House Bill hb0563e1

                                       HB 563, First Engrossed/ntc



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Sheriff of St. Lucie

  3         County; providing for the relief of William

  4         Hennelly and Anne Hennelly; authorizing and

  5         directing the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office

  6         to compensate them for personal injuries they

  7         suffered due to the negligence of employees of

  8         the sheriff's office; providing an effective

  9         date.

10

11         WHEREAS, on February 17, 1996, William and Anne

12  Hennelly, who were respectively 64 and 54 years of age, were

13  occupants of a vehicle owned and operated by an acquaintance

14  and were headed west on State Road A1A in Ft. Pierce, St.

15  Lucie County, toward the intersection of Old Dixie Highway,

16  and

17         WHEREAS, at the same time, a St. Lucie County sheriff's

18  deputy was conducting a high-speed chase on the Old Dixie

19  Highway in pursuit of a car that had been clocked at a speed

20  of 58 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone, and

21         WHEREAS, experts estimated that the high-speed pursuit

22  was conducted at speeds in excess of 85 miles per hour, and

23         WHEREAS, the chase took place on a 1.4-mile stretch of

24  Old Dixie Highway, a two-lane road lined by various businesses

25  and homes and intersecting side streets, and

26         WHEREAS, when the car being chased by the deputy

27  approached the intersection of State Road A1A, the driver of

28  the pursued car ran the red light and struck the van in which

29  Mr. and Mrs. Hennelly were passengers, causing both vehicles

30  to catch fire, and

31


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






                                       HB 563, First Engrossed/ntc



  1         WHEREAS, Mr. and Mrs. Hennelly were rushed to a nearby

  2  hospital emergency room, where they were admitted with severe

  3  head, facial, bodily, and burn injuries, and where they

  4  remained in comas for several weeks, and

  5         WHEREAS, legal action was pursued and, at trial,

  6  accident-reconstruction experts testified that the sheriff's

  7  office had negligently conducted the pursuit, and

  8         WHEREAS, in April 2000, a jury returned a verdict

  9  finding the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department 50-percent

10  at fault for the accident and for the injuries to Mr. and Mrs.

11  Hennelly, and

12         WHEREAS, after reducing the verdict for comparative

13  fault and calculating a setoff for no-fault benefits, the

14  circuit court entered a final judgment in the amount of

15  $3,508,941 against the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Department

16  on June 1, 2000, NOW, THEREFORE,

17

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

19

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

21  act are found and declared to be true.

22         Section 2.  The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office is

23  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the

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

25  warrant payable to William Hennelly and Anne Hennelly for the

26  total amount of $1,250,000, which amount includes statutory

27  attorney's fees and costs, for injuries and damages sustained

28  due to the negligence of employees of the St. Lucie County

29  Sheriff's Office.

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

31  law.


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