Defense lawyers grab video from Hogan accident

By: Mike Deeson

Clearwater, Florida - On the night of the accident, surveillance cameras at businesses along Court Street captured video of Nick "Hogan" Bollea's car as well as the Dodge Viper police say he was racing with.

One of Jeff Garland's surveillance camera's at Jeff's Jeep Yard was focused on Court St. Missouri Avenue. Garland says he saw Bollea's Toyota Supra pull up next to the Viper at the stop light. The video allegedly showed them interacting with a motorcycle that was also at the light. After they got done talking, Garland says the video then shows the motorcycle pulling a wheelie and the cars driving off.

Within seconds, Bollea's car went out of control and crashed, and within hours, investigators working for Bollea's attorneys collected all the video surveillance from businesses in the area. Garland was out of town and received a call from one of his employees.

On the phone, Garland thought "that local enforcement or the state attorney's office came to retrieve information off my surveillance system."

But to Garland's surprise, the video was actually turned over to a defense attorney. Garland says he called that defense attorney and asked if he was going to turn that evidence over to the state, and the attorney replied he wasn't required to do that.

"He said it was privy at the time and they didn't have to disclose it," Garland says. "I didn't understand the legal mumbo jumbo, but I feel there was something not correct."

Attorney Lee Fugate says his firm did get all the video and it will be available to the state attorney during discovery, when both sides have to share their evidence.

But the state did get one video, because Garland had an extra copy.

"They were here in two hours when I told them we obtained a copy of the DVD," Garland says.