Butterworth cuts the red tape

The attorney general says a slain officer's domestic partner should not have been asked to sign for $25,000.

By AMY HERDY

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 25, 2001

TAMPA -- The domestic partner of slain Tampa police Officer Lois Marrero should never have been asked to fill out an application or sign it in order to receive money from the state's crime victims fund, Attorney General Bob Butterworth said Tuesday.

"An application is not necessary and a signature is not required" to receive funds in homicide cases, Butterworth said.

"When somebody is grieving, the last thing I want to do is have them fill out an application."

There has been confusion about how Marrero's domestic partner, Mickie Mashburn, came to receive a $25,000 check from the state fund, which compensates people dependent on a victim's income.

Butterworth said he has the discretion to give the money to whomever he thinks deserving. Statements to the St. Petersburg Times by his director of victims services, Rodney Doss, that Mashburn had applied for the funds were "misinformed," Butterworth said.

"He might have assumed it was done by her," the attorney general said. "I just don't think he had all the facts."

Butterworth said he made the decision to award Mashburn $25,000, the maximum he is allowed to give by law, shortly after learning of Marrero's death July 6 at the hands of a fleeing bank robber.

He called the Tampa Police Department to find out how to handle the matter, he said, and dealt with Deputy Chief Jane Siling. The check was written the day Marrero was buried.

A week later, Mashburn was asked by Siling to sign an undated application for the money and balked, said Daniel Castillo, her attorney.

Castillo then sent a letter to the attorney general, citing Mashburn's concern about whether the money was being properly bestowed and whether it would have to be refunded.

"In a tragedy such as this, to me, it's obvious" that funds would be awarded, Butterworth said.

"The officer lost her life in the line of duty."

In crime cases other than homicides, victims or their family members are asked to fill out an application to determine whether there is another source, such as an insurance agency, that might provide the funds being requested, Butterworth said.

At times, the state will ask for a refund of the victim compensation funds, but "we don't ever ask for money back on a death case," Butterworth said.

And would he treat the loved ones of other lesser-known homicide victims the same way, waiving the application process?

"If we find out about it, we will," Butterworth said.

- Amy Herdy can be reached at (813) 226-3386 or herdy@sptimes.com.

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