Raising awareness on the impact of reckless driving.
Family of Andrew Joseph III awarded $15 million in wrongful death lawsuit against HCSO
By FOX 13 News staff
Published September 22, 2022 8:19PM
Joneé Lewis reports
TAMPA, Fla. - The family of 14-year-old Andrew Joseph III was awarded $15 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
More than eight years after the teen was killed trying to cross I-4 after getting kicked out of the Florida State Fair, HCSO was found 90% responsible by a jury, the Joseph family attorney confirmed.
Andrew Joseph III
Andrew's mom, Deanna Joseph, said "…the truth was told, Andrew’s truth," after the verdict came down Thursday.
"I always said that Andrew would not die in vain," Deanna said. "And the reason that we engaged in this fight so hard was that we didn't want any family to ever stand in the shoes that we're standing in today."
Back on February 7, 2014, there was a commotion between several teenagers during Student Day at the State Fair. That led to 99 teens, including Andrew, being detained by Hillsborough County deputies and kicked out of the fair.
The 14-year-old's parents said they were never notified their son was kicked out, adding that their son was negligently left alone. Andrew then tried to cross I-4, but he was hit and killed by a car.
Since the tragic night, his family has been fighting for the sheriff's office to be held accountable for how things were handled. But, HCSO has repeatedly invoked qualified immunity, a law that protects officers from civil suits and also keeps information from being released.
HCSO's latest appeal in 2021 was denied, which gave the Joseph family the break they were looking for.
After the wrongful death lawsuit was filed, the case headed to federal court Monday. The jury came back Thursday, awarding the family $15 million.
Jury hears from last person to see Hillsborough teen before his death
The Joseph Family
By Dan SullivanTimes staff
TAMPA — Corey Thornton was 12 the night he went with Andrew Joseph III to the Florida State Fair. His mother would only let him go if he was with Joseph, who at 14 was something of a neighborhood big brother, and with whom he felt safe.
Now 21, Thornton sat on the witness stand in a Tampa federal courtroom Friday and detailed everything the pair did the night of Feb. 7, 2014 — from when they arrived at the fair to when sheriff’s deputies kicked them out to the moment he saw his friend die.
His memories of that night, still vivid eight years later, were the focus of the fifth day of testimony in the federal lawsuit Joseph’s parents have brought against Hillsborough County sheriff’s officials. Their lawyers have accused the Sheriff’s Office of setting in motion the events that led to their son’s death when he tried to run across Interstate 4 in what’s been described as a desperate effort to get back to where a friend’s mother had dropped them off earlier that evening.
Thornton pressed a finger to a touchscreen to draw a red line over an aerial map of the fairgrounds. He showed a jury the path he and Joseph walked as they struggled to find their way back to the main gate, where they were to be picked up.
He described their run across the interstate and Joseph’s decision to turn back before he was struck by an SUV.
“Didn’t make it back,” Thornton said.
His eyes glistening, he let out a few heavy breaths and whimpered.
“I can’t do this, man,” he said.
Dr. Teel's wrongful death case against Indian River County Dep. Lozada may be reviewed by Supreme Court
After the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a lower court’s decision to dismiss the $10-million wrongful-death case filed against Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jonathan Lozada, Dep. Lozada filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Below is a link to Plaintiff and Respondent, Dr. Dudley Teel’s, Brief in Opposition to Lozada’s Petition. The question presented to the Supreme Court is “Whether every reasonable police officer would have known that restraining Susan Teel by shooting her three times without warning was not “objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstance confronting [the officer].”
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has found that a jury could conclude that Deputy Lozada had numerous options available to him to eliminate any threat he may have felt in his interaction with Susan Teel.
West Palm Beach police officer files civil rights, discrimination lawsuit against city
“Those who have perpetrated these wrongs against Greg and Deanna must be held accountable.”
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A West Palm Beach police officer, once named in a sexual harassment investigation, is now suing the city for discrimination and claiming his innocence. With his wife by his side, Lt. Gregory Rideau of the West Palm Beach Police Department spoke with Contact 5 about his decision to file a federal civil rights, discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the city, a former chief and a captain.
