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SKETCHES OF COURT: Parties settle in motor vehicle accident case

July 2, 2015 By Alba Acevedo Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Kathy King listens as defendant’s attorney Cecil Floyd (standing), of the law firm Russo & Toner, conducts a direct examination in the motor vehicle accident trial Borrometi v. I & A Transportation Inc. Court reporter Suzie Sanchez-Smith (seated, center) is transcribing the proceedings.

The accident occurred on a Sunday morning in September 2008 at the intersection of Kings Highway and West 5th Street in Brooklyn. At issue in the liability phase of the bifurcated trial was the question of lights — both parties claim to have had the green light in their favor when they entered the crossing.

The defendant livery driver was at the wheel of a Mercury town car and did not have a passenger at the time. The plaintiff, represented by Michael A. Forzano (seated), a solo practitioner, was driving her daughter to work in a Nissan. The passenger side of the defendant’s vehicle and the front of the plaintiff’s car were impacted in the collision. Neither car was able to be driven away from the accident scene. 

The jury returned a liability verdict of 40 percent against the plaintiff and 60 percent against the defendant. Another jury was picked and dismissed before the start of the damages phase. The plaintiff’s bill of particulars included knee surgery and cervical disc herniation, but the trial was resolved when the parties settled for $40,000 this week in Kings County Civil Term. 

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