Aetna Insurance Company v. James Norman and Natalie Norman

Appellant, City of Winter Haven, appeals the final judgment against it awarding appellee, the personal representative of the estate of Waymon Allen, damages in the amount of $600,000. Appellant carried liability insurance in the amount of $1,000,000. The jury found appellant liable for the May 29, 1986 shooting incident in which Polk County Sheriffs Deputy Waymon Allen was struck by a shot that was fired by a Winter Haven police officer during a sheriffs department drug raid in Winter Haven. We find that the trial court correctly held that the case of Avallone v. Board of County Commissioners of Citrus County, 493 So.2d 1002 (Fla.), on remand, 497 So.2d 934 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986), rather than the subsequently enacted chapter 87-134, Laws of Florida (1987), amending section 768.28, Florida Statutes (1985), prevailed as to the collectability of any judgment against appellant. We will discuss that issue in more detail later.