FL H6527

Appropriates $626,769.93 from the Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund to Patricia Ermini for injuries sustained during a March 23, 2012 well-being check by Lee County Sheriff's Office deputies

Deputies entered the 71-year-old's dark home, moved through in silence, and opened her bedroom door without knocking; Deputy Hamer fired seven rounds from an AR-15 through a closed bedroom door, striking Ermini three times

Ermini suffered a shattered femur, partial loss of her upper right arm, a head graze wound, temporary blindness in one eye from wood splinters, and ongoing PTSD requiring multiple surgeries and approximately 30 days of hospitalization

A January 2018 jury awarded $1 million in damages; after 75% fault apportionment to LCSO, judgment was $750,000, of which $200,000 was paid under the statutory sovereign immunity cap

Attorney fees are capped at 25% of the total award; Deputies Lisenbee and Hamer were terminated shortly after the incident