Sandy Modell: A Father Seeks Justice for His Son

Show Transcript

A Father Seeks Justice for Murdered Son

[00:00:00] Bob Gatty: Today, the Lean to the Left Podcast takes a look at a 2016 murder in Florida, one that ripped away the life of a young man whose mistake was to celebrate a possible new job and then mistake somebody else's apartment for his own. Since then, this young man's father has been seeking justice, but in Ron DeSantis, Florida, that is not to be found.

[00:00:30] With us today is Sandy Modell and he's here to tell the story about what happened to his son, Ryan, how he came to be shot and killed, and his fight for justice in an area of Florida famous for political corruption.. It's a tragic story and we're pleased to have Sandy with us today to tell us about it.

[00:00:50] Welcome, Sandy to the Lean to the Left podcast. 

[00:00:54] Sandy Modell: Good afternoon, Bob. Thank for having me on the show. I appreciate it. 

[00:00:57] Bob Gatty: I'm delighted to have you. And I'm sorry it's it's a sad story, but I have to give you credit, man. You've been fighting this fight trying to seek justice for your son, and that's to your credit.

[00:01:10] Can you start at the beginning and tell us a little bit about what happened and why it was that Ryan tried to enter an apartment that wasn't his own? 

[00:01:20] Sandy Modell: Yeah. He lived in that complex with his with his girlfriend and the problem and the buildings are known for that. They're monolithic, they're not well lit, and they all look the same.

[00:01:32] They're just very large, and bland, And as a result, people frequently mistake one building for the next. So that wasn't unusual. He left the party. He and some friends were celebrating somebody else's birthday, and Ryan had just gotten a new job and it was now far too late. It was probably 1:30-2 in the morning. They were at the pool. He went home and he went to the correct unit, but one building over that's all. 

[00:02:01] Bob Gatty: So it was one building over, It was the same number, right? As his, 

[00:02:05] Sandy Modell: The unit number was the same number. Yeah. know, Whether it was one A or one B, but the building was one building off. 

[00:02:12] Bob Gatty: It was one building off but it was one of these complexes where, as I read in your book where the buildings were all identical.

[00:02:21] Sandy Modell: Yeah. 

[00:02:21] Bob Gatty: They all looked alike. And hey, you're coming home from, A little celebration, you're feeling a little bit good and you just go up to the wrong door. You open the, you try to get in. And what happened? 

[00:02:32] Sandy Modell: There was the owner came down and told him you're at the wrong place.

[00:02:37] Now, supposedly there was an altercation. I've really got no proof of that. The only person that says it is the the murderer. And, there's no corroboration on that. But let's just say there was some sort of discussion at the door. 

[00:02:50] Bob Gatty: Yeah. 

[00:02:50] Sandy Modell: He opened it. He talked to my son. My son had his foot in there.

[00:02:54] The guy slammed the door on my son's foot. 

[00:02:56] Bob Gatty: Okay. 

[00:02:57] Sandy Modell: I don't know what happened there, but my son woke him up at two in the morning, so that's, fine. I don't have an issue with anything that took place there. Then my son left. The occupants notified the police. And they said, it's just a kid that's drunk. They knew it wasn't a burglary, and they knew it wasn't an invasion or there wasn't anything.

[00:03:17] They told the police, just a drunk kid, and the cops said, Stay inside. You're behind a locked door. So just stay inside and we're on our way. Instead, under oath, this guy testified that he waited about four or five minutes, got his gun and went back outside.. Now, I don't know how familiar you are with Stand Your Ground, but Stand your Ground has to be a continuous sort of thing.

[00:03:41] In other words, the new law it's basically self-defense on steroids. You don't have to retreat, you don't, you can just stay right where you are. . But it has to be at the time, you can't fear something right now and then come back tomorrow and take action.

[00:03:56] Bob Gatty: Okay. So Stand Your Ground is a state law in Florida that allows someone who feels threatened to shoot somebody. Is that pretty much it? 

[00:04:09] Sandy Modell: It does, and we could debate the law. It's just I have no interest in the law. The truth of the matter is it doesn't apply in this case. We could also debate vehicular homicide, but not here. It's just not a stand you ground case.

[00:04:22] And I say that with the benefit of, oh experts like Mark O’Mara, stand your ground expert, Ben Crump. They've both represented me. Former prosecutors, a former state attorney, experienced journalists. Everybody that's looked at this says, This is clearly a murder case. Stand. Your ground doesn't apply.

