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At this same time, the Sheriff’s office sent out numerous press releases trying to solicit potential “victims” of Girls Gone Wild with the headline “Are You A Victim?” It seems the Bay County Sheriff’s department didn’t have a case against Francis and was determined to find one. (Press coverage of Sheriff’s soliciting of victims)
During his 2003 arrest, Joe Francis spent only a few hours in jail. Francis was released by a judge on $50,000 bail. Before he could even exit the jail, he was re-arrested by the same sheriff’s deputy who arrested him the night before, for a new charge of drug trafficking. Francis had five Vicodins in his shaving kit in his hotel room that he had a prescription for and possessed lawfully. Upon being re-arrested, Francis called from jail and had his doctor and his pharmacy fax a copy of his prescription to the sheriff and the state attorney’s office; nonetheless, they chose to charge Francis with drug trafficking anyway – a serious crime calling for penalties of up to 30 years in prison – for five of his legally prescribed Vicodins. Clearly, it seems the purpose of this was twofold. One, to try to make Francis spend another night in jail, and two, to publicly embarrass, humiliate and destroy Joe Francis and his business. The charge of drug trafficking was later thrown out by the court. When the judge asked the state attorney why he did not drop the charge once he’d received a copy of Francis’ prescription, the state attorney replied that he had difficulty reading the doctor’s handwriting. Unbelievable! (News Herald article “prosecutors pursuing GGW prescription”; News Herald article “‘Girls’ team digs up proof”)
As the overzealous conduct of the police in this case was brought to light, the vast majority of the charges were thrown out or dismissed. Among other things, the state court judge found that the search itself was illegal. The search warrants were unlawful because, as the judge herself wrote, they contained lies and misstatements by the Sheriff’s deputies “made with the intent to deceive the Court, with reckless disregard as to the truth of the matters stated.
” Therefore the judge suppressed all the evidence seized. (Judge’s Order suppressing evidence)
The original indictment alleged 71 felonies against Francis and the company, with a potential sentence of up to 335 years in prison. The remaining felonies alleged no illegal conduct on the part of Joe Francis personally, but turned on the unsupported theory that Francis was somehow criminally responsible for filming the women who lied about their age, even though he was not present for the filming. It is disturbing to think that politically motivated prosecutors pursued Francis knowing full well Francis himself had done nothing even remotely illegal. The company successfully sued the sheriff’s department for illegally seizing the jet, and also sued to get the Ferrari back.
The Panama City (Bay County, Florida) law firm of Harrison, Sale, McCloy, and Thompson quickly jumped on the case and filed a civil (for money) not criminal lawsuit, against Francis, on behalf of the women who lied about their age, as well as the women’s parents. Not so coincidentally, this was the same law firm that represented the city and the city officials in Francis’ First Amendment lawsuit against them. These are also the same lawyers representing the Sheriff’s department in Francis’ case against them. Not surprisingly, the testimony of the women involved in the filming began to change from their initial statements to the police, once they had retained lawyers and filed a civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars from Joe Francis.
It is important to note Joe Francis had been offered a deal calling for nothing more than probation in this case. When the 71 felony charges against Francis were still in place and Francis was facing up to 335 years in prison, the state attorney met in the judge’s chambers with Francis’ attorney and reached a plea deal. They decided to drop charges and offer Francis a deal, in which Francis would receive probation and be prohibited from bringing Girls Gone Wild cameras back to Panama City (Bay County, Florida). This deal had been negotiated between Francis’ attorneys and the state attorney for over a month. Francis’ lawyer said the women’s attorneys in the civil case interfered directly in the criminal case in order to coerce money from Francis. (Tom Julin Motion)
The women’s lawyers knew they stood to make more money if they kept the pressure and intimidation of criminal charges on Joe Francis. Just as Francis was preparing to fly to Panama City (Bay County, Florida) to accept the probation deal before the judge, Ross McCloy and Tom Dent, the attorneys representing the so-called victims, threatened to put their clients on national talk shows to complain about the state attorneys handling of the case – in effect smearing the state attorney and the court – which seems to have resulted in spooking the authorities and blowing up this plea deal. (Tom Julin Motion)
Fast forward to March 2007, in Panama City (Bay County, Florida) where Joe Francis is embroiled in a civil suit with seven women, their families, and their lawyers seeking damages because they allege the girls were supposedly victimized when a GGW cameraman filmed them. The two women who posed for the cameramen claimed to be 18 years old on camera two separate times and signed releases (also on camera) that stated in writing they were over 18. The girls forged birthdates and lied directly to the camera about their ages. This entire release process was videotaped for at least fifteen minutes as the women filled out the paperwork. As it turns out, both were 17. It is an undisputed fact that all of the girls lied about their ages. All of the girls involved in the filming admitted to the police from the beginning that they lied about their ages to the Girls Gone Wild camera crew. (“Cash Killed Girls Deal”; Tom Julin Motion)
Months earlier, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Smoak ordered the parties in the civil suit (not criminal) to attend a confidential mediation conference to try to settle their dispute. The initial mediation occurred on Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22, in two separate conference rooms at the Marriott Hotel in Panama City (Bay County, Florida), Florida.
Mediation by its very meaning is not to be public nor involve anyone other than the mediator, the parties, and their attorneys. (Smoak Mediation Order) What happens at this point in the Joe Francis story strains credibility, rational thought and one’s belief in our judiciary system. The court-appointed mediator overseeing the confidential mediation conference ordered the negotiations and settlement be “off the record and privileged.” That meant no one, including Judge Richard Smoak, was allowed to know anything about what transpired during the private mediation conference. The mediator specifically explained to Francis that mediation is confidential and that he may not take any statement whatsoever outside of this mediation. The mediator also explained to Francis the point of mediation is to get both parties together outside of a formal courtroom environment so the parties can express themselves any way they see fit. Anyone who has been in a lawsuit or a contested divorce understands that private mediation sessions are confidential in order to allow parties to express themselves in any manner they deem appropriate, except for threats of violence. Veterans of mediation sessions understand the tone is often contentious, and language often gets heated.
Francis flew to Panama City (Bay County, Florida) to voluntarily participate in the mediation, even though he understood he had a right to a jury trial to present his defense in the civil case, and intended to do so. At the March 21 mediation session, Francis was in a separate conference room at the Marriott Hotel that contained just him, the mediator, the women’s attorneys and his attorneys. The women themselves were not present nor were any official representatives of the court. Francis expressed his views in what has been described as “colorful language.” In short, Francis said the girls lied about their age and that he was the victim of the 2003 events, not the women. Francis told the women’s lawyers that their clients’ lies had cost him millions of dollars as well as tarnished his reputation. He said he would vigorously defend himself, and said in the strongest terms that their lies would be exposed, that he has the right to a trial by jury, and that he expected to win at trial and clear his name. He also told the lawyers that if they continued pursuing him, he would “bury” them in court. Rachel Pontikes, one of the women’s lawyers, then called Francis an “asshole.” The women’s lawyers then demanded Francis pay them and their clients $70 million – to which Francis replied to the lawyers, “suck my dick.” During this exchange, the women’s lawyers were smiling. (Michael F. Dickey Affidavit) The mediation continued for five hours on the first day and almost eight hours the next day. No agreement was reached, and Francis left Panama City (Bay County, Florida) expecting to have his day in court and go to trial in July. Little did Francis know what lay in store for him. (ADR News “Mediation Gone Wild” article, supporting documents & transcripts)
