Senate Bill 0070e1

    SB 70                                    First Engrossed (ntc)



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Alachua County; providing

  3         for the relief of Matthew White; providing for

  4         an appropriation to compensate him for injuries

  5         and damages sustained as a result of the

  6         negligence of the Alachua County Sheriff's

  7         Department; providing an effective date.

  8

  9         WHEREAS, on November 5, 1988, at approximately 4:00

10  a.m., Matthew White was injured when his motorcycle struck a

11  horse that was being chased at night by a City of Waldo police

12  officer, and

13         WHEREAS, the City of Waldo police officer had been

14  dispatched by the Alachua County Sheriff's Department to a

15  location in Alachua County to investigate and "handle" a CB

16  radio report that there was a horse loose on U.S. Highway 301

17  north of Waldo, and

18         WHEREAS, a civilian passerby who was attempting to

19  assist the City of Waldo police officer described the events

20  leading up to the accident as a "lights-off sneak attack" on

21  the horse in the median of the divided highway, and

22         WHEREAS, the City of Waldo police officer driving the

23  police cruiser, with the civilian witness seated on the hood

24  of the police cruiser, eased up to the horse, which they had

25  been chasing for nearly a mile, back and forth across Highway

26  301, in an attempt to secure the horse by the civilian

27  attempting to place his arms around the neck of the horse, and

28         WHEREAS, this attempt to secure the horse was taking

29  place as Matthew White approached the area on his motorcycle,

30  and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    SB 70                                    First Engrossed (ntc)



  1         WHEREAS, this method of attempting to secure the horse

  2  spooked the horse one final time, causing the horse to run out

  3  into the highway and into the motorcycle traveling north

  4  within the lawful speed limit, operated by Lieutenant Matthew

  5  White, a Florida National Guard Officer and a student at the

  6  University of Florida, and

  7         WHEREAS, the City of Waldo police officer had turned

  8  off the blue lights, headlights, and flashers on the police

  9  cruiser, and

10         WHEREAS, upon impact with the horse, Matthew White was

11  thrown over 100 feet from the motorcycle he was operating and

12  landed in a ditch, and

13         WHEREAS, Matthew White sustained complete, or nearly

14  complete, tears of all four of the ligaments that hold the

15  lower leg to the upper leg at the knee, and

16         WHEREAS, Dr. McFarland, the orthopedist at Shands

17  Teaching Hospital, testified that it would not have been

18  uncommon for Matthew White to have lost his leg as a result of

19  the injuries he sustained, and

20         WHEREAS, Dr. McFarland and his staff were able to

21  reattach the torn ligaments in Matthew White's leg over the

22  course of a year of surgery, and

23         WHEREAS, with subsequent surgical procedures, Matthew

24  White was eventually able to regain some use of his leg, and

25         WHEREAS, Matthew White received a 20 percent permanent

26  impairment from Dr. McFarland, but his leg was so impaired

27  that he was within 1 percentage point of the degree of

28  impairment which would require mandatory medical discharge

29  from the United States Army, and

30         WHEREAS, Matthew White's goal in life was to serve as a

31  full-time active duty military officer, and


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    SB 70                                    First Engrossed (ntc)



  1         WHEREAS, Matthew White attended the Georgia Military

  2  Academy for 2 years, and

  3         WHEREAS, following his attendance at Georgia Military

  4  Academy, Matthew White received an early commission as a

  5  Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, and

  6         WHEREAS, the program required him to serve in the troop

  7  unit during the last 2 years of his college enrollment so that

  8  he could enter federal active duty upon graduation, and

  9         WHEREAS, the accident of November 5, 1988, the injuries

10  sustained by Matthew White as a result of the accident, and

11  the recuperation from those injuries put Matthew White

12  seriously behind in his obligation to complete college within

13  that time period, and to receive his Officer's Basic Training,

14  and

15         WHEREAS, Matthew White was medically disabled for a

16  year and a half following the accident, and was finally called

17  to active duty for his Officer's Basic Training Course as a

18  result of Operation Desert Storm, and

19         WHEREAS, Matthew White was rejected for active duty

20  following the completion of Operation Desert Storm, and

21         WHEREAS, the ROTC Senior Military Instructor who was

22  called as an expert witness in this case stated that Matthew

23  White effectively lost his opportunity to compete as an

24  Engineer Officer in the United States Army in both the active

25  component and the reserve component, and

26         WHEREAS, Matthew White is now discharged from the

27  United States Army, and

28         WHEREAS, as a result of the accident of November 5,

29  1988, Matthew White sustained serious injury that formed the

30  basis of legal action brought by Matthew White, and

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    SB 70                                    First Engrossed (ntc)



  1         WHEREAS, following trial on this matter, a judgment was

  2  returned by the jury in the amount of $489,942.65, and

  3         WHEREAS, a subsequent award for costs and the amount of

  4  the judgment was entered in the amount of $501,116.19, and

  5         WHEREAS, a total of $55,000 was paid from Florida Risk

  6  Management toward the settlement, and $45,000 had been paid on

  7  behalf of the City of Waldo in settlement of the claim prior

  8  to the trial in this action, and

  9         WHEREAS, the verdict returned by the jury assessed 100

10  percent liability for the accident upon the Alachua County

11  Sheriff's Department, and

12         WHEREAS, there remains due and unpaid the sum of

13  $401,116.19, NOW, THEREFORE,

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15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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17         Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this

18  act are found and declared to be true.

19         Section 2.  The Alachua County Sheriff's Department is

20  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the

21  sheriff's department not otherwise appropriated and to draw a

22  warrant in the sum of $275,000 payable to Matthew White as

23  compensation for injuries and damages sustained due to the

24  negligence of the Alachua County Sheriff's Department.

25         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

26  law.

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