Florida Senate - 2014                              (NP)    SB 52
       
       
        
       By Senator Legg
       
       
       
       
       
       17-00138-14                                             201452__
    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  Nhora Acosta entered Miami-Dade County bus number 04142 at a
   14  stop on S.W. 8th Street in Miami, paid the driver, and tried to
   15  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, ignoring her safety and
   18  failing to appropriately anticipate the stop-and-go traffic
   19  patterns on the busy street, accelerated so quickly that, in
   20  order to avoid a collision with another vehicle, he suddenly
   21  slammed on the brakes, and
   22         WHEREAS, the sudden change in velocity caused Nhora Acosta
   23  to fall and strike her head on an interior portion of the bus,
   24  and
   25         WHEREAS, as a result of the fall, Nhora Acosta suffered a
   26  severe closed head injury and massive brain damage, including a
   27  right subdural hemorrhage, a left dural hemorrhage, diffused
   28  cerebral edema, and basilar herniations, and
   29         WHEREAS, Nhora Acosta was rushed to the trauma
   30  resuscitation bay at Jackson Memorial Hospital in a comatose
   31  state, was placed on a ventilator, underwent various procedures
   32  to no avail, and was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m. the next day,
   33  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 had been raised exclusively by their mother, and
   37  because 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 intense mental pain due to their mother’s untimely
   41  death, and
   42         WHEREAS, Monica Cantillo Acosta and Luis Alberto Cantillo
   43  Acosta have also lost the support, love, and guidance of their
   44  only parent, Nhora Acosta, as a result of the negligence of the
   45  Miami-Dade bus driver, and
   46         WHEREAS, on November 5, 2007, a Miami-Dade County jury
   47  rendered a verdict and found the Miami-Dade County bus driver
   48  100 percent negligent and responsible for the wrongful death of
   49  Nhora Acosta, and determined the damages of Monica Cantillo
   50  Acosta and Luis Alberto Cantillo Acosta to be $3 million each,
   51  and
   52         WHEREAS, the parties have subsequently settled this matter
   53  for $1,140,000, and Miami-Dade County has paid the claimants
   54  $200,000 under the statutory limits of liability set forth in s.
   55  768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW, THEREFORE,
   56  
   57  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   58  
   59         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   60  found and declared to be true.
   61         Section 2. Miami-Dade County is authorized and directed to
   62  appropriate from funds of the county not otherwise appropriated
   63  and to draw a warrant in the sum of $470,000, payable to Monica
   64  Cantillo Acosta, and a warrant in the sum of $470,000, payable
   65  to Louis Alberto Cantillo Acosta, as compensation for the
   66  wrongful death of their mother, Nhora Acosta.
   67         Section 3. The amount paid by the Miami-Dade County
   68  pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amounts awarded
   69  under this act are intended to provide the sole compensation for
   70  all present and future claims arising out of the factual
   71  situation described in this act which resulted in the death of
   72  Nhora Acosta. The total amount paid for attorney fees, lobbying
   73  fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating to this claim
   74  may not exceed 25 percent of the total amount awarded under this
   75  act.
   76         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.