Police Misconduct

If there is one major lesson that I have learned since Memoirs was published and I started my blog six months ago, it is that the general population does not like to hear about police and prosecutorial misconduct.

Start stating that the U.S. criminal justice system is one of the worst in the Western world, and they tend to disperse in droves. It is not that they are unaware of police misconduct being a problem or the U.S. criminal justice system being problem-filled, but it is more that most do not want to hear it. Sort of like the invasion in Iraq, as long as they do not have to hear about U.S. military personnel and contractors committing war crimes, it can all be buried in the back of the mind.

This reminds me of the three monkeys. I recall the three monkeys from my childhood – one had his eyes covered, one had his ears covered, and the last had his mouth covered. See no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil. Okay, much of the population in this country enjoys the game of pretending that something doesn't exist or that something is not a problem, perhaps believing that if it is ignored for long enough it will not exist or will go away. It never happened.

A recent reviewer of my book has followed me to two websites with his review, and has the same line of crap as the bad cops did during the case that wasn't a case. Now I get a retired or current cop with an agenda following my book. Nothing I can't handle – the cops in the case were far worse and did so much more than I revealed in the book. The book is police abuse light in comparison to all that they did to me.

Don't believe it?

Well, my proof comes in several forms. I do have documents that are no longer in the recreated court file, and one in particular paints a really nasty picture of the gang of thug agents with the MBI. It is the notarized sworn affidavit that was produced by Dusty during her forced testimony as a state witness. I also have every hearing and the entire two-week trial on CDs.

My best evidence though, is the fact that I did testify in my defense, and was drilled and screamed at by a very experienced prosecutor for most of the day. If I had lied, there is little doubt that they would have pursued perjury charges. I didn't lie at all about anything that I stated.

The final proof comes as a part of the dismissed civil suit that I filed in federal court. You are probably wondering how this could stand as proof, right? You are thinking – but Vicky, they dismissed the suit – and yes, they did, though there was never any denial of the allegations on the part of the parties that I sued. The argument of each party was an official capacity defense. They argued that the criminal acts described in my complaint were committed in the course of official investigation and were therefore excusable. They also argued that "while there was not enough evidence for a conviction, there was enough evidence for an arrest - in other words they had simply expected me to plead guilty!

I filed the suit against former Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, former MBI director William Lutz, and the main case agent, Brant Rose, (retired care of the Florida taxpayers immediately following my trial).

For those in the dark here – when one files a civil rights action in federal court, one must state the complaint and swear to it under penalty of perjury.

My complaint was over 30 pages. You can read the complaint if you have a PACER account, and anyone can open a PACER account. That was the entire point of the suit – to create a record of what they did to me, as the files in state court were gutted – the first one stolen in its entirety (all 3 overstuffed volumes that were about each around 8 inches high), and the recreated file disappeared shortly after it was created by prosecutors using only documents from the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor. The clerk's office admitted in writing that many documents were missing from the recreated file anyway, rendering it worthless.

So in a sense it was mission accomplished for me. The complaint is recorded in federal court files and Vicky Gallas sure wasn't charged with perjury. The 11th Circuit has never been friendly to adult business complainants filing civil rights suits, so I don't feel too bad about it all. It is what I expected in our broken criminal justice system.

The only situation that is in the book but that was omitted from the federal complaint is the telephone line-blocks on escort service lines in Orlando area resorts. The particulars are described in Memoirs, so I will not repeat here. The reason that the line-block problem was not included is that I couldn't prove the connection to my arrest and trial, and this is stated clearly in the book. However, note that there either is a connection, or the MBI was unbelievably and incredibly stupid and had no clue as to what was going on in adult business in Orlando from the late 1980s when the blocks began through today.

It is your choice – incredibly dumb and an extravagant waste of local, state, and federal tax money OR connected to the line-block conspiracy that continues today. It is one or the other.


There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.


Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755)

Prostitution Empowers Women

One of the last courses that I took as a college senior in 2006 is entitled: Thinking about Race, Class, and Gender. This is a course that I would recommend every college student be required to take, regardless of major. As an older student that is female and owned escort services for an entire decade in Orlando so that I did not have to raise my child in poverty, I arrived with firsthand knowledge of much of the material taught. My earlier studies of racial disparities in all areas of the U.S. criminal justice system served to strengthen my arguments in all subject areas.


