A man shot in the neck by a Lakeland police officer more than two decades ago and a woman who was critically injured and later died after a Florida Highway Patrol officer used a stun gun on her are among the subjects of 10 newly filed “claim” bills in the state Senate.
The bills, filed before a Friday deadline for such legislation, seek more than $38.1 million for incidents in which state or local government agencies played roles in people’s deaths or injuries.
A legal concept known as “sovereign immunity” typically shields agencies from paying large amounts in lawsuits. But claim bills, if passed, direct agencies to pay more than sovereign-immunity caps.
As an example of the bills, Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, filed a measure (SB 20) that seeks $312,500 for Reginald Jackson, who was shot in the neck by a Lakeland police officer during a 2001 traffic stop. The officer was deemed to have discharged his firearm in a careless and negligent manner, according to the bill. A jury awarded $412,500 to Jackson, but only $100,000 has been paid because of sovereign immunity.
As another example, Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens, filed a measure (SB 4) that seeks $1.75 million for the estate of Danielle Maudsley, 20, who in September 2011 tried to flee while handcuffed at a Florida Highway Patrol substation in Pinellas Park, where she was being processed for traffic offenses. A trooper fired his stun gun into her back and she fell on the pavement, causing a traumatic brain injury. Maudsley remained in a vegetative state until she died two years later.
Under sovereign immunity, her estate received $200,000 out of a $1.95 million settlement reached in 2015. The bill calls for paying the remaining $1.75 million. Past attempts to pass a claim bill in the Maudsley case have failed.
The bills were filed for consideration during the 2024 legislative session, which will start in January. Friday’s deadline did not apply to non-claim bills, which will be filed in the coming months.
