Florida Senate - 2027 (NP) SB 28
By Senator DiCeglie
18-00043-27 202728__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act for the relief of Maximus Giannikos by the City
3 of Clearwater; providing for an appropriation to
4 compensate Maximus Giannikos for injuries sustained as
5 a result of the negligence of the City of Clearwater;
6 providing a limitation on compensation and the payment
7 of attorney fees; providing an effective date.
8
9 WHEREAS, in the early evening of May 28, 2019, then 16
10 year-old Maximus Giannikos and his family were on vacation in
11 Clearwater, visiting from Cape Town, South Africa, when, just
12 after their arrival, Maximus Giannikos, his sister, and her
13 husband left their hotel located at 2580 Gulf to Bay Boulevard
14 to walk to the nearby Clearwater Mall to shop for groceries and
15 beach supplies, and
16 WHEREAS, their hotel was located at the northwest corner of
17 the intersection of Gulf to Bay Boulevard and U.S. Highway 19,
18 and the Clearwater Mall was on the southeast corner of the
19 intersection, and
20 WHEREAS, the intersection where Gulf to Bay Boulevard meets
21 the U.S. Highway 19 overpass is a major urban interchange, with
22 multiple lanes for through traffic, turning lanes, two service
23 roads, dedicated entrance and exit ramps, and pedestrian
24 crosswalks, and
25 WHEREAS, the electronic controlled traffic and pedestrian
26 signal system at the intersection was operated and maintained by
27 the City of Clearwater, and
28 WHEREAS, the electronic pedestrian signal system included
29 pedestrian detector push buttons, and
30 WHEREAS, using the pedestrian detector push buttons,
31 Maximus Giannikos and his family members crossed from the
32 northwest to the northeast corner of the intersection, beneath
33 the U.S. Highway 19 overpass, and then proceeded south from the
34 northeast to the southeast corner of the intersection, crossing
35 Gulf to Bay Boulevard and reaching the Clearwater Mall without
36 incident, and
37 WHEREAS, approximately 2 hours later, when Maximus
38 Giannikos and his family members attempted to return to the
39 hotel from the southwest corner of the intersection, they
40 pressed the pedestrian detector push button to cross north on
41 Gulf to Bay Boulevard, but the pedestrian signal was
42 nonresponsive and remained in the “Do Not Walk” mode, and
43 WHEREAS, unbeknownst to Maximus Giannikos and his family
44 members, the pedestrian detector push buttons on the south side
45 of Gulf to Bay Boulevard were inoperable and the pedestrian
46 signals were nonresponsive and remained in the “Do Not Walk”
47 mode because of wiring malfunction and negligent maintenance,
48 and
49 WHEREAS, they pressed the pedestrian detector push button
50 multiple times and waited numerous light cycles, but the
51 pedestrian signal did not change, and
52 WHEREAS, there was no signage or notices instructing
53 pedestrians as to what to do in the event of a signal
54 malfunction, and
55 WHEREAS, after many tries, they returned to the southeast
56 corner of the intersection to cross Gulf to Bay Boulevard, and
57 WHEREAS, the pedestrian signal to cross Gulf to Bay
58 Boulevard from the southeast corner to the northeast corner also
59 did not work and remained fixed in the “Do Not Walk” mode, and
60 WHEREAS, they pressed the pedestrian detector push button
61 multiple times again on the southeast corner and watched
62 multiple traffic lights change, but the pedestrian signal did
63 not switch from “Do Not Walk,” and
64 WHEREAS, they looked east and west along Gulf to Bay
65 Boulevard searching for another crosswalk with active pedestrian
66 signals but saw none, and
67 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos and his family members were
68 newly arrived tourists and unfamiliar with the area, and
69 WHEREAS, after 30 to 45 minutes passed, they agreed that
70 they had no other choice but to cross where they were, so
71 Maximus Giannikos’ brother-in-law timed the lights and, once he
72 saw all the lights were red and traffic appeared to clear, all
73 three stepped off the curb and walked into the road to cross,
74 and
75 WHEREAS, they were about halfway across the street when
76 Maximus Giannikos was struck by a sports utility vehicle
77 traveling at approximately 35 miles per hour and was
78 catastrophically injured, and
79 WHEREAS, a traffic homicide investigation was conducted by
80 the Clearwater Police Department, which determined that the
81 pedestrian crosswalk device did, in fact, malfunction and was
82 not operating at the time that Maximus Giannikos was injured,
83 and
84 WHEREAS, proof of the pedestrian signal malfunction was
85 recorded on video by the investigating officer, and
86 WHEREAS, independent witnesses who worked nearby and used
87 the crosswalks at that intersection daily testified at trial
88 that the subject pedestrian signal malfunctioned at least 10 to
89 15 times per year and had been doing so for years, and
90 WHEREAS, during discovery and at trial, documents in the
91 Signal Cabinet Access Logs generated near the date on which
92 Maximus Giannikos was injured showed that the City of Clearwater
93 rewired the pedestrian detector push button on the southeast
94 corner of the intersection and replaced the pedestrian detector
95 push button on the northwest corner 2 weeks and 4 weeks,
96 respectively, after Maximus Giannikos was critically injured,
97 and
98 WHEREAS, during the trial, the plaintiff’s expert witness
99 testified that the pedestrian detector push buttons
100 malfunctioned because the City of Clearwater failed to perform
101 adequate maintenance checks, specifically in March 2019, and
102 WHEREAS, given the complexity and magnitude of the
103 intersection, and the high volume of traffic, the expert witness
104 testified that the injuries suffered by Maximus Giannikos were
105 reasonably foreseeable by the City of Clearwater given the
