Which Cop is Lying? Undersheriff Donnie Clark’s testimony contradicted by FDLE Chief Investigator Keith Riddick

In March, Walton County Undersheriff Donnie Clark was deposed by the criminal defense attorneys for Joseph Turner, the former assistant county administrator, and Quinn Robertson, the former county administrator. In our previous post, we showed that Clark lied during his deposition when he was queried about whether or not the detective on the case, Miles Marthinsen, had issues with his polygraph examination during his application process.

Now we turn our attention to a second discrepancy in Clark’s testimony where his answers directly contradict statements made by Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Chief of Investigations Keith Riddick during his deposition.

Please note that at the time of the events discussed in these depositions, Clark was second-in-command to Sheriff Mike Adkinson and his actual title was “Chief Deputy.” Since then, his title was changed to “Undersheriff.”

First, some context is needed.

In December 2023, former county administrator Robertson requested a meeting with Clark for the purposes of requesting an investigation into a potential criminal conspiracy that included Commissioner Danny Glidewell. Robertson and Turner had seen material on a county-owned iPad that had belonged to a former employee who had synced his personal iCloud account to the device.

Instead of investigating the commissioner, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) opened an investigation into the actions of Robertson and Turner in January 2024. They were initially charged with two felony counts, with one of the charges being for the interception of text message communications.

Shortly after opening the investigation, the WCSO sought to conflict itself off of the case. Undersheriff Clark requested that the FDLE take over the investigation in a transfer letter. The letter plainly stated that they had only conducted a “cursory investigation” and that “further investigation for the determination of criminal liability” is required.

But some utterly bizarre information was learned when FDLE Investigator Riddick was questioned by Robertson’s attorney, Stephen Webster.

Riddick claimed that he was contacted by Undersheriff Clark and was verbally told not to investigate Robertson and Turner, but to instead investigate Commissioner Donna Johns who was the strongest advocate for Robertson and Turner on the entire Board.

Here is a screenshot of the exchange between Webster and Riddick on Page 62:18 of the deposition:

Riddick states numerous times that he was in communication with Chief Deputy Clark. He is very clear about this because he has to correct himself with respect to his title when he was questioned by Turner’s attorney, Katie Bogenschutz. Here are two screenshots from pages 13 and 19 of the aforementioned Riddick deposition.

To be clear, Riddick is emphatic about and repeatedly states the following two things:

1. He never investigated Quinn Robertson or Joseph Turner because he was asked to focus on Commissioner Donna Johns, and
2. He was verbally asked to focus on Commissioner Johns by Undersheriff/Chief Deputy Donald Clark

Now, let’s go back to the deposition testimony provided by Clark because his statements directly contradict the testimony of Riddick. He is emphatically clear about the following:

1. He never communicated with FDLE Chief of Investigations Riddick

Here are several screenshots from the Clark deposition:

So, which top cop do you think is lying?

I will tell you that I believe Undersheriff Donnie Clark is lying and here are the following reasons why:

1. He already lied when he said he had no knowledge of Detective Miles Marthinsen having an issue with his polygraph examination,
2. There is an additional discrepancy in Clark’s testimony that I have not yet revealed, and
3. Riddick gave devastating testimony saying that he told State Attorney Josh Mitchell there wasn’t a case against Robertson and Turner and the prosecutor has not provided any Brady/Giglio disclosures to the defendants stating that Riddick had lied under oath

It will be fun to watch both of them testify under oath before a jury assuming this case ever goes to trial. Which in and of itself will be bizarre since both the WCSO and the FDLE have stated that they did not investigate Robertson and Turner.