Bill > S0016

Introduced Session

An act for the relief of the Estate of Danielle Maudsley; providing an appropriation to compensate the estate for Ms. Maudsley’s death as a result of the alleged negligence of Trooper Daniel Cole and the Florida Highway Patrol, a division of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; providing a limitation on the payment of compensation and attorney fees; providing an effective date. WHEREAS, on September 19, 2011, 20-year-old Danielle Maudsley was arrested for nonviolent traffic offenses and was subsequently taken to the Florida Highway Patrol substation in Pinellas Park for processing, and WHEREAS, during the processing, Ms. Maudsley, who was still handcuffed, attempted to flee the substation through a side door, and WHEREAS, as Ms. Maudsley exited the substation, Trooper Daniel Cole of the Florida Highway Patrol followed her outside, and WHEREAS, Trooper Cole removed his electronic control device and fired it directly into Ms. Maudsley’s back, causing her to collapse and fall to the parking lot pavement with great physical force and effect, and WHEREAS, as a result of these events, Ms. Maudsley suffered extensive traumatic brain injury and remained in a constant vegetative state until her death on September 15, 2013, and WHEREAS, in May 2015, a settlement agreement was entered into between Julie Goddard, as personal representative of the Estate of Danielle Maudsley, and the Florida Highway Patrol and Trooper Cole to settle all claims arising out of Ms. Maudsley’s death, and WHEREAS, the Florida Highway Patrol and Trooper Cole acknowledged that, if the case had gone to trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, a jury could reasonably have awarded damages in the amount of $1.95 million to the Estate of Danielle Maudsley, and WHEREAS, the settlement agreement required the Division of Risk Management of the Department of Financial Services to pay $200,000 to the Estate of Danielle Maudsley in accordance with the statutory limits of liability set forth in s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and WHEREAS, Ms. Goddard, as personal representative of the Estate of Danielle Maudsley, seeks satisfaction of the remaining balance of the settlement agreement, which is $1.75 million, NOW, THEREFORE,

Shev Jones (D)*, 

Died in Special Master on Claim Bills (on 06/16/2025)

Official Document