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SKETCHES OF COURT: Flipped car in Ocean Avenue accident

January 23, 2017 By Alba Acevedo Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Carl Landicino listens as attorney Brigitte Gulliver (standing), of counsel to the law offices of Richard Bernsley, conducts a direct examination of the plaintiff in the motor vehicle accident trial Maddalena Latronico v. Andrey Botvinnik, et al.

Latronico and her sister were passengers in a car driven by their friend Vita Maria Sammartino as it traveled along Ocean Avenue in November 2011. Botvinnik was driving his vehicle along Avenue Y. Their cars collided at the intersection in an impact that flipped over Sammartino’s SUV.

Botvinnik, who fled the accident scene, was found by police and convicted of DWI. Latronico claimed serious and permanent injuries as a result of the accident, and is suing both drivers for negligence. Among Latronico’s injuries were three fractured ribs, cervical and lumbar herniation and a left shoulder injury for which she underwent surgery. Additionally, Latronico alleges trouble breathing, persistent headaches, difficulties with memory and the inability to resume physical activities such as weekly tennis.

Botvinnik failed to appear in court. He was represented by A. Lorenzo Bryan (second from right), trial counsel to the law offices of Karen L. Lawrence. Sammartino was represented by Eugene Girin (at right), of the law firm James G. Bilello & Associates. Both attorneys disputed the permanence of the plaintiff’s injuries, maintaining that they had largely resolved.

The jury deliberated briefly before attributing 60 percent fault to Botvinnik and 40 percent to Sammartino in the accident, and awarded a total of $130,000 in damages to Latronico, now 52, for past and future pain and suffering in the summary jury trial that concluded last week in Kings County Civil Term.

 

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