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Defendant's Attorney: April Sloane Kirsheman, Christopher Erik Brown, Robert M. Fulton and Albert Michael Perotti

Description: Tampa, Florida personal injury lawyer represented Plaintiff who sued Defendant on 42 U.S.C. 1983 constitutional violation wrongful death theories.


The Florida State Fair, organized by the Florida State Fair Authority, takes place every year at fairgrounds located near Tampa. The FSF has a Student Day for which the FSFA issues free admission tickets to students at area schools. Andrew Joseph, III ("Andrew")-who was 14 at the time-attended Student Day at the FSF on February 7, 2014.

After being dropped off with four friends at Gate 3 of the FSF at around 6:30 p.m., Andrew was seized and detained by law enforcement officers employed by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and/or the FSFA. The seizure took place following a disturbance at the FSF's midway. Corporal Mark Clark took Andrew to a processing area in the FSF fairgrounds where all children who had been seized and detained were held.

Corporal Clark then turned Andrew over to Deputy Henry Echenique. At the processing area, Deputy Echenique filled out an ejection form for Andrew based on information provided to him by Corporal Clark. The form stated that the basis for Andrew's ejection was "running through the mid-way causing disorderly conduct." D.E. 255 at 2, ¶ 5. Corporal Clark did not attempt to call Andrew's parents to let them know their son had been detained and was in custody, as required by Fla. Stat. § 985.101(3). Nor did any of the other HCSO officers at the processing area.

Andrew was in custody at the processing area for about 40 minutes, from 8:00 p.m. to about 8:41 p.m. During that time, officers ran a background check on him to ensure that he was not wanted, missing, or endangered. They also took his photograph.

At 8:41 p.m., Deputy Stephen Jones-who at the time was working for the FSFA-and another officer put Andrew and other minors into an HCSO transport van and drove them to a drop-off point outside Gate 4 of the FSF. The drop-off point was near Orient Road and Interstate 4. The officers did not attempt to release Andrew and the other minors to their parents or other responsible adults, as required by Fla. Stat. § 985.115(2)(a), and told them they would be arrested if they tried to re-enter the FSF fairgrounds.

Andrew did not call his parents while waiting at Gate 4 because he was afraid he would get in trouble. He also declined a ride from a one of his friend's parents. When he and his friend, C.T. (who was 12 years old), asked an officer at Gate 4 if they could re-enter the FSF fairgrounds to walk to their pre-arranged pick-up point, the officer told them they could not and they faced arrest for trespassing.

Andrew and C.T. walked down the sidewalk on Orient Road and under Interstate 4 to the Hard Rock Casino. Andrew and C.T. then ran across Interstate 4 from the Hard Rock Casino towards the FSF. But after Andrew received a phone call, he indicated to C.T. that they needed to turn around. When Andrew and C.T. tried to run back across Interstate 4, Andrew was struck and killed by a car at approximately 10:43 p.m.

Mr. Joseph, Andrew's father, filed a lawsuit against a number of defendants. As relevant here, he asserted a state wrongful death claim against Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister in his official capacity, a state wrongful death claim against the FSFA on a theory of vicarious liability, a state wrongful death claim against the FSFA on a theory of direct liability, a federal claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Sheriff Chronister, and federal claims under § 1983 against Corporal Clark and Deputies Echenique and Jones in their individual capacities.

Outcome: JURY VERDICT as to the Wrongful Death claim.

JURY VERDICT as to the Claim of Wrongful Seizure

The jury returned their verdict on September 22nd after 4 ½ hours of deliberations in a two-week trial that began September 12. The jury awarded $7,500,000 each to Andrew Joseph Jr. and Deanna Joseph, the parents of Andrew Joseph III.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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