Brooklyn Boro

SKETCHES OF COURT: Plaintiff awarded $75,000 in turnpike accident

August 17, 2015 By Alba Acevedo Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Mark Partnow listens during a direct examination of the plaintiff in the motor vehicle accident trial Judy Marquez v. Frank and Maryann Miale that took place last week in Kings County Civil Term. Liability was decided in summary judgment, but the issue of personal injury damages brought the parties to trial.

The plaintiff, represented by Mark Bernstein (standing) of The Sanders Firm, was a back-seat passenger in a BMW that had stopped on the side of a turnpike in Long Island in September 2011. She had removed her seat belt when the car was rear-ended by a pickup truck, and she suffered injury when impacting the seat in front of her.

While she declined medical attention at the scene, she sought treatment the next day for symptoms, resulting in a course of physical therapy for her knee. This was followed by unresolved pain despite a subsequent knee surgery, which also yielded complications from a post-op MRSA infection. She was a 49-year-old home health aide at the time.

The defense, represented by Franshone Winn (right), of the law firm James G. Bilello Associates, challenged the plaintiff’s claims of pain and suffering resulting from the accident. The defense’s position was that the plaintiff had contributory pre-existing conditions, including ones related to earlier multiple motor vehicle accidents. 

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, awarding damages in the amounts of $50,000 for past pain and suffering and $25,000 for future. 

 

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