House Bill 0233

    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 233

        By Representative Suarez






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Orange County; providing for

  3         the relief of Maria Garcia, as legal guardian

  4         of Delfina Benjumea, for injuries and damages

  5         sustained by Delfina Benjumea as a result of

  6         the negligence of the Orange County Sheriff's

  7         Office; providing an effective date.

  8

  9         WHEREAS, on July 11, 1996, Delfina Benjumea, an

10  82-year-old woman, had come to the Orlando area from Colombia

11  to visit her family, and

12         WHEREAS, while in Orlando, Ms. Benjumea participated in

13  a senior-citizen program run by the City of Orlando, and

14         WHEREAS, on July 11, 1996, a fellow participant in the

15  program gave Ms. Benjumea a ride from the center and

16  mistakenly left her at an apartment complex other than the one

17  in which her daughter resided, and

18         WHEREAS, in an effort to walk to her daughter's home,

19  Ms. Benjumea became lost, and a sheriff's deputy undertook to

20  drive her to adult protective services, and

21         WHEREAS, on the way to their destination, the deputy

22  rear-ended a 1992 Lexus automobile at such a speed as to cause

23  airbags in the sheriff's vehicle to deploy, and

24         WHEREAS, after the accident, Ms. Benjumea was evaluated

25  at a hospital for complaints of neck and back pain and

26  released, but, during the next several weeks, she experienced

27  increased headaches, dizziness, and confusion, and

28         WHEREAS, on August 3, 1996, Maria Garcia found her

29  mother lying in the grass in front of her apartment complex,

30  and Ms. Benjumea was taken to Florida Hospital South, where a

31

                                  1

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






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 233

    732-105-00






  1  CT Scan of the brain revealed very large bilateral subacute

  2  subdural hematomas, and

  3         WHEREAS, surgical procedures were performed to open the

  4  skull and relieve the hematomas, and

  5         WHEREAS, Ms. Benjumea was released from the hospital 3

  6  days later but returned there in September 1996, because of

  7  coagulation and clotting, and

  8         WHEREAS, at a trial based on allegations that the

  9  aforementioned accident had caused brain injury, a neurologist

10  testified that Ms. Benjumea had suffered a traumatic brain

11  injury with residual cognitive and behavioral impairment and

12  further concluded that Ms. Benjumea is totally incapacitated

13  and is in need of constant supervision, and

14         WHEREAS, a three-person medical panel, in connection

15  with Ms. Benjumea's guardianship proceeding in 1997, issued

16  findings consistent with the doctor's opinion, and

17         WHEREAS, at trial, a jury determined that the sheriff

18  was 100 percent at fault in the accident, and the jury awarded

19  Ms. Benjumea damages totaling $384,433, including $87,745 for

20  past medical expenses, $172,000 for future medical expenses,

21  and $124,688 for past and future pain and suffering, and

22         WHEREAS, plaintiff agreed to a remittitur post-trial,

23  and a final judgment in the amount of $362,954, including

24  taxable costs, was entered in October, 1998, and

25         WHEREAS, the sheriff has tendered $100,000 in

26  accordance with the limits on waiver of sovereign immunity

27  which are set forth in section 768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW,

28  THEREFORE,

29

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

31

                                  2

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






    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 233

    732-105-00






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

  2  act are found and declared to be true.

  3         Section 2.  The Orange County Sheriff's Office is

  4  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the

  5  sheriff's office not otherwise appropriated and to draw a

  6  warrant in the sum of $262,954 payable to Maria Garcia, as

  7  legal guardian of Delfina Benjumea, to compensate Delfina

  8  Benjumea for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the

  9  negligence of an employee of the Orange County Sheriff's

10  Office.

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

12  law.

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  3