HM&B Secures a Defense Verdict for their Client After 4-Day Jury Trial

Plaintiff/Driver Leonard Cianciotto and his wife and passenger, Donna Coyle alleged that they were injured in a rear-end accident with the Defendant. The Plaintiffs alleged that the subject motor vehicle accident exacerbated their long-standing low back/lumbar issues to such a degree that they caused them to be permanently injured. Furthermore, Plaintiff Donna Coyle alleged that the subject motor vehicle accident caused a new injury to her cervical spine that resulted in a surgical recommendation. The Plaintiff/Driver Cianciotto also testified that he assumed no fault for the accident, despite testifying that he began to make his right hand turn but stopped in the middle of it, just before the collision. The jury was selected on Monday, February 26, 2024 and returned the next day to commence trial. Despite no orthopedic treatment in almost three years, during which time all of the Plaintiffs’ epidural and branch block injections were performed, and only undergoing chiropractic care since then, the Plaintiff’s asked for $445,559.00 in total damages (past and future medicals and past and future pain and suffering) for Mr. Cianciotto and $655,137.00 for Ms. Coyle. After four (4) days of trial, the jury began its deliberations, returning on Friday, March 1, 2024 to complete the process. The jury ultimately returned verdicts attributing 30% comparative fault for the accident to Cianciotto (which was also applied to Coyle’s award) and only awarded $2,850.00 in past medicals to Cianciotto and $13,184.00 to Coyle. The jury awarded no future medical expenses to either Plaintiff and found that neither Plaintiff suffered any permanent injury, resulting in a $0 award for past and future pain and suffering for both. Paul G. Totten and Brian T. Barriffe were the trial lawyers from the HM&B trial team who secured this defense win for their Client.