HB 6509 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act for the relief of Patricia Ermini by the Lee 2
County Sheriff's Office; providing for an 3
appropriation to compensate her for injuries sustained 4
as a result of the negligence of the Lee County 5
Sheriff's Office; providing a limitation on the 6
payment of attorney fees; providing an effective date. 7
8
WHEREAS, on the evening of March 23, 2012, 71 -year-old 9
Patricia Ermini spoke on the telephone with her daughter , Robin 10
Lacasse, who found that her mother was extremely upset in the 11
wake of her contentious and expensive divorce after a brief 12
marriage, and 13
WHEREAS, Ms. Lacasse suggested to her mother that she hang 14
up, take some time to calm down, and, afterward, cal l her back, 15
which her mother did; however, Ms. Lacasse missed her mother's 16
call, and 17
WHEREAS, when Ms. Ermini failed to reach her daughter, she 18
went to bed in her bedroom, which was being cooled by a window 19
air conditioner, and 20
WHEREAS, over the course o f half an hour, Ms. Lacasse 21
repeatedly tried to return her mother's call, and, when her 22
mother did not answer, Ms. Lacasse called the Lee County 23
Sheriff's Office (LCSO) to request that a well -being check be 24
conducted to determine whether her mother was saf e, and 25
HB 6509 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
WHEREAS, shortly before 9 p.m., LCSO dispatch relayed the 26
call for a well-being check to Deputy Charlene Palmese, with 27
Deputies Richard Lisenbee and Robert Hamer also responding to 28
the call, conveying the following information to the deputies: 29
Ms. Ermini's name and age; that the request for a well -being 30
check had been initiated by Ms. Ermini's daughter, who did not 31
reside in Lee County and was afraid for her mother's life; that 32
Ms. Ermini was in the middle of a difficult divorce; that Ms. 33
Ermini had told her daughter that she "couldn't take it 34
anymore"; that Ms. Ermini's daughter was worried that Ms. Ermini 35
might commit suicide; that Ms. Ermini had never threatened 36
suicide before; that Ms. Ermini did not suffer from mental 37
illness; and that Ms. Ermin i had a gun and might have been 38
drinking, and 39
WHEREAS, at the time of the call, Deputy Lisenbee was on 40
probation and undergoing remedial training, in part because of 41
his demonstrated inability to control scenes or suspects through 42
verbal commands, and he later told investigators that he could 43
not recall receiving training in the conduct of well -being 44
checks, and 45
WHEREAS, Deputy Palmese had completed her field training 46
only a few days before the call, during which she received 47
instruction on how to respond to a well-being check, but she 48
later told investigators that she could not recall whether, at 49
the time of the call, she had ever actually participated in a 50
HB 6509 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
well-being check, and 51
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer had been to many suicide threat 52
calls, and he made it a practice to carry his rifle when it was 53
known that a firearm was present on the premises where the 54
subject of the call was located, and 55
WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee, who was the first to arrive at 56
Ms. Ermini's home in response to the call, observed that the re 57
were no lights on in the home when he arrived and, after a brief 58
exterior check, went to the front door, where he secured a 59
screen door in the open position, knocked on the door, and 60
announced, "Sheriff's Office," to no response, and 61
WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee determined that the front door was 62
unlocked, opened the door, and again said, "Sheriff's Office," 63
followed by "Anyone here? Anyone home?" to no response, and 64
WHEREAS, Deputy Palmese was second to arrive, followed by 65
Deputy Hamer, who, like the othe r deputies, parked out of view 66
from inside the residence, and 67
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer retrieved from the trunk of his 68
vehicle his AR-15 rifle, which was equipped with a flashlight 69
and a sighting device that allowed him to find his target more 70
quickly and easily, and 71
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer determined that the three deputies, 72
all of whom were wearing dark green uniforms, should go into the 73
residence to clear the house, and 74
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer activated the flashlight on his 75
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rifle, and Deputy Lisenbee announ ced "Sheriff's Office" once or 76
twice more before they entered the home, after which they 77
