JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Special Prosecutor Brad King responded to Sheriff Darryl Daniels' video statement released Thursday night in which he derided "dirty politics" related to his arrest, and said King "bullied" him in an effort to make him resign.
This is the statement King released:
It has been brought to my attention that in a Facebook video Clay County Sheriff Daniels has indicated that he was presented an ultimatum to either resign his office and withdraw from the election or be arrested. That is not true. What was proposed to the Sheriff was after his arrest an early disposition of the case that would allow him to potentially retain his pension.
I have attached for your reference the two emails sent to the Sheriff’s criminal lawyer regarding the case and the agreement that was proposed.
I do not know Sheriff Daniels, his politics, his opponents, nor for that matter any citizen in Clay County. When I am asked to prosecute a case, I do it based on the facts and the law and nothing else.
King also released the deal he offered the Sheriff, for deferred prosecution if he resigned. The document would have "disposed of charges without risk of conviction and sentence: if he forfeited his law enforcement certification and filed a letter with the Supervisor of Elections "immediately and irrevocably withdrawing from the election for the Office of Sheriff of Clay County for the 2020 election."
He would also agree "never to run for the office of Sheriff in any county of the Fourth Judicial Circuit."