2:10 p.m. - Central Time

Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg attorney who in 1981 became the first black prosecutor in Pinellas County and former president of the local NAACP chapter, said he was disappointed with the verdict, but supported the system of justice that rendered that decision.

Reached at his office an hour-and-a-half after the verdict was announced, Rouson said he had not yet heard the news.

“I sent a text message to Pam Bondi (one of three prosecutors from Hillsborough County who presented the case in Panama City over the past two weeks), telling her no matter what happened, she should walk proudly and with confidence that she has done all that God had appointed her to do,” Rouson said. Bondi sent a message back, thanking him, he said. That was before the verdict was reached early this afternoon.

“This was an extremely tough case for the prosecution,” Rouson said. “We cannot always form our opinions by just watching a videotape. A picture does not always tell a thousand words. While the video is graphic, in what we think happened, only through description and being vetted can you come to conclusion about what really occurred.”

Rouson said he spent several nights over the past couple of weeks watching the case late at night on television replays. He watched the testimony of some of the drill instructors and expert witnesses. He said defense attorneys did a superb job during the trial. They are a credit to the profession, he said.

“This case was charged with so much politics it wasn’t funny,” Rouson said. “I commend (Hillsborough State Attorney Mark) Ober’s office in doing stand-up, great job in trying to get justice. No one should be rooting for guilt or innocence here. Our system is about making justice transparent, allowing the institution of a jury trial to work.”

Rouson said he is not going to decry the verdict out of racial issues.

“It would be sensational for me to come out and yell this is a miscarriage of justice,” Rouson said. “I’m not going to jump on that bandwagon. I do disagree with it. But, I support the system, I’m proud of the system, as all lawyers should be. It’s sometimes flawed but it is still the greatest justice system in the world.

“My heart goes out to the family, this is a tragedy,” he said, “and my heart goes out to governor, who stuck his neck out on a limb to wrangle money before a verdict came down. Many blasted him for that. He was just trying to stop the bleeding.”

He said the race question is still, “one of the most evocative, provocative issues in our society today. On any given today, the white community will line up on one side, the black community will line up on the other and the Hispanic side will be on the third side. In between all of that lies the truth.”

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