Jeishy Mariana Zerpa v. Miami-Dade County, et al.

Miami, Florida personal injury lawyer represented the Plaintiff who sued the defendants on auto negligence wrongful death theories.



Plaintiff Jeishy Mariana Zerpa Malpica is the surviving spouse of Juan Carlos Martinez Silva who was killed on February 27, 2021, when the bicycle he was riding was hit by a Miami-Dade Police Car driven by Officer Christopher Bendana.



The state and its subdivisions enjoyed absolute immunity from tort liability prior to the enactment of the waiver of immunity statute in 1973.1 However, municipalities had only limited tort immunities or exceptions to liability that were the subject of a well-developed body of law at the time §768.28 went into effect.2 The courts developed an analysis distinguishing between "governmental” and "proprietary” functions of municipal government, applying tort immunity only as to the former unless there was some special relationship between the government employee or agent and the injured party.3 This became known as the " Modlin doctrine.”

Plaintiff's verdict for $3 million, limited to $300,000 under Florida law.

It was reported that the Defendants offered the Plaintiff $49,000 to settle her claim before tiral.