Bill Text: FL S0004 | 2020 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relief of Dontrell Stephens by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-10 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/HB 6501 [S0004 Detail]

Download: Florida-2020-S0004-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2020                        (NP)    CS for SB 4
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       
       590-03957-20                                             20204c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Dontrell Stephens through
    3         Evett L. Simmons, as guardian of his property, by the
    4         Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office; providing for an
    5         appropriation to compensate him for personal injuries
    6         and damages sustained as the result of the negligence
    7         of a deputy of the office; providing a limitation on
    8         the payment of compensation, fees, and costs;
    9         providing an effective date.
   10  
   11         WHEREAS, on September 13, 2013, Dontrell Stephens, then age
   12  20, was shot four times by Palm Beach County Deputy Sheriff
   13  Adams Lin during an encounter in West Palm Beach, and
   14         WHEREAS, the last of the bullets fired at Mr. Stephens
   15  entered his back, severing his spinal cord and rendering him
   16  permanently paraplegic, and
   17         WHEREAS, during testimony at trial, Deputy Sheriff Lin
   18  stated that he mistook a cellphone for a handgun, and such
   19  testimony was found to be not credible and was unanimously
   20  rejected by the jury, and
   21         WHEREAS, Mr. Stephens’ testimony, corroborated by video
   22  from Deputy Sheriff Lin’s dashboard camera and physical evidence
   23  at the scene, establishes that the only offense committed by Mr.
   24  Stephens was a noncriminal bicycle infraction, that he was
   25  unarmed, and that he posed no reasonable threat to Deputy
   26  Sheriff Lin, and
   27         WHEREAS, Mr. Stephens currently resides in a homeless
   28  shelter and relies exclusively on public assistance and hospital
   29  emergency room services to meet his extensive health care needs,
   30  and
   31         WHEREAS, Mr. Stephens will require a lifetime of medical,
   32  therapeutic, rehabilitative, and nursing care, and his future
   33  life expectancy exceeds 50 years, and
   34         WHEREAS, following a trial that lasted from January 25,
   35  2016, until February 4, 2016, the jury in the case, brought on
   36  behalf of Mr. Stephens against Ric Bradshaw in his capacity as
   37  Sheriff of Palm Beach County, awarded Mr. Stephens compensatory
   38  damages resulting in the entry of a final judgment in the amount
   39  of $22,431,892.05, plus postjudgment interest and costs, and
   40         WHEREAS, in an opinion rendered on January 10, 2018, with
   41  rehearing en banc denied on September 10, 2018, the United
   42  States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed the
   43  factual findings and the judgment of the trial court in the
   44  case, and
   45         WHEREAS, in the 5 years since being paralyzed, Mr. Stephens
   46  has incurred more than $1.4 million in unpaid expenses for his
   47  care and treatment, and
   48         WHEREAS, in accordance with the statutory limits of
   49  liability set forth in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, Ric
   50  Bradshaw, in his capacity as Sheriff of Palm Beach County, has
   51  paid $200,000 toward the total amount of this claim, NOW,
   52  THEREFORE,
   53  
   54  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   55  
   56         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
   57  found and declared to be true.
   58         Section 2. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is
   59  authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the Palm
   60  Beach County Sheriff’s Office not otherwise encumbered and to
   61  draw a warrant in the sum of $4.5 million as follows: up to $3
   62  million payable to Evett L. Simmons, as guardian of the property
   63  of Dontrell Stephens, to purchase a life care plan for Dontrell
   64  Stephens as compensation for injuries and damages sustained; and
   65  $1.5 million to pay attorney fees, lobbying fees, and costs
   66  relating to this claim.
   67         Section 3. The amount paid by the Palm Beach County
   68  Sheriff’s Office pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and
   69  the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the
   70  sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out
   71  of the factual situation described in this act which resulted in
   72  injuries suffered by Dontrell Stephens. The total amount paid
   73  for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25
   74  percent of the amount awarded under this act.
   75         Section 4. Excluding the federal portions of any liens,
   76  Medicaid or otherwise, which the claimant must pay, it is the
   77  intent of the Legislature that the lien interests relating to
   78  the treatment and care of Dontrell Stephens are hereby waived
   79  and extinguished.
   80         Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.