Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...If the evidence is conflicting, he says, the presumption prevails. In City of Coral Gables v. Brasher, supra , the City appealed from a judgment which held that Brasher's heart disease arose from and out of the discharge of his duties as a police captain. Section 185.34, Florida Statutes (1961), provided that any impairment of health of police officers caused by heart disease is presumed to have been suffered in line of duty unless the contrary be shown *440 by competent evidence....

...of proof shifted to the plaintiff to "positively" prove the disability was service-connected (notwithstanding the testimony of plaintiff's expert) would be contrary to Florida law and would also have the effect of negating the presumption granted by section 185.34, supra....

...Both of those decisions, however, interpret statutes that were in effect before the Florida Evidence Code was enacted. See Caldwell, 372 So.2d at 439 (interpreting section 112.18(1), Florida Statutes (1975)); Brasher, 132 So.2d at 443 (interpreting section 185.34, Florida Statutes (1957))....

...n by competent evidence, provided, however, that such police officer shall have successfully passed a physical examination on entering into such service which examination fails to reveal any evidence of such condition. 132 So.2d at 443 n. 2 (quoting § 185.34, Fla....

...December 19, 1958, the City answered the complaint and admitted all material allegations of fact therein, but contended, as did the Retirement Board, (1) Brasher was not entitled to the presumption created by the statute, Chapter 57-340, Laws of 1957, F.S.A. § 185.34; (2) that if so entitled, the said statute was unconstitutional for the reason that it was an arbitrary and capricious classification without any reasonable basis therefor and being so it was in violation of the equal protection clause of the Federal Constitution, Const....

...Chapter 185, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., which at that time had to do solely with “Policemen’s Retirement Fund,” but which was later changed or entitled to read “Policemen’s Retirement Fund; Policemen Generally.” Appellant points out that § 185.34 of Chapter 185 provides, among other things, that the benefits of said chapter shall not be available to any policeman who is entitled to receive compensation from a municipal retirement fund....

...Brasher is such a policeman and bases his claim on the retirement fund provided by the charter of the City of Coral Gables. It is contended that account of this exception in Chapter 185, Brasher is not entitled to the presumption provided in Chapter 57-340, Laws of 1957, § 185.34, Florida Statutes 1957, F.S.A....

...The first final decree in this cause was reviewed by the Supreme Court of Florida pursuant to Article V, § 4(2), Florida Constitution, F.S.A. 1 The history of the cause prior to that decree is fully set forth in the opinion and need not be repeated here. The court upheld the validity of section 185.34, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., 2 but remanded the cause with directions that the City of Coral Gables be permitted to introduce evidence to rebut the presumption of service- *444 connected disability raised by the statute and to enter such judgment as might be proper upon all the evidence....

...shifted to the plaintiff to “positively”' prove the disability was service-connected' (notwithstanding the testimony of plaintiff’s expert) would be contrary to Florida law and would also have the effect of negating the presumption granted by section 185.34, supra....

present. The officer’s attorney argued that Section 185.34, Florida Statutes (1977) entitled his client

...Perez filed a claim for benefits with the Trust, which, as a result, has paid or is obligated to pay in excess of $49,000 on his behalf. The Trust then filed the instant declaratory judgment action against the City, asking the court to declare that Section 185.34, Florida Statutes (Supp.1986), 1 applied to claims brought under the Workers’ Compensation Law, Chapter 440, Florida Statutes (1987). In its answer, the City asserted that Section 185.34 (and its presumption that any condition or impairment of health caused by, in this case, heart disease, shall be considered to be accidental and suffered in the line of duty) applied only to retirement and pension claims, that the stat...

...stablish both total and permanent disability in order to establish grounds for a disability retirement. Since a partial disability would create no entitlement to a disability retirement, the Trust argues that the “partial disability” language in Section 185.34 would have no reason for being included unless it was intended that the language of Section 185.34, as well as the presumptions contained therein, should also apply to situations involving a partial disability....

...This, the Trust argues, could only relate to claims made under Chapter 440, since the only claims that can be made directly under Chapter 185 are retirement claims involving a total and permanent disability. The Trust contends that there must have been a purpose for including the reference to “partial ” disability in Section 185.34 and, furthermore, the Trust urges us to apply the Section 185.34 presumption to Chapter 440 claims as a way of giving meaning to that purpose. This we decline to do. In addition, we note that the 1985 version of Section 185.34, which contained the specific limiting language regarding Chapter 440, also contained the same reference to “partial disability” as does the revised 1986 version that the Trust relies on in support of its contentions as described above. We find that the language of Section 185.34 is clear and can only have one meaning....

...Auld, 450 So.2d 217 (Fla.1984). The trial court erred in not according the statute its plain meaning. See generally 49 Fla. Jur.2d, Statutes § 111; Sutherland Stat. Const. § 46.01 (4th Ed.). Reversed. . Because this opinion is concerned with the 1986 revision of section 185.34, the session law, with additions underscored and deletions struck through, is reprinted here in full: 185.34 Disability in line of duty — Any condition or impairment of health of any and all police officers employed in the state caused by tuberculosis, hypertension, heart disease, or hardening of the arteries resulting in total or partial disabilit...

...existence of arbitrariness on the part of the Board. See Bloomfield v. Mayo, 119 So.2d 417, 423 (Fla. 1st DCA 1960). There is no question in our minds about the right of appellee, a municipal police officer, to the statutory presumption contained in section 185.34, Florida Statutes (1983)....

1983). Pfeiffer also contends that, pursuant to Section 185.34, Florida Statutes (1979), he is entitled to