Partner and President of the FACDL Jason Blank Comments as Jason Raynor Act Fails to Pass as Legislators Disagree on Change
Daytona Beach News-Journal
5/14/25
Frank Fernandez
Prosecutors sought a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty against Othal Wallace for fatally shooting Police Officer Jason Raynor but jury found him guiilty of lesser charge.
“The Officer Jason Raynor Act,” named in honor of a Daytona Beach Police Officer who was fatally shot in the line of duty, failed to pass again this year as the House and Senate clashed over an amendment and criminal defense lawyers said the bill wasn’t necessary.
The bill is named after Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor, whose killer, Othal Wallace, was convicted of manslaughter with a firearm and sentenced in 2023 to 30 years in prison. It would have increased the penalty of manslaughter of a law enforcement officer, correctional officer or probation officer to mandatory life in prison. But the legislative session ended May 2 with the House and the Senate in disagreement over the bill.
Seventh Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza supported the bill which was sponsored by Sen. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach.
Larizza said recently that he, along with other supporters, would work again to get the bill passed next year. He said it had the support of law enforcement groups.
Law enforcement is observing National Police Week this week, which runs from May 11 through 17. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook page that 147 law enforcement officers, including eight from Florida, were killed in the line of duty in 2024.
Disagreement over the Jason Raynor Act
Wallace shot the 26-year-old Raynor on June 23, 2021, and the officer died from the gunshot 55 days later.
At Wallace’s trial, Larizza, who led the prosecution team, including Jason Lewis and Andrew Urbanak, was seeking a first-degree murder conviction against Wallace, which would have exposed Wallace to a possible death sentence. But the jury returned a guilty verdict to the lesser count of manslaughter with a firearm.
Former Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano sentenced Wallace to 30 years in prison, the maximum penalty possible, saying Wallace had elevated a simple, every day investigation into a violent struggle and killed Raynor because he was a police officer.
On May 1, State Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville, with support from other House members, sent the bill back to the Senate, insisting that the Senate agree to change some of the language.
Baker, an assistant state attorney for the 7th Circuit, was the House sponsor for the bill.
Baker asked her fellow House members to insist that the Senate accept the House amendment, which changed “lawful or unlawful arrest” to “any arrest.”
Baker’s amendment would have changed the text of the bill from “a person is not justified in the use or threatened use of force to resist a lawful or an unlawful arrest or detention by a law enforcement officer” to “a person is not justified in the use or threatened use of force to resist any arrest or detention by a law enforcement officer.”
Baker said that Leek stated he had committed to the Senate that he would only support the Senate bill as worded. She said the Senate then “stripped away” the House amendment. She criticized the Senate, saying it was not working with the House.
Baker said that the House had accepted a large change to the bill from the Senate. She did not specify what the change was.
Leek’s original version removed a line from state law that called for officers to be acting in “good faith.” But some legislators opposed removing the language.
After opposition in the Senate, Leek amended the bill, putting the “good faith” language back in and the Senate then unanimously passed the bill.
Leek and Baker did not return calls from The News-Journal.
‘Good faith’ language in Jason Raynor Act
State Sen. Shevrin D. Jones, D-Miami Gardens, emailed a statement to The News-Journal after the “good faith” language was reinserted in which he thanked his Republican colleagues, “specifically Senator Leek,” for working with him to include “good faith” in the final version.
“It was essential to keep ‘good faith’ in the bill because, without that language, it would not have played out correctly in Black communities, especially,” Jones stated. “Let me be clear, no officer should be shot and killed while working in the line of duty, but I would be remiss if we did not recognize that there are bad actors in all professions. Keeping ‘good faith’ in the language ensures our officers’ accountability and protects Floridians.”
Jones also stated it was important that legislators work together.
Keeping “good faith” in the law was the right thing to do, wrote Jason Blank, president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
“While we respect the intent to protect law enforcement, we cannot compromise the constitutional rights of people against unlawful or excessive force,” Blank wrote in an email. “Eliminating the ‘good faith’ provision of the statute would protect officers acting outside the bounds of the law, undermining public trust and accountability. The balance between safety and civil liberties must be maintained.
“We commend the Florida Senate for its bipartisan approach in preserving the ‘good faith’ requirement. This ensures that the change in the law does not protect bad faith policing,” Blank added.
Othal Wallace shoots Jason Raynor
Wallace was sitting in a parked car at his girlfriend’s apartment in Daytona Beach when Raynor walked up and asked him if he lived there. That was quickly followed by a struggle in which Wallace pulled a gun and shot Raynor in the head.
The trial was moved to Green Cove Springs. Terry Shoemaker, Tim Pribisco and Garry Wood defended Wallace. During the trial, Pribisco argued that Raynor was not acting in “good faith” as a police officer and Wallace was in fear for his life and acted in self-defense.
Urbanak countered that Wallace had been thinking of killing a police officer in the weeks before the shooting. He said Raynor was doing his job in an area in which he was encouraged to patrol.
Defense group, prosecutors disagree on enhancement
The defense lawyers association also stated that prosecutors could have used an enhancement that would have exposed Wallace to a life sentence but failed to do so.
Had prosecutors enhanced the manslaughter from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony under the Officer Scott Baird Act then the first-degree felony could have been enhanced to a life felony because a firearm was used, according to the association.
When asked about the bill, Shoemaker wrote the change in law was unnecessary.
“I’m glad it didn’t pass. It’s not needed and allows law enforcement to further trample on the rights of our citizens,” he wrote.
He too said prosecutors could have enhanced the penalty to life.
“That’s why the Raynor act isn’t needed,” Shoemaker wrote.
However, the State Attorney’s Office disagrees.
Larizza’s office responded that they could not legally use the enhancement to bump it up to a life felony.
“No, we could not have used the enhancement in that case. Manslaughter by act is not covered by the aggravated manslaughter statute,” according to an email sent by Assistant State Attorney Bryan Shorstein.
But the criminal defense lawyers group responded that the jury was instructed on manslaughter by culpable negligence, which is a lesser included of first-degree murder. Prosecutors could have received the enhancement by requesting an interrogatory on the verdict form, like the one asking about whether a firearm was used, according to the email.
However, Larizza countered that culpable negligence did not fit the crime. Larizza noted that Wallace was claiming self-defense.
“What’s he saying? ‘I didn’t mean to pull my gun out and shoot him?'” Larizza stated.
After the close of the session, Blank said he hopes the “good faith” language is kept in the bill if it is reintroduced next year.
Blank wrote: “The agreement to keep and define ‘good faith’ was an incredible bipartisan moment and we look forward to its inclusion if the bill is filed next year.”
