CLAY COUNTY, Florida — Whether the former top cop in Clay County pressured subordinates to donate to his reelection campaign was one focus of a state investigation into ex-Sheriff Darryl Daniels.
Hours of interviews, videos and hundreds of new documents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's wide ranging investigation were released Tuesday as part of a public release of discovery materials.
The disgraced former sheriff lost his bid for reelection last August following a series of scandals stemming from an extramarital affair. The investigation began after officers claimed he instructed them to arrest his former lover, accusing her of stalking. That woman, Cierra Smith, was detained for hours, but never charged.
That scandal spawned the criminal investigation. Daniels is currently charged with destroying evidence and lying to investigators. He has pleaded not guilty.
Among the newly released material: videos and pictures taken from the day Smith was arrested. Recorded by Daniels’ wife, Denise, they appear to show Smith’s jeep tailing Daniels’ truck around a Clay County parking lot. The incident ended with Smith’s arrest.
The potential trial evidence released Tuesday also includes allegations by former sheriff's office employees that they felt pressured to support Daniels' reelection bid.
Investigators also looked into employees' fears that he was using his larger-than-life social media presence for political gain. As Sheriff, Daniels was known for his high-profile drug busts. However, some subordinates began to worry he was using Sheriff's Office platforms to promote himself during election season.
One employee told investigators he asked her to re-post popular videos from earlier drug raids daily in the days leading up to the August Primary.
CCSO attorney Jeff Davenport echoed that, telling FDLE “my biggest concern [is] that they were sort of utilizing the narcotics and the publicity they could generate on social media in order to boost the Sheriff’s reelection chances.”
Other officers told investigators they feared retaliation if they didn't support the sheriff. One pointed to comments Daniels made at a police union meeting at which he allegedly said some officers were in for “a rude awakening” when he was reelected and that some “probably would not want to stick around because they’re not going to like where they’re put.”
One chief told investigators the sheriff specifically instructed him to raise donations from other ranking officers – suggesting ask each director to contribute $5,000 and each director to contribute $2,000.
The report also documents concerns by staff about what they considered nakedly political messages -- particularly a recorded statement he made hours after his arrest.
One staffer was so concerned about certain statements, she edited them out of Daneils’ final recorded message, which was posted on the sheriff's office Facebook page
"There are just some things that I didn’t feel I could put in there, my morals wouldn’t let me," she told FDLE. “I felt like he was asking people to go vote for him. I felt like in the capacity of sheriff and he just got arrested, I just didn’t feel like that was the appropriate platform”
A second spokesperson had similar concerns:
"At first [I] did not get this feeling it was a campaign video," the spokesperson said. "But you know, as you see, as you start going along, you know, when you bring up politics, you know, it seemed like it was leaning towards that way.”
Daniels, who ultimately lost reelection to Michelle Cook, is currently charged with tampering with evidence and lying to investigators. He has pleaded not guilty.
Oct. 10, 2019 - Investigators interview Darryl Daniels
In a recorded interview on October 10, 2019, with investigators, Daniels gives an account of what happened during the May 6 encounter with Smith that eventually led to her arrest.
Daniels said he was at a Board of Trustees meeting at one of the local charter schools when got in the car and headed home. He told investigators that he looked over to his right, saw a black Jeep Wrangler and knew that Smith drove that same vehicle.
Daniels told investigators that the car began to follow him and says that "was the first clue”. The vehicle then follows him into the Amenity Center and that's when Daniels said he called his wife to tell her he was being followed by Smith.
"So this evolution of me going around and around the parking lot that lasted for, seemed like five, 10 minutes," Daniels explained during the interview. "And a million things are going through my head and I’m like, how does this end? I started thinking Clay County Sheriff has to kill a female, a young female in her vehicle. I said eh, that’s not a good look for myself or the county….”
Daniels says it was at his point he called in for help from the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
“….I got on police radio called for units to come to where I was,” he said. Daniels denies influencing the responding deputies to arrest Smith.
Later in the interview, Daniels admits to paying Smith roughly $60,000 via 'Cashapp' over the course of 18 months.
Investigators asked how his wife did not notice, and he said that there was enough income coming in for the money to not make a difference.
“And that’s where we as a couple dropped the ball because that gave me enough rope to… manage all the funds," Daniels explained. "And, you know, you say you give a person enough – you give them a little bit of rope – they’ll turn into a cowboy and that’s just what I did.”
Daniels tells investigators that smith bought a promise ring with the cash but denies that any of that money came from the sheriff's office bank account.
June 15, 2020 - Investigators interview Darryl Daniels again
In the interview, Inspector Keith Riddick questioned Daniels about claims that Daniels used police databases to do background checks on women and mutual friends. Daniels denies those claims repeatedly.
Riddick questions why Daniels ‘turned in his agency phone to be wiped’ on June 4, 2019. Daniels said he did not turn it in to be ‘wiped’ but rather replaced because it was running slow.
"(What) if someone says you turned that phone and made the comment “I need, I need this wiped because there’s something on here that does not need to see the light of day?” asked Riddick.
"They would be being untruthful... lying," responded Daniels.