HB 445

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Eric Brody by the Broward
3	County Sheriff's Office; providing for an
4	appropriation to compensate Eric Brody for injuries
5	sustained as a result of the negligence of the Broward
6	County Sheriff's Office; authorizing the Sheriff of
7	Broward County, in lieu of payment, to execute to Eric
8	Brody and his legal guardians an assignment of all
9	claims that the Broward County Sheriff's Office has
10	against its insurer arising out of the insurer's
11	handling of the claim against the sheriff's office;
12	clarifying that such assignment does not impair the
13	ability or right of the assignees to pursue the final
14	judgment and cost judgment against the insurer;
15	providing a limitation on the payment of fees and
16	costs related to the claim against the Broward County
17	Sheriff's Office and an exception to that limitation
18	as to any assigned claims brought against the insurer;
19	providing an effective date.
20
21	WHEREAS, on the evening of March 3, 1998, 18-year-old Eric
22	Brody, a college-bound high school senior, was returning home
23	from his part-time job at the Sawgrass Mills Sports Authority.
24	Eric was driving his 1982 AMC Concord eastbound on Oakland Park
25	Boulevard in Sunrise, Florida, and
26	WHEREAS, that same evening, Broward County Sheriff's Deputy
27	Christopher Thieman, who had been visiting his girlfriend and
28	was running late for duty, was driving his Broward County
29	Sheriff's Office cruiser westbound on Oakland Park Boulevard. At
30	the time he left his girlfriend's house, Deputy Thieman had less
31	than 15 minutes to travel 11 miles to make roll call on time,
32	which was mandatory pursuant to sheriff's office policy and
33	procedure, and
34	WHEREAS, at approximately 10:36 p.m., Eric Brody began to
35	make a left-hand turn into his neighborhood at the intersection
36	of N.W. 117th Avenue and Oakland Park Boulevard. Deputy Thieman,
37	who was driving in excess of the 45-mile-per-hour posted speed
38	limit and traveling in the opposite direction, was not within
39	the intersection and was more than 430 feet away from Eric
40	Brody's car when Eric Brody began the turn. Eric Brody's car
41	cleared two of the three westbound lanes on Oakland Park
42	Boulevard, and
43	WHEREAS, Deputy Thieman, who was traveling in the inside
44	westbound lane closest to the median, suddenly and inexplicably
45	steered his vehicle to the right, across the center lane and
46	into the outside lane, where the front end of his car struck the
47	passenger side of Eric's car with great force, just behind the
48	right front wheel and near the passenger door, and
49	WHEREAS, Deputy Thieman testified at trial that although he
50	knew that the posted speed limit was 45 miles per hour, he
51	refused to provide an estimate as to how fast he was traveling
52	before the crash, and
53	WHEREAS, despite the appearance of a conflict of interest,
54	the Broward County Sheriff's Office chose to conduct the
55	official crash investigation instead of deferring to the City of
56	Sunrise Police Department, which also had jurisdiction, or the
57	Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), which often investigates motor
58	vehicle collisions involving non-FHP law enforcement officers so
59	as to avoid any possible conflict of interest, and
60	WHEREAS, in the course of the investigation, the Broward
61	County Sheriff's Office lost key evidence from the crashed
62	vehicles and did not report any witnesses even though the first
63	responders to the crash scene were police officers from the City
64	of Sunrise, and
65	WHEREAS, the Broward County detective who led the crash
66	investigation entered inaccurate data into a computerized
67	accident reconstruction program which skewed the speed that
68	Deputy Thieman was driving, but, nevertheless, determined that
69	he was still traveling well over the speed limit, and
70	WHEREAS, accident reconstruction experts called by both
71	parties testified that Deputy Thieman was driving at least 60 to
72	more than 70 miles per hour when his vehicle slammed into the
73	passenger side of Eric Brody's car, and
74	WHEREAS, Eric Brody was found unconscious 6 minutes later
75	by paramedics, his head and upper torso leaning upright and
76	toward the passenger-side door. Although he was out of his
77	shoulder harness and seat belt by the time paramedics arrived,
78	the Brody's attorney proved that Eric was wearing his seat belt
79	and that the 16-year-old seat belt buckle failed during the
80	crash. Photographs taken at the scene by the sheriff's office
81	investigators showed the belt to be fully spooled out because
82	the retractor was jammed, with the belt dangling outside the
83	vehicle from the driver-side door, providing proof that Eric
84	Brody was wearing his seat belt and shoulder harness during the
85	crash, and
86	WHEREAS, accident reconstruction and human factor experts
87	called by both the plaintiff and the defendant agreed that if
88	Deputy Thieman had been driving at the speed limit, Eric Brody
89	would have easily completed his turn, and
90	WHEREAS, the experts also agreed that if Deputy Thieman had
91	simply remained within his lane of travel, regardless of his
92	speed, there would not have been a collision, and
93	WHEREAS, in order to investigate the seat-belt defense,
94	experts for Eric Brody recreated the accident using an exact
95	car-to-car crash test that was conducted by a nationally
96	recognized crash test facility. The crash test involved vehicles
97	identical to the Brody and Thieman vehicles, a fully
98	instrumented hybrid III dummy, and high-speed action cameras,
99	and
100	WHEREAS, the crash test proved that Eric Brody was wearing
101	his restraint system during the crash because the seat-belted
102	test dummy struck its head on the passenger door within inches
103	of where Eric Brody's head actually struck the passenger door,
104	and
105	WHEREAS, when Eric Brody's head struck the passenger door
106	of his vehicle, the door crushed inward from the force of the
107	impact with the police cruiser while at the same time his upper
108	torso was moving toward the point of impact and the passenger
109	door. The impact resulted in skull fractures and massive brain
110	sheering, bleeding, bruising, and swelling, and
111	WHEREAS, Eric Brody was airlifted by helicopter to Broward
112	General Hospital where he was placed on a ventilator and
113	underwent an emergency craniotomy and neurosurgery. He began to
114	recover from a deep coma more than 7 months after his injury and
115	underwent extensive rehabilitation, having to relearn how to
116	walk, talk, feed himself, and perform other basic functions, and
117	WHEREAS, Eric Brody, who is now 32 years old, has been left
118	profoundly brain-injured, lives with his parents, and is mostly
119	isolated from his former friends and other young people his age.
