FLORIDA LAWMAKERS PASS BILL TO PROTECT CERTAIN
VICTIMS FROM GIVING DEPOSITIONS
Children under 18 who are victims of sex offenses and people with intellectual disabilities
would be exempt from being deposed.
Republican Sen. Danny Burgess, an attorney from Zephyrhills, sponsored the bill.
Burgess says that "Child victims and victims with intellectual disabilities are particularly vulnerable in deposition settings because they often do not have the language, insight or empowerment to understand their emotions and ask for help when in distress."
A move to amend the bill to require that a circuit judge, a judicial magistrate or a certified circuit court mediator be in the room during depositions in
cases where someone is charged with a sexual offense against someone under 18, or someone with an intellectual disability was made by former Assistant State Attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, Democrat Sen. Jason Pizzo of Hollywood.
Pizzo stated that "No judge, knowing that the penalty... the penalty for this type of criminal behavior results in the most severe of penalties is going to allow a defense not to have or not to demonstrate good cause."
The amendment failed, and Pizzo then asked who would be in the room with a victim being deposed. Burgess stated that the attorney for the state would likely act as a "guardrail" for that person.
Burgess went on to state that "Me, personally, when I look at how 45 other states have conducted … how they handle criminal depositions, we are not just the outlier, but in federal court we don’t permit them at
all,” Burgess said. “In misdemeanor cases, we don’t allow them in Florida already. So I view this as balancing a victim’s rights without infringing a defendant’s rights.”
Republican Sen. Dennis Baxley from Ocala had his own personal take on the bill, as he and his wife have two children they adopted at birth who have special needs.
"These kids are mine and these abused children are so traumatized by any advance on their history... There is no way you could take a child that's been through this and re-traumatize them by these depositions," he said.
The bill passed with overwhelming support. Burgess and Pizzo agreed to work next year to allocate the funds to ensure that an officer of the court, other than the defense counsel, be in the room during depositions.