If an "A+" were possible, I would have received it, but did receive the highest grade possible anyway (A). Serious arguments ensued during the course on all topics. You would be shocked at how many white Americans consider African-Americans to truly have equal rights and receive equal treatment in this country in respect to employment and the criminal justice system. I had no clue that so many people, especially at the college senior level, were that ignorant. I always used facts and personal experience to back-up my arguments, and though I am white, I have seen and heard the inequalities and clearly understand the problems. I have also conducted extensive statistical research. There are two excellent books that I recommend for the unenlightened on the topic of race in the United States:

Race to Incarcerate, by Marc Mauer, Director of The Sentencing Project (2006 edition).

Thinking About Race, by Naomi Zack (2005 edition).

The last several weeks of the course concerned gender studies. Because of my background in the escort business, this resulted in a deep discussion with the professor relating to the real effects of prostitution on women. I concluded the course with a research paper on the topic of prostitution as a tool of empowerment for women. Contrary to popular opinion in the U.S, most women that work as call girls are empowered by the experience and are in total control during any client encounters. A woman that cannot control all that she does as an escort, a call girl, or a prostitute, does not belong in the business and should search for a new occupation. The only coercion involved is economic in nature.

The professor that taught the course advised me to consider a master's program and to continue with my research on prostitution empowering women. It's not like it hasn't been done before, but I do have a certain personal insight that few could claim.

A recent candid discussion with Dr. Brooke Magnanti, Ph.D. and the UK's Times Online certainly reinforced all that I have stated. Brooke revealed that she is Belle de Jour, the former call girl that blogged anonymously while in graduate school. Brooke wrote an enlightening book:

Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl, by Anonymous (2006 edition).

The women that worked with my agencies over the years were all 28+ and as with Dr. Magnanti, each was driven to the adult industry by a need for money. The great majority had strong personalities and were in complete control of what they did or did not do during a call, and the few meek, mild mannered escorts that I encountered over the years did not stay in the business for long. Most of the meek, and actually all that I have kept track of, moved on to marriage. That should tell you something.

Zealous Legal Representation

There is one primary reason that I decided to pass on law school: Zealous legal representation is hardly possible in the U.S. today due to the state of our criminal justice system. Defense attorneys that step outside of the strict bar association boundaries when defending a client are often penalized with suspension and are on occasion disbarred. There is little doubt in my mind that within one year of passing the bar exam I would have had my license to practice law suspended. Disbarment would follow in short time.


A secondary reason in passing on law school is that the great majority of clients in criminal prosecutions succumb to the plea bargain, and many become informants for the state or federal government; for me that would be a nightmare. An attorney cannot really advise a client not to be an informant or to accept a plea bargain. The attorney is more often limited by prosecutor and bar association restrictions to state the offer that is on the table and list available options. The innocence or guilt of the defendant is usually immaterial. Law is all about weighing the options.

I have known several attorneys that have had their license to practice suspended for no real reason. In each case the only crime committed by the attorney was fervent representation of the client. Do we really need to wonder why many attorneys just push paper and arrange deals with little emotion? Perhaps the need to earn a living enters into the picture, or to prevent their own prison sentence.

As I imagined myself surrounded by clients turned informant, I opted for graduate studies in history. I have been told that I made a wrong choice, though to this day I must still disagree. These days attorneys have little choice except to promote the plea deals offered, and I could never see myself as such a coordinator.

You may be curious as to what this has to do with any aspect of adult business, but the answer is simple: Close to all adult business prosecutions, and any other prosecutions, result in plea deals and there never is a trial. The feds boast that 95% of criminal defendants in federal court plead guilty. The percentage of guilty pleas in state courts varies by state and is slightly less than the federal rate, but it doesn't trail far behind.

Does this mean that close to all arrests are valid and righteous? Not by a long-shot. It means that attorneys state the options and defendants weigh them and make a decision. The U.S. has one of the most fundamentally flawed criminal justice systems in the world. Justice is indeed blind in these United States.


The Lynne Stewart Saga

Disbarred attorney Lynne Stewart's bail was revoked this past week as Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors demanded that she begin serving her 28-month sentence after the ruling was made on her appeal. What was her crime? She zealously defended a very unpopular client during the Bush/Ashcroft era of terror. Lynne Stewart was convicted by a jury in a show trial that rivaled those held by Stalin in the former Soviet Union. Lynne Stewart was betrayed by the system that she dedicated 30 years of her life to and mistakenly held in high esteem. To add insult to injury, the federal appeals court ordered the district court judge to re-sentence her, and the DOJ wants 30 years.

