Florida
Sides battle in Florida ‘Legislative Privilege’ case
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Arguing that the issue is moot, voting-rights groups on Friday urged an appeals court to reject an attempt by the state House and Senate to shield lawmakers and legislative staff members from testifying in redistricting lawsuits.
Lawyers for the groups filed a 44-page brief at the 1st District Court of Appeal that said they decided in December 2022 not to continue seeking depositions of lawmakers and staff members as part of a constitutional challenge to a congressional redistricting plan passed in spring 2022.
As a result, the groups said an appeal of an October 2022 decision by a Leon County circuit judge that could have led to depositions is moot.
But attorneys for the House and the Senate have continued pursuing the appeal, arguing that a legal concept known as “legislative privilege” bars requiring testimony from lawmakers. Ultimately, the House and Senate want to take the issue to the Florida Supreme Court and to undo a 2013 ruling that allowed such testimony in certain circumstances.
The voting-rights groups’ brief said that “in December 2022, there was no longer a live issue — or even the threat of one — for this (appeals) court to resolve.”
“This appeal is unquestionably moot,” the brief said. “It challenges the circuit court’s October 27, 2022, order allowing appellees (the voting-rights groups) to depose a limited subset of legislators and staff involved in the 2022 congressional redistricting process on a limited number of topics. But those depositions never happened.”
In a March 11 brief, however, attorneys for the House and the Senate argued that the “appeal raises questions of great public importance” and that the 1st District Court of Appeal should send the case to the Florida Supreme Court. The Legislature ultimately wants the Supreme Court to “recede” — essentially reverse course — from the 2013 ruling in a case known as Apportionment IV.
“Apportionment IV erred in rejecting an absolute legislative privilege in civil cases and instead establishing a shapeless, standardless balancing analysis as the purported safeguard of the prerogatives of the legislative branch,” the March brief said. “That error threatens the legislative process with grave consequences and should be overruled.”
A coalition of groups, such as the League of Women Voters of Florida and Equal Ground Education Fund, and individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging the constitutionality of a redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature. They contend the plan violated a 2010 constitutional amendment that set redistricting standards, including a standard that said plans could not “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”
The 1st District Court of Appeal in December 2023 upheld the constitutionality of the plan, and the groups have appealed to the Supreme Court, where that issue is pending.
But as part of the case, the plaintiffs in 2022 also sought depositions from six current and former lawmakers and five current and former staff members. The Legislature fought the depositions, but Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh in October 2022 said he would allow the lawmakers and staff members to be questioned, with some limits.
Marsh cited the 2013 Supreme Court precedent.
“The appropriate line in this case is where the doors to the House and Senate meet the outside world,” Marsh wrote. “Accordingly, each legislator and legislative staff member may be questioned regarding any matter already part of the public record and information received from anyone not elected to the Legislature, their direct staff members or the staff of the legislative bodies themselves. They may not be questioned as to information internal to each legislative body that is not already public record (e.g., their thoughts or opinions or those of other legislators.)”
In addition to arguing that the appeal of Marsh’s ruling is moot, lawyers for the voting-rights groups also wrote in Friday’s brief that there is “no absolute legislative privilege in Florida.”
But in the March brief, attorneys for the House and the Senate wrote that historically, “the legislative privilege safeguarded the integrity and independence of the legislative process and assured that fear of personal repercussions would not sway the votes of lawmakers or chill the freedom of speech and action in legislative deliberations.”
The current and former lawmakers involved in the dispute are former House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor; former Sen. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero; former Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach; Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island; Rep. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach; and Rep. Tyler Sirois, R-Merritt Island. Each had a leadership role in the 2022 redistricting process.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The engines are revving for one final day of high-stakes bidding and family fun at the South Florida Fairgrounds.
Barrett-Jackson’s Palm Beach auction reaches its grand finale today with an action-packed “Super Saturday” lineup, promising to close out the weekend with a full slate of collector car sales, live entertainment, and fan attractions.
“Super Saturday,” presented by Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, officially kicks off at 8 a.m. when gates, food courts, and the exhibitor marketplace open to the public.
What to expect
- 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: The Fantasy Bid presented by Dodge begins early, running in tandem with the automobilia auction in the arena.