120	His speech is barely intelligible and he has significant
121	cognitive dysfunction, judgment impairment, memory loss, and
122	neuro-visual disabilities. Eric Brody also has impaired fine and
123	gross motor skills and very poor balance. Although Eric is able
124	to use a walker for short distances, he mostly uses a wheelchair
125	to get around. The entire left side of his body is partially
126	paralyzed and spastic, and he needs help with many of his daily
127	functions. Eric Brody is permanently and totally disabled;
128	however, he has a normal life expectancy, and
129	WHEREAS, the cost of Eric Brody's life care plan is nearly
130	$10 million, and he has been left totally dependent on public
131	health programs and taxpayer assistance since 1998, and
132	WHEREAS, the Broward County Sheriff's Office was insured
133	for this claim through Ranger Insurance Company and paid a
134	premium of more than $400,000 for liability coverage, and
135	WHEREAS, on December 1, 2005, after a 2-month trial, a
136	Broward County jury consisting of three men and three women
137	found that that Deputy Thieman and the Broward County Sheriff's
138	Office were 100 percent negligent, and Eric Brody was not
139	comparatively negligent, and
140	WHEREAS, the jury found Eric Brody's damages to be
141	$30,609,298, including a determination that his past and future
142	care and other economic damages were $11,326,216, and
143	WHEREAS, final judgment was entered for $30,609,298, and
144	the court entered a cost judgment for $270,372.30, for a total
145	of $30,879,670.30, and
146	WHEREAS, the court denied the Broward County Sheriff's
147	Office posttrial motions for judgment notwithstanding the
148	verdict, new trial, or remittitur, and
149	WHEREAS, the insurer of the Broward County Sheriff's Office
150	retained appellate counsel and elected to appeal the final
151	judgment but not the cost judgment, and
152	WHEREAS, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the
153	verdict in the fall of 2007, and
154	WHEREAS, the insurer of the Broward County Sheriff's Office
155	subsequently petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to seek
156	another appeal, but the petition was denied in April of 2008,
157	and
158	WHEREAS, all legal remedies for all parties involved have
159	been exhausted and this case is ripe for a claim bill, and
160	WHEREAS, the Broward County Sheriff's Office has paid
161	$200,000 pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the final
162	judgment and cost judgment remainder in the amount of
163	$30,679,670.30 is sought through the submission of a claim bill
164	to the Legislature, NOW, THEREFORE,
165
166	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
167
168	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
169	are found and declared to be true.
170	Section 2.  The Sheriff of Broward County is authorized and
171	directed to appropriate from funds of the Broward County
172	Sheriff's Office not otherwise appropriated and to draw a
173	warrant payable to Eric Brody in the sum of $30,679,670.30 in
174	accordance with the final judgment and cost judgment as provided
175	for in the preamble of this act as compensation for injuries and
176	damages sustained as a result of the negligence of the Broward
177	County Sheriff's Office.
178	Section 3.  The amount paid by the Broward County Sheriff's
179	Office pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount
180	awarded under this act are intended to provide the sole
181	compensation for all claims against the Broward County Sheriff's
182	Office arising out of the facts described in this act which
183	resulted in the injuries to Eric Brody. The total amount of
184	attorney's fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other similar
185	expenses relating to the claim against the Broward County
186	Sheriff's Office may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount
187	awarded under section 2 of this act.
188	Section 4.  It is the intent of the Legislature that the
189	lien interests held by the state resulting from the treatment
190	and care of Eric Brody for the injuries caused by the events
191	described in the preamble of this act are not waived or
192	extinguished, and the claimant's guardianship shall reimburse
193	the state the amount that is in exact proportion to the
194	percentage of Eric Brody's claims bill recovery based on the
195	full amount of his damages, which is the sum of $30,679,670.30
196	and all amounts that remain unpaid in accordance with the final
197	judgment and cost judgment, as provided for in the preamble and
198	section 2 of this act.
199	Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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