Title: Relief/James Joseph Richardson/DOC

Summary: Provides for relief of James Joseph Richardson by State of Florida; provides for appropriation to compensate James Joseph Richardson for length of time in prison sustained as result of his wrongful conviction by the state. CLAIM WITH APPROPRIATION:

Full Text:
WHEREAS, James Joseph Richardson, a migrant farm worker, was arrested on or about October 31, 1967, indicted by a grand jury in December 1967, and found gu ilty of first-degree felony murder in May 1968, and WHEREAS, James Joseph Richardson was sentenced to death and spent four years of his original prison term on death row, until the Florida Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional, and his sentence became life in prison, and WHEREAS, in August 1988, the Richardsons' babysitter, Betsy Reese, admitted to two of her nursing home assistants that she had killed all seven of the Richardson children, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune exposed her ad missions publicly in a printed story, and WHEREAS, in October 1988, Governor Bob Martinez received a stolen box of materials that came from the Office of the State Attorney, and the contents indicated that there was exculpatory WHEREAS, Governor Martinez issued three executive orders assigning State Attorney Janet Reno to investigate the murder of the Richardson children, and Attorney General Bob Butterworth concluded that James Joseph Richardson had not received a fair trial, and WHEREAS, James Joseph Richardson was released from prison in April 1989, pending a final investigative report and conclusions by State Attorney Janet Reno, and WHEREAS, on May 5, 1989, State Attor ney Janet Reno filed a Memorandum of Nolle Prosequi, and the court vacated James Joseph Richardson's judgment, conviction, and sentence in 1989, and WHEREAS, the Legislature enacted the Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act on July 1, 2008, a fter which James Joseph Richardson timely filed a petition for the status as a wrongfully incarcerated person who is eligible for compensation with the Twelfth Judicial Circuit in DeSoto County, and WHEREAS, although James Joseph Richardson initially sett led in a lawsuit with DeSoto County over his wrongful prosecution, the state contested his claim and an administrative law judge found that although there was an absence of evidence proving Richardson guilty, there was not enough evidence showing James Joseph Richardson's innocence, which is a requirement under the Victims of Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Act, and WHEREAS, the trial court denied James Joseph Richardson's wrongful prosecution claim, and WHEREAS, despite substantial evidence that Jame sJoseph Richardson was innocent, the state argued that he had poisoned his children's food with parathion to recover their life insurance proceeds, and WHEREAS, Gerald Purvis, the agent who attempted to sell insurance policies to James Joseph Richardson, specified on two separate occasions to investigators that, because James Joseph Richardson had not paid any of the insurance premiums, he had informed James Joseph Richardson that the policies were ineffective, and WHEREAS, Gerald Purvis's transcribed st atements indicated that the policies had never been in effect and that Richardson had understood them to be invalid, but these statements were not provided to James Joseph Richardson or his attorney, and WHEREAS, additionally, Reverend Fagan also made a statement that was not disclosed to James Joseph Richardson's attorney about a conversation he had with James Joseph Richardson, and WHEREAS, according to Reverend Fagan, James Joseph Richardson stated that his children had not had any insurance while he had been in the hospital waiting to hear about their conditions, and WHEREAS, Betsy Reese confessed on numerous occasions that she had poisoned the Richardson children, as she had been angry over James Joseph Richardson's introducing her husband to another woman in Jacksonville, and WHEREAS, Betsy Reese was evidently a jealous woman, as there were handwritten notes of Assistant State Attorney Treadwell demonstrating that Betsy Reese had shot and killed her WHEREAS, Betsy Reese was on parole at the time of the Richardson children's death for murdering her second husband in 1956, and her first husband had also mysteriously died after eating a meal she had prepared for him, and WHEREAS, Betsy Reese helped unco ver the bag of parathion in a shed west of the Richardsons' home and her apartment on October 26, 1967, and this discovery came after five unsuccessful searches of the Richardsons' home and the surrounding area, along with a fruitless search in the shed ju st the night before, and WHEREAS, Betsy Reese's apartment was never searched on October 25, 1967, or the days immediately thereafter, and WHEREAS, there were numerous witnesses, including James Joseph Richardson, who indicated that Betsy Reese had a moti ve to harm the Richardsons, and WHEREAS, the state disregarded its constitutional obligation to provide all of these statements to James Joseph Richardson's attorney, and WHEREAS, apart from the investigation by the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office, many i nconsistencies existed around the trial, and the state, knowingly and without the defense's knowledge, used the perjured testimony of one of its principal witnesses and, despite the state's legal and constitutional obligation, did not inform the Court that this witness had committed perjury, and WHEREAS, before the trial and after James Joseph Richardson's indictment by the grand jury of first-degree murder WHEREAS, in a memorandum dated January 1968, the bureau concluded that the investigation did not result in sufficient evidence to justify a court action, and, without additional information, the case would be nolle prosequi, and WHEREAS, the memorandum also stated that the newspapers were leading the public to believe that James Joseph Richardson was guilty and that there was sufficient evidence to convict him and the state, therefore, should be cautious in its fina ldecision, and WHEREAS, a letter dated January 30, 1968, from State Prosecutor Frank Schaub to Assistant State Attorney Jerry Hill revealed that if no progress was made the charges would have to be dismissed at a reasonable time before trial, and WHEREAS, on February 6, 1968, just months before James Joseph Richardson was found guilty, a letter from Assistant State Attorney John Treadwell to State Prosecutor Frank Schaub indicated that he planned to meet with the bureau agents again to determine if the re was sufficient evidence for a trial, and WHEREAS, on May 5, 1989, and approximately 21.5 years after James Joseph Richardson's conviction, State Attorney Janet Reno's Memorandum of Nolle Prosequi concluded that the investigation into the Richardson chi ldren's deaths was inadequate and incomplete, and WHEREAS, the memorandum stated: "Obvious leads were never pursued; critical questions were never answered; glaring WHEREAS, because James Joseph Richardson was precluded from proving his innocence in a co urt of law after the filing of the Memorandum of Nolle Prosequi, and WHEREAS, the Legislature is providing compensation to James Joseph Richardson to acknowledge the fact that he had suffered significant damages that are unique to his case and that are th eresult of physical and mental restraint, deprivation of freedom, and time spent on death row, and WHEREAS, James Joseph Richardson is therefore entitled to at least a sum of $3,000,000 for the injuries and damages sustained from his wrongful imprisonmen t, and WHEREAS, the Legislature apologizes to James Joseph Richardson on behalf of the state, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are found and declared to be true. Section 2. There is appropriated from the General Revenue HB 2013 Fund to the Department of Corrections the sum of $3 million for the relief of James Joseph Richardson for injuries and damages sustained due to his incarceration for his wrongful con viction for first degree murder. Section 3. The Chief Financial Officer is directed to draw a warrant in favor of James Joseph Richardson in the sum of $3 million upon funds of the Department of Corrections in the State Treasury, and the Chief Financia lOfficer is directed to pay the same out of such funds in the State Treasury. Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.