Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0837 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to cold case murders; providing a 2
16	16	short title; creating s. 782.41, F.S.; defining terms; 3
17	17	requiring the heads of law enforcement agencies or 4
18	18	their designees to review certain cold cases upon 5
19	19	receiving a written application from a designated 6
20	20	person; requiring the heads of law enforcement 7
21	21	agencies or their designees to make a specified 8
22	22	determination upon receiving such application; 9
23	23	providing requirements for such reviews; requiring law 10
24	24	enforcement agencies to conduct a full reinvestigation 11
25	25	of a cold case under certain circumstances; providing 12
26	26	requirements for such reinvestigations; requiring law 13
27	27	enforcement agencies to develop certain written 14
28	28	applications; requiring the heads of law enforcement 15
29	29	agencies or their designees to adopt certain 16
30	30	procedures to ensure compliance with specified 17
31	31	provisions; requiring law enforcement agencies to 18
32	32	provide specified training; requiring law enforcement 19
33	33	agencies to provide written confirmation to a 20
34	34	designated person of receipt of an application to 21
35	35	review a cold case; requiring that an application for 22
36	36	review of a cold case that does not satisfy certain 23
37	37	criteria be denied; requiring the head of the law 24
38	38	enforcement agency or his or her designee to issue to 25
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40	40	HB 837 2024
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47	47	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51	51	the designated person a written explanation of the 26
52	52	reason or reasons for the denial; providing timeframe 27
53	53	and notice requirements for law enforcement agencies' 28
54	54	cold case reviews after receipt of a written 29
55	55	application; requiring law enforcement agencies, by a 30
56	56	specified date and periodically thereafter, to report 31
57	57	certain data to the Global Forensic and Justice Center 32
58	58	at Florida International University; requiring the 33
59	59	center to establish and maintain a case tracking 34
60	60	system and searchable public website that includes 35
61	61	specified information; requiring coordination between 36
62	62	law enforcement agencies if more than one law 37
63	63	enforcement agency conducted the initial 38
64	64	investigation; providing that specified provisions are 39
65	65	subject to appropriations; providing applicability; 40
66	66	authorizing a medical examiner to issue death 41
67	67	certificates with nonspecific causes of death and 42
68	68	manner of murder under certain circumstances; 43
69	69	providing an effective date. 44
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71	71	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 46
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73	73	Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Decker -Backmann 48
74	74	Act." 49
75	75	Section 2. Section 782.41, Florida Statutes, is created to 50
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84	84	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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88	88	read: 51
89	89	782.41 Cold case murder; review; reinvestigation. — 52
90	90	(1) As used in this section, the term: 53
91	91	(a) "Cold case" means a murder: 54
92	92	1. For which no likely perpetrator has been identified; 55
93	93	and 56
94	94	2. That was committed more than 5 years before the date of 57
95	95	an application requesting a review submitted by a designated 58
96	96	person, that was previously investigated by a law enforcement 59
97	97	agency, and for which all probative leads have been exhausted. 60
98	98	(b) "Designated perso n" means an immediate family member 61
99	99	or an immediate family member's designated legal representative, 62
100	100	which representative must be a member in good standing of The 63
101	101	Florida Bar. 64
102	102	(c) "Immediate family member" means a parent, parent -in-65
103	103	law, grandparent, gran dparent-in-law, sibling, spouse, child, or 66
104	104	stepchild of a victim, or any person who exercised in loco 67
105	105	parentis control over such victim younger than 18 years of age 68
106	106	at the time of the murder. 69
107	107	(d) "Law enforcement agency" means a law enforcement 70
108	108	agency with the jurisdiction to engage in the detection, 71
109	109	investigation, or prosecution of a cold case. 72
110	110	(e) "Murder" means any criminal offense provided under s. 73
111	111	782.04, s. 782.071, or s. 782.072. 74
112	112	(f) "Probative lead" means evidence that is sufficiently 75
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121	121	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125	125	useful to prove an element of the crime and that was not 76
126	126	identified or determined as part of the previous investigation 77
127	127	by a law enforcement agency. 78
128	128	(g) "Victim" means an individual who was murdered and 79
129	129	whose case has been designated as a cold case. 80
130	130	(2) The head of a law enforcement agency or his or her 81
131	131	designee shall review a cold case upon receiving a written 82
132	132	application from a designated person to determine if a full 83
133	133	reinvestigation would result in any of the following: 84
134	134	(a) The identification of new prob ative leads. 85
135	135	(b) The identification of a likely perpetrator. 86
136	136	(3) A review conducted pursuant to subsection (2) must 87
137	137	include all of the following: 88
138	138	(a) An analysis of any investigative procedures that may 89
139	139	have been absent or missed in the initial inves tigation. 90
140	140	(b) An assessment of whether witnesses should be 91
141	141	interviewed or reinterviewed. 92
142	142	(c) An examination of physical evidence to determine 93
143	143	whether all appropriate forensic testing and analyses were 94
144	144	performed in the initial investigation and whether additional 95
145	145	testing might produce information relevant to the investigation. 96
146	146	(d) An update of the case file using the most current 97
147	147	investigative standards as of the date of the review, if such 98
148	148	standards may help develop probative leads. 99
149	149	(4)(a) The law enforcement agency must conduct a full 100
