Florida appeals panel orders missing girl's files released

By The Associated Press

05.29.02

Printer-friendly page

MIAMI — A state appeals court ordered the release late last week of the remaining documents from the case file of a 5-year-old girl whose disappearance went unnoticed by Florida's child welfare agency for 15 months.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal took about an hour May 24 in reversing a lower court's decision to withhold select documents relating to the criminal investigation in the case of Rilya Wilson.

On May 23, 959 pages of court documents and handwritten notes were made public after a ruling by Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman. Lederman reviewed Department of Children & Families records with Miami-Dade police and representatives from the state attorney's office during a daylong, private meeting.

But the judge said that documents connected to the criminal investigation into the girl's disappearance would not be released at the request of the state attorney and police.

A group of media organizations appealed, arguing that only police files are protected by state law during a criminal investigation. The DCF files shouldn't be protected only because police are using them in their investigation, said David Bralow, attorney for the Orlando Sentinel and the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale.

At the May 24 hearing, the Miami-Dade state attorney's office abandoned its argument that the criminal investigation into Rilya's disappearance could be hindered by the release of the remaining documents. Instead, attorneys argued that the interests of Rilya and her siblings were more important than the public's right to know.

"The courts often make the right decisions for the wrong reasons," said Assistant State Attorney Penny Brill.

But the judges disagreed, ordering the release of the information because the basis for withholding the documents does not apply as a matter of law.

"This is not a nation where we make secret decisions," said Chief Judge Alan Schwartz, head of the appeals court's three-judge panel.

Samuel Chavers, DCF's assistant general counsel, said the department always had been willing to release the documents but had complied with law enforcement requests to hold them back.

State attorney's spokesman Ed Griffith said his office disagreed with the decision but wouldn't appeal.

The organizations appealing were CNN, The New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, Sun-Sentinel, "Dateline NBC" and WTVJ.

The records released late May 23 failed to shed light on the mystery of the child's disappearance. Instead, they told the story of the troubled life of Rilya's mother, Gloria Wilson, and contained details about the girl's older sister, Randie.

About 700 pages of documents made public May 24 detail the work of DCF caseworkers involved in Rilya's adoption case.