Boca Raton Personal Injury Lawyers Blog

(CNN) --Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton and foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries will start laying out the groundwork for rebuilding Haiti on Monday, nearly two weeks after a devastating earthquake. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive is also due to attend the conference of the Friends of Haiti group of nations in Montreal, Quebec. The United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and European Union are also sending representatives, Canada's Foreign Ministry said. The one-day meeting is a first step toward a larger reconstruction conference on Haiti that will take place in coming months, the ministry said. It comes amid anger and frustration that efforts to rescue possible survivors have been called off. Thousands of people pushed Sunday for rescue efforts to continue at a collapsed hotel, as a 24-year-old man recovered in a hospital after being rescued 11 days after the earthquake.

Families of Americans who were staying at the Hotel Montana started an online petition Saturday in an effort to continue search efforts "until all the survivors are accounted for." As of Sunday morning, 2,395 people had signed the petition and sent 6,216 messages to the Senate, Congress and the White House, said Sue Keller, a friend of a family whose relatives are among the missing. The families hope to have at least 5,000 signatures by Monday, she said. The Haitian government has said more than 111,000 people died in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake. On Saturday, however, a French rescue team saved one life as they pulled Wismond Jean-Pierre from the rubble of the Hotel Napoli Inn -- 11 days after the quake.

Jean-Pierre had no injuries, but was dehydrated. Crews put him in an ambulance and took him to a hospital. He was a clerk at a store in the hotel, according to his brother. He survived after finding food and drink in the store's wreckage, the brother said. Looking for loved ones in Haiti Rescues like Jean-Pierre's, and others that have come more than a week after the January 12 quake, spark hope among families of the missing. But the emotional rescue came on a day when much of Haiti was mourning as operations largely shifted from rescue to recovery, and the country's president attended the funeral of an archbishop who was one of the victims. International search teams have rescued at least 132 people, the U.N. said. More than 600,000 people have also been left homeless in and around the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Donations may be dropped off at the offices of Ellis, Ged & Bodden at 7171 North Federal Highway in Boca Raton between the hours of 7:30 am and 5:30 pm. For more information on the disaster relief efforts being coordinating through Ellis, Ged & Bodden’s, visit http://www.ellisandged.com/ or call (561) 995-1966.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel TAMARAC A 26-year-old Connecticut woman was killed when the car she was driving spun out of control on Florida's Turnpike and flipped over onto a guardrail, the Florida Highway Patrol reported Sunday.

Roshah Dejean was pronounced dead at the scene about 1 p.m. Friday. A passenger in the 1993 Toyota Camry, Johane G. Boursiquot, 30, was injured and taken to Florida Medical Center in Lauderdale Lakes.

Traveling north in the center lane near Commercial Boulevard, Dejean apparently lost control of the car while attempting to change lanes, the Highway Patrol said. The car spun across the lanes, hit the outside guardrail and overturned, coming to rest on the driver's side, officers said.The crash remains under investigation.

In all auto accident cases, it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence and to investigate the accident. The staff at Ellis, Ged & Bodden has the experience and knowledge to analyze all avenues of recovery and will work with physicians and other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate any injuries and damages you have suffered.

The law provides a limited time period for you to bring an automobile accident claim. If you are in Florida, and have been injured in an auto accident, or if you have a loved one injured, contact Ellis, Ged & Bodden today. We will work diligently to protect your legal rights and to maximize your recovery. The initial consultation is free of charge, so call or email us today.

The lights started flashing. The gates lowered. A gold Toyota Camry drove onto the tracks. Thirty seconds later a 325-ton Tri-Rail commuter train barreled through the crossing at 60 mph. The northbound train with 250 passengers aboard plowed into the car on Commercial Boulevard just west of Interstate 95, dragging it about 60 feet as Thursday morning's rush hour ended. The driver, Connie Hamblin, 44, and Felicia Hatmaker, 22, both of Tennessee, were thrown from the sedan and pronounced dead at the scene, said Fort Lauderdale police spokeswoman Detective Katherine Collins. Another passenger, Eddie Hamblin, also of Tennessee, was taken to North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach, where he was listed in critical but stable condition. His age and relationship to the women was not known Thursday. The crossing has just about every safety measure available, spurred by the fiery 1993 wreck in which six people were incinerated on Cypress Creek Road west of I-95 when an Amtrak train slammed into a gasoline tanker trapped on the tracks. Officials say the only way to make the Commercial Boulevard crossing safer is to build a bridge over the tracks or closing it to drivers. Neither is feasible or practical.

