A potential class action lawsuit on red light cameras is on hold for now.
If the lawsuit proceeds it could eventually have impact statewide.
But in a Brevard County court Thursday afternoon the judge decided the lone person named in favor of this lawsuit -- a Palm Bay resident -- did not meet the requirements to press forward with a class action lawsuit.
This all began when Palm Bay's Thomas Patch received and paid for a $158 red light violation back in 2009.
The following year he filed a suit against the city, saying he wanted it dismissed.
Four years later the matter is still unresolved. Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court ruled the red light cameras put up before 2010 were illegal. That's when the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act went into effect in Florida.
Now his attorneys want to use his case to begin a class action lawsuit to get Patch and nearly 4,000 other Palm Bay red light violators their money back.
"They enacted a law that was illegal," said attorney David Kerner. "They collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from the citizens of Palm Bay. We have sought a return of those monies from the court."
In court Thursday, Palm Bay city attorneys argued Patch himself was never cited with a red light camera violation. In fact, he was driving his parents' car with permission when the violation happened.
They received the citation in the mail, and Patch himself paid the fine out of obligation.
City attorneys argued the money collected from the thousands of violators prior to the Florida Supreme Court ruling doesn't have to be paid back.
"Unfortunately they made a business decision and they paid their fines and they are not legally entitled to refunds," said Palm Bay city attorney Larry Brown.
But those violators who never paid, will never have to.
The judge decided that Patch did not meet the requirements to start the suit because he wasn't the vehicle owner and wasn't cited himself.
What's next?
The attorneys filing suit will seek out someone else to start another class action effort. They said this time it will be a person who actually received a red light citation.
A future judge could rule that red light violators be refunded by the city of Palm Bay. Palm Bay's red light program began in 2008 and council voted to end it just this past April.