"The Florida Highway Patrol has received information that Tiger Woods and his wife were not available to be interviewed by state troopers, as we had previously scheduled."

A news release from the Florida Highway Patrol. They don't sound pleased:

The Florida Highway Patrol has received information that Tiger Woods and his wife were not available to be interviewed by state troopers, as we had previously scheduled.  This announcement came from his agent.  Troopers were asked to return tomorrow (November 29th).   This is still an ongoing crash investigation.  The 9-1-1 tapes provided to FHP investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s office have not been reviewed by the investigating trooper.  Once that has been done and we determine whether or not it is pertinent to our case, I will advise you when those will be released.  (They will be sent via email when they are released).  Please remember there is no specific timeline on when that will occur.  The Florida Highway Patrol is the sole agency investigating this traffic crash. The Florida Highway Patrol will not address any other statements that have been circulating throughout this incident, unless those statements were made specifically by this agency.  Currently, there is no other information to be released.  At this time, there is no press conference scheduled.  I will send out all future updates via email.  Thank you for your patience, I have received numerous inquires.  If there is a media outlet that would like to be added to the list, please send me an email.
 
Sgt. Kim Montes
Public Affairs Officer
Florida Highway Patrol

It should also be noted that in the emailed release, the sentence "This is still an ongoing crash investigation" was in bold.

Comments

[Jim]

Geoff-This is getting to be a real soap opera

[DGS]

I guess money talks, or rather, refuses to talk.

If I'm ever involved in a traffic accident, wonder if the cops will be so nice as to interview me at MY convenience???? I think not.

[dbcooper]

Trying to buy time to heal the scratches that Elin inflicted?

What a mess.

[Sooner Dave]

Anyone missing the Skins Game now? The covering their Skin game is much more interesting!!!

[Squeaky]

This guy is a piece of work. Is there anyone who believes the story he and his wife put out? I suppose Jim Nantz over at CBS is buying it, and will be ready to talk with Tiger about "all the harmful speculation, all the adversity" and leave it at that. There's a bet -- Nantz, or someone like him, gets the first interview.

[Chema]

Why is this still a police matter? The only person injured was Woods. The only property damage was Tiger's SUV and the hydrant, and Tiger's good for the cost of the hydrant. Shouldn't the FHP get back to setting up unconstitutional sobriety checkpoints?

[Aunt Blabbie]

They lie to police, then refuse to see them. What's wrong with this picture?

[jjshaka]

Team Tiger needs at least one more day.
It's hard work to coordinate a tissue of lies to save everyones phony baloney jobs.

[Lucien Rubenstein]

I think there is a good chance Tiger will 'fess up, as it were. A true confession of sorts. I think he is smart enough to know that it is better not to compound lies, it looks worse if the truth comes out later, etc. If he confesses, he has more control over the situation. It might be something generic--"Elin and I got into an argument over something written about me, and I exercised poor judgement...." etc.

[the Q]

I think they are delaying to hear whats on the 911 tapes.

They don't want to contradict what a neighbor or On star might have reported, hence the decision to
wait.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

As a friend who has been a prosecutor recommends...Rule #1 when the police ask for your cooperation: Don't. They can't make you say anything, and only a fool talks because "he has nothing to hide" or because he wants to be "helpful." Most criminals are caught because they are stupid and can't keep their mouths shut, not because they are criminals. Not that anything criminal happened here, as Chema notes. Stupid, yes. Embarrassing, most definitely. Hard to explain, ditto. Cringe inducing, yep. Something that brings out the schadenfreude in too many of us, of course. But Tiger's general attitude toward the "public" has brought that out. And therein lies the rub for Tiger and Elin. Long term, probably not much to worry about.

[10024]

Good points Q. And as for that OnStar, depending on what's going on OnStar has real capability to not be your friend. Aside from that, their radio commercials just really suck, I have to turn the radio off when the OnStar commercial starts.

What are the odds that Tiger shows up to play in his own event? Wonder how banged up his face really is...

