Criminal Justice Bills Made Law in Florida Fill Rotting Loopholes

04/09/12

It's natural for attorneys and state bureaucracy to find and use loopholes in laws to defend their clients or their actions, even though such loopholes create self-defeating situations for both the law and the constitution. On Friday, Florida Governor Rick Perry signed into law a few bills on criminal justice with two aimed to close such loopholes left long in the words of the statute. The loopholes that have been patched now, but were found and used by lawyers and statutory authorities serve as pointers to students of law and attorneys.

HB 173

For instance, HB 173, signed into law on Friday fills a gap that no human could have considered as a gap or oversight, but Florida authorities apparently did, and for long years. The loophole came to the fore in the case of Eric Perez, a minor who died in a juvenile lock-up in Palm Beach County.

The state's chief financial officer, Jeff Atwater, known to worship numbers to the exclusion of all other emotions and reason, refused to pay for the minor's funeral expenses. Perez's body, dead while in juvenile lock-up, remained without grace while the authorities were busy showing the law. When the media queried on the matter, Mark Merry, the chief of auditing of Jeff Atwater said the state ‘lacks statutory authority' of making payments for those dying in juvenile lock-ups and in state custody.

Eventually Perez was buried after his death at a West Palm Beach detention center and the bill of $7600 was raised on his family. Later, after a fight in the courts and media, the state ultimately reimbursed $5000 toward the funeral expenses to the family.

HB 173 patches the loophole and allows state authorities to pay for the funeral expenses of minors who die in juvenile lock-ups.

HB 37, (Caylee's Law)

Caylee Anthony, a 2-year old girl, was reportedly taken by her mother Casey Anthony out for a ride on June 16, 2008 and failed to return. Caylee's grandparents phoned her mother repeatedly and wanted to talk with the child but her mother kept reporting that she was busy in work and Caylee was with a nanny. On July 13, 2008, Caylee's grandfather found a notice from the post office informing that the car of Caylee's mother was in a tow yard. When Caylee's grandfather George went to pick up the car, both he and the tow yard attendant notice putrid odor coming from the trunk. On the day Caylee's grandfather visited the tow yard, Cindy Anthony, Caylee's mother, reported the girl as missing. In December 2008 Caylee's remains were found in a wooded area near the family home.

There were a huge number of discrepancies between the signed statements of Caylee's mother and proven evidence, as also the different versions of the happening she came up with during the trial. In absence of direct evidence from the prosecution connecting Cindy Anthony with the murder, Cindy's defendants termed the allegations of the prosecution as “fantasy forensics.”

The jury had no other option, but to acquit Cindy Anthony of all charges and just sentence her for four years for providing false information to a law enforcement officer.

Little Caylee was vindicated when on Friday HB 37 was passed into law making it third degree felony to lie or provide false information to a law enforcement officer with respect to a missing child. Under the current law, Cindy would have been sentenced up to 20 years in prison.