[00:04:39] The event was over and the guy was safe and there was nothing to fear. Instead, he went outside looking for my son. That's pursuit. You can't stand your ground over there. You can stand your ground here, but if you're looking to go over there, that's pursuit. That's a whole different thing. He found him and then pointed a gun at my son was seated on the ground with a hose.

[00:05:01] He was a hundred yards from this guy's house. He was in a neighbor's yard using a hose to wash the blood off his foot from when he'd gotten slammed in the door. So he's on the ground washing his foot, facing in the other direction. This guy finds him again a hundred yards from his own. Starts yelling and confronting him while pointing a gun at him.

[00:05:18] And as my son stands up and walks to him, that's when he feel, felt threatened and had to take use. 

[00:05:24] Bob Gatty: That's when he shot him. 

[00:05:26] Sandy Modell: Yeah. Now the gun, just so you know, the police were stunted. This, the gun is a 10 millimeter equipped with a laser and a flashlight. Police called it a hunting weapon. And this guy normally told the police, he normally walks around during the day with this gun and it's a normal neighborhood, just a quiet residential neighborhood.

[00:05:44] Normally walks around there during the day with that weapon and an extra five or six clips in his pocket. So you're talking somewhere north of 50 to 60 bullets just walking around during the day. 

[00:05:53] Bob Gatty: How is it that this guy hasn't been charged with murder then? I don't understand 

[00:05:57] Sandy Modell: Nobody does. The state attorney, current state attorney was the chief deputy at the time, and my son had the misfortune to have this occur.

[00:06:06] Additional misfortune have it occurred during an election. She was running for the state attorney position and what she wanted to do was court the NRA, 

[00:06:14] Bob Gatty: What's her name? 

[00:06:15] Sandy Modell: Her name is Amira Fox. She's got quite a sketchy past chapter three covers all of her problems. It reads more like a rap sheet than a resume.

[00:06:23] . And she was looking for an NRA endorsement. She called it Stand Your Ground. Now. The interesting part is she can't explain it when the family asks for an explanation. When journalists ask, all the office service says is they have no comment. , they refuse to, She's either unable or unwilling to explain how this could possibly be considered stand your ground. . 

[00:06:44] Bob Gatty: You've had quite a campaign against Amira Fox, right? You've even put up billboards calling her out. 

[00:06:49] I did during the election. I thought they were way outta bounds. I supported her opponent, but then she has a heavy bias against me. And that has been made clear to people that have asked her about have urged her to file charges.

[00:07:02] And she has responded with things like the father campaigned against me, or so on and so forth, which is shocking cuz the reality is her job is to enforce the law. It's not to like the victim's family. Murder's a murder, whether I'm a supporter or an opponent. 

[00:07:16] Yeah. That is definitely true.

[00:07:18] Sandy Modell: I think so. 

[00:07:18] Bob Gatty: It's one of the problems with political, Oh, when you're elected the state's attorney like that, cuz it's all politics. 

[00:07:25] Sandy Modell: I understand the politics behind getting elected, but behind enforcing the law. That's just, 

[00:07:30] Bob Gatty: I know. But you're saying that she kinda used this in a way is a campaign thing cuz she wanted the NRA endorsement, so she catered to them and called it Stand your Ground and didn't prosecute the guy. 

[00:07:45] Sandy Modell: That's correct. The truth is that she went and she obviously this is in Fort Myers. And Tallahassee is probably six hours away. During her campaign, she was in Tallahassee quite a bit, supposedly on company business or in state business.

[00:08:00] But she was later fined by the Ethics Commission for campaigning on state time. And one of the things she did whenever she was in Tallahassee was she stopped by and spent time whining and dining the president of the Florida NRA. And with this call for Stand Your Ground, she was able to get their endorsement.

[00:08:16] And if you look at the voters, she won by, I don't know, close to 10%. She was the endorsed person. She had outraised her opponent by five or six to one. She was supposed to win 80 20. The race narrowed down to when her stuff came out, it narrowed down to about a 55, 45, and probably a good six to 8% of those 10% were NRA voters.

[00:08:37] So it really did make the difference the. In her campaign, her strategy worked. It's just 

[00:08:42] Bob Gatty: So basically the case against your son fell victim to this political strategy, I guess you could say. 

