HB 6527 full text · Session Watch

1 A bill to be entitled

2 An act for the relief of Patricia Ermini by the Lee

3 County Sheriff's Office; providing for an

4 appropriation to compensate her for injuries sustained

5 as a result of the negligence of the Lee County

6 Sheriff's Office; providing a limitation on the

7 payment of attorney fees; providing an effective date.

9 WHEREAS, on the evening of March 23, 2012, 71-year-old

10 Patricia Ermini spoke on the telephone with her daughter, Robin

11 Lacasse, who found that her mother was extremely upset in the

12 wake of her contentious and expensive divorce after a brief

13 marriage, and

14 WHEREAS, Ms. Lacasse suggested to her mother that she hang

15 up, take some time to calm down, and, afterward, call her back,

16 which her mother did; however, Ms. Lacasse missed her mother's

17 call, and

18 WHEREAS, when Ms. Ermini failed to reach her daughter, she

19 went to bed in her bedroom, which was being cooled by a window

20 unit air conditioner, and

21 WHEREAS, over the course of half an hour, Ms. Lacasse

22 repeatedly tried to return her mother's call and, when her

23 mother did not answer, called the Lee County Sheriff's Office

24 (LCSO) to request that a well-being check be conducted to

25 determine whether her mother was safe, and

26 WHEREAS, shortly before 9 p.m., LCSO dispatch relayed the

27 call for a well-being check to Deputy Charlene Palmese, with

28 Deputies Richard Lisenbee and Robert Hamer also responding to

29 the call, conveying the following information to the deputies:

30 Ms. Ermini's name and age; that the request for a well-being

31 check had been initiated by Ms. Ermini's daughter, who did not

32 reside in Lee County and was afraid for her mother's life; that

33 Ms. Ermini was in the middle of a difficult divorce; that Ms.

34 Ermini had told her daughter that she "couldn't take it

35 anymore"; that Ms. Ermini's daughter was worried that Ms. Ermini

36 might commit suicide; that Ms. Ermini had never threatened

37 suicide before; that Ms. Ermini did not suffer from mental

38 illness; and that Ms. Ermini had a gun and might have been

39 drinking, and

40 WHEREAS, at the time of the call, Deputy Lisenbee was on

41 probation and undergoing remedial training, in part because of

42 his demonstrated inability to control scenes or suspects through

43 verbal commands, and he later told investigators that he could

44 not recall receiving training in the conduct of well-being

45 checks, and

46 WHEREAS, Deputy Palmese had completed her field training

47 only a few days prior to the call, during which she received

48 instruction on how to respond to a well-being check, but she

49 later told investigators that she could not recall whether, at

50 the time of the call, she had ever actually participated in a

51 well-being check, and

52 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer had been to many suicide threat

53 calls, and he made it a practice to carry his rifle when it was

54 known that a firearm was present on the premises where the

55 subject of the call was located, and

56 WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee, who was the first to arrive at

57 Ms. Ermini's home in response to the call, observed that there

58 were no lights on in the home when he arrived and, after a brief

59 exterior check, went to the front door, where he secured a

60 screen door in the open position, knocked on the door, and

61 announced, "Sheriff's Office," to no response, and

62 WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee determined that the front door was

63 unlocked, opened the door, and again said, "Sheriff's Office,"

64 followed by "Anyone here? Anyone home?" to no response, and

65 WHEREAS, Deputy Palmese was second to arrive, followed by

66 Deputy Hamer, who, like the other deputies, parked out of view

67 from inside the residence, and

68 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer retrieved from the trunk of his

69 vehicle his AR-15 rifle, which was equipped with a flashlight

70 and a sighting device that allowed him to find his target more

71 quickly and easily, and

72 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer determined that the three deputies,

73 all of whom were wearing dark green uniforms, should go into the

74 residence to clear the house, and

75 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer activated the flashlight on his rifle

76 and Deputy Lisenbee announced "Sheriff's Office" once or twice

77 more before the deputies entered the home, after which the

78 deputies proceeded to move about the dark residence in silence

79 as the deputies cleared the living room, finally arriving at the

80 master bedroom, which had double doors, both of which were

81 closed, and

82 WHEREAS, without knocking or further announcing his

83 presence, Deputy Lisenbee opened the right-hand bedroom door and

84 shined his flashlight on a female, who appeared to be asleep on

85 the bed wearing only undergarments, and

86 WHEREAS, after Deputy Lisenbee entered the bedroom doorway,

87 he announced, "Sheriff's Office. Are you okay?" to which the

88 woman responded, "Who's there? Who's there?", and

89 WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee said, "Sheriff's Office. We're

90 here to make sure you're okay. Are you okay?", and

91 WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee said that, although the woman may

92 have sounded frightened, he did not temper his tone, nor did he

93 ever shine his flashlight on himself to allow Ms. Ermini to see

94 that he was, in fact, a uniformed officer, and

95 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer said he heard Ms. Ermini say, "What

96 are you doing here? I have a gun," and

97 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer later acknowledged that he didn't

