Florida Insurance Claims Lawyer Blog

FAMU made national headlines last year for an incident it would just as soon wished never happened--a student died following a brutal hazing incident. A 26-year old member of the state university's famous "Marching 100" died aboard a school charter bus while the school was at a football game last November.

Apparently the death was caused by a severe hazing rite among band members involving new members walking along the length of the bust while other members physically abused, hit, and pummelled the walker. In this case, the student was beaten so badly during the incident that he collapsed and died from his injuries. The death was eventually ruled a homicide and thirteen people face criminal charges. Obviously criminal charges are at issue when an individual is beaten to death. Issues regarding the intention of the parties and the voluntary actions of the student will likely come into play when prosecutors work to prove that actual crimes were committed.

Our Florida injury lawyer knows that beyond criminal charges, these incidents often also spur civil charges. While the criminal charges relate to societal condemnation of the conduct, civil charges are intended to compensate those harmed by the conduct personally. That appears to be what happened in this case, as Reuters reported last week on the filing of a Florida wrongful death lawsuit by the parents of the slain student.

Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Wrongful death lawsuits are filed by surviving family members of one killed by the wrongdoing of others. The suits seek to compensate the survivors for the specific harm they suffered as a result of the loss.

Like all civil matters, the issue can easily get complex. For example, in this case, the suit was filed against FAMU university. FAMU is a state institution, and all "tort" lawsuits against state entities (like a school, police department, or other government entity) come with special rules. In Florida these cases must begin with the filing of a government tort claim. This lets the government know that the injured party is seeking damages. The government entity then has six months to reply to the claim. In some cases the reply may come with a settlement offer. if the offer is accepted, then the matter is essentially ended.

However, if the government entity does not respond or submit an acceptable offer, then the plaintiffs in the case are free to file a lawsuit via the traditional means with the local court system. That is why in this case the suit was filed just now, even though the incident occurred 9 months ago.

Unfortunately, even after filing the suit the family is not without legal stumbling blocks. For example, there are statutory caps on the recovery that the family can receive. The law limits claims against the state to $100,000 for a single claim and $200,000 for multiple damages. Any award above that requires explicit legislative approval.

If you or a loved one has suffered harm because of the wrongdoing of another, consider contacting the Palm Beach wrongful death attorney at our firm to see how we can help.

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Just a few months ago, our West Palm Beach injury lawyer brought you the story of the tragic death of 18-year-old Eric Perez, a young man who died last July while in the custody of a local juvenile detention center. This week, according to an article in the Orlando Sentinel, the parents of the teen announced their plans to file a Palm Beach wrongful death suit against the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice ("DJJ"). This news comes on the heels of the grand jury announcing that its decision not to file charges against the officers who were on duty at the time of Perez's death. The grand jury's report did excoriate the officers for their failure to call for medical assistance for Perez in the hours leading up to his death but failed to find that their actions - or lack thereof - warranted criminal charges.

An attorney for Perez's mother and father, Maritza Perez and Placido Ventura, said that he had planned to file the complaint on March 16 but that he was now planning to wait until after a meeting with the DJJ. It is not clear when that event will take place, and a spokesman for the DJJ declined to comment on the purpose of the meeting.

When our Palm Beach negligence lawyer first shared this story, relatively little was known about what happened the night that Perez died. At that time, reporters knew that Perez, who was celebrating his 18th birthday the evening before he died, was observed around 1:30 in the morning. He appeared to be suffering from some kind of delusion or hallucination, and he became sick to his stomach. However, no medical attention was sought. Instead, a guard gave Perez a soda and sent him back to bed. No one called for a doctor until the following morning when they found Perez, but by that time, it was too late. Perez was pronounced dead around 8:00 the morning after his 18th birthday.

Now that several months have passed since the investigation into Perez's death began, a clearer picture has begun to emerge. An attorney who is representing Perez's parents told reporters that the family plans to present testimony from a neurosurgeon in order to establish that the death was caused by a cerebral hemorrhage. It is their contention that the hemorrhage was the result of Perez being dropped on his head by guards during an attempt to punish him for sneaking a snack to his room. Security video from that time period shows that the guards did indeed drop him on his head. In addition to causing the hemorrhage by dropping him on his head, the family will also maintain that in spite of his injuries, Perez could have survived if guards had only paid enough attention to him to realize that he was very ill and in need of immediate medical attention. If there had either been a doctor on site or one who was on call, Perez might very well still be alive today.

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