Sketches of Court: After ten years’ delay, a verdict of contributory negligence
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Cenceria Edwards listens as plaintiff’s attorney Daniel Chavez (standing), solo practitioner, conducts a direct examination of the plaintiff in the summary jury trial T.M. v. Johnson-Rhone. Chavez’ client, now 22 years old, was a minor at the time of the March 2013 incident.
At issue was liability in the motor vehicle/pedestrian accident. While the opposing parties differed substantially in their accounts of the incident, they were in agreement that the occurrence was not in a crosswalk. The plaintiff left the curb in between parked cars to approach her younger brother on the other side of the street, from whom she was briefly separated while they were on a weekday afternoon errand in their neighborhood on East 94 Street in the vicinity of Avenue D in Brooklyn.
The defendant driver, represented by Imro Rooi (at right), of counsel to Cheven Keely & Hatzis, testified that she had seen the boy after she heard another car’s brakes, but never saw the girl and had no opportunity to avoid an accident.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.