Bill Would Ban Such Lawsuits
TAMPA — It could be called the “Mark Lunsford Show Respect and Gratitude to Law Enforcement Act.”
But it is no gesture of support for Lunsford, who has attained national recognition as an advocate for children after his daughter Jessie was raped and murdered.
State Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, is pushing the bill as a way to keep law enforcement agencies from being sued. Bennett filed the bill after Lunsford sent notice he intends to sue the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office over the handling of the investigation into the disappearance and death of 9-year-old Jessica Marie “Jessie” Lunsford.
Last year, John Evander Couey was convicted and sentenced to death in the case, but Lunsford contends the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office should have found Jessie before she was buried alive in February 2005.
Sheriff Jeff Dawsy calls the accusation baseless and said he is convinced Jessie was dead before his office began investigating.
In his bill, filed last week, Bennett says law enforcement agencies need the protection because they must make “difficult and complex” decisions in the course of an investigation.
“Was this investigation the best I’ve ever seen? Certainly not,” Bennett said. “But law enforcement ripped their hearts out for this guy. At the funeral, some of the deputies literally wept.
“The country poured their heart out for this guy. Now that it appears he has run out of money, he wants to sue someone? The case could be made that when his daughter was abducted, where was he?”
Bennett said Lunsford “is really showing ingratitude.”
He said he does not expect the bill to pass. “I just wanted to make a point.”
Government agencies are liable for a maximum $100,000 in lawsuits unless the Legislature approves more. After drafting the bill, Bennett learned of this and said his bill might not serve a purpose.
He might pull it, he said.
“It could be if we find out we don’t need it,” he said.
Bennett said he has not sought a House sponsor for the bill.
Lunsford, noting he has not filed a lawsuit yet, said he found it odd that Bennett would file his bill now.
Any potential suit is not about money, Lunsford insists, only about changing the sheriff’s procedures for handling missing children cases.
Lunsford’s attorney, Mark Gelman, is furious.
“It is easy for people to throw stones, but Bennett’s child was not in that trailer for four days,” Gelman said.
“Bennett’s position on this whole situation would be different if his child were in the trailer for several days when police were on notice that there was something wrong there and didn’t go in.”
Reporters Josh Poltilove and Thomas W. Krause contributed to this report.
