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SKETCHES OF COURT: Transit Authority ordered to pay $750,000 to injured passenger

February 17, 2017 By Alba Acevedo Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Debra Silber listens as defendant’s attorney Michael O’Brien (standing), trial counsel to the law offices of Lawrence Heisler, lays out his opening arguments for the jury in the motor vehicle accident trial Elbaz v. NYC Transit Authority. Court reporter Francesca Cioffi recorded the proceedings. 

The parties to the unified trial agreed on few details of the incident in October 2011, when the Bay Ridge Avenue bus had made a passenger stop. Enaiat Elbaz alleges that she boarded the bus and that while standing in front of the white line and attempting to use her MetroCard to pay the fare, the bus pulled ahead and hit a bump, which caused her to fall and sustain serious injury. Elbaz was represented by Sherman Kerner (at right), of the law firm Grey & Grey. 

The Transit Authority maintained that after their operator had brought the bus to a full stop, Elbaz stepped one foot onto the bus, lost her balance and fell backwards off the bus. 

Elbaz’s injuries were inclusive of a right femur fracture and left tibial plateau fracture, and she spent nine months in rehab. Elbaz attended the trial in a wheelchair. Kerner alleged his client lost her independence and needs the help of an aide, and faulted the bus operator’s negligence for causing his client’s injuries. 

O’Brien called on expert witness testimony supporting the allegation that the 63-year-old plaintiff had been in poor health prior to and since the incident, but had essentially made a full recovery. 

The jury found 85 percent liability against the Transit Authority and 15 percent against Elbaz, awarding her a total of $750,000 in damages in the trial that resolved last week in Kings County Civil Term. 

 

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