South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Most of us have wondered at one point or another to what extent the police can search your car, whether in the context of being stopped while driving or otherwise.  In fact, you may wonder this whenever you see those lights flashing in your rear view mirror… 

A police officer can search your car in a variety of circumstances: 

Consent:  A law enforcement officer can always search a car if you give them permission to search.   In this case, the officer doesn’t even need to give a reason for wanting to search.  

Plain Sight:  A law enforcement officer can request that a driver pull to the side of the road if he or she believes that the driver has broken the rules of the road.  If the officer sees anything illegal in the car then the officer can take the evidence and it can be admissible in court.  In most jurisdictions, for instance, it is illegal to have an open container of alcohol in an automobile. If the officer pulls the driver over for speeding and sees an open beer can then the officer may take the evidence and it may be admissible in court.

Probable Cause:  An officer may also search your car if he or she has probable cause to believe that the vehicle has incriminating evidence.  For instance, if an officer sees you buying marijuana, then jumping in your car… the officer could pull you over and search your car without a warrant.  

Safety:  If the police officer reasonably believes that his or her safety is in jeopardy then the police officer may make a protective search of the car.  For instance, if the officer believes you may have hidden a weapon under your seat or in some other accessible area in your car, then the officer may be able to search your car on the basis that his or her safety was in jeopardy.  Although, the legality of a search on this basis is often highly debated in court.

Ocean State Jobbera, Inc, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced a voluntary recall of Century Cookware Stainless Steel Stockpots because the handles can detach during use, posing a burn hazard to users.

To date, the company has received one consumer report of the handles breaking off the pot and causing a burn injury.

The recall includes 8, 12, 16 and 20-quart stockpots with glass lids. “Century Cookware” is marked on the front bottom of each pot.

Consumers are advised to stop using the stockpots immediately and to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: Ocean State Jobbers at (800) 603-9601 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday

Recently in western Pennsylvania a man filed a personal injury claim when his 1998 Mercury Sable was hit by an oncoming truck that ran through a red light. According to statements from eyewitnesses it was very clear that there was a red light and the truck continued to go through it. The driver claimed to not have seen the red light change and has continued to maintain his innocence by saying that when he was traveling through the stoplight it was green. After reconstruction experts recreated the scene it was determined that the light was red. The man suffered critical injuries to both legs and lower spinal cord, the man was also given stitches for several lacerations on his forehead. The impact of the collision sent the plaintiffs car into a telephone poll and into incoming traffic. The man is suing for personal and physical damages, and as a result of the accident feels he may be permanently disabled because of the permanent numbness in his left leg. Also, the man had to take three months off from work as a result of the injuries sustained from the accident, and is still currently in rehabilitation for the injuries to his legs. These types of accidents are becoming more common with people rushing around to get holiday shopping done. This accident occurred on a busy Saturday morning outside a local shopping mall where many people were passing through; luckily only one person was injured as the result of this accident.

On Nov. 18, 1999, plaintiffs Dominic Braus, John Comstock, Christopher Lee Heard, Bryan McClain, Chad Powell, Matthew Robbins and Jerry Don Self were students at Texas A&M University in College Station. They were taking part in the assembly of the school’s annual bonfire, an event organized by the Texas Aggie Bonfire Committee, when the 60-foot stack of logs collapsed. Twelve people were killed, including Heard, McClain, Powell and Self, and 27 were injured, including Braus, Comstock and Robbins. A commission formed by the university found the stack had excessive internal stresses and that wiring used to tie the logs together was inadequate.

Braus, Comstock and Robbins, along with the estates of Heard, McClain, Powell and Self, sued Texas A&M, the bonfire organizing committee, and the university’s administrators individually, alleging negligence. The plaintiffs claimed the student organizers who directly oversaw the construction of the bonfire were not adequately supervised by the university, and that as a result engineering and safety standards were inadequate.

The plaintiffs claimed the university was aware of the danger of collapse, arguing there had been a partial collapse of a bonfire in a previous year and reports of alcohol use and unsafe horseplay during construction in previous years.

The defendants denied liability, claiming they acted in good faith and were entitled to sovereign immunity and official immunity.

A separate suit against 25 student volunteers involved in supervising construction of the bonfire was settled in 2004 for $4.25 million.

Heard, McClain, Powell and Self sustained fatal injuries in the collapse.

Comstock was the last survivor removed from under the logs. He sustained injuries that required his left leg to be amputated above the knee and removal of most the muscles in his back, seriously limiting his ability to lift objects. He also sustained nerve damage to his dominant right hand, which is no longer able to pinch or grip.

Braus sustained a severely torn bicep in his dominant right arm, and required two surgeries to reattach the muscle. He claimed he still has limited range of motion in his arm, and that he is undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. A member of the university’s Corps of Cadets before the accident, his application to join the U.S. Army was turned down because of his injuries.

Robbins sustained a fractured thoracic disc, which he said continues to cause him back pain. He also claimed to be undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The plaintiffs sought an unspecified amount for loss of consortium, future lost income, and past and future pain and suffering, physical impairment and medical costs.