[Lucien Rubenstein]

A lawyer friend once told me, as Ky implies, that police are not really your "friends." I think, though, given Tiger's image, his public persona, he will tell a truncated version of the truth.

[Chris]

IF they say anything to the police, they must make sure not to make a false statement, which is a crime. They are not required by law to say anything. Since they live in a gated community, the roads must be private. This may or may not create jurisdictional issues under Florida law. It would appear that the government only has traffic control authority if the homeowner's group has allowed it. The web reference to Florida law is here: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0316/Sec006.HTM
It might be reasonable to expect that the Woods's delays in speaking to the police have something to do with giving their lawyers time to craft the correct legal strategy. The legal strategy needs to take precedence over the public relations strategy. If any potential legal issues can be contained quickly, it will be much easier to deal with the public relations side. If an ongoing legal case ensues, it will create an ongoing challenge for the public relations strategy.

Given the family history of privacy, saying nothing to the police AND nothing to the media is a reasonable pssibility. If one of them has said something to the police, the legal and public relations strategy will have to work around that.

[timbuck2]

Blame the gas pedal ! Why it would not happen if he drives the Buick !?

[Brad Ford]

As a former criminal defense attorney, I can tell you that Team Tiger's legal strategy is 100% correct. If there was an incident of domestic abuse (and it seems likely Tiger may have been the victim) and they don't want anyone charged, they need to keep quiet about what happened prior to the accident.

As a prior poster correctly notes, they are not legally required to speak to the police.

WIth respect to the gated community issue, most state traffic laws are limited "public" roads. If they are investigating a traffic accident, their jurisdiciton is probably limited (I am no licensed in Florida. As a result, I am not sure). Nevertheless, the police do have jurisdiction to investigate domestic violence inside gated communities.

[Edwards]

It is time for the circus to stop. Tiger had an accident as zillions of people have had.
If there is property damage, his insurance company will handle. What happened to privacy of
an individual family. Once the media think, "They have a right to know", it weaken privacy rights for all.
Since there is money involved with sensationalism, media will cross the basic boundary to
air anyone's dirty laundry.

My advice to Tiger is to handle the legal ramilifications and separate the private matters.

It is unfortunate that payday for some is based on the total disclosure of others.

[thusgone]

edwards' comments would have a lot more moral force if team tiger's payday did not depend so heavily on partial disclosure. this is the downside of getting paid for being a superstar who hires out his public persona to the highest bidder, when something like this happens he finds that he has also sold his right to privacy (if such a thing ever existed).

but even workaday schlubs like you and me have no right to privacy when the police get involved. check out the "police activity" section of your local paper if you don't believe me.

[Chema]

Ky is right. Never talk to the police. The police care only about notching another conviction, regardless of the facts. Woods is handling this exactly the way he should.

[Why Me]

My advice to Tiger Wood personally I think you are doing the right thing by not talking because wheather you right or wrong you still in trouble, so the less you tallk the better off you are. If you tallk or make any type statement they will beat you at your own words. So Tiger I would stay quit and dont give them anything to fight with but their own investigation . The Law Do States Anything you say may be hold againt you. So Tiger Wood you better think about it and do what you do best.

[Why Me]

My advice to Tiger Wood personally I think you are doing the right thing by not talking because wheather you right or wrong you still in trouble, so the less you tallk the better off you are. If you tallk or make any type statement they will beat you at your own words. So Tiger I would stay quit and dont give them anything to fight with but their own investigation .

If I'm correct The Law Do States: Anything you say may or can be held againt you. So Tiger Wood you better think about it and do what you do best.

[Why Me]

My advice to Tiger Wood personally I think you are doing the right thing by not talking because wheather you right or wrong you still in trouble, so the less you tallk the better off you are. If you tallk or make any type statement they will beat you at your own words. So Tiger I would stay quit and dont give them anything to fight with but their own investigation .

If I'm correct did the The Law States: You have the rights to attain attorney or any thing that you say could be held againt you so Tiger Wood you better think about it, its gone to far out of hand. Tiger Wood do what you do best.