proceeded to move about the dark residence in silence as they 78
cleared the living room, finally arriving at the primary 79
bedroom, which had double doors, both of which w ere closed, and 80
WHEREAS, without knocking or further announcing their 81
presence, Deputy Lisenbee opened the right -hand bedroom door and 82
shined his flashlight on a female, who appeared to be asleep on 83
the bed wearing only undergarments, and 84
WHEREAS, after Deputy Lisenbee entered the bedroom doorway, 85
he announced, "Sheriff's Office. Are you okay?" to which the 86
woman responded, "Who's there? Who's there?," and 87
WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee said, "Sheriff's Office. We're 88
here to make sure you're okay. Are you okay ?," and 89
WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee said that, although the woman may 90
have sounded frightened, he did not temper his tone, nor did he 91
ever shine his flashlight on himself to allow Ms. Ermini to see 92
that he was, in fact, a uniformed officer, and 93
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer said he heard Ms. Ermini say, "What 94
are you doing here? I have a gun," and 95
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer later acknowledged that he didn't 96
know whether Ms. Ermini had heard or understood Deputy Lisenbee, 97
yet nonetheless, he turned off the flashlight on his gun, "took 98
the point," and stepped in front of Deputy Lisenbee because, he 99
said, he had more weaponry, was the senior officer on scene, and 100
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had significantly more gun range time, and 101
WHEREAS, terrified, Ms. Ermini told the person at the 102
doorway, whom she perceived as an intruder, to get out of her 103
house "because [she had] a gun" and, with that, jumped up from 104
the bed and hid behind the still -closed left-hand bedroom door, 105
and 106
WHEREAS, it remains unclear whether Ms. Ermini grabbed her 107
gun as she ran to shelter behind the door, and 108
WHEREAS, as Ms. Ermini tried to look around the bedroom 109
door, she was shot multiple times, with Deputy Hamer firing 110
seven rounds from his rifle through the closed bedroom door, and 111
WHEREAS, according to the chief crime scene investigator, a 112
bullet fired through the middle of the door struck Ms. Ermini in 113
her left leg, shattering her femur and causing her to fall 114
backward onto the floor; another bullet hit her in the upper 115
right arm, leaving a portion of her upper arm missing; and a 116
third bullet caused a graze wound across the back of her head, 117
and 118
WHEREAS, a wood splinter from the door lodged in her right 119
eye, temporarily blinding her in that eye, and 120
WHEREAS, it was less than 2 minutes from the time of entry 121
until Ms. Ermini was shot multiple times and fell to the floor, 122
and 123
WHEREAS, Deputy Hamer notified dispatch of the shooting and 124
continued to sweep the bedroom before finally delivering first 125
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aid to Ms. Ermini, whom he handcuffed because she was still 126
alive and therefore posed a continuing threat to the deputies, 127
and 128
WHEREAS, Lee County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were 129
dispatched at the same time as the officers and were waiting 130
just two blocks away, which likely saved Ms. Ermini's life, and 131
WHEREAS, when the lead paramedic for EMS arrived, he 132
determined that Ms. Ermini had life -threatening injuries to the 133
front and back of her left leg and to the front and back of her 134
right arm, and a laceration to the back of her head just above 135
the neckline, and 136
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini repeatedly asked the paramedic why she 137
had been shot, who the intruders were, and why they were in her 138
home, and 139
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini's most grievous injury was the 140
shattered femur in her left leg, and moving her caused her 141
significant blood loss and e xcruciating pain, and 142
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital in 143
critical condition and later admitted to the intensive care 144
unit, and 145
WHEREAS, in addition to the gunshot wounds, Ms. Ermini had 146
numerous wounds on her face from the wood spl inters from the 147
bedroom door, and 148
WHEREAS, an LCSO lieutenant who followed the ambulance to 149
the hospital initially refused the emergency room doctor's 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
request to remove the handcuffs from Ms. Ermini; emergency room 151
staff were told that Ms. Ermini "tried t o kill a cop"; and Ms. 152