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158	158	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162	162	reinvestigation of the cold case if the review pursuant to 101
163	163	subsection (2) concludes that such reinvestigation may result in 102
164	164	previously unidentified probative leads or in the identification 103
165	165	of a likely perpetrator. 104
166	166	(b) A full reinvestigation must include a review of all 105
167	167	available evidence and an analysis of those items that may 106
168	168	contain forensic value which were collected for the purpose of 107
169	169	developing probative leads or identifying a likely perpetrator. 108
170	170	(5)(a) A full reinvestigation required pursuant to 109
171	171	subsection (4) may not be conducted solely by the person who 110
172	172	previously investigated the murder. 111
173	173	(b) Only one full reinvestigation may be undertaken at any 112
174	174	time with respect to the same victim. 113
175	175	(c) If a full reinves tigation is completed and a likely 114
176	176	perpetrator is not identified as a result, an additional case 115
177	177	file review or full reinvestigation may not be undertaken for 116
178	178	that cold case for a period of 5 years beginning on the date of 117
179	179	the conclusion of the reinvestiga tion, unless materially 118
180	180	significant evidence is discovered. 119
181	181	(6)(a) Each law enforcement agency shall develop a written 120
182	182	application to be used by a designated person to request a cold 121
183	183	case review under subsection (2). 122
184	184	(b) No later than July 1, 2025, the head of each law 123
185	185	enforcement agency or his or her designee shall adopt procedures 124
186	186	to ensure compliance with this section. 125
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199	199	(c) Each law enforcement agency shall train the 126
200	200	appropriate law enforcement employees and officers within that 127
201	201	law enforcement agen cy on the procedures required and the 128
202	202	responsibilities and obligations imposed under this section. 129
203	203	(7) The law enforcement agency, as soon as practicable, 130
204	204	shall provide to the designated person who submitted the 131
205	205	application requesting review of a cold ca se written 132
206	206	confirmation of receipt of the application. Such confirmation 133
207	207	must include a description of the process for submitting a 134
208	208	complaint to, and contact information for, the law enforcement 135
209	209	agency's unit responsible for internal investigations involvi ng 136
210	210	allegations of misconduct. 137
211	211	(8) An application for review of a case that does not meet 138
212	212	the criteria for a cold case specified in paragraph (1)(a) must 139
213	213	be denied. If an application is denied, the head of the law 140
214	214	enforcement agency or his or her designee must issue to the 141
215	215	designated person who submitted the application a written 142
216	216	explanation of the reason or reasons for the denial of the 143
217	217	review. 144
218	218	(9) No later than 1 year after receipt of a written 145
219	219	application requesting a cold case review, the law enforce ment 146
220	220	agency must complete the case file review and conclude, pursuant 147
221	221	to subsection (2), whether a full reinvestigation as provided in 148
222	222	subsection (4) is warranted. 149
223	223	(10) The law enforcement agency may extend, for one time 150
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236	236	only, the time limit provided und er subsection (9) for a period 151
237	237	not to exceed 6 months if the law enforcement agency finds that 152
238	238	the number of case files to be reviewed makes compliance with 153
239	239	the time limit impracticable without diverting resources from 154
240	240	other law enforcement activities. If the time limit is extended, 155
241	241	the law enforcement agency must provide notice and an 156
242	242	explanation of its reasoning for the extension to the designated 157
243	243	person who submitted the written application for review. 158
244	244	(11) By October 1, 2025, and at least quarterly 159
245	245	thereafter, each law enforcement agency shall report all data 160
246	246	relevant to the review of cold cases to the Global Forensic and 161
247	247	Justice Center at Florida International University. 162
248	248	(12) The Global Forensic and Justice Center shall 163
249	249	establish and maintain a cas e tracking system and searchable 164
250	250	public website that includes all of the following information 165
251	251	about cold case investigations covered under this section: 166
252	252	(a) The number of written applications for cold case 167
253	253	reviews filed with each law enforcement agency as provided under 168
254	254	subsection (6). 169
255	255	(b) The number of full reinvestigations initiated and 170
256	256	closed under subsection (9). 171
257	257	(c) The total number of cases in which the time for review 172
258	258	was extended and an explanation of the reasons for any such 173
259	259	extensions under subsection (10). 174
260	260	(d) Statistical information on the aggregate number of 175
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273	273	cold cases, suspects, arrests, indictments, and convictions. 176
274	274	(13) If more than one law enforcement agency conducted the 177
275	275	initial investigation of a cold case, each law enforcement 178
276	276	agency must coordinate the case file review or full 179
277	277	reinvestigation such that there is only one joint case file 180
278	278	review or full reinvestigation occurring at a time as required 181
279	279	by paragraph (5)(b). 182
280	280	(14) The operation of this section is subject to the 183
281	281	availability of funds specifically appropriated by the 184
282	282	Legislature or other relevant political subdivision of this 185
283	283	state for this purpose. 186
284	284	(15) This section applies to any cold case in which the 187
285	285	murder occurred on or after January 1, 1970. 188
286	286	(16) A medical examiner may issue a death certificate with 189
287	287	a nonspecific cause of death and manner of murder if the medical 190
288	288	examiner determines that the release of such information would 191
289	289	not hinder the murder investigation. 192
290	290	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 193