Nichole spent seven months investigating the 30-year-old prosecution against Kenneth Hartley, a project The Tributary published last month under the heading “Cold-Blooded.” Here, she answers some questions about the story, how it was reported, and what’s next.
Category: Cold Blooded
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
‘Open for business:’ It pays to be an informant. Telling the truth is optional
It is no mystery why detainees will seize the chance to testify that they heard someone confess – whether true or not.
![Prosecutor George Bateh speaks with the media after a hearing in Kenneth Hartley's murder case. [contributed by News4Jax video archives]](https://i0.wp.com/floridatrib.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Screenshot-2025-04-24-at-10.17.56%E2%80%AFAM.png?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
George Bateh put 15 men on Death Row – and was rebuked twice by Florida’s Supreme Court
George Bateh was good at putting people on Death Row. Whether that was the work of a righteous prosecutor or a sneaky courtroom tactician is a question at the heart of the legacy he left behind after more than 30 years in the State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit.
Posted inFlorida News Articles & Reporting
How a Florida prosecutor fixed a ‘weak’ case using a liar and 3 jailhouse snitches to send a man to Death Row
The Tributary’s ‘Cold-Blooded’ series is a seven-month investigation unraveling the 1993 murder prosecution that sent a man to Death Row on the word of a known liar and three jailhouse informants.