After 1-year-old died a ‘horrifying’ death, Florida improperly sealed record, judge rules
Florida’s child welfare agency violated the state’s public records law when it refused to release the file on the “horrifying” death of a 1-year-old Opa-locka boy who suffered multiple head fractures and showed other signs of being brutalized, a judge ruled Tuesday.
“The records should have been released a long time ago,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Barbara Areces found at the end of a nearly four-hour hearing.
The Department of Children and Families said it kept the records on the death of 22-month-old Rashid Bryant under seal because it had not determined that the child was a victim of abuse or neglect — and that the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office asked the agency to wait as the criminal case played out.
The judge ruled that in fact the agency had determined long ago that the November 2020 death was a result of abuse or neglect, which by law would have made the records public.
Meanwhile, testifying under oath, a Miami-Dade prosecutor contradicted DCF, saying no such request for secrecy was made. The boy’s parents, Christopher Bryant and Jabora Deris, had long since been arrested.
The ruling was a victory for the Miami Herald, which initiated the public records lawsuit and was joined by an array of other news organizations.
“The Miami Herald’s reporting made clear early on that this information was undoubtedly in the public interest, but the state stonewalled our efforts,” said Herald Senior Managing Editor Dana Banker. “Judge Areces’ decision is an important victory for Floridians and their right to know how their officials are handling issues of vital public concern.”
It was the latest instance of Florida’s government refusing to release documents covered by the state’s expansive public records statute — and forcing news outlets to sue.
Florida State Statute 119 is designed to ensure that the public can keep track of how its tax dollars are spent and monitor the effectiveness of agencies like DCF, which is charged with protecting children from deadly abuse and neglect.
DCF need not make child welfare records available unless there is a determination that a death was the result of abuse or neglect.
Based on the “horrific” circumstances of Rashid’s death, DCF was able to make that determination very early in the case and therefore should have turned over the agency’s records as requested, Areces, who examined the extensive file, ruled.
Although the judge recognized that DCF has a “tough job,” she noted that the agency had ample evidence that the boy was abused from the medical examiner’s report, and reports from Miami-Dade police and the State Attorney’s Office. Areces ordered DCF to turn over the administrative case records in February.
The judge’s final order on Tuesday made it clear that the Florida law regulating the release of such records to the news media and public was intended to ensure timely transparency when there has been a determination by a state agency — whether DCF alone or in tandem with others — that a child’s death was caused by neglect and abuse. The judge said the law needs to be amended to make sure that DCF can’t act arbitrarily.
Now that the Miami Herald and other news organizations have prevailed, they will be allowed to seek fees and costs from the state for the public records litigation.
On Tuesday, DCF’s general counsel, Andrew McGinley, said the Rashid Bryant case was “horrific, but the department’s actions were not,” arguing that DCF had not yet made a legal determination about neglect and abuse of the toddler by his parents.
“We have an obligation to get it right,” McGinley told the judge. “Sometimes that delays the release of the records.”
Although he claimed the State Attorney’s Office endorsed withholding the documents, the assertion was refuted on the witness stand by prosecutor Natalie Snyder, who is in charge of the sexual battery and child abuse unit.
By withholding the records, the department was able to effectively keep a lid on records detailing DCF’s prior contacts with the family.
Attorneys Mark Caramanica and Dana McElroy, representing the Herald and other news media, argued that was improper.
“The purpose [of the law] is to hold DCF accountable when a child dies,” Caramanica said. “This was stuff [neglect and abuse] that was known from the beginning.”
The long-running dispute, now settled by Areces’ ruling but likely to be appealed by DCF, could have significant repercussions for Floridians’ ability to enforce a state law intended to ensure transparency following the deaths of children who had prior contact with the state’s long-troubled child welfare system.
A 2014 law passed unanimously after the Herald reported on the deaths of more than 500 children with DCF histories, many of the deaths preventable, required the agency to examine its history with deceased children quickly. The intent was to allow administrators to learn from their mistakes and better protect other children.
It was on Nov. 12, 2020, a week after the death of Rashid, ninth of 11 children, that state child welfare administrators filed a motion in court seeking custody of seven of Bryant and Deris’ surviving offspring.
Rashid, the court petition at the time said, died after “sustaining multiple injuries due to severe physical abuse and medical neglect while in the care and custody of [his] parents.”
The Herald requested DCF’s file on Rashid on Nov. 17, 2020. DCF provided an incident report containing fewer than five sentences. As to DCF’s lengthy history with the family, the report said only: “There was prior DCF involvement.” DCF refused to disclose anything more.
After the Herald filed suit two months later, a coalition of media companies and open government advocacy groups joined the litigation. The additional plaintiffs included The Associated Press, The New York Times, WPLG, Gannett, Tampa Bay Times, First Amendment Foundation, and the Florida Press Association.
Despite cases like Rashid’s where law officers have completed their investigation and made arrests, DCF administrators have said they are not bound by the actions of police departments, medical examiners or prosecutors. Only the agency, they argued, had the authority to determine whether a child’s death was due to abuse or neglect under the statute — and DCF could take as long as necessary to make that determination.
On Tuesday, Areces disagreed with the agency’s lawyers.
“I don’t know who makes the determination, but it cannot be just DCF,” the judge said.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 9:34 PM.
