TAMPA, Fla. — A Hillsborough County widow who won more than $1.1 million in a lawsuit against the sheriff's office over a deputy-involved crash that killed her husband potentially faces years of battles to collect the money due to Florida's sovereign immunity law.
Pamela Martin received her last kiss and "I love you" from her husband Michael Keen in February 2021 as he left for work as a part-time courtesy driver for a Brandon GMC dealership.
Hours later, she learned his truck had been struck by a Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputy who was speeding to a minor call.
The I-Team first reported about the case in late November as Martin and her attorneys were preparing for trial.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him”
Keen was rushed to the hospital but never regained consciousness and died a week later.
"They removed his life support, and within an hour he was gone," Martin said. "Very tough. And it still is. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him."
Surveillance video from a nearby business shows the moment Keen pulled his pickup truck into the left turn lane and waited for a break in traffic.
As he made his turn, Deputy Devin Wooden approached from the other direction in a Dodge Charger patrol car.
The lawsuit alleged Wooden wasn't operating lights or a siren while traveling 97 mph in a 50-mph zone, according to Florida Highway Patrol investigation data from the vehicle's electronic data recorder.
"Why in the world would they allow their deputies to go almost double the speed limit on a surface road where you know at that hour in the morning when there's other people on the road too?" Martin said.
A Hillsborough County jury heard the case last month and found negligence on the part of the deputy was a cause of Keen's injury and death, awarding Martin more than $1 million for economic losses and pain and suffering.
"When they came back with their judgment of over a million dollars, it gave her a lot of peace that her husband didn't die in vain," said attorney Keith Ligori.
However, collecting that money won't be simple due to Florida's sovereign immunity law, which caps government liability at $200,000 per individual or $300,000 per incident.
A complicated process
The concept of sovereign immunity is designed to protect taxpayers from large payouts in lawsuits against governmental agencies.
For Martin to collect more than $200,000, she must file what's called a claims bill and have it passed by the Florida Legislature.
"That means we have to hire a lobbyist. We are going to have to write the bill because that's what it is, a law you're trying to get passed. You'r etrying to get somebody in the House of Representatives to sponsor it and the state Senate to sponsor it," Ligori said.
Martin would also have to testify in front of committees, forcing her to relive her trauma again.
Meanwhile, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office can hire lobbyists to oppose the claims bill.
"This process could easily take 5 to 10 years and still not be successful," Ligori said.
Legislation introduced to increase statutory limits
In their upcoming session, Florida lawmakers will consider House Bill 145, which would raise statutory limits on claims against the government.
The proposed legislation would increase limits from $200,000 to $500,000 for one person and from $300,000 to $1 million for multiple claims resulting from the same incident.
Those amounts would increase to $600,000 per person or $1.2 million per incident in 2031 under the current proposal.
"What is that gonna do? That's gonna help people that are severely injured pay for their medical bills because what's essentially happening here is these people are now having to rely upon the government," Ligori said.
The higher limits would mean agencies directly responsible for claims would bear more costs, rather than forcing those injured to rely on Medicare or Medicaid.
Ligori says raising limits would also help hold government entities accountable, since currently most attorneys won't take cases like Martin's due to the high costs of bringing them to trial and the minimal potential payouts.
Martin said she is willing to travel to Tallahassee to testify and do what she has to do in her husband's memory.
"They always say to serve and protect. They didn't serve Michael and theydidn't protect him. And they didn't serve me because they didn't protect him," Martin said.
Share Your Story with Adam
Adam Walser has spent more than a decade fighting for what’s right in Tampa Bay as part of the I-Team. He’s helped expose flaws in Florida’s eldercare system and held leaders accountable for how they use your tax dollars. Reach out to Adam with any issue you think he needs to investigate.
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