SKETCHES OF COURT: Post-trial motions pending in car accident trial
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Karen Rothenberg listens as defendant’s attorney Nicholas Dell’Anno (standing), trial counsel to The Noll Law Firm, conducts a direct examination in the motor vehicle accident trial Nicholas v. Garcia. At issue was the determination of damages, for which Dr. Shandra Sharma (on the witness stand), a neurologist and pain management specialist, was one of the expert witnesses called to testify.
Kester Nicholas was at the wheel of his SUV in November 2014 with his wife Veronica as a passenger when their vehicle was struck from behind as they were stopped at a red light. The defendant, represented by Dell’Anno, was found to be wholly at fault for the collision in summary judgment.
Nicholas claimed that he suffered cervical and lumbar spine injuries as a result of the impact, for which he received multiple epidural steroid injections, allegedly to no avail, before undergoing a lumbar discectomy procedure in 2015. He had also been in a prior car accident in 2009, for which medical records were not produced.
Kester Nicholas was represented by Timothy Mandronico (at left), trial counsel to the law firm of William Schwitzer & Associates. Nicholas had not returned to work since the earlier accident but was claiming injuries allegedly related only to the 2014 incident.
Dell’Anno referenced the plaintiff’s affidavit regarding the 2009 accident to highlight what he said were inconsistencies with current trial testimony regarding earlier injuries. He maintained that in the absence of medical records for comparison, any findings of serious injury could not be reliably attributed to the 2014 accident.
Veronica Nicholas was represented by Thomas Schiro (center), trial counsel to the law offices of Mikhail Yadgarov & Associates. She claimed permanent injuries and was not involved in the earlier accident, but the parties reached a settlement during the trial before deliberations.
The jury returned a verdict for the defendant, finding that there were no injuries meriting compensation related to the 2014 accident, in the trial that resolved in Kings County Civil Term.
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