The parties settled before trial for $2.1 million.

Federal regulators set a safety threshold Friday for the industrial chemical melamine that is greater than the amount of contamination found so far in U.S.-made infant formula.

A passenger train smashed into a sedan that drove into its path in central Florida on Friday night, killing three people in the car, authorities said.

Two men and one woman died when the Amtrak train hit the car around 7 p.m. in Orlando, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Miller said. A fourth passenger, 22-year-old Victor Carillo, was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.

Killed in the crash were 22-year-old driver Walter Martinez and 19-year-old passenger Cristina Rosa, authorities said. The other victim’s identity wasn’t immediately disclosed, pending family notification.

None of the 185 passengers or crew on Train 92 from Miami to New York were hurt, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. The train was delayed more than two hours but then continued on its trip.

The car drove past the crossing’s lowered gates into the path of the train, the patrol said. The gates’ flashing lights and bars were functioning properly.

The impact launched the car into the air, and it landed about 200 feet away near a warehouse parking lot. The vehicle smashed into a parked semi-tractor trailer and overturned.

The 2,000-pound top section of a palm tree has crashed through the roof of downtown Los Angeles home, and two women sleeping inside had minor injuries when they were showered with drywall and debris.

The crown of the 40-foot palm smashed into the home’s roof just before 3 a.m. Wednesday. City fire spokeswoman Melissa Kelley says it’s not clear why the top of the palm suddenly broke away, but rainstorms had swept through the area overnight.

One of the women was trapped by debris in one bedroom and a fire department rescue team was called in to get her free. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

A 55-year-old woman sleeping in another room was apparently struck in the head by broken drywall and was taken to a hospital for examination.

On April 17, 2007, plaintiff Teresa D. Green, 51, was terminated from her position as a hospital activities director at the Las Flores Convalescent Hospital in Gardina, allegedly for failing to supervise an injured patient. She had worked at Las Flores, which operated as Liabco, LLC, for more than 20 years.

On March 30, Green went on a work-related errand, and while she was away, a wheelchair-bound patient went to an outside patio to smoke and severely burned himself by lighting his beard on fire.

Green sued Las Flores and owner/administrator Liab Greenspoon, alleging that her termination partly resulted from her refusal to lie about the patient’s injury to the California Department of Health Services. Green claimed that the agency was investigating the patient’s injury and Greenspoon asked her to lie about the circumstances.

Green asserted that, since new management took control in January 2006, patient care and safety were deteriorating and residents and their families were complaining.

She further alleged that her termination was direct punishment for her complaints of sexual harassment by another individual in the activities department.

Las Flores denied that allegations, asserting that Green fabricated everything, and that she was responsible for the patient’s burns.

Green alleged depression and emotional distress.

She claimed loss of income because she was unemployed for 10 months and was then forced to take a position with a lower salary and no benefits.

The jury was asked to decide upon liability and punitive damages.

The jury awarded Green $2,474,172 in compensatory and punitive damages.

Teresa D. Green

$1,237,086 Personal Injury: Punitive Exemplary Damages

$59,166 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$177,920 Personal Injury: FutureLostEarningsCapability

$750,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering

$250,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering

Motions for attorney fees and costs are pending.

A widow whose husband died at a Veterans Affairs hospital under fire for substandard care has agreed to settle her lawsuit against the government for $975,000, her attorney said.

Katrina Shank had sought $12 million in her federal wrongful-death lawsuit. Her husband, 50-year-old Robert Shank III of Murray, Ky., bled to death in August 2007, a day after undergoing gallbladder surgery at the VA hospital in Marion, Ill.

Shank’s widow claimed the government failed to sufficiently check the background of her husband’s surgeon, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, before hiring him in January 2006.

Veizaga-Mendez resigned three days after Robert Shank’s death, and major surgeries were ordered halted there after inspectors attributed several patient deaths to questionable surgical care.

Terms involving Katrina Shank’s settlement were not disclosed in court documents, though an e-mail to The Associated Press by one of her attorneys, Stan Heller, put the amount at $975,000.

A message seeking comment was left Tuesday with spokesman for the national VA. According to an order by U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert, the settlement becomes final after 90 days unless it hits a snag.

The VA found at least nine deaths between October 2006 and March 2007 were “directly attributable” to substandard care at the hospital. Those deaths did not include Robert Shank, who died months later.

The VA’s findings do not put the sole blame on Veizaga-Mendez, but Shank’s lawsuit said many or all of those who died were his patients.

At least one other lawsuit involving care by Veizaga-Mendez at the hospital is pending. James Marshall, 61, of Benton, Ky., died of a blood infection in July 2007, six days after Veizaga-Mendez performed a lymph node biopsy. His widow, Darla Marshall, is seeking $10 million in damages.

Veizaga-Mendez, who is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuits, has no listed telephone number and has not responded to repeated messages left by the AP at a Massachusetts home listed as an address for his wife.