Medians were raised to prevent drivers from skirting the gates. Flashing signs warn drivers not to stop on the tracks. Yet that is what Hamblin did as the crossing arms lowered and the lights flashed, said George Moreno, 45, who was a few cars behind the Camry when the crash happened about 8:45 a.m. Instead of crossing to the other side, the driver backed up and hit the crossing arm behind her, Moreno said. She then hit the gas pedal and lurched forward just as the northbound train roared through. ``It was the most horrific thing you'll ever see,'' Moreno said. ``In the blink of an eye, [the car] was gone.'' A couple who witnessed the crash ran from their car to the mangled Toyota that had flipped over and come to rest next to the tracks. Brandon Williams, 22, of Lauderdale Lakes, called police and knelt by one of the two women thrown from the car. ``She was still breathing. I tried to talk to her, tell her everything was OK,'' said Williams, whose pants were stained with blood. ``She was gasping. She was really, really trying to breathe. There was nothing I really could do.'' Around him, other motorists and witnesses were screaming.

Williams' fiancée, Matia Hughes, 23, ran to the other woman lying next to the car and prayed. The young woman died in front of her, she said. ``I just broke down crying,'' said Hughes, of Lauderdale Lakes. ``I feel like I should have done more.'' The crash halted all passenger and freight trains in the area for about four hours. The tracks reopened at 12:33 p.m. The crossing sits between two busy intersections -- Powerline Road to the west and the southbound I-95 on- and off-ramps to the east. When the traffic lights turn red, especially at rush hour, traffic often backs up onto the crossing in both directions. At least two experiments to address the problem either haven't worked out or haven't been carried out completely. In 2000, the Florida Department of Transportation tested a concept called a ``European X'' -- a box about the size of a car with an X painted on the roadway just beyond the crossing in each traffic lane. If drivers could see the X as they approached the crossing, they had enough room to pull across safely.

The pavement markings are no longer there, and no one at the department Thursday could recall the results of the experiment. The department also announced plans to install cameras at the crossing and at McNab Road, Cypress Creek Road, Powerline Road and Prospect Road. The cameras were designed to send an instant signal to the train operator to slow down if a motorist is stalled. But train operators balked over the liability. Since Tri-Rail began service in 1989, there have been seven car-train accidents at the Commercial Boulevard Tri-Rail crossing, killing three people and injuring two, according to Tri-Rail records. Six accidents involved Tri-Rail and one involved Amtrak. Before Thursday's accident, only one person had died at the crossing. Police are asking anyone with information about Thursday's crash to call Fort Lauderdale Police Traffic Homicide Investigator Cheri Creque at 954-828-5825.

If you or a loved one has been the victim of personal injury in any of the firm’s specialized legal areas listed above, you may have a valid legal claim and be entitled to monetary damages. Please contact one of our experienced and dedicated personal injury attorneys at Ellis, Ged & Bodden, P.A. today for a free consultation.

Sun Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE - Police are investigating a van driver for DUI after he rear-ended a Broward County bus this morning, sending three people to the hospital with minor injuries, authorities said. A Broward County Transit bus had stopped for passengers in the 1800 block of West Commercial Boulevard around 7:52 a.m. when a white van struck it from behind, Fort Lauderdale police Sgt. Frank Sousa said. The van driver, Daniel Christy, is under investigation for possibly driving drunk, Sousa said.Two passengers in the bus and one in the van were taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale with minor injuries.The grill of the van was smashed, but the bus did not appear damaged.Witnesses or anyone with information about this accident are asked to call the Fort Lauderdale Police Department at 954-828-5700.

