ELIZABETH HALVELAND, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF MICHAEL HALVELAND, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, AN AGENCY OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, ISAAC ANDREWS, BOTH IN HIS INDIVIDUAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS A CORRECTIONAL OFFICER OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, CARLTON SPOONER, BOTH IN HIS INDIVIDUAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS AN OFFICER OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, JENNIFER REEVES, BOTH IN HER INDIVIDUAL AND OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS AN OFFICER OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, PATRICK JASON WILLIAM, IN HIS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, APPELLEES

Fla. 1st DCA | 2017-06-27
No. CASE NO. 1D16-3226
Wetherell, J., Makar, J., Kelsey, J.
219 So. 3d 1037 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (2017) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

The court vacated the dismissal of a wrongful death action against the Department of Corrections because the Florida Supreme Court reversed the appellate court's prior decision holding that the four-year statute of limitations under section 768.28(14) applies to prisoner negligence claims, not the one-year limitation period.


Holding

The four-year statute of limitations in section 768.28(14), Florida Statutes, governs wrongful death actions brought by a prisoner's estate against a government entity for negligent or wrongful acts by employees.


Headnotes

[1] The four-year statute of limitations in section 768.28(14), Florida Statutes, applies to wrongful death actions brought by a prisoner's estate against a government entity…

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Facts & Procedural History

Michael Halveland, an inmate, died, and his estate through his mother brought a wrongful death action against the Florida Department of Corrections an…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

After inmate Michael Halveland died, his estate via his mother brought a wrongful death action against the Department of Corrections. The estate challenges the trial court’s ruling, which dismissed the action as time-barred based on this Court’s decision in Green v. Cottrell, 172 So.3d 1009, 1011 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015), which held that *1038the one-year statute of limitations for prisoners bringing suit under , section 95.11(5)(g) applied, as opposed to section 768.28(14)), Florida Statutes. Our decision was recently reversed in Green v. Cottrell, 204 So.3d 22 (Fla. 2016), the supreme court holding that the four-year statute of limitations in section 768.28(14) governs a prisoner action where the prisoner suffers “physical injury due to the negligent or wrongful act or omissions of the employees of a government entity.” Green v. Cottrell, 204 So.3d 22 (Fla. 2016). In light of Green, we vacate the order of dismissal and remand for further proceedings consistent with that decision. See Thornton v. Elliott, 288 So.2d 254, 256 (Fla. 1973); Winter Park Golf Estates v. City of Winter Park, 114 Fla. 350, 361, 153 So. 842 (Fla. 1934)). Because the order for sanctions against the estate was based in substantial part on the estate’s disagreement with this Court’s decision in Green, that order is vacated with instructions that the trial court review the motion in light of the supreme court’s recent decision as well.

VACATED AND REMANDED.

WETHERELL, MAKAR, and KELSEY, JJ., CONCUR.


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