Wrongful Death

A Trinity, Florida man was taken into custody by the Florida Highway Patrol Tuesday, September 21, for causing a crash that killed his wife, according to Tampa Bay Online.

Philip Billitteri, 58, had a blood alcohol level of 0.194, more than twice the limit for impairment, when he was in a Florida car accident on April 30. FHP charged him with DUI manslaughter in the crash that killed his wife, Sherry, 66.

Troopers accuse Billitteri of driving his Chrysler PT Cruiser and turning from Trinity Boulevard onto Tamarind Boulevard. He is alleged to have cut off a pickup truck which hit the right side of the cruiser. The Chrysler was sent spinning and Sherry Billitteri was partially ejected from the vehicle. She was not wearing her seat belt. She died about three hours later in Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.

Her husband was wearing his seat belt and had minor injuries. The pickup truck driver also had minor injuries.

Billitteri was taken to Land O’ Lakes Jail on Monday on charges of DUI manslaughter which is a second degree felony and can carry a 15 year prison term. He was also charged with DUI and two counts of DUI with property damage.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that alcohol-related fatalities decreased from 1,169 in 2008 to 1,004 in 2009.
About one-third of the more than 3,000 road deaths in our state annually involved alcohol and the FHP estimates the number could be closer to 40 percent.

If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident with a motorist who was driving under the influence, you may seek compensation for medical costs, property loss, expenses, and lost wages from the at-fault party. Call an experienced Florida wrongful death accident attorney to answer your questions.

A report has been issue detailing the dangers of parasailing that led to the death of a Georgia woman on vacation in Clearwater Beach.

Alejandra White, 27, and Shaun Ladd were parasailing above the beach on Sunday, September 5, when the tether connecting their harness to a towboat broke, according to WRDW. Ladd fell into the water and White was dragged by the runaway parachute into the beach area and onto a volleyball court where she hit a post. She was hospitalized but died days later. Ladd was not injured.

White and Ladd, who were engaged, were from the Atlanta area.

Bay News 9 reports the parasailers were about 50-feet above the water when a winch attaching them let loose and they slipped to the end of the line. That’s what caused it to snap according to a preliminary report from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Fortunately for Ladd, he was able to release himself from the line.

The U.S. Coast Guard is also investigating and has the parasail vessel and all equipment involved secured as part of its investigation.

Parasailing Accidents
The Parasail Safety Council estimates that in the U.S. over the last 10 years there have been 384 accidents which resulted in 22 deaths and 78 serious injuries.

In 2001, on Clearwater Beach, a mother and her teenage daughter were killed when the line broke in a storm and in 2007, a teenage girl died in south Florida.

That highlighted the fact that the industry falls under little regulations concerning, for example, when not to take customers out on the water. In this case, witnesses report there was a big storm filling the horizon accompanied by strong winds.

As we write this story, the head of the Parasail Safety Council, Mark McCulloh, writes, “I no longer believe that voluntary regulations are working, or will ever work.”

This is not the last we will hear about this industry and certainly not the last we will hear about this Florida wrongful death.

A family of four was killed in St. Petersburg Sunday, August 1, after an allegedly intoxicated driver sped through a red light and into their vehicle. The driver has now been taken into custody. Demetrius Jordan, 20, will be charged with four counts of DUI manslaughter and with injuring his passenger. He is also charged with underage drinking.

The Florida Highway Patrol interviewed witnesses who said that Jordan was traveling at a high rate of speed just before 1:00 a.m. when he ran a red light and his 2001 Chevrolet Impala hit the 2010 Ford Fusion being driven by Elroy McConnell, 51. Also in the Ford were McConnell’s three sons, 19-year-old Kelly McConnell, 24-year-old Nathan, and 28-year-old Elroy McConnell III, from Orlando, Miami and New Orleans. The family was vacationing in St. Petersburg and returning home from a movie. All were killed at the scene in this Florida drunk driving accident while Jordan and his passenger suffered serious injuries, according to News 4 Jax.

Suncoast Pinellas TBO.com reports that the oldest McConnell son had a small child of his own. His wife and son had joined the Pinellas County gathering.

Our sincerest condolences go out to the McConnell family and friends. The loss of this close family is almost indescribable.

Records show that Jordan was supposed to lose his license last week for failing to pay a fine after running a stop sign on June 30. WFTV finds that Jordan had seven traffic citations, with three in June alone, but was never arrested. He is being held on $90,250 bail, reports TBO.com. St. Petersburg police report Jordan admitted he had been drinking hard alcohol, a caffeinated beverage called Four Loko, and smoking marijuana before the crash. Police reported he slurred his words and had bloodshot eyes.

TBO.com reports Jordan may have been going at least 80 mph on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street at 22nd Avenue North, at an intersection where the speed limit is 35 mph.

Experts who reconstruct the accident site can determine the approximate speed each vehicle is traveling depending on the degree of crumpled metal on the cars and skid marks. If you need to prove your case with the help of an accident reconstructionist, an experienced Florida wrongful death accident attorney can be your best ally in investigating your case.

