Title: Relief/Ricardo Medrano-Arzate and Eva Chavez-Medrano/Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office

Summary: Provides for relief of Ricardo Medrano-Arzate & Eva Chavez-Medrano, as personal representatives of Hilda Medrano, by Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office; provides for appropriation to compensate them for damages awarded in connection with death of their daughter as a result of negligence of Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office; provides limitation on payment of fees.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, at the same time, Okeechobee County Sheriff 's Deputy Joseph Gracie was driving westbound on S.R. at a speed in excess of mph while responding, as backup, to a minor disturbance in the western part of Okeechobee, and WHEREAS, the speed limit on that portion of S.R. is 20 mph, and WHEREAS, Deputy Gracie recklessly sped without activating his emergency lights or sirens to warn other motorists in the area of his presence or that he was driving at such a high rate of speed, and WHEREAS, Deputy Gracie's police cruiser struck the vehicle in which Hilda Medrano was a passenger on the passenger side door at a speed of mph, killing Hilda Medrano and her cousin and severely injuring a third woman in the back of the vehicle, and WHEREAS, an Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office internal affairs depa rtment investigation found that Deputy Gracie's actions were unbecoming of an officer and in violation of four standing operating procedures of the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office, and WHEREAS, at the time of her death, Hilda Medrano was a-year-old college student with dreams of becoming an X-ray technician, and WHEREAS, Hilda Medrano's parents, Ricardo Medrano-Arzate and Eva Chavez-Medrano, are legal immigrants to the United States who came to this country to work and provide their children with op portunities to achieve the American dream and have resided in the Mexican-American community in Okeechobee for more than years, and WHEREAS, Ricardo Medrano-Arzate's and Eva Chavez-Medrano's dreams for their daughter Hilda Medrano were destroyed by the reckless actions of Deputy Gracie, and WHEREAS, after a-day trial, a jury awarded Ricardo Medrano-Arzate and Eva Chavez-Medrano, as personal representatives of their daughter Hilda Medrano, $5 million in WHEREAS, in accordance with the statutory limits of liability set forth in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office settled the claims of the other two victims, but have not paid any money toward the damages awarded to Ricardo Medrano-Arzate and Eva Chavez Medrano, as personal representatives of Hilda Medrano, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the St ate of Florida: Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are found and declared to be true. Section 2. The Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office is authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $5 million payable to Ricardo Medrano-Arzate and Eva Chavez-Medrano as compensation for damages awarded in connection with the death of their daughter Hilda Medrano. Section 3. The amount paid by the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office and awarded under this act is intended to provide the sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out of the factual situation described in this act which HB 6513 2021 resulted in the award of damages to Ricardo Medrano-Arzate and Eva Chavez-Medrano, as personal representatives of Hilda Medrano. The total amount paid for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed percent of the amount awarded under this act. Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.