Michelle Borchew
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
I would say that he had his hand in it. It goes to show how pervasive it is when you have a bad apple in an office, especially when that bad apple is put in a position to train incoming state attorneys, to train career state attorneys on what needs to be turned over, how you treat witnesses, how you take statements, and how you interact with the defense team.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
And here, the email was not directly from Michael von Zomp. However, the the prior state attorney that was handling the case said that she had consulted with him and reviewed the flip codefendant statement with him. And they collectively decided that it was not it was not satisfactory. So that leads me to believe that he was obviously her supervisor or some type of mentor.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
and she went to him with a sworn statement that was under oath and they decided that that statement doesn't fit their theory of the facts it would not help them convict the two other co-defendants and they gave him the opportunity to come in and make a new statement under oath one of them has to be a lie right if they're both under oath and they're different and
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
I would beg to say that the second one's probably the lie. And they moved forward with it. After that email was sent out, about six months later, he came in, gave a new sworn statement, and he was given credit time served and released from jail. So he gave them what they wanted.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
And it was something that would that put the nail in the casket to move forward with a case against the two other defendants. So it's actually four cases that have been affected by this. Tajie Pearson's co-defendant, Jimmy Washington, was resentenced this week just by virtue of the issues that happened on Tajie's case.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
I want to touch on this as well and kind of link it up to the case that we're talking about. When I came on the case late in the game and I was trying to figure out why this person changed their statement so drastically, I started asking people about the prosecutor that was on the case before the current prosecutors.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
And everyone said she is reasonable, she's a straight shooter, she goes by the law. So I thought, all right, well, there's probably nothing nefarious here. And when I got that email with her name on it and her being directed by Michael von Zomp to do what was done on this case, that's what made me really realize the pervasiveness of it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
And it doesn't matter how many good prosecutors you have in an office. If you have bad ones that are directing them, that are turning a blind eye and that are at the top of the office, that are supervising and that are making the ultimate decisions at the end of the day. So obviously, I have a little more different approach to it. I think that the bad apple does spoil the bunch.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
#BecauseMiami: Your Yacht Is On Fire
And I've had a lot of conversations with the quote unquote good prosecutors that left the office that I can say were good, that I had a good relationship with. They did the right thing. And it is often if it's not I'm overworked and have too large of a caseload. It's I refuse to to play those games anymore.