THE TRUTH ABOUT NATALEE: WHAT THE RECORDS ACTUALLY SHOW

JAMAICAN YOUNG POLICE

1 day ago

8 min read

Ladies and gentlemen, sometimes you see somebody on television. You hear somebody speaking publicly. You hear politicians talking about them. You hear political activists talking about them. And after a while, you form an image of that person in your mind.

But then something happens.

You see another side.

Now watch this video.

Listen carefully to Natalee Nicola Pryce.

Because when I heard this, I said, "Wait a minute! Is this the same Natalee?"

I heard the colorful language. I heard the aggression. I heard the unmistakable Jamaican street expression.

And I couldn't help smiling because, although Natalee wasn't born in the "Belly of the Beast" where I was born and raised, what I heard sounded familiar.

Jones Town. Concrete Jungle. Kingston 12.

Those communities produced all kinds of people—police officers, soldiers, professionals, mothers, fathers, hardworking Jamaicans—and, yes, people who learned how to stand their ground verbally when challenged.

But this is where the story gets serious.

A mugshot purporting to relate to Natalee was sent to me. The accompanying record says that a 25-year-old Natalee Nicola Pryce was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida, on June 24, 2010, for "battery—touch or strike," with the notation "domestic."

Now listen carefully:

An arrest is not a conviction.

A mugshot is not proof of guilt.

And an allegation is not evidence that somebody committed the crime alleged.

I contacted Natalee.

I allowed her to explain what happened.

According to my message records, she read my message, but I received no response.

And that's her right. Silence doesn't prove guilt either.

But tonight, we're going somewhere else.

We're separating politics from evidence, rumors from records, allegations from convictions, and a person's public image from what the available documents actually establish.

And Natalee herself has now publicly raised this old case while responding to Isat Buchanan.

So tonight:

THE TRUTH ABOUT NATALEE: WHAT DO THE RECORDS ACTUALLY SHOW?

Watch. Listen. And then make up your own mind.

Before we go any further, I want to establish something that will govern this entire presentation.

Data is king.

And if the data contradicts something I believed yesterday, then tomorrow I must change my position.

That's what credibility requires.

This isn't about convicting Natalee Nicola Pryce on YouTube.

It isn't about taking a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old booking photograph and pretending that photograph tells us everything about a human being.

And it certainly isn't about using an arrest as a substitute for a conviction.

It is about asking:

What happened?

THE VIDEO SHOWS ANOTHER SIDE

First, let's talk about this video.

Natalee!

Where did THAT come from?

Because the Natalee many Jamaicans see publicly may not be the Natalee they're hearing in this particular recording.

When I heard that language, I was shocked.

But I was also laughing because I recognize that style of communication.

I was born at 38 Asquith Street, Jones Town, Kingston 12, and grew up between Jones Town and Concrete Jungle.

So I know the language.

I know the mannerisms.

I know the verbal combat.

And what I'm hearing from Natalee reminds me of the environment where I grew up in.

But here's an important distinction.

That doesn't make somebody a criminal.

Using profanity doesn't make somebody guilty of battery.

Being confrontational doesn't establish probable cause for an arrest sixteen years earlier.

And being able to defend yourself verbally certainly doesn't establish what happened during an entirely separate domestic incident.

So I'm not going to commit the very mistake I'm warning everybody else against.

The video is evidence of how Natalee behaved in that video. That's it.

It doesn't retroactively prove the allegations contained in an old arrest record.

THEN CAME THE MUGSHOT

Somebody subsequently sent me what appears to be an old arrest record.

And I looked at it.

The screenshot identifies:

Natalee Nicola Pryce.

Arrest age: 25.

West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Florida.

Arrested: June 24, 2010.

And then:

Battery—touch or strike.

Notes:

Domestic.

Immediately, I wanted more information.

Because anybody who understands policing understands something very important:

An arrest record tells you that somebody was arrested.

It doesn't automatically tell you what happened afterward.

Where is the probable-cause affidavit?

Where are the witness statements?

What did the complainant allege?

What did Natalee say?

Were there injuries?

Were photographs taken?

Were there independent witnesses?

Did the accounts conflict?

What did the prosecutor subsequently determine?

Was a criminal information filed?

Was prosecution declined?

Was the case dismissed?

And, most importantly:

What was the final disposition?

Those are the questions an investigator asks.

WHAT DOES "BATTERY—TOUCH OR STRIKE" MEAN?

Florida law is important here.

Under Florida's battery statute, a person commits battery when the person actually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against that person's will, or intentionally causes bodily harm.

Notice something important.

The statute doesn't require the kind of serious physical attack that some people imagine when they hear the word "battery."

An unwanted intentional touching can potentially satisfy the statutory definition.

That makes the underlying facts extremely important.

And that is exactly why nobody should look at the word BATTERY on an arrest website and immediately announce:

"She’s guilty."

No.

That's not how justice works.

I CONTACTED NATALEE

When this material came to me, I didn't immediately run to Jamaican Young Police and make a video.

I contacted Natalee.

I wanted her explanation.

Because fairness requires hearing both sides whenever possible.

According to the messaging information available to me, the message was read.

I didn't receive a response.

Now some people will say:

"Sir P, why didn't she answer you?"

I don't know.

And neither do you.

Maybe she didn't want to revisit something from 2010.

Maybe she didn't believe she owed me an explanation.

Maybe she was advised not to discuss it.

Maybe there is another explanation entirely.

We don't know.

And I'm not going to convert somebody's silence into evidence against them.

That's an important principle.

