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The Kendall Gazette recently published an article that included Michael Haggard‘s induction into the Palmer Trinity School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Haggard graduated from the school in 1988. He played varsity football and baseball and was recognized as an All-Dade selection in both sports his senior year
Opa Locka, Florida – The owners of the Top Value Supermarket in Opa Locka have agreed to a payout of $1 million to the Estate of Miguel Pilotos, who was gunned down on the property during a robbery Aug. 21, 2013.
The 71-year-old man was simply picking up groceries when he was shot at the supermarket located on Northwest 137th street and northwest 27th avenue. The crime was caught on camera. The gunman rode up to the victim’s car on a bicycle and pulled out his weapon and shot the husband and father in the neck. Pilotos, who had under $20 on him when he was killed, had been with his wife Aleida for 25 years. He emigrated from Cuba 19 years ago.
[mkd_blockquote text=”At the time of his murder, Miguel Pilotos was the third Top Value customer robbed and shot and the second one killed in that parking lot, in six months” title_tag=”” width=”” border_color=”#930027″]
The lawyer for the Pilotos family, Todd Michaels of The Haggard Law Firm, says the crime was predictable and preventable. “At the time of his murder, Miguel Pilotos was the third Top Value customer robbed and shot and the second one killed in that parking lot, in six months” says Michaels. He adds “despite the previous crimes, and the widespread knowledge the business was located in a high-crime area, the supermarket did not alter security in the parking lot in any way.”
Seventeen-year-old Jamal Jackson was arrested for the crime.
Coverage following the arrest of Jackson several weeks after the crime:
CBS MIAMI: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/09/13/arrest-made-in-opa-locka-parking-lot-murder/
Miami Beach, FL – A Miami-Dade County jury has awarded 34 year old Maria Navas $1.7 million for the permanent injury she suffered when she was trampled by theater goers frantically trying to escape an altercation in a Miami Beach theater only days after a mass shooting at a movie theater in Colorado.
On July 31st , 2012 Navas was on a first date in the Regal Cinemas Theaters at 1120 Lincoln Road. Navas and her date were watching the Dark Knight Rises movie when two men began arguing. One of them, David Escamillo, walked out of the theater for a short time and returned wearing black gloves. As he pursued the man he was previously arguing with, witnesses report he paced up and down the steps of the theater mumbling and grunting for 10 minutes before he yelled “this is it”. Chaos ensued as patrons began running out of the theater. Navas was trampled by the frantic crowd. She suffered a significant fracture of her right foot that required two surgeries to place 18 pieces of hardware (plates & screws) in her foot. The once active woman is now limited in what she can do.
Jason Brenner and Douglas McCarron of the Haggard Law Firm (www.haggardlawfirm.com), who represented Navas in this case, argued that the trampling incident was preventable, especially in light of the sensitivity every American had to movie theater violence at that time. Only 11 days before the incident in Miami Beach, a gunman walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado during a screening of the same movie, Dark Knight Rises, and began shooting patrons. 12 people were killed and more than 70 others were injured.
The attorneys said theater staff in Miami Beach did nothing to diffuse the initial argument between Escamillo and the movie patron. The staff also did not prevent Escamillo from returning when he initially left the theater which eventually lead to the mass exodus that caused Navas’ injuries. Considering what had recently occurred in Colorado, the theater should have taken heightened security measures.
Navas hopes this verdict will make movie theaters take note of their responsibility to protect patrons by taking actionable steps to ensure safety of every patron
The Haggard Law Firm, P.A. represents the rights of people seriously injured through the fault of others. We are passionately committed to our clients and stress the highest level of personal service, professionalism and case preparation. It is our top priority to develop and maintain a sound attorney/client relationship founded on mutual honesty, trust and teamwork providing the best results for our clients.
CASE RESULT: Continental Real Estate Companies among defendants in $3.1 million settlement in negligent security case
21 year old shot and killed while his first child is born.
Miami, Florida – Bad lighting, broken cameras, and other insufficient security measures have lead a Miami nightclub, Continent Real Estate Companies, and others to settle with the family of a murder victim for $3.1 million in a civil case.
On November 28th, 2011 Charles Lucas, Jr. was trying to diffuse an argument between his friends and several patrons of the Kaffe Krystal Night Club in Miami (2550 NW 72nd Avenue #305, Miami, FL 33122) following a car crash in the Club’s parking lot. Lucas was shot during that argument and later died at Baptist Hospital.
While the 21-year-old was fighting for his life, his first born child was born at a separate hospital. He was trying to leave the club/strip mall after receiving a text message that his girlfriend was going into labor.
Todd Michaels of The Haggard Law Firm and Alan Goldfarb of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. argued that the club, strip mall owners, management company and security company hired to police the property did not take the necessary security steps needed to prevent the shooting despite its location in a well-known high crime area.
(Originally published for the Southern Trial Lawyers Association Newsletter)
By Christopher Marlowe, The Haggard Law Firm
We are all prejudiced, shaped by our interactions with others from birth. Some experiences are positive, others insulting. Each, to varying degrees, necessarily changes our perception of others. This writing is premised on the understanding that we are all susceptible to feelings and beliefs that are not always fair or rational. It is the recognition of this narrow aspect of the human condition that cautions the trial attorney to acknowledge Universal Truths where they exist, and the Stereotypes that often accompany them.
Having chosen a profession that revolves largely upon judging the behavior and motivations of others, identifying and appreciating our prejudice is a critical component of successfully working within the legal system. For trial lawyers, the process of moving from an abstract grievance to a concrete solution for our clients begins in earnest with jury selection.
A jury of our peers seems like a simple enough concept. However, in every jurisdiction with which I am familiar, the peer group is defined only by one commonality: an arbitrarily drawn geographic boundary. The remainder of that which defines your prospective panel is a mystery. Race, religion, gender, sexual identity and political beliefs all thrive independently behind each of the twenty or thirty faces staring back at you as you begin the process of selecting who, exactly, will stand in judgment of the situation that forced this community of peers to miss work and doctor appointments to perform their civic duty.
Continue reading “Universal Truths Vs. Stereotypes-Dealing with Ours and Their at Trial”
The Haggard Law Firm, P.A. represents the rights of people seriously injured or killed through the fault of others. We are passionately committed to our clients and stress the highest level of personal service, professionalism and case preparation.