SKETCHES OF COURT: Jury favors defendant in car accident trial

December 14, 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 as the defendant’s attorney Steven Balson-Cohen (standing), of the law firm Russo & Toner, conducts a direct examination in the motor vehicle accident trial Ba v. Slow Taxi Corporation. Dr. Audrey Eisenstadt, a radiologist, is testifying as a witness for the defendant while looking at a screen projection of the plaintiff’s cervical spine medical films.

Alou Ba, 41 years old at the time, claimed to have suffered an injury as a result of a rear-end collision on Nostrand Avenue in July 2011. He was represented by Brian M. King (at left), of counsel to the law offices of Andrey Tikhomirov. King characterized Ba’s injury as a cracked neck, for which Ba underwent surgery four months after the accident.

Cohen maintained that Ba’s neck condition was degenerative in origin. He presented evidence of two prior vehicular accidents, including one in 2007 that was resolved by a lawsuit. That verdict maintained that Ba had sustained a permanent neck injury, which resulted in a 50 percent loss of range of motion.

The jury unanimously determined that Ba did not sustain significant injury or permanent consequential limitations as a result of this accident, in the trial that concluded last week in Kings County Civil Term. Court reporter Suzie Sanchez-Smith (center) transcribed the proceedings.