Just never ask me why I didn't go to law school.

Vendettas and Conspiracies

I cannot say too much about the importance of understanding that the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) today bares little resemblance to the MBI pre-December 2008. The serious difference is that former director William Lutz retired in December 2008. The new director is former Brevard County Sheriff Phil Williams. I did address this topic in The New MBI back in September; however, this take on the subject is from a different perspective.


The MBI under Director Lutz was capable of just about anything. I have already discussed many of the agency's transgressions over the years in: Informants that Reappear; Reform and Rehabilitation; Bullies and Con Artists; After Arrest: A Story; The Bingo Racketeering Case; The Yellow Pages Fiasco; and of course in my book, Memoirs of an Accused Madam: The War on Adult Business in Orlando. I will not be rehashing this criminal misconduct here.

The MBI of today, under Director Phil Williams, is indeed a reformed agency. I have little doubt that the agency would pursue only real cases. The criminal acts of past are exactly that – in the past. To this day the agency has not changed its website since November 2008, when the announcement appeared concerning Lutz's retirement. I can only imagine that the Governing Board cannot admit that there was anything incorrect and illegal done in past; no doubt due to civil liabilities.

This brings me to the currents events that prompted this post. Ezell Harris was arrested on drug charges by the MBI a week ago. Harris bonded out on what I believe was a $100,000 bond, but was arrested again late this afternoon on seven additional charges and now sits in the Orange County, Florida jail on a $1.4 million bond. Ezell Harris was an Orlando City Council candidate in what promised to be a very heated election.

When released following his initial arrest, Harris had the audacity to state to news reporters that it was a conspiracy and a political vendetta and that the MBI had planted the drugs. That didn't fly with me because this is a new MBI and Phil Williams stated publicly that the MBI has controlled buys in the case. My only response on Orlando Sentinel forums was that it would all be revealed in the discovery process if Harris chose to plead not guilty.

I am incensed that Ezell Harris used the knowledge of the agency's past as a platform to scream abuse and assert that drugs were planted in his home. The agency has used seriously questionable and even criminal, confidential informants in past, but the bottom line is that a controlled buy set-up is not possible if he was not selling drugs or did not go out and find drugs for the confidential informant. If he doesn't make a deal as most do, the truth will be revealed in court documents.

False assertions today serve to minimize the true misdeeds of this agency in past, and I, as a true victim of criminal police misconduct and a very real vendetta, resent the hell out of it.

Prostitution Debates

In every discussion or debate that concerns prostitution arrests, the majority never fails to state that it should be legalized and there should be a set-up similar to the brothels in Nevada. The opposition always chimes in with reasoning on why prostitution is not a victimless crime. Nothing ever changes and the debate is always the same.


Those that advocate the Nevada solution actually have little understanding of how it works when all control is in the hands of the state and a handful of brothel owners. Few ever consider that prostitutes do not want to live in a brothel and split their earnings with the business. The only part of the Nevada set-up that is beneficial to all is the required license and medical check-up on a regular basis.

Did you know that each time the prostitute leaves the brothel and is not on schedule that she must have a new medical check-up before she can return to work? That is a fact. She must stay in that brothel the entire time that she is there, or if going to town to shop for necessities it must be with an employee from the brothel. The brothels didn't allow cell phones in past years; however, I believe that this has changed today. The brothels also hold the prostitute's money until her scheduled stay is over and she is leaving, and often there are disputes in relation to the money. Most brothels take 50% of everything – including any tips or extras.

The prostitute that works in a Nevada brothel is completely controlled by the brothel. This method of operation benefits the state and the brothel owner. It does not benefit the prostitute or the client. Why do so many advocates of legalization want to subject women to this scheme of complete control? Even worse, they think that they are speaking for the women when throwing out these solutions in discussion.

Legalization should include freedom to choose. Let the prostitute have the required medical check and apply for a license and work wherever she wants to work. She could work entirely for herself or place the marketing and booking in the hands of an agency, or work in that brothel. Why are the majority of advocates of legalization so quick to hand over control to the state and a few business owners?

