HB 1075

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

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