Court tosses plaintiff’s evidence in bicycle crash case – Defense Verdict

Plaintiff was riding a bicycle on Sept. 19, 2005, on a sidewalk in Virginia Beach. As she crossed the driveway of a bank parking lot, she claims the decedent (who passed away from unrelated causes) began to exit the parking lot, bumping plaintiff’s bicycle and knocking her to the ground. Plaintiff was still under doctor’s treatment for neck and back injuries from a car accident seven months earlier, which also resulted in a lawsuit and settlement. In the suit from the February 2005 car accident, the plaintiff claimed permanent injuries to her neck and back in sworn interrogatories and in a deposition under oath. In the suit arising from the September 2005 bicycle accident, plaintiff claimed she had substantially recovered from her February accident just prior to the September bicycle accident and now had permanent injuries as a result of the bicycle accident.

Plaintiff initially claimed more than $33,000 in incurred medical expenses from the bicycle accident; but, since some of those medical bills had been claimed in the February lawsuit, which settled, they were excluded from evidence by the court on defendant’s motion in limine.

At the conclusion of the plaintiff’s evidence, defendant moved to strike plaintiff’s evidence on the basis that the plaintiff’s testimony regarding the alleged negligence of the decedent was uncorroborated as required by Va. Code 8.01-397 (the “Dead Man’s Statute”), and the plaintiff had failed to identify the decedent as the driver involved in the accident. The court sustained defendant’s motion and entered judgment in favor of the defendant.

[14-T-028]

Type of action: Personal injury – auto/bicycle accident
Injuries alleged: Neck and back injury, sacroiliitis, myofascial pain syndrome
Name of case: Heare v. Porreca, Admin.
Court: Norfolk Circuit Court
Case no.: CL12-1591
Tried before: Jury
Judge: John R. Doyle III
Date resolved: Feb. 4, 2014
Special damages: $17,543.62 plus unspecified future medicals
Demand: $50,000
Offer: $10,000
Verdict or settlement: Verdict
Amount: Defense Verdict
Attorney for defendant: Sally J. Moore, Virginia Beach
Plaintiff’s expert: Robert Spear, D.O., physical medicine and rehabilitation