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SKETCHES OF COURT: Liability determined in 3-car rear-ender

November 22, 2016 By Alba Acevedo Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Devin Cohen listens as plaintiff’s attorney Michele Mirman (standing) of the law firm Mirman Markovits & Landau addresses the jury during her summations in the motor vehicle accident trial Johnson-Simmons v. Hossain

Sheryl Johnson-Simmons was behind the wheel of her BMW and had stopped for the red light at the intersection of 2nd Ave. and 15th Street on a rainy July evening in 2009. She felt two heavy impacts as her car was struck in the rear in a three-vehicle collision. She alleged that her recollection of the event was affected by losing consciousness. She was removed from the scene on an ambulance gurney.  

In a motion for summary judgment on behalf of the plaintiff, it was decided that the third vehicle in the chain was at fault. At issue in the trial was the percentage of liability, if any, on the second car. 

Mirman read from examination before testimony that the driver immediately behind Johnson-Simmons variously claimed that he had stopped his cab before he was sandwiched in the three-vehicle collision that pushed his car into hers. The driver also testified to losing control of the brakes and to skidding on wet pavement. Motaher Hossain was represented by Francis Scahill (at left) of the law firm Picciano & Scahill. 

The jury determined that the defendants shared fault in causing the accident, attributing 40 percent to Hossain and 60 percent to the last car in the chain. The trial will resume next year on the issue of damages in Kings County Civil Term. Court reporter Sylandia Brock recorded the proceedings. 

 

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