VeroNews.com: It’s only right wrongful death lawsuit reinstated
Susan Teel
It shouldn’t have taken a three-judge federal appeals court to see what was obvious to most: Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Lozada had plenty of non-lethal options when he shot and killed Susan Teel – a suicidal, 62-year-old woman – in her Vero Beach home in July 2017.
Fortunately, though, the Miami-based U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals possessed the vision, wisdom and common sense to overrule a lower-court judge’s puzzling decision last year to dismiss a $10-million wrongful-death lawsuit filed against Lozada and the Sheriff’s Office by Teel’s husband, Dudley, a local emergency room doctor.
In a 22-page opinion, the appeals court judges rejected U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks’ summary-judgment ruling that Lozada’s decision to shoot Teel three times was “reasonable under the circumstances” because she was moving toward the deputy with a butcher’s knife in her hands.
“Isn’t it time we have deputies trained to handle these cases more like ‘The Negotiator’ and less like ‘Rambo?”
Families Struggle 3 Years After Florida Teens Lost at Sea: 'There Is No Healing Process'
People Magazine - July 27, 2018
Unending mourning, ongoing legal battles and bittersweet celebration mark the third anniversary this week of the disappearance of two Florida teenagers into the Atlantic waters off Jupiter Inlet. On the morning of July 24, 2015, longtime friends Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen boarded Austin’s 19-foot 1978 SeaCraft and set out for a fishing excursion, but never returned.
“For three years, I’ve put my head on the pillow each night, thinking of him and praying that this wasn’t real,” said Pamela. “I used to dream about what he would be like as a man. I was robbed of that.”
Guy Rubin on WPEC.com - Judge orders father of missing teen to release texts
by Kristen Chapman
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A Palm Beach County judge ordered the release of cell phone messages Thursday from Blu Stephanos, the father of Austin Stephanos, one of two teenagers who vanished last summer while setting out on a fishing trip.
Pamela Cohen, the mother of second missing teen Perry Cohen, is currently suing Austin’s family for wrongful death.
Cohen's attorneys requested access Thursday to all text messages sent by Stephanos on the day he discovered the two boys were missing.
Guy Rubin on CBS12 - Judge orders father of missing teen to release text messages
“We’re going to be entitled to GPS information, which will show where Mr. Stephanos was during the course of his own search and rescue before 911 was called.”
by Kristen Chapman
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A Palm Beach County judge ordered the release of cell phone messages Thursday from Blu Stephanos, the father of Austin Stephanos, one of two teenagers who vanished last summer while setting out on a fishing trip.
Pamela Cohen, the mother of second missing teen Perry Cohen, is currently suing Austin’s family for wrongful death.
Cohen's attorneys requested access Thursday to all text messages sent by Stephanos on the day he discovered the two boys were missing.
Guy Rubin on VeroNews.com: Sheriff doesn’t stonewall after shooting: That’s good, except when info is wrong
“We’re being critical because we see things that are flawed in the system. Fifteen hours later, [while] the yellow tape was still up, the sheriff was exonerating his deputy.”
Written by: Beth Walton August 31 2017
Across the nation in the hours following a fatal police shooting, top law-enforcement officials often remain tight lipped and reveal only scant details as a criminal investigation commences.
Not Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar.
Two women who were not criminals have been shot to death by Indian River County deputies in 2017. In each case, Loar stepped in front of TV cameras within 24 hours of the killing, encountering both criticism and strong community support. He spoke both times with a somber tone and didn’t mince words as he defended his officers’ actions.
But sometimes, in the early hours of an investigation, details from a crime scene are rapidly changing, and sometimes the sheriff’s earliest remarks prove wrong.
Advocates for the families of Alteria Woods, who was shot 10 times by deputies during a drug raid in Gifford on March 19, and Susan Teel, who was killed by a deputy in her home on July 26, have questioned whether the sheriff’s public statements hamper the likelihood of a thorough and proper investigation.
When the top lawman “exonerates” his deputies before the facts are known, this influences public opinion and Sheriff’s Office personnel conducting the criminal investigation, said Guy Rubin.