[00:08:51] Sandy Modell: Yeah, I think that's exactly what you'd say. She's never been able to explain it or defend it.

[00:08:56] And her office has consistently said for years when everybody asks. The police ruled it a murder. Everybody else thinks it's a murder. 

[00:09:05] Bob Gatty: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The police ruled it a murder but she won't prosecute even though the police ruled it a murder? 

[00:09:10] Sandy Modell: Yeah. The lead detective on it was a lieutenant. He's now been promoted to a captain. Seven of my book is his testimony that this is a murder. They believe it's a murder. They want it prosecuted. They don't understand what she's talking about. 

[00:09:24] Bob Gatty: Yeah. I read your I read that chapter now, Rick Scott now a senator who famously wants to put Social Security and Medicare on the shopping block,

[00:09:35] was governor when this happened, right? 

[00:09:38] Sandy Modell: Correct. 

[00:09:39] Bob Gatty: What did he do, if anything, about the case? 

[00:09:42] Sandy Modell: Nothing we, early on I always understood this was a difference of legal interpretation. It took a while for me to realize it had nothing to do with legal or the legalities. It was just all politics. So I had sent a petition to Scott. But he was in an election for the Senate and he just ignored it. And I, 

[00:10:02] Bob Gatty: So once again, politics rears its ugly head. 

[00:10:06] Sandy Modell: It did. It did. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen it on multiple occasions. , when Scott left and when Ron DeSantis campaigned uh, for the job. I met with him at a rally or at a fundraiser. And we talked about the case and he agreed with him, the case needs to be moved 

[00:10:18] Bob Gatty: Yeah. He even gave you, he even gave you his cell phone number, right? 

[00:10:22] Sandy Modell: I still have it. 

[00:10:23] Bob Gatty: Yeah. Does it work. 

[00:10:25] Sandy Modell: No. That number changed . So at changed, not by election night. 

[00:10:29] Bob Gatty: Did he ever do anything? 

[00:10:31] Sandy Modell: What happened was He told me at the time, and my memory's pretty good.

[00:10:34] Yeah. And it's in the book. He told me at the time, I explained what was going on and they just weren't doing their job. Wow. And he said, when local government fails to do their job, the governor has both the authority and the obligation to act. And he agreed with me. The case is just stuck in the 20th judicial circuit. All I've ever asked, move it to a different district and let an honest, objective state attorney or special prosecutor let somebody do an honest objective review and then let's see what happens. And Fox has refused to release the case because she knows someone else is gonna look at it, indict it, and it's gonna make her look like the hack she is. DeSantis has a petition on his desk, but for years, I've gotten no response.

[00:11:17] He's had one for three and a half years. I've submitted another one with additional evidence. He refuses to comment. If you go to his staff journalists have done this and said, What's the status on the petition? All they will ever say is it's under review. And it's been three and a half years. Yeah. 

[00:11:32] Bob Gatty: A long review.

[00:11:33] Sandy Modell: Keep in mind Rick Scott took a position that offended the NRA. I think it was on bumpstocks. And because of that, the NRA withdrew an endorsement from him for him, or didn't endorse him. And it cost Rick, from what I understand, an additional 10 million dollars out of his own pocket for his campaign for the Senate.

[00:11:54] Oh, now he's got the money. Someone like Ron DeSantis apparently does not wanna run a foul of the NRA, and he doesn't want to alienate a strong Republican. Like the Lee County area, right? So he's just been quiet about now it's interesting. Amira Fox has let several murders go. She tanked a grand jury against a murder.

[00:12:15] One of the jurors was so offended, they spoke with the press, and the press warned her, the reporter warned her, you can be held in contempt in jail. She said, I'm an 85 year old woman. What are they gonna do? And so she spoke out, the reporter, John Hackworth wrote a column about this, and it got a Pulitzer Prize because Amira Fox had tanked a murder, a grand jury.

[00:12:34] Cause she wanted to get rid of it. She didn't wanna take the case. It was about a prisoner. He was in a room alone with three guards and he died. He was beaten and died. Ah. And the jury wanted to indict. Amira didn't want the case, so she told them not to indict. And one of the jurors was incensed. So Amira's got a long list of this sort of thing, but DeSantis hasn't done anything.

