Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Perhaps one of the final chapters in what has been called Florida's "Son
of Sam" law will be written when the State of Florida will force writer
Sondra London to comply with a previous court ruling and relinquish the
profits she made from selling serial killer Danny Rolling's story to
various media organizations.
During a hearing held last December, Florida prosecutors, acting under
the state's Civil Restitution Lien and Crime Victims' Remedy Act of 1994
(also known as Florida's "Son of Sam" law), attempted to seize
approximately $21,000 that London made from Rolling-related stories. The
law prohibits a convicted person or a person acting on behalf of the
criminal from earning money from factual accounts of the convict's
crime.
Prosecutors argued that London was not entitled to the money because at
the time of the stories, she was Rolling's lover. Therefore, the state
said, the relationship made London a person acting on behalf of Rolling,
and not merely an objective reporter. London claimed that her
relationship with Rolling was irrelevant, and her stories on him were
serious journalistic ventures. In addition, the defendant argued that
she deserved the money she earned from her work and that this case was
really a violation of her right to free speech under the First
Amendment.
London became engaged to Rolling in 1993. She covered Rolling's case for
The National Enquirer and "A Current Affair." A five-part series on
Rolling's story in the tabloid The Globe and two books from London, The
Making of a Serial Killer and Knockin' on Joe: Voices from Death Row,
soon followed. Florida officials have been trying to preventing London
from collecting any Rolling-related profits since 1994. (London earned
$15,000 from the Globe series and about $6,000 from the two books. The
Making of a Serial Killer contained Rolling's confession; Voices from
Death Row contained the writings of Rolling and another convict London
used to date, Gerard John Schaefer.) However, London's relationship with
Rolling ended in 1996, and so did, she claims, their contractual
agreement.
The Ruling and Its Aftermath
On Dec. 31, 1997, Judge Martha Ann Lott ruled that the State of Florida
could seize the profits that Sondra London made on her story
collaborations with Danny Rolling. In her decision, Judge Lott said that
London's projects with Rolling were indeed subject to the state law that
bars convicted felons like Rolling from profiting from stories and
artwork related to their crimes. The ruling was the first to use a
version of New York's "Son of Sam" law against an author collaborating
with a convicted felon.
By March 1998, London still had not relinquished her profits to the
State of Florida. So, in a hearing scheduled to be held on March 20,
1998, the state, acting on behalf of the families of Danny Rolling's
victims, will ask a Judge Lott to force London to comply with her ruling
and threaten her with jail time for contempt of court.
The U.S. Supreme Court declared New York's "Son of Sam" law
unconstitutional in 1991, but the Florida law has never been challenged
in appellate court. Sondra London has indicated that she will appeal
Judge Lott's ruling.
--
Kathy E
"I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
isn't looking too good for you either"
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