House Bill 1109

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1109

        By the Committee on Claims and Representative Ritter






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the City of Delray Beach;

  3         providing for the relief of the Estate of

  4         Charlie Brown, Jr.; providing for an

  5         appropriation to compensate the Estate of

  6         Charlie Brown, Jr., for damages sustained as a

  7         result of the negligence of the City of Delray

  8         Beach; providing an effective date.

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10         WHEREAS, on November 25, 1987, Charlie Brown, Jr., who

11  was then 35 years of age, was struck from behind on his

12  bicycle by an automobile on Lake Ida Road in the City of

13  Delray Beach, and

14         WHEREAS, as a result of this accident, Charlie Brown,

15  Jr., was critically injured and brain-damaged, and he remained

16  institutionalized until his death on May 4, 1997, and

17         WHEREAS, due to the loss, misplacement, or accidental

18  discarding of evidence by the city police, the state attorney

19  had to drop the criminal charges that had been brought against

20  the alleged hit-and-run violator who struck Charlie Brown,

21  Jr., and

22         WHEREAS, attorneys for Charlie Brown, Jr., then filed

23  suit against the city, alleging that the city had negligently

24  failed to preserve and safeguard the physical evidence

25  pertaining to the incident, and

26         WHEREAS, the lower court granted the city's motion for

27  summary judgment, but that verdict was subsequently reversed

28  in Brown v. City of Delray Beach, 652 So.2d 1150 (Fla. 4th DCA

29  1995), and

30         WHEREAS, pursuant to the subsequent jury verdict of

31  August 19, 1996, final judgment in that action was entered

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






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1109

    176-133-99






  1  against the City of Delray Beach in the amount of $300,000

  2  plus interest and attorneys' fees and costs, and

  3         WHEREAS, the City of Delray Beach has paid $100,000,

  4  the statutory limit of liability under section 768.28, Florida

  5  Statutes, in partial satisfaction of this judgment, and

  6         WHEREAS, the parties have agreed to settle the

  7  controversy for the amount of $80,000, to be paid to the

  8  Estate of Charlie Brown, Jr., and used for the benefit of Mr.

  9  Brown's minor child, Nicola Brown, NOW, THEREFORE,

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

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

14  act are found and declared to be true.

15         Section 2.  The City of Delray Beach is authorized and

16  directed to appropriate from funds of the city not otherwise

17  appropriated and to draw a warrant in the sum of $80,000

18  payable to the Estate of Charlie Brown, Jr., for the benefit

19  of Nicola Brown, minor child of Charlie Brown, Jr., as

20  compensation for injuries and damages sustained.

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

22  law.

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