Telephone 561/585-5600

Mr. Tom Giuffrida, Publisher

The Palm Beach Post

2751 South Dixie Highway

Dear Mr. Giuffrida,

I’m not sure if you’re the person to whom we should be writing. But, the editorial staff of the Post continues to ignore us, so we shall try.

Paul Scott, an innocent man on Florida’s death row, has written a letter to you, enclosed, for your information. He was elated over the recent (August 26, 1999) Post editorial advocating ending capital punishment to eliminate the chance of wrongful killings. Paul’s letter is unedited, just as I received it. As you may know, he has been in his Raiford cell for 21 years now, wrongfully convicted of a Boca Raton murder.

As Paul has observed, prosecutors are caught up in this game of winning, damn the facts. I can only presume you are aware of the 82 (since 1976) wrongful death row convictions the other newspapers report about, I rarely see them mentioned in the Post. Or the 62 additional wrongful convictions attorney Barry Scheck has overturned with DNA testing. Can you not see a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct here? And, by the way, there are many, many other innocents locked away, to make headlines when some courageous newspaper decides to go after the rest of the story.

On August 21, 1999, the Post ran a front-page article on Scott, with its usual one-sided slant on the "man who killed Boca florist" in 1979. It gives its usual quote from the prosecutor (whose word Post reporters take for the gospel) in that case, Mr. Ken Selvig: "The only question even subject to debate is how much of a role he had."

Just in case you are interested, Paul Scott had left the house where the murder occurred 3½ hours before it took place. Richard Kondian returned with two other men, long after Scott was gone, and ended Mr. Alessi’s life. We have positive proof of this, including the killer’s actual confession, the murder weapon Mr. Selvig kept secret for 15 years, and so much more.

For reasons unknown to us, the Post refuses to print our letters to the editor, which make it clear Paul is only one of the wrongfully convicted on death row. All the original jurors now know the truth; it is only the Palm Beach Post and Mr. Selvig who cling to the fable he created 21 years ago. Investigators for the CBS 48Hours program are now busily proving fellow Florida death row inmate Crosley Green’s innocence. Can Scott’s 15 minutes of fame be far behind? Why does the Post avoid this story?

Sincerely,

Bob Pauley