THEN NATALEE HERSELF BROUGHT UP THE CASE

But now something interesting has happened.

Natalee herself has publicly referred to the old allegation while responding to political criticism.

She specifically called out Isat Buchanan, according to the video we're examining, for labeling her by reference to this old matter.

That changes the public conversation—not because it establishes what happened in 2010, but because Natalee herself is addressing the allegation publicly.

And this is where I want Jamaican Young Police viewers to understand something.

You can dislike somebody politically and still treat them fairly.

You can disagree with everything somebody says and still recognize the presumption of innocence.

Likewise, you can support somebody politically without rewriting their history.

Politics should not determine what the evidence says.

AN ARREST IS NOT A CONVICTION

I especially want younger viewers to understand this.

During my years as a police officer, I learned that the decision to arrest someone and the ultimate determination of criminal responsibility are not the same.

Police establish probable cause.

Prosecutors evaluate cases.

Courts adjudicate cases.

Evidence gets challenged.

Witnesses sometimes change their accounts.

Evidence can prove weaker than originally believed.

Sometimes an officer makes a lawful arrest, and the prosecutor still declines prosecution.

Sometimes cases are dismissed for procedural reasons.

Sometimes defendants are acquitted.

And sometimes the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Those outcomes are not interchangeable.

Therefore, if somebody puts a mugshot on Facebook and says:

"Look! Criminal!"

My response is:

Show me the disposition.

AND THIS IS WHERE THE STORY MAY BECOME MUCH BIGGER

There is another part of this investigation that I am deliberately not giving you tonight.

I have spoken with a detective who says he has intimate knowledge of this matter.

I'm not going to put words in that detective's mouth.

I won't reveal information prematurely.

And I'm certainly not going to transform an officer's opinion into a judicial finding.

When I'm ready to present that information, I want you to hear exactly what was communicated and then compare it with whatever underlying documentation we can authenticate.

Because if questions existed about the original investigation or probable cause, that's significant.

But those questions have to be demonstrated, not merely shouted.

That may be Part Two.

DON'T WEAPONIZE A MUGSHOT

This is where I have a message for everybody involved in Jamaican politics.

If the allegation against Natalee did not ultimately result in a conviction, don't display the mugshot as though it did.

If charges were dropped, say they were dropped—once that disposition is independently verified.

If prosecutors declined to proceed, describe precisely what the records say.

If there was a conviction, say that.

If adjudication was withheld, say that.

Whatever happened:

Tell the whole story.

Because there is an enormous difference between:

"Natalee Pryce was arrested,"

and:

"Natalee Pryce was convicted."

Those statements are not synonymous.

WHAT ABOUT NATALEE'S LANGUAGE?

Now Natalee, I've got to come back to this video.

Because you surprised me!

I heard some expressions and said:

"Lord have mercy! Who taught Natalee THAT?"

That sounded like something straight from Kingston 12.

But underneath the humor is something worth discussing.

Human beings are complicated.

The polished person you see in public can get angry.

The quiet person can become loud.

The professional can use profanity.

The person you dislike can sometimes be right.

And the person you admire can sometimes be wrong.

That's why evaluating people based solely upon curated public images is dangerous.

But again:

Her behavior in this video does not prove the 2010 allegation.

I'm repeating that deliberately because I don't want anybody clipping this presentation and claiming Jamaican Young Police said otherwise.

THIS IS BIGGER THAN NATALEE

This story presents a broader lesson about criminal justice.

Imagine being arrested at 25.

Sixteen years later, somebody finds your booking photograph.

They post it online.

People who weren't there start filling in the missing pieces themselves.

Suddenly:

Arrest becomes conviction.

Allegation becomes fact.

Mugshot becomes character evidence.

That's dangerous.

And as a former police officer, I won't participate in that.

Give me the records.

Give me the affidavit.

Give me the docket.

Give me the disposition.

Give me the evidence.

Then we can analyze it.

TO NATALEE

Natalee, if you ever see this presentation, my invitation remains simple.

If you want to explain what happened, Jamaican Young Police will listen.

If documents establish that this case was unfounded, I want those documents.

If the arrest was unsupported, show me.

If the case was dropped, give me the disposition.

And if the public narrative is missing context, you're entitled to present it.

Because this shouldn't be about destroying Natalee.

It should be about establishing the truth.

AND TO ISAT BUCHANAN

The same evidentiary standard applies to anybody discussing this case publicly.

If you're going to characterize another person through an old criminal allegation, then the disposition matters.

Not just the mugshot.

Not just the arrest.

The whole record.

Political disagreement doesn't eliminate that responsibility.

MY FINAL MESSAGE

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I showed you two very different things.

You've seen a video presenting a side of Natalee that some viewers may never have seen.

And you've seen an image purporting to document an arrest from June 24, 2010.

Don't combine those two pieces of information and manufacture a conclusion the evidence doesn't establish.

That's not investigation.

That's confirmation bias.

Our job is harder.

Follow the evidence wherever it goes.

If the evidence vindicates Natalee, say so.

If it raises legitimate questions, ask them.

If somebody falsely characterizes an arrest as a conviction, correct them.

And if additional authenticated records change the story, update the story.

Because Jamaican Young Police has a simple principle:

Substance Over Popularity.

I have information from a detective who claims intimate knowledge of this case.

That's coming.

When it comes, we'll compare what that detective says against the documents—not political propaganda.

Until then, don't convict this woman because somebody showed you a mugshot.

And don't exonerate anybody merely because you like their politics.

Evidence first. Politics last.