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Questions remain in the case of a Panhandle woman who went to her local hospital just before Christmas complaining about feeling ill…and then died while being removed from the facility by police. As Matt Galka tells us, the families attorneys released the dash cam video Wednesday morning, and they say authorities are the reason she’s dead.

A more than two and a half hour video released by the attorneys of Barbara Dawson Wednesday morning doesn’t show much of the 57 year old Panhandle woman, but includes plenty of audio during the moments before her death.

Attorney Daryl Parks says the video shows police didn’t handle the situation correctly.

“The time that this incident starts to happen, to the time that she’s getting CPR, you have almost 30 minutes of lapses there, she didn’t have any real care until they started giving her CPR and bringing her to the trauma unit there at the hospital,” said Parks.

Dawson was removed from the Calhoun-Liberty hospital December 21^st but pleaded that she still needed help.  Her oxygen tank was unhooked and she collapsed in the parking lot before later dying.

State Representative Daryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg) is also advising the family on the case.

“We think they what they did was put criminality over healthcare,” he said.

An incident report from the Blountstown Police said officers thought Dawson was being non-compliant. Her attorneys say that assumption is the reason she’s dead. Dawson’s aunt was at the scene, and cousin Martha Smith-Dickson was emotional before she even viewed the tape

“We want justice for Barbara so this will not happen to anyone else,” she said.

An autopsy report indicated Dawson died of a blood clot in her lungs. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Agency for Health Care Administration have launched investigations.

The Blountstown Police Department released a statement refuting Dawson’s attorney’s claims, saying, in part, the responding officer acted appropriately and sought medical attention within one minute of Dawson collapsing.

The Calhoun Liberty Hospital statement reads in full here:

“We have received a copy of the Dawson audio and video from members of the media and while we are still reviewing it, we want to reach out to the community with an immediate statement.

“First, we continue to grieve the loss of a patient and a member of the community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Ms. Dawson as well as with our community.

“Our primary objective in this situation is to remain transparent and to welcome investigation from authorities. We have already welcomed reviews and investigations from the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as well as the Department of Health. To the fullest extent permitted by state and federal law, we will continue to be transparent and forthcoming with our community and the public.

“We remain committed to providing quality and essential health care for our community, which will be supported by our own thorough review of this situation. We are also in process of setting up a medical and community task force in coordination with Rev. R.B. Holmes to review best practices and better communication to move our hospital forward. We owe our community nothing less.”

A Federal court in the state Capitol is considering what could be a landmark case when it comes to who represents you in local government. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the case boils down to whether it’s fair to count state prisoners when creating local districts.

Rural Jefferson County has a five county commission districts, each with 2900 residents. One of the districts includes this state prison.

There are about 1200 inmates here. They make up about 43 percent of the people who live in this county commission district. People In the other four districts say it isn’t fair.

Whether or not to count local prisoners is left up to the local governments. The US Supreme Court has said it’s okay to count prisoners as long as they don’t make up more than ten percent of the population.

Residents here, along with the ACLU and the FLorida Justice Institute  are suing to have the prisoners excluded. Randall Berg of the FL. Justice Institute says prisoners don’t vote and shouldn’t be counted for political purposes.

Q: “what happens when they are counted?”

A:”what happens is they dilute the voting impact of the people in the other four districts of Jefferson County.”

The judge repeatedly used the phrase Representational Nexus, wanting to know how local Goverment benefits the prisoners. Jerry Curington represents the Jefferson County School Board.

“Inmates deal with Correctional officers every day. Twenty-four seven. They can’t escape them, and it’s important to them that they have a good school system so these officers understand constitutional principles and the rights of prisoners.”

Seven of FLORIDA’S counties have chosen not to count prisoners. Most do. A decision is expected in February and if it goes against the county, dozens of other small counties could find themselves having to redraw their county commission and school board boundaries. ( prisoners in the state prison call Jefferson County home. the other nearly 1200 do not.

The County did tell the judge that if he rules against them, the small county may not be able to appeal the decision.

There appears to be turmoil at the Republican Party of Florida just ten months from the  November General election in which Florida is sure to be a Presidential battleground once again. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, despite a high staff turnover, the RPOF still has significant advantages.

The longtime CFO of The Republican Party of Florida has been let go as the staff is streamlined. It’s executive Director is leaving to manage a US Senate Campaign. The moves come as the party is reeling from internal dissension and lower fundraising.

The problems began a year ago when the party elected Blaise Ingoglia as it’s chairman over the Governor’s hand picked candidate. The move caused Rick Scott to stop raising money for the party. Since then Scott has put just under 4 million into his own account. He was asked about the split on Monday.

Q:”You’re the governor…first Republican Governor, maybe ever, who hasn’t been aggressively raising money for the party. Are you worried about the state of the party?Are you going to do anything to help them?”

A:”Well, as you know, I ran on a program to get our state back to work” Scott responded without actually answering the question.

Pushed for an answer, Scott would only say: “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure a Republican wins in Florida.”

The former chairwoman has also stopped raising money for the state party and Senate Republicans also pulled their cash from the party coffers.

The RPOF declined to be interviewed but offered this statement, attributed to it’s Chairman, which says in part:

“Our party continues to be debt free, hold a cash on hand advantage over the Florida Democrats while holding significant digital, data and field operational advantages as well.”

