The recent furor over Palm Beach State Attorney Michael McAuliffe's decision to drop felony charges against two former West Palm Beach cops brings to mind the prosecutor's other high-profile attempts to bust dirty cops. Considering his track record, one can understand why he might be gun-shy.
a murder suspect about an arrest. Sgt. Michael Dodson is still facing allegations of falsely reporting a crime after getting drunk, firing his gun in his garage, and mutilating himself with a box cutter. A third officer, veteran Detective Lee Ann Schneider, is awaiting trial for one of the oldest tricks in the book -- allegedly helping a supervisor pad his overtime. Schneider faces multiple charges of forgery and official misconduct.
Interestingly, it was a former Riviera Beach cop and friend of Galligan's, Rick Sessa, who filed a recent ethics complaint against McAuliffe. Sessa alleges that McAuliffe dropped misconduct charges in the West Palm Beach beating case because he was trying to win political support from the police union.
But with McAuliffe's spotty track record of prosecuting cops, such support seems unlikely.