- 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Thrill-seekers can catch Dodge thrill rides on the Barrett-Jackson Performance Track.
- 10:00 a.m.: New amenities open to the public, including the Stella Artois, Staging Lanes, and Food Court patios, which offer shaded seating and auction views.
- 10:45 a.m.: The national anthem will be performed in the auction arena, signaling the start of the main collector car auction at 11 a.m.
- Afternoon Entertainment: DJ sets run from noon to 5 p.m. across the various patios, and a detailing clinic by Adam’s Polishes is scheduled for 2 p.m. near the South Showcase.
For those unable to attend, the whole event will be livestreamed throughout the day on the Barrett-Jackson website and the HISTORY channel from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Today’s finale comes on the heels of a high-energy Friday that saw significant sales and notable celebrity interest.
Star power was evident throughout the day, particularly with vehicles tied to the Busch family. A 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible owned by Samantha Busch and a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 Custom Coupe were among the day’s heavy hitters, each fetching $159,500. Kyle Busch’s 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Coupe also drew a strong bid, selling for $143,000.
Other Friday highlights included:
- 1968 Ford Mustang Eleanor Replica: $137,500
- 2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Mamba Edition: $132,000
- 1972 Chevrolet K5 Blazer Custom SUV: $126,500
- 1957 Ford Thunderbird Custom Convertible: $121,000
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With a festival-style atmosphere and high-profile sales driving momentum, organizers expect a busy crowd for the final push at the auction block today.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A quiet Monday turned into a frantic race against time when a deputy stepped in to save a choking 1-year-old’s life.
According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call about a 1-year-old baby choking. Upon arrival, the responding deputy performed life-saving procedures to help the child breathe again.
See also: Two arrested after 6-year-old arrives at Florida school with bruises, deputies say
Body camera video shows a deputy holding the baby, flipping it over on its stomach, and beginning to pat the baby’s back.
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When the baby begins to cry, the deputy is heard saying, “he’s good.”
Florida
Son of 2nd patient who died after seeing Florida surgeon describes family’s heartbreak: ‘It’s just not right’
Weyman Dorsett knew something went wrong with his mom’s surgery as he watched an ICU doctor review her medical charts.
“I’ll never forget and it’ll never leave my mind, the look on that doctor’s face as he was reading through the files,” Dorsett, 53, said. “… He was just shaking his head, like: ‘what in the living hell is going on?’”
His mother, 70-year-old Dorothy Dorsett, was in recovery after a surgeon removed a tumor from her digestive tract. But she was hardly eating and had an abnormally fast heartbeat, according to a lawsuit Dorsett later filed. She was moved to the ICU nearly a week after the surgery.
“She just started really spiraling, pain,” Dorsett said. “She was not my mom.”
She died days later, on Aug. 4, 2023.
About a year later, another patient, William Bryan, 70, died after the same surgeon operated on him.
The surgeon, Thomas Shaknovsky was arrested this week, accused of accidentally removing Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen, prosecutors said. Shaknovsky operated on both Dorothy Dorsett and Bryan at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach.
Shaknovsky and his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment. However, he has denied wrongdoing in Dorothy Dorsett’s case in court filings of his own, arguing that some of the allegations were inaccurate and that descriptions of Dorsett’s care were incomplete. The lawsuit remains ongoing.
Do you have a story to share? Email reporter matthew.lavietes@nbcuni.com or reach us at our tip line.
The hospital did not immediately return a request for comment. Earlier this week, Macdonald Walker, a spokesperson for Ascension Sacred Heart, said in a statement that Shaknovsky “was never a Sacred Heart Emerald Coast employee and has not practiced at any of our facilities since August 2024.”
Weyman Dorsett filed a lawsuit against Shaknovsky and Ascension Sacred Heart last year, accusing the doctor and hospital of negligence. He spoke out for the first time since his mother died in an interview with NBC News on Thursday.
“I’ve got two boys, a wife, now a grandbaby, and you know, I’m trying to be there for them, but, man, I’ve struggled mentally in dealing with it,” he said. “It’s just not right.”
On July 24, 2023, Dorothy Dorsett was admitted to the hospital after suffering abdominal pain, Weyman Dorsett, said. At the time, he said his mom was “in great health.”
