ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — The Public Defender for the 19th Judicial Circuit on the Treasure Coast says she discovered that St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson might have misled attorneys years ago, which could impact criminal cases today.
Pearson and Lieutenant Robert Pettit are accused of making false statements under oath during a deposition for a 2016 drug trafficking case. According to the State Attorney’s Office, their false statements led the state to back away from asking for a 30-year drug trafficking sentence to a 4-year sentence. Prosecutors said the questionable depositions weakened the state's case.
“The ramifications are pretty extraordinary,” said Public Defender Diamond Litty.
Litty explained that when she learned Pearson and Pettit’s credibility might be questioned due to their depositions from the 2016 case, she tasked her staff and interns with reviewing every past and active criminal case involving Pearson or Pettit since 2016. That review is ongoing.
Litty plans to request assistance from the Department of Justice to help sift through the cases, noting that she could use additional funding and investigative tools. “It’s going to take months, if not years, to really get to the bottom of this,” Litty said. She wants to leave no stone unturned in seeking a lesser sentence for her past and current clients.
Litty obtained Brady material for Pearson and Pettit following a request to the State Attorney’s Office. Brady material includes any information the state is required to provide to the defense that could help challenge evidence and state witnesses, such as law enforcement officers. “We rely on them to turn over everything so we can properly represent someone,” Litty said.
Pettit and Pearson were deposed about their role in a 2016 traffic stop that led to the drug trafficking arrest of Clyde Dennis Crouch. Court records reveal that Pettit received information from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that a vehicle they were tracking was heading into St. Lucie County. The DEA told Pettit that Clyde Dennis Crouch was driving the car and that if they could find a reason to pull it over, they might find drugs.
Records show Pettit pulled Crouch over for not wearing a seatbelt and making an illegal U-turn. Records also show Pettit called Pearson before the traffic stop, instructing him to head west to where Pettit would be. Pearson arrived at the traffic stop within minutes of Crouch being pulled over and had his K-9 sniff out drugs in the car, leading to Crouch's arrest.
When Pettit and Pearson were separately questioned during depositions by Crouch’s attorney, Robert Watson, court records and transcripts revealed inconsistencies in their stories. “You have the duty to do the right thing and be honorable and tell the truth,” Litty said.
Watson asked them why they pulled Crouch over in the first place, what they knew about him before the traffic stop, and, for Pearson, how he arrived at the scene so quickly with a drug-sniffing K-9.
In August 2017, Pettit was the first to be deposed. He told Watson that the traffic stop was a “cold stop,” meaning he had no prior knowledge of who was driving or the potential for contraband inside. He also denied calling any other law enforcement officers on a cell phone before the traffic stop.
Pearson was deposed in September 2017. Transcripts show he told Watson he arrived at the scene so quickly because he “heard Pettit make the traffic stop over the radio” and happened to be “right around the corner.” Pearson also told Watson he did not speak with Pettit over the phone before the traffic stop.
After Pearson’s deposition, the State Attorney’s Office said someone from the DEA came forward with information that contradicted the stories Pearson and Pettit had given to Watson. This led Watson to redepose Pettit and Pearson. Litty says it is unusual for a law enforcement witness to be deposed twice in the same case.
Transcripts show their stories changed the second time.
During his second deposition in October 2018, Pettit conceded that the traffic stop was not a “cold stop,” but that the DEA had informed him that Crouch’s car was coming into the county and that “the goal was to go out, locate the vehicle, and search it if you can.” He also told Watson that his earlier statements during his first deposition, while sworn under oath, were “inaccurate.”
Pearson, during his second deposition in October 2018, admitted to Watson that he did “omit” information during his first deposition. He clarified that he did not just happen to be in the area or respond because he heard Pettit on the radio. When pressed about whether he had spoken on the phone with Pettit beforehand, he responded, “Well, yes.”
Watson also requested cell phone records verifying phone calls between Pettit, Pearson, and officials with the DEA.
Sheriff Keith Pearson did not respond to a request for a statement explaining why his story was inconsistent. Transcripts from his second deposition, however, show he told Watson he did not want to disclose details about the active DEA investigation to protect the DEA’s case.
Litty said that’s not an excuse. “You can go off the record and discuss things... everything about all of this is pretty unusual,” Litty said.
Records show that after Pettit and Pearson were accused of misleading attorneys with false statements, the State Attorney’s Office requested that the FDLE conduct an investigation into Pettit and Pearson. The FDLE said it would not get involved in the matter. FDLE Assistant Special Agent in Charge Rich Piccininni said, “There’s just nothing there,” claiming the questions asked of Pettit were indirect and ambiguous.
Litty says she doesn’t need a formal investigation or a perjury charge or conviction for Pearson and Pettit’s credibility to be called into question. “I think when you take that oath and you are the head of an agency, whatever agency, you have the duty to do the right things,” Litty said.