[00:12:57] Now, if you look instead at Andrew Warren was the elected state attorney in Hillsborough County, and he happened to just say out loud that he might not enforce some of DeSantis anti-abortion laws. Okay. And just for speaking that out loud as a possibility, there's no case on the table.

[00:13:15] All right. But just for speaking out loud, not willing to enforce some of Desant new laws. Uhhuh DeSantis had 'em removed as state attorney that just happened this summer. Wow. Okay. So if you're a Democrat and there's a slight infraction or something you disagree with, Ron DeSantis will take action.

[00:13:34] But if you're an elected Republican, There's some others involved. They're in the book. If you're an elected Republican, he's more than happy to ignore it. . 

[00:13:44] Bob Gatty: Okay. Now in the book, you recount how this guy Taylor the guy that did the murder. Yeah. How he's targeting you. What's going on with that?

[00:13:53] Sandy Modell: I, he's just a sociopath. He's he's actually proud of himself. What happened was, We filed a a wrongful death suit. Yeah. Which is civil rather than criminal, so it's a lower standard. The the idea it, Taylor didn't have any money and so I wasn't looking for money. What I was looking for was an opportunity to have my attorneys to depose him.

[00:14:15] Okay. You have two years to file it. And we did. We filed just about the last month of the two year period. I really had no interest in filing it years ago. It just had to, and then you've got 90 days before you have to actually release it, 60 or 90. And we waited until the very end and then released it.

[00:14:28] And there was in fact process going back on a civil trial, on a civil process, civil suit. The the murderer felt that he was. Inconvenienced by this. He couldn't believe somebody would force him to defend himself. And he started sending me threatening texts. Okay. And some of them are listed in the book.

[00:14:49] There are lots of 'em. I just included a few. 

[00:14:51] Bob Gatty: Yeah, I saw some of 'em. They were pretty nasty. So what's your next step now? Sandy? 

[00:14:55] Sandy Modell: There are two things. First of all, I wrote the book. To tell the story. Yeah, because it gets a lot of cloudy stuff. Amira Fox for several years during her election or for a year during her election, claimed it was a burglary and a marine stepped in to defend his family.

[00:15:11] Bob Gatty: Yeah, I saw that 

[00:15:12] Sandy Modell: in his in his in his living room. Yeah. So it's burglary in his living room. The Marine stopped it. What it was never was in the house. And the guys the guy spent two years in the army 30 years ago. And there was nothing going on in the house.

[00:15:24] The crime actually occurred over a hundred yards from the house. Right now, there's something in Florida called a final report. Okay. When a, when. The state attorneys are our DAs. When a DA has a an assistant DA closes out a case, they write a final report, basically summarizing the case. Okay.

[00:15:44] One of the most important things in the case is location. Okay? Certainly in the stand you ground it is. , the final report that Amira's chosen state attorney, the final report that he wrote, omitted location.. 

[00:15:59] Bob Gatty: Really 

[00:16:00] Sandy Modell: just wasn't in the it didn't fit the narrative. If you wanna say there's a marine defending against the burglar in the living room, you can't say so So a hundred yards from his house, that's where he shot him.

[00:16:10] Bob Gatty: Yeah. . And it wasn't even a marine. 

[00:16:12] Sandy Modell: No. Not that it matters, but it matters. 

[00:16:15] Bob Gatty: Absolutely. But , 

[00:16:19] Sandy Modell: it's the accuracy. There was no burglary. The police knew. By the second or third day, they had all the facts and they knew there was no burglary. She was still on tape, she's on record at an event when her opponent said, Why haven't you prosecuted the murder?

[00:16:32] She is on record a year later at a at a political debate on tape saying it was a burglary. 

[00:16:38] Yeah. And what is all this done to you over these years? 

[00:16:41] I think you know the answer to that. It's it defies the natural order. Parents aren't supposed to bury children. It takes a toll on you, and if you don't think so, you're fooling yourself.

[00:16:50] It just, it takes a toll and you have to recognize that. Now I spent 35 years raising a family. Yeah. And in 14 months I lost two outta three. My wife had I'd lost my wife the previous year very suddenly. And, 

[00:17:03] Bob Gatty: Oh, that's a shame. 

[00:17:04] Sandy Modell: You know what the silver lining there is as much as I went through my entire life with a partner and as much as we faced all issues together.

