A former fruit picker convicted but later cleared of committing one of the most brutal mass murders in Florida history edged closer Tuesday to becoming eligible for more than $1 million in state compensation.
The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 11-0 to approve a bill (HB 227) created to help James Richardson, accused of killing his seven children by poisoning them with insecticide in the DeSoto County town of Arcadia, just days before Halloween 1967.
Richardson spent 21 ½ years in prison — including four years on Death Row—before being released in 1989 after then-Dade State Attorney Janet Reno was appointed by Gov. Bob Martinez to review the case.
Reno found wide-ranging misconduct by criminal investigators and prosecutors.
While Richardson was behind bars, a babysitter for the children, Betsy Reese, told neighbors that she had killed them, but was never charged.
Rep. Dave Kerner, D-Lake Worth, sponsor of the bill, said he was drawn to the case because he had served as a police officer in North Florida and is aware of the state’s “legacy of injustice.”
“I always said that I would do everything I could to correct wrongs of the past,” Kerner said following Tuesday’s hearing. “I believe in this particular instance, that’s what happened back in 1967.”
The legislation, however, drew a hearing Tuesday only after the Florida Legislative Black Caucus appealed to House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.
Subcommittee Chairman Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, had refused to schedule a hearing on the measure, telling the Palm Beach Post that he had problems with a bill cast to help only one person. On Tuesday, however, Gaetz said his thinking had changed.
Gaetz said he had spoken with Kerner and had become convinced the legislation was needed to fix, “a systemic loophole that one person fell through.”
