Fox35 Orlando by Dara Kam & Ana Ceballos
June 13, 2020
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Police Benevolent Association made a second attempt Friday at getting a court to settle a dispute about whether a constitutional amendment aimed at protecting victims’ rights should apply to law enforcement officers.
Citing privacy protections for crime victims in a 2018 Florida constitutional amendment known as “Marsy’s Law,” the police union maintains that the identity of a Tallahassee police officer who killed a black transgender suspect should be kept secret.
“Marsy’s law does not exclude law enforcement officers from its definition of victim either generally or specifically,” the union argued in a legal complaint filed against the city of Tallahassee Friday in Leon County Circuit Court.
The PBA contends that Officer “John Doe 2” shot Natosha “Tony” McDade in self-defense on May 27. Because the police officer was the victim of an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the incident, the union says the officeR has the right to invoke the privacy privilege provided by Marsy’s law.
Police officers are persons and are entitled to the protections of Florida’s laws, unless the law specifically says they are not, the union argued.