In so far as prostitution not being a victimless crime is concerned the argument is often pure crap.

Half the time the claim is that the client's wife and family are the victims, but this reasoning doesn't hold water. The client that sees a prostitute is saving his marriage more often than not. There are women everywhere – we are half of the general population – so that client could always get involved in an affair or sleep with someone he meets in a club or online. The risk to the marriage is far less when he hires a prostitute that has no real interest in him and simply wants to collect her fee for services. Think about it.

The other half of the victim claims relate to the prostitute being the victim. In all of the years that I was in the escort business I can confidently assert that no escort ever had to commit prostitution. I never encountered anyone forced into a life of prostitution, but then I did choose to work with escorts that were 28+ in age. When a woman commits prostitution it is usually because she needs and/or wants the money. It is all about the money.

Sure, we are all victims of our social and financial circumstances, but that is not what this crowd is referring to when claiming that the prostitute is the victim. Usually they are referring to all agency owners as pimps and users of women. Actually many of the escorts that worked for my agencies over the years victimized me, and not the opposite.

The escorts that committed prostitution most often did so for more money. I sure didn't keep any part of their tips, as the brothels in Nevada do. I also sure didn't control their phone calls or living arrangements, as the brothels in Nevada do. The great majority of escorts passed out their telephone number to clients and many opened their own escort services. Most stayed extra hours with clients, collected the entire amount, and eliminated paying the agency fee by claiming that they had to call off for one reason or another.

Those that committed prostitution also did so at the expense of the agency owner – they risked a minor misdemeanor and made large sums of money, but they put the agency owner at risk of being charged with serious felonies and the agency owner received none of that large sum of money.

So why does the general population think so much less of escort service owners than they do of prostitutes or of brothels in Nevada? Why do escort service owners face felony prosecutions that could imprison them for life? Think about it.

Who Needs Juries

I made the decision long ago that I couldn't take most comments about my former businesses too seriously, but sometimes the person making the statement just manages to push my buttons. In general people, in the U.S. anyway, tend to believe that all escort services are dens of prostitution because this has been ingrained in their minds. Either that or all the other escort service owners that have been arrested on organized crime charges deserved this, and the allegations were provable and accurate.

Why is it so hard to understand that a jury found me not guilty because I was not guilty?


What in the hell allows a person to believe that they know more than a jury that listened to a case for 2 flipping weeks? The person reads a 100 word statement from the MBI or knows an agent and suddenly they have developed insight that the entire jury lacked. They know more than all of us.

Of course they assume that I'm a liar at the same time. Never mind that I testified in my defense and was drilled and screamed at by a very experienced prosecutor for the better part of an entire day – never mind all that – it is assumed that I'm a liar. I have been called a liar by people that never read my book and know nothing about my case. I've been called a liar by people that have read my book and called it unbelievable. None of these people ever actually attempted to have any real conversation with me or ask me about any specific statement or situation. Each simply assumed and stated that I was a liar.

Why would my civil suit filed in federal court be dropped if I'm not a liar? Well, I'll toss that one back at you: Why wouldn't I be charged with perjury for submitting sworn affidavits in the civil case or for my statements made under oath in trial if I were lying? I'll top that: If all that I've stated in my Memoirs of an Accused Madam were not true, don't you think that they would have filed suit and stopped me from selling the book?

The truth is that the MBI did much more than I included in the book – I only included what I could prove or stated that I was not positive about an incident that I wrote about. Every sentence in that book that is stated as fact is indeed provable. I'm the one with all of the hearings and the entire trial on CDs – I beat them to the court reporters office and placed my order while they were still attempting recovery. So that's great that they stole the files, but I still have the evidence.

As to the dismissal of my civil suit, the parties that I named in the suit didn't even deny my charges. They simply claimed that they couldn't be sued for their actions and there was in fact some probable cause for arrest. Sure, when an agent and his informant conspire and make an allegation it is probable cause for arrest, but not enough for conviction. Probable cause is a thin line when it comes to RICO charges, but there was not enough probable cause to get a warrant for a wiretap or a search warrant. What does that tell you?

I do try not to take the assertion that I am a liar personally; however, it is very personal and that's not an easy request. Just stop assuming that you know more than a jury that heard it all for two solid weeks and we can at least pretend to respect each other. As usual, in the U.S. a defendant is already convicted by the general population when arrested. Guilty, even when proven not guilty; that is the U.S. criminal injustice system.

