St. Lucie sheriff ruled immune to suit
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
June 30, 2008 Monday
MARTIN-ST. LUCIE EDITION
ST. LUCIE SHERIFF RULED IMMUNE TO SUIT
BYLINE: By ALEJANDRA CANCINO Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 486 words
A judge ruled Wednesday that Sheriff Ken Mascara was “absolutely immune” from having to pay the $600,000 a jury awarded in May to a former St. Lucie County corrections deputy.
Barbara Bates, the former deputy, expressed chagrin at the ruling, saying, “I am very frustrated that, after I went through a 12-year battle to try to clear my name and was vindicated by a jury, (Mascara) received immunity.”
In July 1996, Bates was on duty at the jail when an inmate committed suicide. A monthslong investigation was conducted and found that she didn’t do anything wrong, said Bates’ lawyer, Frederick Ford.
Bates resigned during the investigation to attend the police academy. After the academy, she applied to more than 30 agencies and passed all the tests but said she was always rejected. It wasn’t until she applied to the Riviera Beach Police Department that she learned a form filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was the reason she wouldn’t get a job.
And affidavit of separation is filed every time law enforcement officers leave their jobs. It has a checklist of different reasons why an officer might be leaving. Her form states she resigned “while she was being investigated for misconduct.” It also said she didn’t meet the “standard set forth by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office within the probationary period.”
“But the investigation was completed, and she was a witness, not a target,” Ford said.
She tried to correct the form, but said then-Sheriff R.C. “Bobby” Knowles wouldn’t do it. Then Ken Mascara, who was her chiropractor, decided to run for sheriff, and Bates and her husband, Cameron, jumped on his campaign team.
They showed him the affidavit, and the Bateses said Mascara agreed the form was wrong. After he was elected, the couple said Mascara never returned calls.
Barbara Bates filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office in 2002. In May, the jury awarded her $300,000 for injury to her reputation and “any shame, humiliation and hurt feelings.” The jurors awarded her another $300,000 for lost earnings.
On Wednesday, St. Lucie Circuit Judge James Midelis decided that because Mascara didn’t sign the FDLE form, he was absolutely immune from having to pay damages.
“We believe this is the proper ruling: the sheriff can’t be sued for defamation,” said Adam Fetterman, general counsel for the sheriff’s office. “We respect and appreciate the jury’s service, but this is the position the sheriff has taken since before the trial.”
When asked about the FDLE form, Fetterman said the sheriff’s office believes the form was executed properly and will remain as it is.
Bates has 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision. But Cameron Bates said an appeal could cost more than $50,000.
“Justice was served, and yet, justice was unserved at the same time,” Barbara Bates said.
Staff researcher Melanie Mena and staff writer Sarah Prohaska contributed to this story.