Parents should be aware that there have been two recent deaths of Florida children in the dental chair after receiving “conscious sedation.” That is a semi-awake condition that the child is put into with the help of drugs or gas. According to Health News Florida, in one case, Tampa dentist R. Andrew Powless sedated Cory Moore Jr. who died February 19, 2009. The family of Moore has filed a lawsuit against Powless, who does business as Florida Special Care Dentistry.

The parents charge that Powless should have known that Moore had eaten before the procedure, which is strictly prohibited because of the dangers of aspirating your food. That is exactly what happened to the 9-year-old boy. Not only did he choke on his food but the staff delayed in recognizing that the boy was choking. Moore’s mother says she told the staff the boy had eaten before the appointment, according to the lawsuit, which also says that the staff failed to provide “appropriate instructions” to the boy’s mother.

The other death involved a 5-year-old from Cedar Key, Dylan Shane Stewart, who died in the chair of a Gainesville dentist, Ronnie Grundset about two weeks ago. He too received conscious sedation. That death is under investigation. The boy was reportedly sedated with a substance chloral hydrate, which is an older drug that is commonly used.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry says that sedatives are used in children when there are a large number of cavities, the child is special needs, or they or their parents are just nervous and anxious. Pediatric Dental Health reports that conscious sedation is sometimes used when insurance companies refuse to pay for general anesthesia. It is essential that youngsters who undergo conscious sedation be monitored for any complications so they can be treated quickly and appropriately with emergency drugs and equipment.

Known complications of conscious sedation include oxygen desaturation, airway obstruction, apnea, vomiting, and cardiac arrest, among other reactions. A published study in Pediatrics in 2000 finds that inadequate skills of the resuscitator are a key to injury and death during a non-hospital conscious sedation, along with the effects of the medication on the child’s respiration. If you or a family member has suffered an adverse reaction to conscious sedation, let an experienced Florida injury attorney investigator uncover what went wrong so that you can hold the at-fault party responsible.

Most people have heard by now about the horrible and tragic accident at SeaWorld in Orlando that led to the death of a trainer. The incident took place on Wednesday, February 24, when a killer whale named Tilikum, attacked a trainer during a show at the Orlando attraction. The 40 year-old trainer was known to be experienced at her job; however, she was dragged around by the whale in front of the horrified visitors and died in front of them.

A former animal trainer who has turned into an animal advocate, says he wrote a letter to SeaWorld three years ago warning them that there would be an accident with the show mammals. “Happy animals don’t kill their trainers,” he said. Deeply intelligent and highly social, Tilikum, a 23-foot, 6-ton male, was involved in two previous fatalities.

Elsewhere in the captive mammal world, a part-time trainer was grabbed and drowned in 1991 at Sealand in British Columbia. The same whale was shipped to SeaWorld in Orlando where a naked dead man was found laying on the orca’s back. He had slipped into the facility at night and died of hypothermia.

It is indeed tragic and shocking that the SeaWorld trainer in the aforementioned accident was the third person who died at the hands of this specific killer whale. The autopsy report was released the first week of April. According to reports, the trainer suffered blunt force trauma and drowning in addition to other very severe injuries.

It would be advisable for establishments that put on similar animal shows to revaluate the condition in which their subjects are being handled to ensure that accidents like these stop now. Wrongful death incidents that could have been prevented are some of the most tragic. Our hearts and deepest sympathy go out to this woman’s family and anyone else who has lost a loved one due to an animal attack.

Source:http://www.nationalledger.com/ledgerdc/article_272631151.shtml

The investigation has concluded into the deadly September 12, 2008 collision of a commuter train with a freight train in Chatsworth, California that killed 25 and injured 135. As previously thought, the engineer was texting a message to young engineer fans from his phone as he passed a stop signal.

The engineer was killed in the head-on crash of two trains traveling at 40 mph. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that all of the mechanical systems appeared to be working properly.

The 16-month investigation also concluded that the collision could have been avoided had an automated system that stops trains when humans fail, been installed.

Lawsuits filed against Metrolink, Veolia Transportation, Inc. and Connex Railroad LLC hope to show that authorities were aware that the engineer had engaged in this behavior previously, but was never disciplined or fired him.

The crash and subsequent investigation has renewed calls for an automated technology that can stop trains in the event of human error. Metrolink has plans to install a $201 million positive train control system by 2012. The NTSB recommends that all commuter trains install cameras and audio recorders to monitor train operators. And the 15-hour work day that is occasionally required of engineers and conductors, has raised concerns with NTSB board members.

In October, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law legislation that bans texting while driving. Florida texting ban legislation to be introduced this year may mean that our state joins California, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington State, which have all banned text messaging while driving motor vehicles.

Source:http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-metrolink22-2010jan22,0,5862623.story

The mother of a monorail driver at Disney World who died last July in a crash, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the theme park. The woman says that Disney did not follow its own monorail-safety procedures and that is what killed her 21-year-old son. Her son was in the front of a monorail, moving the car in reverse through track switches that were supposed to move it eventually onto the system’s maintenance bay. But another monorail was backing up over a track switch at the same time and the track switch was never realigned. The train went into reverse and into the resort’s Epcot line and into the young man’s vehicle.

