Senate Bill sb0042er
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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 Ms. Benjumea as a result of the
6 negligence of the Orange County Sheriff's
7 Office; providing legislative intent with
8 respect to expenditures; providing an effective
9 date.
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11 WHEREAS, on July 11, 1996, Delfina Benjumea, an
12 82-year-old woman, had come to the Orlando area from Colombia
13 to visit her family, and
14 WHEREAS, while in Orlando, Ms. Benjumea participated in
15 a senior-citizen program run by the City of Orlando, and
16 WHEREAS, on July 11, 1996, a fellow participant in the
17 program gave Ms. Benjumea a ride from the center and
18 mistakenly left her at an apartment complex other than the one
19 in which her daughter resided, and
20 WHEREAS, in an effort to walk to her daughter's home,
21 Ms. Benjumea became lost, and a sheriff's deputy undertook to
22 drive her to adult protective services, and
23 WHEREAS, on the way to their destination, the deputy
24 rear-ended a 1992 Lexus automobile at such a speed as to cause
25 airbags in the sheriff's vehicle to deploy, and
26 WHEREAS, after the accident, Ms. Benjumea was evaluated
27 at a hospital for complaints of neck and back pain and
28 released, but, during the next several weeks, she experienced
29 increased headaches, dizziness, and confusion, and
30 WHEREAS, on August 3, 1996, Maria Garcia found her
31 mother lying in the grass in front of her apartment complex,
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2002 Legislature CS for SB 42
1 and Ms. Benjumea was taken to Florida Hospital South, where a
2 CT Scan of the brain revealed very large bilateral subacute
3 subdural hematomas, and
4 WHEREAS, surgical procedures were performed to open the
5 skull and relieve the hematomas, and
6 WHEREAS, Ms. Benjumea was released from the hospital 3
7 days later but returned there in September 1996, because of
8 coagulation and clotting, and
9 WHEREAS, at a trial based on allegations that the
10 aforementioned accident had caused brain injury, a neurologist
11 testified that Ms. Benjumea had suffered a traumatic brain
12 injury with residual cognitive and behavioral impairment and
13 further concluded that Ms. Benjumea is totally incapacitated
14 and is in need of constant supervision, and
15 WHEREAS, a three-person medical panel, in connection
16 with Ms. Benjumea's guardianship proceeding in 1997, issued
17 findings consistent with the doctor's opinion, and
18 WHEREAS, at trial, a jury determined that the sheriff
19 was 100 percent at fault in the accident, and the jury awarded
20 Ms. Benjumea damages totalling $384,433, including $87,745 for
21 past medical expenses, $172,000 for future medical expenses,
22 and $124,688 for past and future pain and suffering, and
23 WHEREAS, plaintiff agreed to a remittitur post-trial,
24 and a final judgment in the amount of $362,954, including
25 taxable costs, was entered in October, 1998, and
26 WHEREAS, the sheriff has tendered $100,000 in
27 accordance with the limits on waiver of sovereign immunity
28 which are set forth in section 768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW,
29 THEREFORE,
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31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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2002 Legislature CS for SB 42
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 $152,500, which amount includes
7 statutory attorney's fees and costs, payable to Maria Garcia
8 as legal guardian of Delfina Benjumea, to be placed in the
9 guardianship account of Delfina Benjumea to compensate Delfina
10 Benjumea for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the
11 negligence of an employee of the Orange County Sheriff's
12 Office. It is the intent of the Legislature that no funds
13 appropriated by this act be spent, incurred, or obligated
14 under the guardianship account for any extraordinary
15 expenditures without prior order of the circuit court.
16 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
17 law.
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