Rubin & Rubin on TCPalm.com: Top stories of 2017 in Vero Beach, Sebastian, Indian River County
Dacia L Johnson,Maureen Kenyon and Hannah Schwab, Treasure Coast
Susan Teel dies in deputy-involved shooting: Indian River County Sheriff's deputies responded to a suicide call July 26 in Vero Beach. Susan Teel was shot and killed after she lunged at Deputy Jonathan Lozada with a butcher knife. Lozada was attempting to intervene in her attempted suicide. The lawyer for the Teel family said Aug. 4 they were not pushing for criminal charges to be filed against Lozada.
Mark Rubin on WOKV: Jax Evening News Special - Corrine Brown Sentencing
Mark Rubin
Topics: Anchors Mark Jackson, Stephanie Brown, and WOKV legal expert Mark Rubin discuss the particulars of former Congresswoman Corrine Brown's 5-year federal prison sentence.
25 WPBF News: Family of woman shot by IRC deputy wants FDLE to take over investigation
The husband of the woman who was shot and killed by an Indian River County deputy last month is formally requesting an independent investigation into his wife's death.
Guy Rubin, Dr. Dudley Teel's attorney, sent a letter to the Sheriff's Office, formally requesting the Sheriff turn the investigation over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
In July, Deputy Jonathan Lozada shot and killed Susan Teel in the family's Vero Beach home. Earlier that night, her daughter had called 911 after Teel's husband found her trying to cut her wrists.
Sheriff Deryl Loar told reporters in a news conference the following day that Teel lunged at Deputy Lozada with a knife. The Sheriff supported the deputy's decision saying that Lozada had no choice but to fire.
“These statements...put all who serve Sheriff Loar in the position of contradicting their boss if they make conclusions inconsistent with Sheriff Loar’s statements.”
In the letter, the family claims what appears to be a conflict of interest - preventing an impartial investigation from the Sheriff's Office.
The letter reads, "Within 15 hours of Susan Teel's death by Deputy Jonathan Lozado, Sheriff Loar made numerous public comments in support of Lozado's actions, virtually exonerating Lozado. These comments came before the facts were gathered, and the investigation was obviously just under way."
Father of missing Tequesta teen wants name dismissed from lawsuit
“When a party is not transparent, particularly in a situation when ordinarily parents would do everything they could to cooperate with law enforcement, that raises a lot of questions and red flags.”
By Jorge Milian - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
JUPITER — The father of one Tequesta teenager lost at sea in July 2015 is asking that his name be removed from a wrongful death lawsuit filed in July by the family of the other teen.
Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos, both 14, disappeared July 24, 2015, after taking a 19-foot boat into a fierce offshore storm. William “Blu” Stephanos, Austin’s father, is one of four people named in the court action. The others are Austin’s mother, Carly Black, his grandfather, Richard Kuntz, and his stepfather, Richard “Bubba” Black.
Stephanos wants to be “dismissed from this case as he did nothing wrong, he was not in charge of the boys and he had never seen the boat,” according to court documents filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The Cohen lawsuit alleges that Stephanos is responsible, in part, for Cohen’s death because he failed to notify authorities after learning that the boys were missing and then “delayed” the search “in the most critical moments” by conducting his own search while withholding information from rescuers.
Mark Rubin on WOKV: Former Rep. Corrine Brown denied new trial, acquittal for federal fraud convictions
By: Stephanie Brown
Jacksonville, FL - Now-former Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown has been denied a new trial, after being convicted on 18 of 22 federal fraud-related charges in May.
A judge has also issued an order denying a motion for acquittal. Brown’s sentencing has now been set for November 16th.
Brown was found guilty of soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars for a sham charity called “One Door For Education”, using the money for personal expenses and lavish events instead. Her Chief of Staff Ronnie Simmons and the President of One Door Carla Wiley both pleaded guilty and testified against Brown at trial.
Simmons has now been formally adjudicated guilty and his sentencing has been set for November 15th. Wiley was adjudicated shortly after entering her plea in March 2016, but her sentencing has now also been set for November 15th, to take place in the same courtroom at the same time as Simmons.
Laurence Reisman: Lots of unanswered questions in deputy's fatal shooting of doctor's wife
“Susan Teel wanted to die that night. Her family tried desperately to stop her. Ultimately, she was successful in committing suicide by cop.”
