House Bill hb1575

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1575

        By Representative Rubio






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act for the relief of the Estate of Alice

  3         Berdat, deceased; providing an appropriation to

  4         compensate the Estate of Alice Berdat for the

  5         death of Alice Berdat due to the negligence of

  6         the Department of Corrections; providing an

  7         effective date.

  8

  9         WHEREAS, on August 17, 1989, Alice Berdat, a

10  92-year-old resident of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County,

11  Florida, was sexually assaulted by Anthony Neil Washington

12  (hereinafter referred to as Washington), who beat her so

13  severely as to cause her death, and

14         WHEREAS, Washington committed the above-referenced rape

15  and murder while imprisoned at the Largo Community

16  Correctional Work-Release Center, to which he had been

17  sentenced on August 31, 1988, to 6 years in prison for various

18  crimes, and

19         WHEREAS, on the date of the rape and murder, Washington

20  left the Largo Community Correctional Work-Release Center,

21  purportedly to go to work, and

22         WHEREAS, Washington's travel to work by foot was

23  unsupervised, and Washington, instead of going to work on the

24  date in question, proceeded to the home of Alice Berdat and

25  attacked her as described above, and

26         WHEREAS, Anthony Neil Washington was found guilty of

27  sexually assaulting and murdering Alice Berdat and is

28  presently residing on Florida's Death Row, and

29         WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections, knowing that

30  Washington was a career felon and was serving a 6-year

31  sentence for various crimes, allowed him to participate in a

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1575

    736-121-01






  1  work-release program less than 1 year after the date of the

  2  6-year sentence, and

  3         WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections allowed

  4  Washington to walk from the Largo Correctional Center to his

  5  place of employment totally unsupervised, and

  6         WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections failed to

  7  establish any procedure requiring Washington to contact them

  8  from his place of employment so that they might assure his

  9  arrival there, and

10         WHEREAS, the Commander of Largo Correctional Center at

11  all times material to this claim was of the belief and

12  understanding that before an inmate was placed with a

13  prospective employer, the Department of Corrections had the

14  employer undergo an orientation program that set forth the

15  duties and responsibilities of the employer pertaining to the

16  handling of the inmate, and the duty to initiate this

17  orientation program was bestowed upon another officer within

18  the Department of Corrections and Largo Correctional Center,

19  and

20         WHEREAS, no such orientation program existed, and,

21  specifically, no orientation program was provided to

22  Washington's employer to inform the employer as to the

23  employer's duties and responsibilities pertaining to

24  Washington, such as keeping an arrival or departure log to

25  assure Washington's whereabouts, taking specified action if

26  Washington undertook certain activities or actions, or

27  notifying a designated person within the Department of

28  Corrections if Washington undertook any suspicious activity or

29  action, and

30         WHEREAS, the Department of Corrections knew that the

31  Largo Community Correctional Work-Release Center was located

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1575

    736-121-01






  1  in and about a residential neighborhood, which included the

  2  area in which Alice Berdat lived, but failed to notify or warn

  3  local residents of the location and identity of the Largo

  4  Community Correctional Work-Release Center and the

  5  unsupervised nature of the program in order that residents

  6  including Alice Berdat could undertake necessary precautions,

  7  and

  8         WHEREAS, this incident occurred because of the

  9  premature placement of Washington in the work-release program

10  before he had been rehabilitated, the Department of

11  Corrections allowing Washington to leave Largo Correctional

12  Center unsupervised, the failure of the Department of

13  Corrections to have a program in effect to assure Washington's

14  arrival at his place of employment, the failure of the

15  Department of Corrections to have in effect a program designed

16  to assure that employers of work-release inmates understand

17  their duties and responsibilities pertaining to the inmate,

18  and the failure of the Department of Corrections to notify

19  residents within the general vicinity of the Largo

20  Correctional Center of the housing of inmates and the

21  unsupervised nature of the program, and

22         WHEREAS, experts testified that the beatings to the

23  body of Alice Berdat by Washington were so severe as to cause

24  her false teeth to be knocked out or ripped out of her mouth,

25  her hearing aid to come loose and fall to the floor, and her

26  eyeglasses to break; that her face had bruises and abrasions

27  on her cheekbone, her eyelid, her forehead, her chin, and her

28  nose; that there were twenty-three bruises on Alice Berdat's

29  right arm and hand and about the same number of bruises to her

30  left arm and hand; that there were bruises and fingernail

31  marks on Ms. Berdat's legs and groin area where Washington

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1575

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  1  pried Ms. Berdat's legs open to get to her vagina; and that

  2  the vagina had eleven separate areas of injury, and

  3         WHEREAS, experts further testified that Washington must

  4  have knelt on Alice Berdat's chest with both knees, resulting

  5  in seventeen separate rib fractures, and

  6         WHEREAS, experts further testified that Washington

  7  choked Ms. Berdat so severely as to break her hyoid bone on

  8  the right and left and to cause four fractures of the

  9  cartilage that form the voice box, which led the experts to

10  conclude that Ms. Berdat was manually strangulated by

11  Washington, and

12         WHEREAS, the family of Alice Berdat was required to

13  identify Alice Berdat's body at the scene of the crime, to

14  endure 3 years of the criminal prosecution of Washington until

15  his sentencing in July 1992, and to continue to live with the

16  premature death of Alice Berdat in such a heinous fashion, and

17         WHEREAS, there is no available civil remedy to provide

18  compensation for the brutal death of Ms. Berdat due to the

19  negligence of the Department of Corrections, the Estate of

20  Alice Berdat seeks the sum of $250,000, NOW, THEREFORE,

21

22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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24         Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this

25  act are found and declared to be true.

26         Section 2.  The sum of $250,000 is appropriated out of

27  funds in the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of

28  Corrections and not otherwise appropriated to be paid to the

29  Estate of Alice Berdat as relief for the death of Alice Berdat

30  due to the negligence of the Department of Corrections.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1575

    736-121-01






  1         Section 3.  The Comptroller is directed to draw his

  2  warrant in favor of the Estate of Alice Berdat in the sum of

  3  $250,000 upon funds in the State Treasury to the credit of the

  4  Department of Corrections, and the State Treasurer is directed

  5  to pay the same out of such funds in the State Treasury not

  6  otherwise appropriated.

  7         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  8  law.

  9

10            *****************************************

11                          SENATE SUMMARY

12    Provides for an appropriation to compensate the Estate of
      Alice Berdat, deceased, for Ms. Berdat's death due to the
13    negligence of the Department of Corrections.

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