98 know whether Ms. Ermini had heard or understood Deputy Lisenbee,

99 yet nonetheless, he turned off the flashlight on his gun, "took

100 the point," and stepped in front of Deputy Lisenbee because, he

101 said, he had more weaponry, was the senior officer on scene, and

102 had significantly more gun range time, and

103 WHEREAS, terrified, Ms. Ermini told the person at the

104 doorway, whom she perceived as an intruder, to get out of her

105 house "because (she had) a gun" and, with that, jumped up from

106 the bed and hid behind the still-closed left-hand bedroom door,

107 and

108 WHEREAS, it remains unclear whether Ms. Ermini grabbed her

109 gun as she ran to shelter behind the door, and

110 WHEREAS, as Ms. Ermini tried to look around the bedroom

111 door, she was shot multiple times, with Deputy Hamer firing

112 seven rounds from his rifle through the closed bedroom door, and

113 WHEREAS, according to the chief crime scene investigator, a

114 bullet fired through the middle of the door struck Ms. Ermini in

115 her left leg, shattering her femur and causing her to fall

116 backward onto the floor; another bullet hit her in the upper

117 right arm, leaving a portion of her upper arm missing; and a

118 third bullet caused a graze wound across the back of her head,

119 and

120 WHEREAS, a wood splinter from the door lodged in her right

121 eye, temporarily blinding her in that eye, and

122 WHEREAS, it was less than two minutes from the time of

123 entry until Ms. Ermini was shot multiple times and fell to the

124 floor, and

125 WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer notified dispatch of the shooting and

126 continued to sweep the bedroom before finally delivering first

127 aid to Ms. Ermini, whom he handcuffed because she was still

128 alive and therefore posed a continuing threat to the deputies,

129 and

130 WHEREAS, Lee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was

131 dispatched at the same time as the officers and were waiting

132 just two blocks away, which likely saved Ms. Ermini's life, and

133 WHEREAS, when the lead paramedic for EMS arrived, he

134 determined that Ms. Ermini had life-threatening injuries to the

135 front and back of her left leg and to the front and back of her

136 right arm, and a laceration to the back of her head just above

137 the neckline, and

138 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini repeatedly asked the paramedic why she

139 had been shot, who the intruders were, and why the intruders

140 were in her home, and

141 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini's most grievous injury was the

142 shattered femur in her left leg, and moving her caused her

143 significant blood loss and excruciating pain, and

144 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital in

145 critical condition and later admitted to the intensive care

146 unit, and

147 WHEREAS, in addition to the gunshot wounds, Ms. Ermini had

148 numerous wounds on her face from the wood splinters from the

149 bedroom door, and

150 WHEREAS, an LCSO lieutenant who followed the ambulance to

151 the hospital initially refused the emergency room doctor's

152 request to remove the handcuffs from Ms. Ermini; emergency room

153 staff were told that Ms. Ermini "tried to kill a cop"; and Ms.

154 Ermini's family members were denied visitation, and

155 WHEREAS, doctors were able to save Ms. Ermini's eye with

156 surgery, but her vision has deteriorated since the incident, and

157 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini required multiple surgeries to repair

158 her femur and address her wounds, including multiple skin grafts

159 on her shoulder, and

160 WHEREAS, after discharge, she suffered a severe septic

161 infection that caused her tremendous pain, and the pain

162 medications she was prescribed induced debilitating paranoia,

163 and

164 WHEREAS, on March 24, 2012, Sheriff Mike Scott told the

165 news media that Ms. Ermini shot at deputies who had responded to

166 a well-being check and that the deputies returned fire, which

167 directly contradicts Deputy Hamer's statement, in which he

168 indicated that he shot first, and

169 WHEREAS, on March 29, 2012, Ms. Ermini was arrested in the

170 intensive care unit on two counts of aggravated assault on a law

171 enforcement officer, which the state attorney declined to

172 prosecute, and

173 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini was an emergency room nurse in South

174 Florida for many years and had worked hand-in-hand with law

175 enforcement officers, no evidence was ever produced that she had

176 any animus toward law enforcement officers, and it is still

177 disputed that Ms. Ermini's weapon was discharged during the

178 encounter, and

179 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini remained hospitalized for about 30 days

180 and has never fully recovered from her injuries, and

181 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini continues to suffer from acute pain and

182 fatigue and limited range of motion due to the gunshot wound to

183 her upper arm, which impairs her ability to accomplish many of

184 the activities of daily living, and she suffers from

185 debilitating posttraumatic stress disorder, and

186 WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini was forced to sell her home because she

187 cannot afford in-home assistance, and

188 WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee and Deputy Hamer were terminated

189 by the LCSO shortly after the incident, the latter for "conduct

190 unbecoming," and

191 WHEREAS, in November 2015, Ms. Ermini filed suit against

192 LCSO and the individual deputies involved in the call, and

193 WHEREAS, on January 12, 2018, after a four-day trial, a

194 jury that included a retired law enforcement officer awarded $1

195 million dollars in damages to Ms. Ermini for her pain and

196 suffering, and

197 WHEREAS, after apportionment of 75 percent of the fault to

198 LCSO, a judgment was entered in Ms. Ermini's favor for $750,000,

199 and

200 WHEREAS, ultimately, after numerous procedural attempts by

201 LCSO to overturn the judgment, the United States Court of

202 Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the judgment of the

203 United States District Court in Ms. Ermini's favor, and on or

204 about December 9, 2019, the Florida Sheriffs Self Insurance

205 Fund, on behalf of its insured, the Lee County Sheriff's Office,

206 paid the statutory limit of $200,000 in damages under section

207 768.28, Florida Statutes, and

208 WHEREAS, this claim bill is for recovery of the excess

209 judgment in the amount of $550,000, plus interest and taxable

210 trial costs and appellate costs awarded to Ms. Ermini in the

211 amount of $76,769.93, for a total claim of $626,769.93, NOW,

212 THEREFORE,

214 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

216 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act

217 are found and declared to be true.

218 Section 2. The Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund is

219 authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise

220 encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $626,769.93

221 payable to Patricia Ermini as compensation for injuries and

222 damages sustained.

223 Section 3. The amount paid by the Florida Sheriffs Self

224 Insurance Fund, on behalf of its insured, the Lee County

225 Sheriff's Office, pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and

226 the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the

227 sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out

228 of the factual situation described in this act which resulted in

229 injuries and damages to Patricia Ermini. The total amount paid

230 for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25

231 percent of the total amount awarded under this act.

232 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.