METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY, RUSSELL FISCHER, RICHARD FRY AND AL WESSNER, JR., APPELLANTS,
v.
JONAS BRILL AND LORRAINE MARY BRILL, APPELLEES
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Metropolitan Dade County and police officers appealed a jury verdict finding them liable for excessive force in subduing an abduction suspect. The appellate court affirmed the verdict, holding that jury instructions on the use of force by law enforcement officers, considered as a whole, correctly stated the law and were not confusing or misleading.
The jury instructions, considered as a whole, correctly stated the law and did not constitute reversible error. The instruction on a private citizen's duty to retreat, though not applicable to the facts, was not confusing or misleading when read together with the correct instruction that a law enforcement officer need not retreat and may use any force reasonably necessary in making an arrest.
[1] A jury instruction error in a civil action does not mandate reversal unless the error results in a miscarriage of justice, which occurs when instructions may have reasona…
[2] The giving of an inapplicable jury instruction, when considered with other correct instructions, does not constitute reversible error if the instructions as a whole corre…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Where jury in a civil action is given an incorrect instruction or one not applicable to the facts, together with correct instructions; reversal is not mandated unless the error results in a miscarriage of justice; a miscarriage of justice occurs where instructions may reasonably have confused or misled the jury.”
Establishes the standard for when an erroneous jury instruction requires reversal in a civil case
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice officers used force to subdue a person who had abducted the plaintiff (Jonas Brill), resulting in serious injury to Brill. The case proceeded t…
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FERGUSON, Judge.
Metropolitan Dade County and police officers appeal from a jury verdict for plaintiff entered on a complaint alleging excessive or unnecessary force in subduing a person who had abducted plaintiff, resulting in serious injury to plaintiff. Appellants contend that an instruction given the jury constitutes reversible error. Where jury in a civil action is given an incorrect instruction or one not applicable to the facts, together with correct instructions; reversal is not mandated unless the error results in a miscarriage of justice; a miscarriage of justice occurs where instructions may reasonably have confused or misled the jury. Florida Power & Light Company v. McCollum, 140 So. 2d 569 (Fla.1962); LaFleur v. Castlewood International Corp., 294 So. 2d 21 (Fla.3d DCA 1974).
In this case the instruction on a duty of a private citizen to retreat before using deadly force, clearly not applicable, was given along with the instruction that a law enforcement officer need not retreat and may use any force believed reasonably necessary in making an arrest. The series of instructions, considered as a whole, correctly stated the law. Edwards v. Poe, 203 So. 2d 188 (Fla.2d DCA 1967). It was clear that this was an action against police officers for negligence while acting in the scope of their employment. The jury was adequately instructed, as requested by appellant, that a law enforcement officer need not retreat and the instructions were neither conflicting nor confusing. Compare Veliz v. American Hospital, 414 So. 2d 226 (Fla.3d DCA 1982) (instructing jury that negligence is failure to use care generally used by hospitals in the community in similar cases conflicted with instruction that nurses are not to be held liable for honest errors of judgment).
On the cross-appeal we hold that plaintiff was not entitled to payment of costs under waiver of sovereign immunity statute where verdict exceeded the statutory recovery limit. Godoy v. Dade County, 410 So. 2d 1000 (Fla.3d DCA 1982); Berek v. Metropolitan Dade County, 396 So. 2d 756 (Fla.3d DCA 1981), petition for review granted, 6 F.L.W. 43 (Fla.Sup.Ct. Case No. 60,713, 1981).1
Affirmed.
. Decisions in other jurisdictions conflict with Berek, supra and Godoy, supra, by holding that statutory limitation does not apply to costs, which may be taxed as if agencies were private individuals. Compare State, Dep’t of Transp. v. Knowles, 388 So. 2d 1045 (Fla.2d DCA 1980), aff’d 402 So. 2d 1155 (Fla.1981) and State, Board of Regents v. Yant. 360 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978), cert. denied, 364 So. 2d 892 (Fla.1978) with Berek, supra and Godoy, supra.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Seguine v. Seguine, 627 So. 2d 14 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993)….1986); City of West Palm Beach v. Whittemore, 453 So. 2d 507 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (false arrest); Consolidated City of Jacksonville v. Teage, 424 So. 2d 67 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982) (excessive force in effecting arrest); Metropolitan Dade County v. Brill, 414 So. 2d 626 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982) (excessive force in effecting arrest). . We do not, by today’s holding, preclude tort actions for brutality or unreasonably excessive force used by police to effect an arrest, as, traditionally, such actions have long been allowe…
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City OF N. BAY Vill. & Officer J. Ort v. Bart David Braelow, 469 So. 2d 869 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)…rom the jury the three criminal statutes under which Braelow was originally charged, we find no reversible error. The record reveals that the series of instructions, considered as a whole, correctly stated the law. Metropolitan Dade County v. Brill, 414 So. 2d 626 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982); Edwards v. Poe, 203 So. 2d 188 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967). An appellate court will not reverse a final judgment based upon incorrect or non-applicable instructions unless the error resulted in a miscarriage of justice; a miscarriage of j…
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Jami L. Carmona and Evangelina Carmona v. Carrion, 779 So. 2d 337 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)…related to the prior incident. Although the trial court erred in giving the standard aggravation instruction, the error would be harmless unless the instruction may reasonably have confused or misled the jury. See Metropolitan Dade County v. Brill, 414 So. 2d 626, 626 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). Based on our review of the evidence and the jury’s verdict, we cannot say that the error was harmless. We cannot determine whether the aggravation instruction influenced the jury in deciding the amount of damages to be award…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State v. Knowles, 402 So. 2d 1155 (Fla. 1981)
- Fla. Power & Light Co. v. McCOLLUM, 140 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1962)
- Berek v. Metro. Dade Cnty., 396 So. 2d 756 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981)
- Veliz v. Am. Hosp., Inc., 414 So. 2d 226 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)
- State v. Napolean Hosea Yant, 360 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)
- State v. Knowles, 388 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980)
- LaFLEUR v. Castlewood Int'l Corp., 294 So. 2d 21 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974)
- Edwards v. POE, 203 So. 2d 188 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967)
- Eladio Godoy and Lesbia Godoy v. Dade Cnty., 410 So. 2d 1000 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)