Amendment
Bill No. 0076
Amendment No. 353877
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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1Representative(s) Bendross-Mindingall offered the following:
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3     Amendment (with title amendment)
4     Remove everything after the enacting clause and insert:
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6     Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
7are found and declared to be true.
8     Section 2.  The City of Miami Beach is authorized and
9directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise appropriated
10and to draw warrants in the amount of $325,000 to be paid to
11Claude Tunc and Martine Tunc, individually and as co-personal
12representatives of the estate of Stephanie Tunc, deceased, and
13in the amount of $975,000 to Sandrine Tunc, which amount is
14inclusive of costs and attorney's fees as limited by this act,
15as compensation for injuries and damages sustained due to the
16negligence of the City of Miami Beach.
17     Section 3.  Payment for the combined total of professional
18services and costs incurred by attorneys, lobbyists, and agents
19or representatives of attorneys or lobbyists shall not exceed
20$280,000.
21     Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
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25======= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ==========
26     On page 1, line 1, through page 3, line 8, remove all of
27said lines, and insert:
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A bill to be entitled
31An act for the relief of Claude Tunc, Martine Tunc, and
32Sandrine Tunc by the City of Miami Beach; providing for
33the relief of Claude Tunc and Martine Tunc, individually
34and as co-personal representatives of the estate of
35Stephanie Tunc, deceased, and Sandrine Tunc, sister of
36Stephanie Tunc, for the death of Stephanie Tunc and
37injuries and damages sustained by Sandrine Tunc due to the
38negligence of the City of Miami Beach; providing for an
39appropriation; providing for attorney's fees, lobbyist's
40fees, and costs; providing an effective date.
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42     WHEREAS, on February 22, 2003, 27-year-old Sandrine Tunc
43and her 26-year-old sister, Stephanie Tunc, were sunbathing on
44the soft sand of Miami Beach on a sunny afternoon, and
45     WHEREAS, Officer George Varon, a police officer employed by
46the City of Miami Beach Police Department, while in the course
47and scope of his duties as a City of Miami Beach police officer,
48drove a Miami Beach police vehicle on the soft sand of Miami
49Beach and negligently drove through an area of sunbathers near a
50lifeguard station, and in fact did drive over Stephanie Tunc and
51Sandrine Tunc with his police vehicle, proximately causing the
52death of Stephanie Tunc and serious permanent injuries to
53Sandrine Tunc, and
54     WHEREAS, Stephanie Tunc was crushed to death by the vehicle
55and died shortly after the incident, and Sandrine Tunc survived
56the accident and was transferred to the Ryder Trauma Center at
57the Jackson Memorial Hospital, and
58     WHEREAS, the parents of Stephanie Tunc, Claude Tunc and
59Martine Tunc, seek to recover damages for their mental pain and
60suffering, as well as future loss of support of services based
61on the death of their daughter, and
62     WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc seeks damages for past pain and
63suffering, disability, impairment, disfigurement, mental
64anguish, inconvenience, and lost capacity to enjoy life; future
65pain and suffering, disability, impairment, disfigurement,
66mental anguish, inconvenience, and lost capacity to enjoy life;
67loss of future earning capacity; and future medical and
68psychiatric care and rehabilitation, and
69     WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc was hospitalized from February 22,
702003, through February 28, 2003, at the Jackson Memorial
71Hospital for a lacerated liver, fractured ribs, punctured lung,
72contusions, and hematomas, and
73     WHEREAS, also as a result of the injuries incurred on
74February 22, 2003, Sandrine Tunc has disfiguring scars as well
75as a permanent hardened cyst-like hematoma in her lower left
76groin area, and
77     WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc incurred medical expenses of
78$37,624.20 for her treatment at the Jackson Memorial Hospital
79Ryder Trauma Center, and the decedent, Stephanie Tunc, incurred
80medical expenses of $45,030.24 at the Jackson Memorial Hospital
81Ryder Trauma Center, and
82     WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc is receiving continuous medical and
83psychiatric care due to the above injuries as well as the
84emotional trauma of watching her sister being crushed to death
85by the police vehicle while they were lying side-by-side on the
86beach, and
87     WHEREAS, as a result of a suit filed following the
88incident, the City Commission of the City of Miami Beach
89voluntarily agreed to a settlement of this cause in the amount
90of $1,500,000, of which $200,000 will be paid by the City of
91Miami Beach, and
92     WHEREAS, the remaining $1,300,000 is to be paid subject to
93the passage of a claim bill introduced in the Legislature, and
94     WHEREAS, the City of Miami Beach has agreed to support this
95claim bill, NOW, THEREFORE,


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