Florida Senate - 2010 (NP) SB 70
By Senator Wilson
33-00220-10 201070__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of Monica Cantillo Acosta and
3 Luis Alberto Cantillo Acosta, surviving children of
4 Nhora Acosta by Miami-Dade County; providing for an
5 appropriation to compensate them for the wrongful
6 death of their mother, Nhora Acosta, due to injuries
7 sustained as a result of the negligence of a Miami
8 Dade County bus driver; providing a limitation on the
9 payment of fees and costs; providing an effective
10 date.
11
12 WHEREAS, on November 12, 2004, at approximately 4:16 p.m.
13 in Miami-Dade County, Nhora Acosta entered Miami-Dade County bus
14 #04142 at a stop on S.W. 8th Street in Miami, Florida, paid the
15 driver, and was trying to find a seat on the crowded bus, and
16 WHEREAS, while Nhora Acosta walked toward the rear of the
17 bus in search of a seat, the bus driver ignored her safety and
18 failed to appropriately anticipate the stop-and-go traffic
19 patterns on the busy street. As a result, the bus driver
20 accelerated so quickly that in order to avoid a collision with
21 another vehicle, he suddenly slammed on the brakes which caused
22 Nhora Acosta to fall and strike her head on an interior portion
23 of the bus, and
24 WHEREAS, because of the sudden change in velocity and the
25 violent force upon which Nhora Acosta struck her head within the
26 bus interior, she suffered a severe closed head injury and
27 massive brain damage, including a right subdural hemorrhage, a
28 left dural hemorrhage, diffused cerebral edema, and basilar
29 herniations, and
30 WHEREAS, Nhora Acosta was rushed to the trauma
31 resuscitation bay at Jackson Memorial Hospital in a comatose
32 state, placed on a ventilator, underwent various procedures to
33 no avail, and was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m. the next day, and
34 WHEREAS, Nhora Acosta was a 54-year-old single mother of
35 two children, Monica Cantillo Acosta and Luis Alberto Cantillo
36 Acosta, who were raised exclusively by their mother, and because
37 of her death, her children were left orphaned, and
38 WHEREAS, Monica Cantillo Acosta and Luis Alberto Cantillo
39 Acosta loved their mother and only parent dearly and have
40 suffered enormous, intense mental pain and suffering due to
41 their mother’s untimely death, and have further lost the
42 support, love, guidance, and consortium of their only parent,
43 Nhora Acosta, as a result of the negligence of the Miami-Dade
44 bus driver, and
45 WHEREAS, on November 5, 2007, a Miami-Dade County jury
46 rendered a verdict and found the Miami-Dade County bus driver
47 100 percent negligent and responsible for the wrongful death of
48 Nhora Acosta, and determined the damages of Monica Cantillo
49 Acosta and Luis Alberto Cantillo Acosta to be $3 million each,
50 NOW, THEREFORE,
51
52 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
53
54 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
55 found and declared to be true.
56 Section 2. Miami-Dade County is authorized and directed to
57 appropriate from funds of the county not otherwise appropriated
58 and to draw a warrant in the sum of $3 million, payable to
59 Monica Cantillo Acosta, and $3 million, payable to Luis Alberto
60 Cantillo Acosta as compensation for the wrongful death of their
61 mother, Nhora Acosta.
62 Section 3. The amount awarded under this act is intended to
63 provide the sole compensation for all present and future claims
64 arising out of the factual situation described in this act which
65 resulted in the death of Nhora Acosta. The total amount paid for
66 attorney’s fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar
67 expenses relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the
68 amount awarded under this act.
69 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.