If you're a passenger in a vehicle involved in an auto accident, and if you have sustained injury as a result, you are entitled to receive compensation for your injuries. As a passenger, you may have a claim against:

• The driver of the vehicle in which you were riding
• The drivers of any other vehicles involved
• Any other negligent party involved in the collision

A passenger is generally not considered to be at fault or partially at fault for causing an accident unless he or she does something such as distracting the driver. The law provides a limited time period for you to bring an automobile accident claim. If you are in Florida, and have been injured in an auto accident, or if you have a loved one injured, contact Ellis, Ged & Bodden today. We will work diligently to protect your legal rights and to maximize your recovery. The initial consultation is free of charge, so call or email us today

POMPANO BEACH (CBS4)- Broward Sheriff's deputies are looking for the driver of a 2006 Dodge Charger that investigators believe was involved in a deadly hit and run accident on Friday night. The accident happened on the 500 block of SW 3 Street in Pompano Beach.Jacinto Lopez Matias was driving home with a co-worker, Juilo Hernandez when the Charger hit Matias' van.
The van was pushed into the median and into a palm tree at which point the van spun out of control, throwing Hernandez from the van.

The Charger eventually came to a stop after hitting a steel bus bench. A witness told Broward Sheriff's deputies that the driver of the Charger got out of the car and stumbled off. Matias was taken to the North Broward Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries. Hernandez was pronounced dead on arrival. If you have any information about the accident, call the Broward Sheriff's Office at 954-765-4321 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS(8477).

If you or a loved one has been the victim of personal injury in any of the firm’s specialized legal areas, you may have a valid legal claim and be entitled to monetary damages. Please contact one of our experienced and dedicated personal injury attorneys at Ellis, Ged & Bodden, P.A. today for a free consultation.

Sun-Sentinel VERO BEACH - A 26-year-old woman who was speeding and weaving out of traffic on Interstate 95 is guilty of vehicular homicide of two motorcyclists she hit along the roadway. A jury deliberated for a hour Wednesday afternoon before finding Dominique Brice, of Miami, guilty of killing the motorcyclists parked along the northbound lanes on Feb. 29, 2008, near the juncture of Indian River and St. Lucie counties. Sentencing is Nov. 25. She could face up to 30 years in jail.

Killed in the mid-day accident were off-duty North Miami police officer Fritz Doucet, 37, and West Palm Beach computer technician Raul Ortiz. They were recently reunited high school buddies going to Bike Week in Daytona Beach, said Ortiz's sister, Carmen Sanchez, of New Jersey. "How can you call yourself a human being?" Sanchez told Brice shortly after the verdict was announced in the courtroom. Circuit Judge Robert Pegg allowed Sanchez to testify because she is from New Jersey and can't come back for the sentencing. Sanchez finally broke into sobs as Brice looked at the ceiling or at her relatives in the audience. Finally Brice was led out of the courtroom to be held in the Indian River County Jail.

Brice's mother, Angie Dixon, left the courtroom before the verdict because Pegg said he wouldn't tolerate outbursts. Brice's brother also declined comment. He was riding with her at the time of accident. Also in the car were her two young children who Dixon is now caring for. "You still have your children and brother," said Sanchez, who described Dixon as being unremorseful.

Doucet is survived by two sons, Fritz, 9, and Manny. 5, and his girlfriend Abigail Mena, of Broward County. Manny has only been told "his father is in heaven," said Doucet's sister Diana Doucet. "He asked if he could go too. When he asked why he (his father) had to go to heaven, I told him God needed him." Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman told jurors Brice was speeding at more than 80 mph, quickly changing lanes and cutting off cars like in a NASCAR race.

According to a witness, Ortiz and Doucet appeared to have been studying a map and only looked up at the last moment as Brice's Saturn slammed into them. The two men's bodies were knocked into bushes off the highway and their motorcycles were broken into pieces, reports show. Autopsies by the Medical Examiner's Office found that both men's spines were snapped in half and they had severe internal injuries. Brice contends another car forced her vehicle out of control. Her attorney, Assistant Public Defender Adrienne Bucci, said her client was just changing lanes. Former Indian River State College student Jessica More was on the highway and called 911 to report a reckless driver. While on the phone, she said, "Oh my God," as Brice's car swerved and slammed the motorcyclists. More testified in the trial as did an out-of-state couple who witnessed the accident.

"I satisfied with the verdict," said Doucet's brother, Daniel Doucet, of New York. "It is only fair."
At the law firm of Ellis, Ged & Bodden, PA, we can help you explore your legal options. We offer free consultations, and can meet with you at home, at work or even in your hospital room. We’ll listen to your concerns and tell you how we can help. You need to have a team on your side, to protect your interests. If a loved one has been killed in an accident, or if you have been injured as a result of someone’s negligence, please contact our wrongful death lawyers today.