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SKETCHES OF COURT: Jury finds comparative fault in delivery scooter-SUV accident

February 28, 2018 By Alba Acevedo Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Court sketch by Alba Acevedo
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In this courtroom sketch Hon. Bernard Graham listens as plaintiff’s attorney Jeffrey Kestenbaum (standing) addresses the jury in the motor vehicle accident summary jury trial Martinez v. Schenker.

Genaro Martinez testified with the aid of a Spanish language interpreter that he was riding his motorized scooter home on a clear early evening after his restaurant food delivery shift in July 2013. Martinez claims that he injured his neck, back, left shoulder and knee when he collided with an SUV at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope. Martinez alleged that it was a heavy impact to the driver’s side door, and that he did not return to work for six months and remains in pain to this day. Kestenbaum faulted the defendant driver for failing to see what there was to be seen.

John McLoughlin (at right), of the law offices of McCabe, Collins, McGeough, Fowler, Levine & Nogan, represented the defendant driver. His client testified that he did not see Martinez before the accident, but maintained that the traffic light was in his favor and that Martinez was at fault. Schenker attested to a mild impact, and that he was traveling slowly while looking for a parking spot. McLoughlin maintained that Martinez’ injuries were not serious and had largely resolved.

The jury awarded damages for past pain and suffering in the amount of $20,000. The award will be reduced to reflect the jury’s determination of comparative liability, in which they attributed 45 percent negligence to Martinez and 55 percent negligence to Schenker in the trial that was resolved in Kings County Civil Term.

 

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