Florida Senate - 2012                              (NP)    SB 16
       
       
       
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       33-00126-12                                             201216__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Ronnie Lopez and Robert
    3         Guzman, individually and as co-personal
    4         representatives of the Estate of Ana-Yency Velasquez,
    5         deceased, and for Ronnie Lopez, Jr., Ashley Lorena
    6         Lopez-Velasquez, and Steven Robert Guzman, minor
    7         children of Ana-Yency Velasquez, by Miami-Dade County;
    8         providing for an appropriation to compensate the
    9         estate and the minor children for the death of Ana
   10         Yency Velasquez as a result of the negligence of an
   11         employee of Miami-Dade County; providing a limitation
   12         on the payment of fees and costs; providing an
   13         effective date.
   14  
   15         WHEREAS, Ronnie Lopez, co-personal representative of the
   16  Estate of Ana-Yency Velasquez, deceased, is the father of Ronnie
   17  Lopez, Jr., age 4, and Ashley Lorena Lopez-Velasquez, age 3, and
   18  Ana-Yency Velasquez, deceased, was the mother of Ronnie Lopez,
   19  Jr., and Ashley Lorena Lopez-Velasquez, and
   20         WHEREAS, Robert Guzman, co-personal representative of the
   21  Estate of Ana-Yency Velasquez, deceased, is the father of minor
   22  child, Steven Robert Guzman, age 8, and Ana-Yency Velasquez,
   23  deceased, was the mother of Steven Robert Guzman, and
   24         WHEREAS, on February 23, 2009, a Miami-Dade County Police
   25  Officer, when driving his marked police unit through an
   26  intersection, failed to obey a posted stop sign and also did not
   27  engage his lights or sirens, and
   28         WHEREAS, protocol for the Miami-Dade County Police
   29  Department requires that lights and sirens be engaged whenever
   30  any police vehicle is in pursuit of another vehicle, and
   31         WHEREAS, s. 316.271, Florida Statutes, requires that sirens
   32  be engaged whenever an authorized emergency vehicle is
   33  responding to an emergency or in immediate pursuit of an actual
   34  or suspected violator of the law, and
   35         WHEREAS, the vehicle driven by the Miami-Dade County police
   36  unit was in pursuit of a phantom speeding vehicle at the time of
   37  the collision, and
   38         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County police cruiser crashed into
   39  and broadsided the vehicle operated by Ana-Yency Velasquez, then
   40  23 years of age and the mother of three minor children, at the
   41  intersection of N.W. 112th St. and N.W. 12th Ave., and
   42         WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County police cruiser operated by
   43  the officer struck the vehicle driven by Ana-Yency Velasquez
   44  with such force that her automobile crashed into the bedroom of
   45  a nearby residence, throwing debris from the automobile onto the
   46  roof of the residence, and
   47         WHEREAS, Ana-Yency Velasquez was killed as a result of the
   48  negligence of an employee of Miami-Dade County, Florida, and
   49         WHEREAS, mediation of the claims of this matter was held on
   50  November 17, 2010, and
   51         WHEREAS, at mediation, Miami-Dade County acknowledged that
   52  the damages far exceeded the statutory limit of $200,000
   53  established under s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the
   54  representatives of Miami-Dade County agreed and entered into a
   55  Mediation Settlement Agreement, and
   56         WHEREAS, in the Mediation Settlement Agreement, Miami-Dade
   57  County agreed to pay $150,000 to the plaintiffs under the
   58  statutory limits on damages, and the remaining $50,000 was paid
   59  to the co-personal representatives of the Estate of Ana-Yency
   60  Velasquez and to the owner of the house that incurred damage as
   61  a result of the crash, and
   62         WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has paid $150,000 to the co
   63  personal representatives of the Estate of Ana-Yency Velasquez
   64  under the statutory limits of liability set forth in s. 768.28,
   65  Florida Statutes, and
   66         WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has agreed in the Mediation
   67  Settlement Agreement to actively support the passage of a claim
   68  bill in the amount of $1,010,000, NOW, THEREFORE,
   69  
   70  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   71  
   72         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   73  found and declared to be true.
   74         Section 2. Miami-Dade County is authorized and directed to
   75  appropriate from funds of the county not otherwise appropriated
   76  and to draw a warrant in the sum of $1,010,000, payable to
   77  Ronnie Lopez and Robert Guzman, individually and as co-personal
   78  representatives of the Estate of Ana-Yency Velasquez, deceased,
   79  for the benefit of Ronnie Lopez, Jr., Ashley Lorena Lopez
   80  Velasquez, and Steven Robert Guzman, minor children of Ana-Yency
   81  Velasquez, as compensation for the death of Ana-Yency Velasquez
   82  as a result of the negligence of an employee of Miami-Dade
   83  County.
   84         Section 3. The amount paid by Miami-Dade County pursuant to
   85  s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded under this
   86  act are intended to provide the sole compensation for all
   87  present and future claims arising out of the factual situation
   88  described in the preamble to this act which resulted in the
   89  death of Ana-Yency Velasquez. The total amount paid for
   90  attorney’s fees, lobbying fees, costs, and similar expenses
   91  relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the total
   92  amount awarded under section 2 of this act.
   93         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.