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| Widow of doctor killed by inmate gets $1.3 million |
| By The News-Press |
| Published: 05/10/2005 |
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The widow of a Bonita Springs psychiatrist who was murdered by an inmate at the Collier County (Fla.) Jail was awarded $1.3 million in damages Monday by a federal jury in Fort Myers. Dr. David Hoyer, 56, was strangled Jan. 3, 2001, by Rodrigus Sanchez Patten when Hoyer went to the jail to evaluate Patten to see if he was competent to stand trial. Hoyer's wife, J. Rae Hoyer, sued Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter in 2002, claiming it was his negligence that resulted in the murder. A jury of five women and three men deliberated for 21/2 hours before coming to a decision. Hoyer's lawyers were seeking about $5.2 million. The jury awarded $2.6 million, but found Hunter and Hoyer each shared 50 percent of the blame. So the judgment will be cut in half to $1.3 million. Attorneys W. Hampton Keen and David Gaspari of West Palm Beach, who represented Hoyer, argued during the four-day trial the doctor should have been warned Patten was a dangerous man who vowed to kill others and tried to strangle a fellow inmate a day before the attack. "I was disappointed in the 50-50" split, Gaspari said. "I thought it would be 80-20. We are very happy with the total amount of money. The jurors did an unbelievable job with a very difficult case." Attorney Bruce Wallace Jolly of Fort Lauderdale represented Hunter. Jolly told jurors Hoyer had been warned about Patten and failed to take measures to protect himself. "Risks exist in a jail," Jolly said. "Anybody in a jail has to have an increased awareness of where he or she is. ... Jail assaults are not 100 percent preventable." Hunter was not at the courthouse when the verdict was read. He was represented by sheriff's Capt. Chris Freeman. "Obviously, this is not the verdict the sheriff wanted," Freeman said. "It's a jury system. The sheriff has always believed in the jury system and that's what we'll work with." Under state law, jury awards against government entities are capped at $200,000. It will take a claim bill approved by the state Legislature to get the entire $1.3 million approved. "This is a case in my opinion that justifies a claim bill," Gaspari said. "An outstanding member of the community is lost inside a municipal agency. If there's anything in my opinion that justifies a claim bill, this is it." Patten, 25, is serving life in prison for the murder. According to Hoyer's lawyers, the sheriff's office has beefed up security in the jail since the doctor's death to ward off such attacks. |
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