MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
v.
ODALYS FORTES, ETC.
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
Law enforcement officers owe a special tort duty of reasonable care when they become directly involved in circumstances placing people within a zone of risk by creating or permitting dangers, taking persons into custody, or otherwise subjecting them to danger.
[1] Law enforcement officers owe a special tort duty of reasonable care when they assume control over a situation or individual and thereby place persons within a zone of ris…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A special tort duty does arise when law enforcement officers become directly involved in circumstances which place people within a 'zone of risk' by creating or permitting dangers to exist, by taking persons into police custody, detaining them, or otherwise subjecting them to danger. The premise underlying this theory is that a police officer's decision to assume control over a particular situation or individual or group of individuals is accompanied by a corresponding duty to exercise reasonable care.”
Court's statement of the legal standard for law enforcement tort liability
Miami-Dade County appealed a trial court's denial of its motion for directed verdict in a case involving law enforcement conduct. The case involved al…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Undertaker'S Doctrine cases and more on FLexlaw
Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida
Opinion filed September 17, 2025. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
________________
No. 3D24-1255 Lower Tribunal No. 19-28710-CA-01 ________________
Miami-Dade County, Appellant,
vs.
Odalys Fortes, etc., Appellee.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Lourdes Simon, Judge.
Geraldine Bonzon Keenan, Miami-Dade County Attorney and Zach Vosseler and Erica Zaron and Korissa Lepore and Bernard Pastor, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellant.
Armand & Dieguez, P.A., and Manuel A. Dieguez and Arturo A. Armand; Raposo & Lukacs and Jose A. Raposo, Jr., and John C. Lukacs, Jr., for appellee.
Before EMAS, MILLER and LOBREE, JJ.
2
PER CURIAM.
Affirmed. See Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. Salazar, 388 So. 3d 115, 117–18 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023) (“[T]his court reviews a denial of a motion for directed verdict de novo, viewing the evidence and all available inferences from it in the light most favorable to the verdict.”); Pollock v. Fla. Dep’t of Highway Patrol, 882 So. 2d 928, 935 (Fla. 2004) (“A special tort duty does arise when law enforcement officers become directly involved in circumstances which place people within a ‘zone of risk’ by creating or permitting dangers to exist, by taking persons into police custody, detaining them, or otherwise subjecting them to danger. The premise underlying this theory is that a police officer’s decision to assume control over a particular situation or individual or group of individuals is accompanied by a corresponding duty to exercise reasonable care.” (citations omitted)); State, Dep’t of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, Div. of Highway Patrol v. Kropff, 491 So. 2d 1252, 1255 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986) (finding “[o]nce [an officer] undertook to secure the site of the initial accident, he was required to do so with reasonable care”); Wallace v. Dean, 3 So. 3d 1035, 1052 (Fla. 2009) (concluding undertaker’s doctrine was satisfied “because the deputies, in a position of authority, increased the risk of harm that the decedent faced by
3 inducing third parties—who would have otherwise rendered further aid . . . —to forebear from doing so”).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Wallace v. Dean, 3 So. 3d 1035 (Fla. 2009)
- Pollock v. Fla. Dep't OF Hwy. Patrol, 882 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 2004)
- Ritts v. State, 491 So. 2d 1252 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)