Jury Awards $4.2 Mil. Verdict to Woman Hit by Car (The Legal Intelligencer)January 28, 2011
Amaris Elliott-Engel
The Legal Intelligencer
A Philadelphia jury has awarded $4.2 million in the case of a woman who was run over by a motorist as she walked by a Toyota car dealership parking lot.
Plaintiff Emilia Rosypal — who was 74, according to plaintiff's papers — was walking from her home toward Route 313 in Doylestown, Pa., as driver Alan Burroughs III made a left turn into the driveway of the Thompson Toyota car dealership Aug. 3, 2009, striking Rosypal, according to the plaintiff's pretrial memorandum in Rosypal v. The Thompson Organization . Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Gary S. Glazer presided over the trial. The jury rendered its verdict Jan. 21.
Burroughs was employed by Thompson Toyota Inc., and they did not contest their liability for simple negligence, according to the defendants' pretrial memorandum.
Both of Rosypal's legs were broken, her arms also were injured and her spine and hip also were injured, according to the plaintiff's papers. Rosypal also had two broken teeth, according to the defense's papers.
"As a result of the wrongful conduct of driver Alan Burroughs III, an employee of the Thompson Organization, Mrs. Rosypal suffered fractures and injuries to all four extremities and her spine and hip, as well as the loss of tissue of her leg," according to the plaintiff's papers. "These life-altering injuries have taken Mrs. Rosypal from being a vital, entirely independent and active 74-year-old to her status now as an invalid requiring assistance 24-hours per day."
The jury also had to consider if the driver was reckless, and the jury found that he was not reckless, Pichini said.
The defendants argued that Rosypal already had some deterioration in her health, including the need to have a hip replacement, two prior surgeries on her rotator cuff and she was considered legally blind because of macular degeneration, according to defense papers.
"While she may very well have [had] plans to stay in her home as long as possible, the unfortunate reality is that she would have needed some type of assistance due to her impending dependence," the defense pretrial memorandum said. "Therefore, while plaintiff asserts life care plan in excess of $1.4 million, the reality is that while some of this amount may be apportioned to the care required as a result of injury sustained in the incident, the plaintiff at the time of the incident was 74 years old and therefore under the life care tables, life expectancy was approximately an additional 12 years."
Pichini said that while Rosypal's macular degeneration and other normal problems of later age came up in trial, she was "thoroughly independent" prior to the accident.
Rosypal's older sister and a cousin moved into Rosypal's home to help with her care, and her son visits her home almost every day to help with her care, the plaintiff's papers said.
Before the accident, Rosypal had been very active, including mowing her lawn, shoveling snow, helping clean her church's convent several days per year, and traveling internationally, according to court papers.
Pichini said the verdict showed that "jurors value the quality of life of senior citizens ... she had no lost earnings but this incident in a split second had taken from her the life that she loved and left her as somebody who now needed to be taken care of and the jury obviously appreciated the significance of that."
Burroughs pleaded guilty to careless driving leading to serious bodily injury, the plaintiff's pretrial memorandum said.
If the jury had found Burroughs acted recklessly and awarded punitive damages, Rosypal's counsel had estimated that the case might result in a jury verdict of $8 million. Rosypal's counsel demanded $3 million to settle the case on the benchmark of compensatory damages, and the last offer made by the defendants was $2.6 million, Pichini said.
There was no high-low agreement, she said.
Rosypal's recovery will be reduced by a lien of at least $165,000 for her health care through Medicare and Aetna, according to the plaintiff's papers. Rosypal's total medical bills are $1.34 million.
The defendants did not call any experts, Pichini said.
The defendants are insured through a primary policy with Zurich American Insurance Co. of $500,00 and through an umbrella policy with Zurich of $25 million, the defense pretrial memorandum said.
Defense attorney Lisa Bellino Apelian, an attorney with insurer Zurich American Insurance Co.'s staff counsel, Kennedy Campbell Lipski & Dochney, did not respond to a request for comment.
Because the defendants did not contest liability, the four days of trial were a battle over the extent of damages and the extent of Rosypal's injuries, said plaintiff's attorney