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SKETCHES OF COURT: Three-car pileup on Belt Parkway

July 1, 2016 By Alba Acevedo Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Wavny Toussaint listens and co-defendant attorneys look on as Hiram Raldiris (standing), of the law offices of Eric H. Green, goes over an exhibit during a medical presentation in the summary jury trial Nunez v. Hitrik et al

Olga Nunez claimed that she felt two impacts and was injured when her car was involved in a three-vehicle collision on the Belt Parkway in May of 2012. 

Ashley Castro (second from right), of the law firm James G. Bilello & Assocs., represented Alexander Tsopanakis. She argued that her client was caught in the middle, and was pushed into Nunez’s car when Tsopanakis was rear-ended by Leonid Hitrik. 

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Michael Buffa (at right), of the law firm Gialleonardo, Frankini & Harms, represented Hitrick, whose car was at the end of the chain. Hitrick denied being responsible for the first impact.  

Nunez, a now-retired schoolteacher, 63 at the time of the accident, was out of work for three months and claimed that she injured her shoulders and back. She sought compensation for pain and suffering.

The defendants argued that Nunez did not cooperate with the independent medical examiner, and that her injuries were pre-existing and degenerative in nature. 

The jury attributed 60 percent fault to Tsopanakis and 40 percent to Hitrick in the accident, and awarded $25,000 to Nunez in the trial that concluded last week in Kings County Civil Term. 

 


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