FL S0078

Appropriates $1,197,650.69 from the General Revenue Fund to compensate Scotty Bartek for wrongful incarceration of 22 years and 242 days.

Bartek was convicted in 1991 of sexual battery on a child, sentenced to life imprisonment, but exonerated in 2013 when the victim recanted and revealed her mother had coached false testimony.

His compensation petition was dismissed as untimely filed because it was filed after the state dismissed charges, though within 90 days of the dismissal, missing the original deadline calculated from when the conviction was vacated.

Compensation includes $1,133,150.69 for wrongful incarceration ($50,000 per year), plus estimated reimbursements for tuition ($24,000), court costs and fines ($500), and legal fees ($40,000).

Attorney fees including the $40,000 reimbursement are capped at 25 percent of the total award, and the appropriation serves as sole compensation for all claims arising from the wrongful incarceration.