Page 17 - Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame

#7 (Tie)
Case: Nuris Jean-Baptiste v. Ayaovi D. Nassaf and PSCH
Attorney: Roy S. Hiller
Firm: Law O ces of Roy S. Hiller Date: 2/10/2011
Verdict: $12,000,000
By Len Maniace
A Brooklyn jury awarded $12 million in damages to the family of a mentally handicapped young man who was thrown through the window of a van in which he was riding, suffering severe spinal fractures.
Christopher Jean-Baptiste, 23 at the time of the Nov. 7, 2007 acci- dent, was riding in the van owned by PSCH Inc.–a nonpro t agency that works with the disabled–when the van ipped over on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens.
Nuris Jean-Baptiste, Christopher’s adoptive mother, sued the van’s driver, Ayaovi D. Nassaf, and PSCH, which also operated the group home in which her son lived. She charged negligence, speci cally in Nassaf’s to safely drive through a curving section of highway and in the attendant failure to secure her son in the van with a seatbelt.
Jean-Baptiste’s attorney, Roy S. Hiller, moved for summary judg- ment of liability and the motion was granted. The state Supreme Court trial addressed damages. The plaintiff suffered fractures to his spine that required the fusion of six adjacent vertebrae. In addition, two rods were inserted alongside his back to stabilize his spine.
Jean-Baptiste underwent extensive rehabilitation, but continued to suffer from paralysis in eight months following the accident, and was not able to walk independently during the two years after the accident. At the time of the trial, he walked hunched over and with dif culty.
Though the younger Jean-Baptiste did not testify in the case, his condition was brought home to jurors by a surveillance video of him taken by the defense which was shown in the courtroom.
“I think these surveillance lms by the defense might have turned some of the jurors off,” said Hiller, making them less sympathetic to the defense’s case.
The attorney said he believed testimony by Jean-Baptiste’s mother and that of a chief of rehabilitative medicine, about the pain endured by the injured young man he had treated, may have contributed to the jury returning an award that was greater than that sought by the family. During the jury’s deliberations, the only testimony that it requested a read back of was that of Nuris Jean-Baptiste, Hiller said.
Witnesses for the Jean-Baptiste family also testi ed that the fused vertebrae was likely to cause stress to adjacent areas of his spine leading to arthritis, and that he was likely to need two or more sur- geries to treat the condition. Another expert witness, an economist specializing in health-care policy, further made the case for future medical costs needed to treat the young man.
The defense’s expert neurologist and expert orthopedic surgeon concluded that Jean-Baptiste did not suffer any residual effects of paralysis, and that he could participate in certain physical activi- ties, such as bowling and visiting amusement parks.
Jean-Baptiste’s mother sought recovery of $1.15 million for his future medical expenses, $5 million for his past pain and suffering, and $4 million for his future pain and suffering.
The four-day trial concluded in February 2011 with the jury vot- ing 6-0 to award the Jean-Baptistes $12 million: $2 million for future medical costs, $5 million for past pain and suffering, and $5 million for
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