Tynes v. Florida Department of Juvenile Justice

• Court: District Court, S.D. Florida
• Decided: February 10, 2025
• Docket: 0:18-cv-62891
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA FT. LAUDERDALE DIVISION CASE NO. 18-62891-CIV-DIMITROULEAS/HUNT

LAWANNA TYNES,

Plaintiff,

vs.

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE,

Defendant. __________________________________________/

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

THIS CAUSE is before this Court on two similar motions: Plaintiff’s Motion to Disburse Funds in Court’s Registry, ECF No. 230, and Plaintiff’s Motion to Disburse Undisputed Judgment Funds and Appellate Attorney Fee Funds in Court’s Registry. ECF No. 241. The Honorable William P. Dimitrouleas referred these Motions to the undersigned for disposition. ECF No. 236, 243; see also 28 U.S.C. § 636(b); S.D. Fla. L.R., Mag. R. 1. Upon thorough review of the record, the Motions, Responses, and Replies, the undersigned respectfully RECOMMENDS that Plaintiff’s Motion to Disburse Funds, ECF No. 230, be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, and Plaintiff’s Motion to Disburse Undisputed Funds, ECF No. 241, be GRANTED as set forth below. In both motions, Plaintiff Lawanna Tynes moves for the entry of an order disbursing judgment funds with accrued interest and appellate attorney’s fee funds with accrued interest as deposited with the Clerk of Court. ECF No. 230, 241. Defendant deposited with the Clerk of Court $924,600.00, representing the judgment funds due to Plaintiff. ECF No. 210, 121. Defendant also deposited $62,150.00 in appellate attorney’s fees. ECF No. 220, 204. These amounts are undisputed, and Defendant does not object to the disbursement of these amounts to the extent that accrued interest refers to interest that has accrued on the deposited funds through the interest-bearing account. Defendant also deposited $204,835.39, representing an incorrect amount of post- judgment interest. ECF No. 225. Following Plaintiff’s Motion to Disburse Funds, ECF No. 230, Defendant objected, realizing it had incorrectly calculated the amount of post-

judgment interest. ECF No. 234. The incorrect amount of post-judgment interest deposited in the Court Registry was caused by a mistaken conversion of the applicable post-judgment interest rate percentage into the appropriate decimal during their calculations of the sum of post-judgment interest due to Plaintiff. Id. Plaintiff’s counsel, Glenn Miller and Arnaldo Velez, and Defendant’s counsel, Jim Williams and Kyle Rowars, notified the undersigned that they have discussed Plaintiff’s Motions to Disburse Funds and Defendant’s Counsel’s mathematical errors and have agreed to the amounts below. RECOMMENDATION Based on the foregoing, the undersigned recommends GRANTING Plaintiff’s Motion for Disbursement of Undisputed Judgment Funds and Appellate Attorney’s Fees,

ECF No. 241, and GRANTING IN PART and DENYING IN PART Plaintiff’s Motion to Disburse Funds, ECF No. 230. Pursuant to the agreement of counsel, the undersigned RECOMMENDS ordering the following: The Clerk of Court is hereby directed to disburse the following sums of money to the respective parties: a. $924,600.00 representing the judgment funds at issue that was deposited with the Clerk of Court on June 10, 2024, should be disbursed to Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s counsel and made payable to “LAWANNA TYNES and GLENN RICARDO MILLER, LLC TRUST ACCOUNT” at the following address: Glenn Ricardo Miller, LLC, c/o Glenn R. Miller, Esq., 67 N.E. 168th Street North Miami Beach, Florida 33162. b. $2,286.57 shall be deducted from the $204,835.39 that was deposited with the Clerk of Court on July 18, 2024. This $2,286.57 will reflect the amount

of post-judgment interest that has accrued on Plaintiff’s judgment funds , and it should be disbursed to Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s counsel and made payable to “LAWANNA TYNES and GLENN RICARDO MILLER, LLC TRUST ACCOUNT” at the following address: Glenn Ricardo Miller, LLC, c/o Glenn R. Miller, Esq., 67 N.E. 168th Street North Miami Beach, Florida 33162. c. $62,150.00 representing the appellate attorneys’ fees award due that was deposited with the Clerk of Court on July 03, 2024, should be disbursed to Plaintiff’s counsel and made payable to “ARNALDO VELEZ, ESQ.”, at the following address: Arnaldo Velez, Esq., 35 Almeria Avenue, Coral Gables,

FL 33134. d. $1,000 shall be deducted from the $204,835.39 that was deposited with the Clerk of Court on July 18, 2024. This $1,000 will reflect the amount of post- judgment interest that has accrued on Plaintiff’s appellate attorneys’ fees award , and it should be disbursed to Plaintiff’s counsel and made payable to “ARNALDO VELEZ, ESQ.”, at the following address: Arnaldo Velez, Esq., 35 Almeria Avenue, Coral Gables, FL 33134. e. The remaining $201,548.82 of the $204,835.39 that was deposited with the Clerk of Court on July 18, 2024 shall be disbursed to Defendant and made payable to “WILLIAMS, LEININGER & COSBY _ f/b/o FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE” to be held in trust for Defendant FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF JUVENILE JUSTICE, at the following address: 11300 US Highway 1, Suite 300, North Palm Beach, Florida 33408. Within one (1) day after being served with a copy of this Report and Recommendation, any party may serve and file written objections to any of the above findings and recommendations as provided by the Local Rules for this district. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); S.D. Fla. Mag. R. 4(b). The parties are hereby notified that a failure to timely object waives the right to challenge on appeal the District Court’s order based on unobjected-to factual and legal conclusions contained in this Report and Recommendation. 11th Cir. R. 3-1 (2018); see Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140 (1985). DONE AND SUBMITTED at Fort Lauderdale, Florida this 10th day of February 2025. Re mn It PATRICKM.HUNT = a a ess—s—s UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE Copies furnished to: Honorable William P. Dimitrouleas All Counsel of Record