What do we bother with the jury system in the US for? Why not just convict everyone that the police arrest and prosecutors indict? That way you can go straight to the punishment phase, as after all, cops and prosecutors never lie, right?

Choosing an Attorney

In an adult business criminal prosecution, choosing the right attorney is very important. I am, of course, referring to felony cases and not the misdemeanor stuff. The specific attorney that you hire may depend on the type of prosecution – organized crime and RICO or the simpler type of case, such as promoting prostitution.

The first step is to have the arrest or indictment information assessed by any good criminal attorney, so do not empty your bank account to pay the first attorney that you speak with, or even your longtime attorney. Once you have an idea of the evidence the case is based on, you can make the initial decision as to how you intend to approach it.


If the attorney that reviews the evidence that is presented by prosecutors in early discovery informs you that they've got you cold and the evidence is beyond reproach, then you know that you must choose an attorney that is able to make the best deal for you. On the other hand, if the evidence presented early-on is questionable, you can assume that prosecutors are not holding back the best evidence and what you see is most likely the best hand they've got. As you can see, the second step is entirely dependent on the initial assessment.

Most people have a general idea of how they intend to proceed by the time the first discovery is handed over by prosecutors. To take this a step further, I will go out on a limb here and assume that you know what you've done or haven't done and how you have operated your adult business. You should know if you are guilty as charged, or not.

If you are seeking the best deal possible:

Look for the most known and popular attorney as it is unlikely that this attorney will accept the negative publicity of getting a lousy deal for you, the client. This attorney will argue for you over lunch at the golf club or on just about any other forum. Watch out for attorneys with political aspirations though, or you could end-up on the bad end of a trade – the I'll give you this one if you give me that one type of trade.

If you intend to fight till the end:

If it is a racketeering/organized crime case, the attorney that you choose does not necessarily need to have experience in this area. Sometimes you are better off finding a strong attorney, perhaps a recent law school graduate, that prosecutors will never see coming. Have you ever seen The Devil's Advocate? It is an Al Pacino movie – rent it and watch it for a better understanding. You do want an attorney with some trial experience though, as some people just freeze when talking in a courtroom; this would result in a serious problem for you.

The attorney that you choose must have the time to deal with your case. Most often an organized crime case requires extensive attention. The attorney must also actually listen to you – this is your life and you cannot hand it over to any attorney and just hope for the best. You must play a serious part in the fight for your life, and if you don't, then you'll understand when you lose. Don't dare blame it all on the attorney.

I will always recommend my attorney, and his law offices, from my own criminal case first in any possible list of recommendations; however, I am not so sure that Steve is interested in taking on such a case (organized crime) ever again. I believe that his specialty at this point in life is all other areas of criminal law and DUI trials. Steve has won over 95% of his DUI jury trials over the last five years. Harley has special expertise in the area of police misconduct.

The law office of Stephen Wolverton and Harley Gutin is in Brevard County, Florida, although I will imagine that representation outside of Brevard County is certainly possible. If you are in Florida and need an attorney, this office truly offers aggressive representation; trust me on that. Steve saved my life – and he has no clue that I'm writing this.

Here is a list of attorneys that specialize in the representation of adult business defendants and the contact information for each. I am listing these particular attorneys as I am aware of the record of each in the area of adult business. If an attorney is not listed it is only because I am not aware of them, and not because they are less qualified in any way. I also may be forgetting someone and will add their name later:


Stephen Wolverton, Harley Gutin, Gutin & Wolverton – Cocoa, Florida – (321)633-7337

Steven G. Mason – Orlando, Florida – (407)895-6767

Lawrence G. Walters, Weston, Garrou, Walters & Mooney – Altamonte Springs, Florida – (407)975-9150


J.D. Obenberger & Associates – Chicago, Illinois – (312)558-6420

Stephen L. Laiche, Griff, Larson, Laiche, Brennan & Wright – Grand Junction, Colorado – (970)245-8021


Jeremy Saland, Crotty & Saland – New York, New York – (212)312-7129

Mark Nejame, Nejame, LaFay, Jancha, Ahmed, Barker & Joshi – Orlando, Florida – (407)245-1232


Greg Eisenmenger, Eisenmenger, Berry & Peters – Rockledge, Florida – (321)504-0321