Howard Frankland stabbing: Defense for former federal prosecutor seeking evidence on victim
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Attorneys for the former federal prosecutor, who is facing charges in the 2023 stabbing incident on the Howard Frankland Bridge, filed new court documents last week.
Patrick Scruggs was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault and burglary back in 2023.
Howard Frankland Bridge stabbing
The backstory:
A Tampa resident had just dropped his kids off at school and was heading to his job with a commercial construction company when he said he fainted while driving over the Howard Frankland Bridge, according to his August 2024 deposition.
RELATED: Suspect in Howard Frankland Bridge stabbing worked as federal prosecutor
Scruggs wielding a knife on the Howard Frankland Bridge.
Two good Samaritans stopped and tried to wake him up. But when the Tampa resident came to, he reportedly accelerated quickly, hit the good samaritans’ car, and then hit Scruggs’ passing vehicle.
That’s when Scruggs got out with his pocket knife. The former federal prosecutor is accused of then stabbing the Tampa resident several times through the driver’s side window.
Where does the case stand?
What we know:
Last week, Scruggs’ attorneys filed a motion for "Brady evidence."
Howard Frankland Bridge
"Essentially, what Brady material is, is material that's favorable to the defendant," Tampa criminal defense attorney Hunter Chamberlin, who isn’t involved in this particular case, told FOX 13. "The state attorneys have to give to the defendant everything that is relevant or related to the case, including things that might be both inculpatory and exculpatory. So in other words, if there is a fingerprint that was found at the crime scene that does not match the defendant, even though that doesn't help the state, they have to turn that over. That is what is called Brady material."
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Filing this kind of motion is not abnormal, Chamberlin said. Basically, Scruggs’ defense team wants to know more about the Tampa resident their client is accused of stabbing.
"That's what the motion is exploring, is to see if he has credibility issues that the state attorney's office is aware of," Chamberlin said. "To see if the state attorney's office made him any kind of offers to help him with his underlying criminal case in exchange for his cooperation."
Mugshot of Patrick Scruggs (Courtesy: Pinellas County Jail).
Digging Deeper on the Victim:
New court documents describe that Tampa resident as being a "confidential informant for Pinellas County." Before the bridge incident, he reportedly called an investigator from the state attorney’s office. So now Scruggs’ defense team wants to see records of that communication and to know if there was any "favorable treatment" given.
When asked about being a confidential informant for Pinellas County in his deposition, the Tampa resident said, "I aided them in busting a lot of fentanyl dealers." He added he was not working with the county at the time of the bridge incident.
FOX 13 reached out to Scruggs' defense team and the Pinellas State Attorney's Office, but have not heard back.
What's next:
Online records show the trial for this case is set to begin next month.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia. It includes details from Pinellas County court documents as well as previous reporting from 2023.
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