Christian Ziegler case leads Lauren Book to revisit Marsy’s Law

One of the main supporters of Marsy’s Law, which established a slate of rights for crime victims, is criticizing the way former Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler invoked it to block information from his cellphone recovered by law enforcement while investigating a sexual assault allegation against him.

“I’m a little surprised. I don’t know that that’s exactly what we intended,” said Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, a vocal supporter of Marsy’s Law. “That’s not necessarily the way it was intended. It’s for true victims of crime.”

Book says part of the confusion surrounding the law and its haphazard interpretation around the state stems from the lack of an implementing bill passed by the Legislature to define parameters and procedures for law enforcement officials and the courts on a statewide basis to enforce the rights of victims.

“We’ve never really done it,” said Book, referring to passing an implementing bill for Marsy’s Law. “So it’s never been applied the way it should be intended.”

“That’s something we knew immediately that we needed to have done and we didn’t do it,” she added.

It’s something Marsy’s Law for Florida, the group that advocated for the measure, would back a bill that puts those parameters in place.

“We support any legislation that would ensure Florida crime victims are afforded the rights enshrined in the state constitution and that provides guidelines for implementation,” a spokeswoman for the group wrote in an email.

It appears unlikely, however, that an implementing bill will be passed this year.

The only bills addressing the issue are HB 1605 and HB 1607, which would shield the names of police officers who use deadly force on duty from being released to the public. The bills were filed in answer to a Florida Supreme Court ruling in November holding that Marsy’s Law doesn’t block the release of officers’ names, but they haven’t received a hearing and don’t have Senate companion measures so they are unlikely to pass during the Regular Session.

Sarasota police decided not to charge Ziegler with sexual assault. However, an investigation into video voyeurism has been handed to a State Attorney and is still pending.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune was the first to report that Ziegler’s lawyer was invoking Marsy’s Law to block the release of his cellphone records, arguing he was the victim of a false report. The Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday that Sarasota police have determined Ziegler is not a victim and can’t invoke the law, but Ziegler is still looking to block the release of the records on other grounds.

Marsy’s Law was a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot in 2018 by the Constitutional Revision Commission, and it was approved by nearly 62% of voters.

The measure enshrined rights in the constitution for crime victims and their families, including the right to be informed of criminal proceedings involving the case of their perpetrator, the right to be heard at such proceedings, and the right to confer with prosecutors over plea bargain deals.

It also states a crime victim has the right to prevent disclosure of records that “could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family, or which could disclose confidential or privileged information of the victim.”

Yet it also states “the term ‘victim’ does not include the accused.”