Senate Bill sb0076c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 76
By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Margolis
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the City of Miami Beach;
3 providing for the relief of Claude Tunc and
4 Martine Tunc, individually and as co-personal
5 representatives of the estate of Stephanie
6 Tunc, deceased, and Sandrine Tunc, for the
7 death of Stephanie Tunc and injuries and
8 damages sustained by Sandrine Tunc due to the
9 negligence of the City of Miami Beach;
10 providing for an appropriation; providing for
11 the use of such funds; providing for attorney's
12 fees and costs; providing a limitation on fees;
13 providing an effective date.
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15 WHEREAS, on February 22, 2003, 27-year-old Sandrine
16 Tunc, along with her 26-year-old sister, Stephanie Tunc, were
17 sunbathing on the soft sand of Miami Beach on a sunny
18 afternoon, and
19 WHEREAS, Officer George Varon, a police officer
20 employed by the City of Miami Beach Police Department, while
21 in the course and scope of his duties as a City of Miami Beach
22 police officer, drove a Miami Beach police vehicle on the soft
23 sand of Miami Beach and negligently drove through an area of
24 sunbathers near a lifeguard station, and in fact did drive
25 over Stephanie and Sandrine Tunc with his police vehicle,
26 proximately causing the death of Stephanie Tunc and serious
27 permanent injuries to Sandrine Tunc, and
28 WHEREAS, Stephanie Tunc was crushed to death by the
29 vehicle and died shortly after the incident, and Sandrine Tunc
30 survived the accident and was transferred to the Ryder Trauma
31 Center at the Jackson Memorial Hospital, and
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 76
591-2364-07
1 WHEREAS, the parents of Stephanie Tunc, Claude Tunc and
2 Martine Tunc, seek to recover damages for their mental pain
3 and suffering, as well as future loss of support of services
4 based on the death of their daughter, and
5 WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc seeks damages for past pain and
6 suffering, disability, impairment, disfigurement, mental
7 anguish, inconvenience, and lost capacity to enjoy life;
8 future pain, suffering, disability, impairment, disfigurement,
9 mental anguish, inconvenience, and lost capacity to enjoy
10 life; loss of future earning capacity; and future medical and
11 psychiatric care and rehabilitation, and
12 WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc was hospitalized from February
13 22, 2003, through February 28, 2003, at the Jackson Memorial
14 Hospital for a lacerated liver, fractured ribs, punctured
15 lung, contusions, and hematomas, and, as a result of the
16 injuries, has disfiguring scars, as well as a permanent
17 hardened cyst-like hematoma in the lower left groin area, and
18 WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc incurred a medical bill of
19 $37,624.20 for her treatment at the Jackson Memorial Hospital
20 Trauma Center, and the decedent, Stephanie Tunc, incurred a
21 bill of $45,030.24 at the Jackson Memorial Hospital Trauma
22 Center, and
23 WHEREAS, Sandrine Tunc is receiving continuous medical
24 and psychiatric care due to the above injuries, as well as the
25 emotional trauma of watching her sister being crushed to death
26 by the vehicle while they were lying side by side on the
27 beach, and
28 WHEREAS, as a result of a suit filed following the
29 incident, the City of Miami Beach Commission voluntarily
30 agreed to a settlement of this cause in the amount of $1.5
31 million, of which $200,000 will be paid by the City of Miami
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 76
591-2364-07
1 Beach, and the remaining $1.3 million will be submitted
2 pursuant to a claim bill to be presented to the Legislature in
3 the amount of $1.3 million which the City of Miami Beach
4 agreed to support and approve; the City of Miami Beach
5 Commission did in fact convene and adopt the settlement,
6 thereby agreeing to support and give its approval to a claim
7 bill to be presented to the Legislature in the amount of $1.3
8 million, NOW, THEREFORE,
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10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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12 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this
13 act are found and declared to be true.
14 Section 2. The City of Miami Beach is authorized and
15 directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise appropriated
16 and draw warrants in the amount of $325,000 to be paid to
17 Claude Tunc and Martine Tunc, individually and as co-personal
18 representatives of the estate of Stephanie Tunc, deceased, and
19 in the amount of $975,000 to Sandrine Tunc, which is inclusive
20 of costs and attorney's fees as limited in accordance with s.
21 768.28, Florida Statutes.
22 Section 3. This award is intended to provide the sole
23 compensation for any and all present and future claims arising
24 out of the factual situation in connection with the injury to
25 Sandrine Tunc and the death of Stephanie Tunc. Not more than
26 25 percent of the award may be paid by Claude Tunc or Martine
27 Tunc, individually and as co-personal representatives of the
28 estate of Stephanie Tunc, deceased, and Sandrine Tunc for
29 attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, or other similar
30 expenses.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 76
591-2364-07
1 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
2 law.
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4 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
5 Senate Bill 76
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7 The CS implements the special master's recommendation to
change the award allocation. The allocation in the original
8 bill equally dispensed the award to the parents and to the
surviving child. The CS provides for a 75:25 split with the
9 bulk of the award provided to the surviving child.
Additionally, the CS restricts the attorney and lobbyist fees
10 to no more than 25% of the award.
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