladson. “And what a great resource. You have people who come from different states and have different perspectives.”
Gladson stated that the volunteers will assist in a variety of ways.
For instance, a couple of them with active Florida law licenses will fill in for staff prosecutors at misdemeanor arraignments, allowing staff to focus on other tasks.
They can also assist with case reviews, viewing body-camera footage and hearing to 911 or jail-inmate call records. The latter, according to Gladson, would be “really critically important” in supporting prosecutors in building cases and allowing them to focus on other matters.