His mother contends it would be safer to have twin controls in the rear cab giving the operator a clear view when he backs up.

While no litigation can bring back her son, it is pointing out some safety violations of the theme park, perhaps preventing it from happening to someone else. Her lawyer says that Disney’s own policy of having drivers stay in the front cab during a track switch is in violation of the parks own training manual that calls for drivers to switch cockpits. The driver of the trail that hit the 21-year-old worker stayed in the front cab of his train during the track switch. To switch cabins involves powering down the front cab and powering up the rear cab which takes several minutes and if passengers are present can slow the unloading process.

OSHA has cited Disney for one “serious” safety violation – Disney failed to use spotters to keep an eye on the back end of any train that is reversing.

Changes have been made. After the wrongful death accident, Disney required monorail operators to switch cockpits before transferring off the Epcot loop, and now an operator cannot move a train without the use of spotters. Our condolences go out to his mother and other family members for their loss, which it appears was a preventable accident that safety guidelines were written to prevent.

If you ever carry a child in a car seat in the back seat of your car you must read this article.

Fatal Distraction, an article published in the Washington Post on March 8, tells us that all kinds of adults have forgotten their child in the car, from rocket scientists, to doctors, to postal workers. If you have forgotten your cell phone at home, you are capable of doing this too.

It’s a tough read but please take the time to do so and pass it on to everyone you know who has a child they carry in the back seat.

Already this year, two little ones have been left to die in the sweltering heat of cars by inattentive adults. In Florida, heat stroke or hyperthermia can happen in a matter of minutes. Please let’s not let any more cases of wrongful death in Florida happen to another child.

Kids and Cars, the advocacy organization says you can prevent this with a few no-cost reminders.

• If you carry a child, put something you’ll need like a handbag, a lunch, an employee badge on the floor board of the back seat. Always open the back door of your vehicle every time you reach your destination – make it a habit. It’s called the Look before you Lock campaign.
• It may sound ridiculous, but put a reminder of the child in the back seat with you. A large stuffed toy that you normally keep in the child seat, replace in the front seat when you drive. It’s a visual reminder that you have a little passenger, sometimes a silent one, in the back seat.
• Another good tip is to arrange to have your day care provider call you if the child does not arrive as scheduled. Many children’s lives could have been saved with a simple phone call.

Always get involved by looking inside cars in a parking lot. Pets can inadvertently be left there too. I challenge you to read this article and not recognize yourself in it. Truly this can happen to anyone who just had their mind elsewhere that day. Pass this important article onto everyone you know who carries children – it could save a life.

If you have any questions regarding child safety or if your child has been invovled in an auto accident, please contact Jacksonville’s top personal injury lawyers at Farah and Farah.

You certainly have been passed by fast driving teens on the road. A teenage driver with less that one year experience can be the most reckless driver on the road. Speeding up to your tail, passing on the right side of your car, tailing you, aggressive driving and speeding are just some of the problems. I’ve often said I wish their parents could see them driving so they could provide a consequence – like taking away the car and keeping all of us safer from being in an auto accident.

Technology has heard your concerns and has responded. A GPS tracking system will tell you exactly what your child is doing behind the wheel of your car.

A number of these items are able to monitor speed, location, time, where they went, and how long they stayed. Fitting inside your car discretely, the GPS device works by receiving signals from 24 satellites orbiting the earth. Every second you get a reading and are able to access the tracking data.

GPS Teen Tracking has one for $229 and you can order online.

Now you can get one to monitor your teen’s speed and location. LandAirSea has a GPS device that allows you to monitor your teens speed and location at a cost of about $600. Learn more about it on their Web site.

Almost four thousand teens are killed every year in traffic accidents and hundreds of thousands of teens are injured, some critically and permanently. Add other teen passengers, traveling at night, and distractions such as cell phones, CDs, texting AND the youth and inexperience of the driver, one of these devices might just deliver a little piece of mind.

With auto accidents as the number one cause of teen deaths, this small investment and a slight invasion of privacy should be weighed against the cost of doing nothing. Farah and Farah is always there when you do need someone to help you through the maze of tragedy following a Florida auto accident. Call our Jacksonville offices if you need to talk to someone who is on your side.

The tragic death of a five-year-old boy who suffered an asthma attack at the beginning of school last year has resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Trenton Stokes died in August 2007. It was his fourth day of kindergarten at Orange Park Elementary School.

His mother, Rita Stokes had met with school officials to talk about her son’s condition including the principal, her son’s teacher, the school nurse and PE coach. They were told how to recognize Trenton’s asthma attacks and to keep medication with the teacher with the boy at all times.

Unfortunately when Trenton had an attack on the playground August 24th, his teacher didn’t have the medication with her, even after he asked for it. He collapsed and died.

An asthma attack has to be addressed immediately and it is not predictable. Even prepared with that information, the school failed to take care of the little boy. A spokeswoman for Clay County schools says the school acted responsibly but the child did not make it.

Both sides cannot be telling the truth. No doubt the facts will be sorted out at trail. The lawsuit was filed in the 7th Judicial Circuit court. We are sorry for the tragic passing of this little boy.