[00:17:14] Sure. I'm really glad she didn't have to see this. Yeah. So that's the trade off. Yeah. But it takes a toll on you, physically, medically. It just does. 

[00:17:25] Bob Gatty: And you've spent a ton of time and effort and probably money fighting this case, right? 

[00:17:31] Sandy Modell: I have. Yeah, I have. 

[00:17:33] Bob Gatty: gonna quit. 

[00:17:35] Sandy Modell: No, Bob, if you look at the it was a funny interview.

[00:17:39] I did a press conference. A year and a half ago with Ben Crump down in Fort Myers, Uhhuh . And when the conference was over, they asked him if this doesn't work, are you done? . And he looked at him and smiled and he said, You just heard my client speak. What about his comments? Gave you the indication or Gave you the idea that he would ever quit And I.

[00:18:03] Bob Gatty: What do you intend to do? You're fighting a corrupt political system, it sounds and what can you do? What else can you do? 

[00:18:10] Sandy Modell: There are two things. First of all, once I realized the problem wasn't legal, I really didn't need an attorney.. I had great representation, with Mark O'Mara.

[00:18:19] I had great representation with Ben Crump and I consider him to be a friend. He's he's, I think he does a great job at a lot of things, and I enjoyed working with him and I felt it was a privilege. So now once I realized it wasn't a legal issue I didn't need attorneys, it turns out it's a political issue, which means I need publicity.

[00:18:39] Yeah. So I wrote the book to tell the story and to straighten the facts. Okay. And to gain publicity. Additionally I have been approached there's an interest in making this story into a movie. 

[00:18:50] Bob Gatty: It sounds like it should be. And folks the name of the book is Murder and Corruption in Florida, and the author is Sandy Modell.

[00:19:02] And this is a story about his son, who was murdered. The case has not been tried, the perpetrator has not been charged, and it's all wrapped up in Florida's political system, which in this area appears to be pretty corrupt. So if you I can tell you this. I read the book last night.. And Sandy does a great job of putting this all into perspective. It's well written and you need to take a look at it. If you have a chance. You really do. Where can people find it? Sandy? 

[00:19:39] It's on Amazon. There's an ebook as well as it's it's available in an ebook form as well as on a, in a paperback version.

[00:19:46] Okay. Is there anything else you'd like to add, my friend? 

[00:19:49] For those people that say you say you'll never give up, but Yeah. But how do you justify that? And the answer's very simple. There's no statute of limitations on murder. Yeah. So at some point, I'm gonna find an honest politician either in Fort Myers or in Tallahassee, or I'm gonna find a politician that finds it practical because people like you provide me with enough of a voice and enough publicity that they get the pressure that they make a choice.

[00:20:15] Right now, Ron DeSantis is chosen between the NRA and me. He's chosen between Amira Fox and me, and it's an easy discard. Sure, I get that. But if the if there's. Focus on this. If there's enough attention to it from people like you, then what happens? He now, the calculus changes, he now has to choose between taking care of Amira Fox, protecting her or the NRA, and actually worry about how much this is gonna hit him. Once that changes. I think it'll be an easy decision for him. And with either book sales with publicity granted by people such as you with the likelihood of a movie and if that comes out during his presidential run, I don't think it's favorable. I think all those things go into the pot and make it likely that at some point, DeSantis or somebody else is gonna do the right thing and they're gonna take a murderer and charge him.

[00:21:05] Sandy Modell: All we've ever said is, I want an. Objective review of the case and then let's see what happens. I believe it'll result in an indictment. I believe in fact, the testimony provided in the deposition for the civil suit is a virtual confession. And I believe trying and convicting the case will be a lot simpler than having gotten it to a new ju, a judicial circuit and an indictment.

[00:21:28] So once that happens, I believe some, at some point I believe, Some politician down in down in Fort Myers or up in Tallahassee, will do the right thing and they will indict or move the case. I believe the murderer will be indicted and will be convicted, and he'll be put in prison where he belongs. And until that happens, I'll keep working.

[00:21:50] Bob Gatty: This is a father fighting for his son and he's not gonna quit. You can tell that. Sandy, thank you for being with us. I'll lean to the left. I really appreciate it, and I hope that we can help shed some light on this on 

[00:22:04] this story for you. 

[00:22:05] Sandy Modell: Bob, it's been a pleasure. Thank you for having me on.