Florida Senate - 2017 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 300
Ì807320oÎ807320
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/23/2017 .
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The Committee on Judiciary (Torres) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
6 found and declared to be true.
7 Section 2. Orange County is authorized and directed to
8 appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw a
9 warrant in the sum of $2,813,536.09 payable to Robert Allan
10 Smith as compensation for injuries and damages sustained as a
11 result of the negligence of an employee of Orange County.
12 Section 3. The governmental entity responsible for payment
13 of the warrant shall pay to the Agency for Health Care
14 Administration the amount due under s. 409.910, Florida
15 Statutes, before disbursing any funds to the claimant. The
16 amount due to the agency shall be equal to all unreimbursed
17 medical payments paid by Medicaid up to the date upon which this
18 act becomes a law.
19 Section 4. The amount paid by Orange County pursuant to s.
20 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded under this act
21 are intended to provide the sole compensation for all present
22 and future claims arising out of the factual situation described
23 in this act which resulted in injuries and damages to Robert
24 Allan Smith. The total amount of attorney fees relating to this
25 claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under this
26 act.
27 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
28
29 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
30 And the title is amended as follows:
31 Delete everything before the enacting clause
32 and insert:
33 A bill to be entitled
34 An act for the relief of Robert Allan Smith by Orange
35 County; providing for an appropriation to compensate
36 him for injuries sustained as a result of the
37 negligence of an employee of Orange County; providing
38 for repayment of Medicaid liens; providing a
39 limitation on the payment of fees and costs; providing
40 an effective date.
41
42 WHEREAS, at 1:43 p.m. on September 7, 2006, Robert Allan
43 Smith was driving his motorcycle north on DePauw Avenue in
44 Orlando, the quiet residential street he lived on, within 300
45 feet of his home, within the 25 mph posted speed limit, and with
46 headlights on in clear, dry weather, and
47 WHEREAS, as Robert Allan Smith approached the intersection
48 of DePauw Avenue and Orlando Street, at which stop signs are
49 posted for vehicles traveling on Orlando Street, an Orange
50 County work van driven by Orange County employee Lynn Lawrence
51 Godden, which was traveling west on Orlando Street, negligently
52 pulled away from the stop sign, colliding with Mr. Smith, and
53 WHEREAS, Robert Allan Smith said that he saw the driver of
54 the Orange County van visibly slow down as he approached the
55 stop sign, having observed Mr. Smith approaching on his
56 motorcycle, but that the driver drove through the stop sign and
57 into Mr. Smith’s path and Mr. Smith was unable to avoid a
58 collision, and
59 WHEREAS, the front of the Orange County van struck Robert
60 Allan Smith, causing severe and life-threatening injuries and
61 necessitating surgical procedures, including a traumatic
62 amputation of his right leg above his knee, and
63 WHEREAS, Robert Allan Smith also suffered a badly fractured
64 lower left leg with internal fixation, a broken pelvis and
65 sacrum with internal fixation, and damage to the rectum and
66 internal organs, which required a laparotomy, and
67 WHEREAS, the Orange County employee testified that he
68 observed Robert Allan Smith’s motorcycle as he approached the
69 intersection, but he erroneously believed that it was heading
70 away from him, though there was no evidence to support this
71 claim, and that he was looking to his right, away from Mr.
72 Smith, when he entered the intersection, and
73 WHEREAS, the Orange County employee was issued a citation
74 by the Orlando Police Department for failure to yield from a
75 stop sign, and
76 WHEREAS, after finding for Robert Allan Smith and against
77 Orange County in a civil jury trial, the jury in the case
78 determined that Mr. Smith’s future medical expenses totaled
79 $2.376 million over 40 years and that his past medical expenses
80 and lost wages totaled $688,807.37, and awarded him $1,749,978
81 in damages for past and future pain and suffering, for a total
82 award of $4,814,785.37, and
83 WHEREAS, after the total award was reduced by amounts for
84 comparative negligence and Medicaid and Veteran’s Administration
85 setoffs, a final judgment was entered against Orange County on
86 November 27, 2012, in the amount of $2,913,536.09, and
87 WHEREAS, Orange County has paid Robert Allan Smith $100,000
88 pursuant to the statutory limits of liability set forth in s.
89 768.28, Florida Statutes, which were in effect at the time that
90 Mr. Smith’s claim arose, leaving a remaining unpaid balance of
91 $2,813,536.09, NOW, THEREFORE,