Laurence Reisman, larry.reisman@tcpalm.com
In 1994, an Indian River County sheriff's deputy thought he saw drugs thrown out of a suspect’s car in Gifford. A chase ensued. The driver of a fleeing vehicle ran a red light on U.S. 1, ramming the side of an eastbound vehicle, killing a woman and three children.
Given the carnage, this news organization questioned Sheriff Gary Wheeler's claim the chase had been broken off and the suspect’s vehicle was going only 70 mph. One of our reporters measured the skid marks. A retired traffic homicide investigator told him the fleeing car was traveling at more than 100 mph.
Last week, attorney Guy Rubin questioned Sheriff Deryl Loar’s defense of a deputy who shot to death Susan Teel, a doctor’s wife, in her home July 26. Deputy Jonathan Lozada arrived at the home after a 911 call saying Teel, 62, was trying to kill herself with a knife.
Lozada, a five-year deputy, fired after Teel lunged at him with a knife, Loar said.
"Let me be clear," Rubin said last week at a news conference. "Susan Teel wanted to die that night. Her family tried desperately to stop her. Ultimately, she was successful in committing suicide by cop."
Guy Rubin on TCPalm.com: Vero Beach shooting underscores need for mental health responders
“Isn’t it time we have deputies trained to handle these cases more like The
NEGOTIATOR and less like RAMBO?”
Gil Smart, gil.smart@tcpalm.com
Woman with a knife lunges at cop. Cop fires, killing the woman.
It's a simple scenario, but not an easy one.
It describes what's alleged to have happened in a gated Vero Beach community July 26, when Indian River County Deputy Jonathan Lozada responded to a 911 call about a woman who had tried to commit suicide. Arriving at the home on Carriage Lake Way, he encountered Susan Teel, 62, who had slashed her own wrists with a knife.
According to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, she then lunged at Lozada with the raised butcher knife, and he responded as law enforcement is trained to when confronted with a potentially deadly encounter: He fired. She died.
"Suicide by cop," it's called.
But did it have to be this way?
The attorney hired by the Teel family, Guy Rubin, has said Lozada might have prevented the deadly encounter if Indian River County and other law enforcement agencies had deputies "trained to handle these cases more like the negotiator and less like Rambo."
Guy Rubin on WFLX.com: Teel family questions deputy-involved shooting
Dr. Dudley Teel says his 40-year marriage to Susan Teel wasn't perfect. “Like all families, we had our ups and downs, but she was wonderful,” he says.
Dr. Teel says lately he saw a change is his wife, as a battle with depression sent her down a dark path. “Things just spiraled out of control and just got worse and worse,” he says.
The spiral culminated in the events of last Wednesday.
Indian River County deputies were called to the home of the Teels after she attempted to commit suicide.
The sheriff says Jonathan Lozada, was forced to shoot and kill Teel after she lunged at him with a butcher knife.
The family sees it another way.
“Isn't it time we have deputies trained to handle these cases like the negotiator and less like Rambo,” says family Attorney Guy Rubin.
Rubin says Susan's death was due to a lack of "intelligent policing' – and says it was the deputy who escalated the situation.
“Essentially approaching a person who was erratic and know to be erratic and put himself in harm’s way to then be in a position where deadly use of force was justified,” Rubin says.
Guy Rubin on WPBF.com: Attorney for shooting victim's family speaks out
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — An attorney for the family of the woman who died in a deputy-involved shooting spoke on the steps of the St. Lucie County courthouse Friday.
When Susan Teel's daughter called 911 to say her mom was trying commit suicide, "She asked for an ambulance, not police," said attorney Guy Rubin during a news conference.
Indian River Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to the home of Teel and her husband Dr. Dudley Teel in Vero Beach last week.
Sheriff Deryl Loar said Dr. Teel discovered his wife cutting her wrists in the bathroom and when his deputy Deputy Jonathan Lozada arrived the 62-year-old woman lunged at him with a butcher knife.
"In the perfect situation he would have been able to go up and help her she would perhaps be alive but unfortunately this is a spit second decision," said Sheriff Loar last week.
Loar said the deputy took one shot at the woman who died from the injuries.
"Ultimately she was successful in committing suicide by cop," said Rubin.