“She was going non-stop. She lived on her own, drove everywhere, she went all over,” he said. “Prior to the surgery, she flew to my oldest son’s wedding in Bentonville, Arkansas, with a broken leg from a car wreck.”
At the hospital, his mom was diagnosed with gastrointestinal bleeding and acute blood loss anemia, according to the civil complaint.
The next day, the Dorsett family met Shaknovsky, whom Weyman Dorsett described as “odd.” He said the doctor prayed by his mom’s bedside before the surgery.
“It was way over the top,” Weyman Dorsett said. “It was very insincere to me.”
He said his mother thought Shaknovsky was “very weird.”
That day, Shaknovsky performed a colonoscopy and found a tumor in Dorothy Dorsett’s digestive tract, which he removed on July 27, 2023, according to the complaint.
During the surgery following the colonoscopy, Shaknovsky did not perform a routine test, which would have ensured there were no leaks in a newly joined intestine, according to the complaint.
Shaknovsky told the family that the surgery “went great,” Weyman Dorsett said, but his mother’s condition immediately started to deteriorate.
He said that his mom was moved to the ICU on Aug. 2, 2023.
Weyman Dorsett left that night, but his mother called him to come back to the hospital at midnight, saying she was going to die.
“My mom looked at me and just said, ‘It is what it is. I’ve lived a good life,’” he said. “And I had to sit there and watch her die.”
On Aug. 3, 2023, a doctor on call, Dr. Chun W. Chen, documented Dorothy Dorsett’s condition, according to the complaint, noting that he saw “more air than I would expect postsurgical” and mentioning concern “for bowel perforation specifically around the chain sutures in the pelvis.”
Chen added in the report that pockets of air had formed around Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.
“Although this may be postsurgical, cannot exclude bowel perforation,” he wrote.
Chen said in a brief phone call that he didn’t remember the patient and declined to comment further.
That evening, Shaknovsky documented in a daily progress note the air and fluid collection in Dorothy’s pelvis, according to the complaint.
Shaknovsky did not advise surgical intervention due to Dorothy’s declining organ function and risks associated with anesthesia, the complaint says.
Dorothy Dorsett was pronounced dead at 5:29 a.m. on August 4, 2023, according to the complaint. She passed away surrounded by family, the complaint says.
“Until you go through it yourself, and to be there with my mom and watch her suffer, and to be there when she takes her last breath has been devastating,” Weyman Dorsett said. “I suffer every day. It’s a haunting memory that I can’t erase out of my mind.”
Allegations of another botched surgery
On Aug. 21, 2024, prosecutors allege that Shaknovsky accidentally removed William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during what was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy.
Shaknovsky, who had been licensed to practice medicine in several states, had his Florida license suspended about a month after Bryan’s death. Later that year, he voluntarily surrendered his license to practice in Alabama. New York then suspended his license in 2025.
Bryan’s widow, Beverly Bryan, filed a civil lawsuit against Shaknovsky in 2025, accusing the surgeon of causing her husband’s death.
After the suit was filed, Weyman Dorsett learned that the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration completed an investigation into his mom’s death in September 2024, after Bryan’s botched surgery and more than a year after Dorothy’s death.
The investigation found that Shaknovsky and other hospital physicians “failed to appropriately use diagnostic testing and delayed in ordering imaging to timely treat sepsis” in Dorothy Dorsett’s case, according to a copy of the report.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration did not return a request for comment.
Shaknovsky was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Bryan, according to officials.
“It’s bittersweet,” Weyman Dorsett said. “You know, nothing’s going to bring back Mr. Bryan, or my mom and all the other people that are still out there that have been butchered and suffered.”
Dorothy Dorsett grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where she and her husband, Weyman Dorsett II, her high school sweetheart, raised their two children: Weyman Dorsett III and his sister.
“She just was everything you would think the American dream mom would be,” he said. “She led by example, best cook in the world. She was our rock.”
She and her husband moved back and forth from Alabama to Miramar Beach, Florida, about 30 miles west of Panama City. She moved to Miramar Beach permanently following the death of Weyman Dorsett II in 2021.
Weyman Dorsett III described his mother’s passing as a “big piece missing.”
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