106 extent of the malfunctions, and
107 WHEREAS, at trial, the plaintiff’s attorneys proved that
108 the City of Clearwater was on actual and constructive notice
109 regarding the problem and was negligent in maintaining the
110 pedestrian signal, putting pedestrians in unreasonable danger
111 and being a legal cause of Maximus Giannikos’s injuries, and
112 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos was treated by emergency medical
113 services personnel at the scene and then rushed by ambulance to
114 St. Petersburg Bayfront Medical Center in critical condition,
115 and
116 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos remained hospitalized for more
117 than a month at St. Petersburg Bayfront Medical Center, 11 days
118 of which were spent in a coma, while his family lived at the
119 Ronald McDonald House, and
120 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos suffered life-altering traumatic
121 brain injuries, bleeds, and swelling, skull and facial
122 fractures, multiple orthopedic fractures and injuries, including
123 spinal fractures from C6 to T4, rib fractures, left leg
124 fractures, compound fractures of the right arm, right shoulder
125 fractures and dislocation, a punctured lung, and other serious
126 traumatic injuries, and
127 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos underwent numerous surgeries,
128 and his recovery has been slow, difficult, and painful, with
129 many setbacks, and
130 WHEREAS, once Maximus Giannikos was released from the
131 hospital, he and his family lived at the Ronald McDonald House
132 for 6 months while he engaged in treatment and therapy until
133 they ran out of funds to pay for his treatment, and
134 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos has incurred more than $1.1
135 million in medical bills and is facing $4.9 million in future
136 medical care costs, and total economic damages amount to more
137 than $10 million, and
138 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos’s current diagnosis includes
139 permanent brain injuries, posttraumatic epilepsy, severe
140 cognitive and behavioral impairments, disfigurement, severe
141 radiating neck and back pain, arthritis, limited range of
142 motion, and other orthopedic and neurological disorders, as well
143 as severe posttraumatic psychological injuries, and
144 WHEREAS, the City of Clearwater had a duty of care to
145 reasonably maintain and operate the pedestrian signals at the
146 subject intersection and had failed to do so at the time Maximus
147 Giannikos was injured, and
148 WHEREAS, due to the City of Clearwater’s negligence,
149 Maximus Giannikos was unreasonably left to cross the
150 intersection unaided by operable pedestrian signals, which but
151 for the inoperable condition of the pedestrian signals, he would
152 not have been injured, and
153 WHEREAS, the City of Clearwater’s negligent maintenance of
154 the pedestrian signals at the location where Maximus Giannikos
155 was injured was a legal cause of the collision that injured him,
156 and
157 WHEREAS, Maximus Giannikos filed a lawsuit against the City
158 of Clearwater which was tried before a Pinellas County jury in
159 the circuit court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit beginning
160 September 9, 2024, and on September 13, 2024, the jury found
161 Maximus Giannikos’s total damages to be $38,496,781.68, with the
162 City of Clearwater’s negligence to be 45 percent and Maximus
163 Giannikos’ negligence to be 55 percent, comparatively, and
164 WHEREAS, based on the jury verdict, the trial court entered
165 a final judgment in the amount of $17,323,551.76 on September
166 20, 2024, in favor of Maximus Giannikos and against the City of
167 Clearwater, and
168 WHEREAS, on January 6, 2025, following posttrial motions
169 and oral arguments, the trial court entered an amended final
170 judgment in the amount of $15,687,889.50, and
171 WHEREAS, on January 6, 2025, the trial court entered an
172 agreed order granting the claimant’s motion to entitlement to
173 attorney fees in the amount of $249,460 and taxable costs in the
174 amount of $99,832.99, plus interest at the rate of 9.46 percent
175 annually, all of which the parties negotiated and agreed to, and
176 WHEREAS, the City of Clearwater is insured with a Lloyd’s
177 of London policy with a limit of $7 million for this claim, and
178 WHEREAS, before the trial began, Maximus Giannikos’s
179 attorneys offered to settle the case for an amount within the
180 policy limits, but the insurance company refused to settle and
181 made no counteroffer, thereby exposing the City of Clearwater to
182 an excess judgment and claim of $16,037,182.49, plus interest at
183 the rate of 9.46 percent annually, NOW, THEREFORE,
184
185 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
186
187 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
188 found and declared to be true.
189 Section 2. The City of Clearwater is authorized and
190 directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and
191 to draw a warrant in the sum of $16,037,182.49, plus interest at
192 the rate of 9.46 percent annually as agreed to by the parties
193 and to be calculated by the trial court, payable to Maximus
194 Giannikos as compensation for injuries and damages sustained.
195 Section 3. The amount paid by the City of Clearwater
196 pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and the amount awarded
197 under this act are intended to provide the sole compensation for
198 all present and future claims arising out of the factual
199 situation described in this act which resulted in injuries and
200 damages to Maximus Giannikos. The total amount paid for attorney
201 fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25 percent of the
202 total amount awarded under this act.
203 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.