Ermini's family members were denied visitation, and 153
WHEREAS, doctors were able to save Ms. Ermini's eye with 154
surgery, but her vision has deteriorated since the incident, and 155
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini required multiple surgeries to repair 156
her femur and address her wounds, including multiple skin grafts 157
on her shoulder, and 158
WHEREAS, after discharge, she suffered a severe septic 159
infection that caused her tremendous pain, and the pain 160
medications she was prescribed induced debilitating paran oia, 161
and 162
WHEREAS, on March 24, 2012, Sheriff Mike Scott told the 163
news media that Ms. Ermini shot at deputies who had responded to 164
a well-being check and that they returned fire, which directly 165
contradicts Deputy Hamer's statement, in which he indicated th at 166
he shot first, and 167
WHEREAS, on March 29, 2012, Ms. Ermini was arrested in the 168
intensive care unit on two counts of aggravated assault on a law 169
enforcement officer, which the state attorney declined to 170
prosecute, and 171
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini was an emergenc y room nurse in South 172
Florida for many years and had worked hand -in-hand with law 173
enforcement officers, no evidence was ever produced that she had 174
any animus toward law enforcement officers, and it is still 175
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disputed that Ms. Ermini's weapon was discharged during the 176
encounter, and 177
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini remained hospitalized for about 30 days 178
and has never fully recovered from her injuries, and 179
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini continues to suffer acute pain, 180
fatigue, and a limited range of motion due to the gunshot wound 181
to her upper arm, all of which impair her ability to accomplish 182
many of the activities of daily living, and she also suffers 183
from debilitating posttraumatic stress disorder, and 184
WHEREAS, Ms. Ermini was forced to sell her home because she 185
cannot afford in-home assistance, and 186
WHEREAS, Deputy Lisenbee and Deputy Hamer were terminated 187
by the LCSO shortly after the incident, the latter for "conduct 188
unbecoming," and 189
WHEREAS, in November 2015, Ms. Ermini filed suit against 190
LCSO and the individual deputies involved in the call, and 191
WHEREAS, on January 12, 2018, after a 4 -day trial, a jury 192
that included a retired law enforcement officer awarded $1 193
million in damages to Ms. Ermini for her pain and suffering, and 194
WHEREAS, after apportionment of 75 percent of the fault to 195
LCSO, a judgment was entered in Ms. Ermini's favor for $750,000, 196
and 197
WHEREAS, ultimately, after numerous procedural attempts by 198
LCSO to overturn the judgment, the United States Court of 199
Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed the judgment of th e United 200
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
States District Court in Ms. Ermini's favor, and on or about 201
December 9, 2019, the Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund, on 202
behalf of its insured, the Lee County Sheriff's Office, paid the 203
statutory limit of $200,000 in damages under section 768. 28, 204
Florida Statutes, and 205
WHEREAS, this claim bill is for recovery of the excess 206
judgment in the amount of $550,000, plus interest and taxable 207
trial costs and appellate costs awarded to Ms. Ermini in the 208
amount of $76,769.93, for a total claim of $626,769 .93, NOW, 209
THEREFORE, 210
211
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 212
213
Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act 214
are found and declared to be true. 215
Section 2. The Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund is 216
authorized and directed to appropriate from funds not otherwise 217
encumbered and to draw a warrant in the sum of $626,769.93 218
payable to Patricia Ermini as compensation for injuries and 219
damages sustained. 220
Section 3. The amount paid by the Florida Sheriffs Risk 221
Management Fund, on behalf of its insured, the Lee County 222
Sheriff's Office, pursuant to s. 768.28, Florida Statutes, and 223
the amount awarded under this act are intended to provide the 224
sole compensation for all present and future claims arising out 225
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
of the factual situat ion described in this act which resulted in 226
injuries and damages to Patricia Ermini. The total amount paid 227
for attorney fees relating to this claim may not exceed 25 228
percent of the total amount awarded under this act. 229
Section 4. This act shall take eff ect upon becoming a law. 230