Indeed, the RPOF still has a five to one cash on hand advantage over Democrats, but it’s fundraising is down by a third from the same time four years ago.

Reports filed with the state show the state GOP has about 15 million in the bank while Florida Democrats have about three million.

The full statement from the RPOF is below: 

“Our focus is, and will remain, defeating Hillary Clinton in Florida, delivering this state to the Republican nominee, and getting Republicans elected up and down the ballot. We are making these needed adjustments now to ensure that we are in the best position possible to do just that. Our party continues to be debt free, hold a cash on hand advantage over the Florida Democrats while holding significant digital, data and field operational advantages as well.”  – RPOF Chair Blaise Ingoglia

For many same sex couples in Florida, roadblock after roadblock made being married seem like an impossibility up until last January.  Matt Galka talks to one of the men responsible for reversing the state’s same sex marriage ban one year after the landmark decision.

A little more than one year ago, there were feelings of frustration from Jim Brenner and his partner Charles Jones

“We’re not asking for anything that other people don’t already have. We’re not asking for anything special,” said Brenner while sitting at his kitchen table in late 2014.

Brenner and Jones had already been married in Canada but until January of last year, Florida didn’t recognize their union. Brenner’s laws suit helped pave the way for change. A federal judge overturned the ban on same sex marriage January 5th of 2015, and couples started getting marriage licenses on the 6th.

“It seems like almost on a daily basis we find something new that’s making our lives the same as anyone elses, but for us it’s a big difference. A big change,” said Brenner.

One year later, what seemed almost impossible in Florida is run of the mill.

On the first day marriage licenses were granted to same sex couples, there were a few protests, but little problems. And one year later, Brenner says everything feels normal.

“The sky didn’t fall, and there are no major thunderbolts coming out of the sky in our direction, so I think it’s pretty much been what we were hoping for,” he said.

It’s nearly impossible to tell how many same sex couples were wed in Florida last year, spouse gender isn’t tracked in the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court made same sex marriage legal throughout the country on June 26^th of last year.

Florida gun sales were up 14 percent in 2015, eclipsing the record set following the Sandy Hook shootings. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the state’s background check system also turned down more than 11 thousand would be gun buyers.

More than 137 thousand people sought to buy guns in December alone. The year saw a record 885 thousand background checks conducted, up more than 109 thousand from they year before.

Sales spiked following the San Bernardino shootings and Marion Hammer of the state’s NRA chapter says the record sales are due in part to people realizing police can’t be everywhere.

“And when the White House starts talking about gun control, and banning guns, People start to get serious about their own protection” says Hammer.

Here in Florida, State Senator Arthenia Joyner has introduced legislation that would close the so called gun show loophole. It would require all sales to go through a licensed firearms dealer, which triggers a background check.

“No one should be exempt from the background check” says Joyner.

And while a record number of people did buy a gun, more than eleven thousand didn’t pass a background check and were turned down.”

The NRA remains opposed to ending casual sales between individuals.

“You don;’t have to be a licensed car sales man or car dealership to sell a private vehicle to a neighbor or a friend or child” says Hammer.

The gun show legislation has been referred to three committees, including one chaired by one of the states most ardent gun rights supporters.

Federal law makes it crime to sell a weapon to someone you should reasonable know can’t own a gun. About 1300 people who were originally turned down by the firearm background check program were able to successfully appeal the decision.

A Tallahassee pastor is calling for calm as the public awaits dash cam video of a panhandle woman who died as police escorted her from a rural hospital just before Christmas. The City of Blountstown’s Police Chief has given the video to the city attorney who is waiting for Barbara Dawson’s family attorneys to pick it up. Reverend RB Holmes of Tallahassee says the video is important to understand what happened.

“I think it’s very important as it relates to transparency. My involvement is to make sure that we maintain peace. That we find the truth in this situation. And the chief has been above board on this” Holmes told reporters.

57 Year old Dawson collapsed as police escorted her from the Calhoun-Liberty hospital which she refused to leave because she said she was not feeling well. An autopsy showed she died from a blood clot in her lung.

More than 13,000 rape kits remain untested at police departments around the state according to a newly released survey from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As Matt Galka tells us, clearing the backlog will take time and money.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says 9,400 of the more than 13,000 backlogged rape kits around the state should be tested. The numbers are part of a new report released by the FDLE documenting the state’s rape kit problem.

The Governor says he’s committed to finding a solution.

“In my budget we have $8.5 million to reduce that backlog that was created by local law enforcement asking FDLE to do more, this looks like there will be more money needed and I will work with the legislature to make sure that happens,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida) during a jobs event.

FDLE estimates that it could cost anywhere from $9 to $32 million dollars to test the kits they’re responsible for, and it could take up to 9 years.

Spokesmen for the Department said they didn’t want to go on camera, but rather let lawmakers review the results and take the next steps.

Sexual assault advocate Meg Baldwin says there’s a lot of positives in the report but the numbers are alarming.

“Having the information about the attackers in a national database means that more attackers can be prosecuted, more victims get justice, and attacks in the future are deterred,” she said.

The Attorney General’s office has been pushing to clear the backlog.

“If it can put just one rapist, one serial rapist away, which we’ve already done, then it’s worth it,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The report states that 41% of the untested kits weren’t submitted because victims didn’t proceed with the investigation.