CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.Senate Bill 0052
Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SB 52
By Senator Grant
13-188-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the City of Tampa; providing
3 for the relief of Jemal Kurein, by and through
4 his wife and natural guardian, Semira Kurein,
5 and for Semira Kurein, individually, and for
6 Remzu Kurein and Nima Kurein, minor children of
7 Jemal Kurein and Semira Kurein, by and through
8 their mother, Semira Kurein; providing for an
9 appropriation to compensate them for injuries
10 and damages sustained by Jemal Kurein as a
11 result of the negligence of the City of Tampa;
12 providing an effective date.
13
14 WHEREAS, on March 17, 1993, Jemal Kurein, working as a
15 taxicab driver, was driving his cab northbound on Howard
16 Avenue in Tampa, and
17 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein was traveling at approximately 15
18 miles per hour through a green light at the intersection of
19 Howard Avenue and Main Street when a City of Tampa fire truck,
20 driven by Brant Cochran, was traveling eastbound on Main
21 Street on its way to a call at approximately 35 miles per
22 hour, and
23 WHEREAS, the intersection through which Jemal Kurein
24 was traveling at the time the accident occurred is a blind
25 intersection due to the close proximity of buildings to the
26 intersection, and
27 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein, while traveling with the
28 right-of-way through the green light at the intersection, was
29 unable to see the City of Tampa fire truck, which was
30 traveling at too high a rate of speed and was approaching a
31 red light at the intersection, and
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SB 52
13-188-98
1 WHEREAS, the City of Tampa fire truck raced through the
2 red light and slammed Jemal Kurein's cab from the right side,
3 pushing him into the storefront wall at the northeast corner
4 of the intersection, and
5 WHEREAS, the impact from the crash was so severe that
6 the right side of Jemal Kurein's head was struck by the fire
7 truck, and
8 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein's head then rebounded, causing
9 the left side of his head to strike the window or pillar of
10 the left side of his cab, and
11 WHEREAS, the City of Tampa Police Department conducted
12 an investigation of the accident and determined that the
13 operator of the City of Tampa fire truck ran a red light, and
14 WHEREAS, the City of Tampa also conducted an
15 administrative investigation independent of the police
16 accident reconstruction and concluded that Mr. Cochran was
17 negligent, failed to use due care, and violated the city's
18 safety policies and procedures, and determined that a
19 "level-three violation" had been committed according to the
20 city administrative code, and
21 WHEREAS, Mark Barroso, an eyewitness, testified that he
22 saw that the traffic light at the intersection was red for the
23 fire truck for approximately five seconds before the accident
24 and that the traffic light was red both before and after the
25 accident, and
26 WHEREAS, Geoffrey Shelley, another witness, saw that
27 the traffic light was red for the fire truck for two to three
28 seconds before impact and that the fire truck never slowed,
29 and
30 WHEREAS, although Mr. Cochran claimed to have proceeded
31 through the intersection under the indication of a green or
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Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SB 52
13-188-98
1 yellow light, he testified that he could not recall when he
2 last looked at the light, and
3 WHEREAS, Mr. Cochran also testified that when he was at
4 the previous intersection heading east on Main Street, the
5 light ahead at the intersection of Howard and Main was green
6 for him, and
7 WHEREAS, police determined that it would have taken Mr.
8 Cochran nearly 18 seconds to reach the intersection at Howard
9 and Main, and that the light remains green for only 14
10 seconds, which leads to the conclusion that Mr. Cochran had a
11 red light for at least 3 to 5 seconds prior to entering the
12 intersection, and
13 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein sustained a massive head injury
14 in the accident of March 17, 1993, with an internal brain
15 hemorrhage, and
16 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein was in a coma for several days
17 following the accident and underwent five separate surgical
18 procedures, and
19 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein suffers from a closed head and
20 brain injury and dementia, and
21 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein needs 24-hour-a-day care and
22 supervision and is currently in a nursing home, and
23 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein has an I.Q. of 56 and is like a
24 3-year-old child, and
25 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein also sustained a fractured
26 dislocation of his left elbow and his left wrist, and also
27 suffered several fractured ribs, and
28 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein, now age 37, will never recover
29 from his cognitive deficits and is permanently and totally
30 disabled, and
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Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SB 52
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1 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein will never work again and will
2 never be able to take care of himself again, and
3 WHEREAS, Jemal Kurein's lost wages, medical bills, and
4 life care needs, past and future, exceed $2,100,000, and
5 WHEREAS, the injuries sustained by Jemal Kurein in the
6 accident of March 17, 1993, formed the basis of legal action
7 brought against the City of Tampa, and
8 WHEREAS, following a jury trial in which Jemal Kurein
9 was awarded $4,698,523, the jury assessed the City of Tampa's
10 liability in the accident to be 10 percent, and
11 WHEREAS, a total final judgment was entered for
12 $490,930.30, and
13 WHEREAS, the City of Tampa has paid $200,000 of the
14 judgment pursuant to the limits of liability set forth in s.
15 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
16 WHEREAS, the amount of the claim for the excess
17 judgment is for $290,930.30, NOW, THEREFORE,
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19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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21 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this
22 act are found and declared to be true.
23 Section 2. The City of Tampa is authorized and
24 directed to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise
25 appropriated and to draw a warrant in the sum of $290,930.30
26 payable to Semira Kurein, as wife and natural guardian of
27 Jemal Kurein, for the benefit of Jemal Kurein, and to Semira
28 Kurein, individually and as mother and natural guardian of
29 Remzu Kurein and Nima Kurein, minor children of Jemal Kurein
30 and Semira Kurein, as compensation for injuries and damages
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Florida Senate - 1998 (NP) SB 52
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1 sustained by Jemal Kurein due to the negligence of the City of
2 Tampa.
3 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
4 law.
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