The California Legislature voted Thursday to give kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard $20 million to head off a potentially larger judgment against the state for failing to adequately supervise her alleged kidnapper, prison parolee Phillip Garrido.
The $20 million was placed into an otherwise routine "claims bill," Assembly Bill 1714, on Wednesday. It passed the Senate 30-1 and the Assembly 62-0 sending it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Because the bill cleared the Legislature in the new fiscal year and the state has not approved a budget, the governor will have to formally request that the measure come to his desk. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor will ask for the bill and sign it.
Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped off the street near her home in South Lake Tahoe in 1991, and authorities say she was held prisoner for nearly two decades in Garrido's Antioch home. He and his wife, Nancy, face numerous charges relating to the case and potentially face life in prison.
Dugard's attorneys filed multiple claims with the state Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board, alleging that Garrido was not adequately supervised while on parole for years following a 1977 conviction for kidnapping and rape. The claims were held in abeyance while negotiations with the state over a settlement continued.
The original case was in Nevada but California assumed responsibility for parole supervision after the Garridos relocated to California.
Read more of this story at SacBee.com
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