A $5.5 Million settlement has been reached in a case involving the October 11, 2011 death of a 60 year-old woman. The family of the Decedent was represented by Larry R. Rogers, Jr. and Kathryn L. Conway of Power Rogers. The Decedent was operating her motorized wheelchair in the southbound crosswalk of Wells Street at Pershing Road, when a truck driver struck her as she was attempting to cross the street.
The Decedent, who had recently undergone knee surgery and utilized the motorized wheelchair only for long distances, was headed to walk her dog at the time. The Decedent, who was unmarried and unemployed at the time, is survived by four adult children, two of whom lived out of state.
The defense alleged that the Decedent was negligent in her operation and use of the motorized wheelchair and had a reduced life expectancy based upon her comorbid conditions. Through the use of cellular telephone and data records as well as the testimony of a cellular company employee, Plaintiff established that the cement truck operator was distracted by text messages received just prior to the collision, as well as a young female pedestrian, who could be seen on timely secured surveillance video footage, crossing northbound.
“Correlating the surveillance video footage with the cellular telephone and data records proved instrumental in establishing that the cement truck operator was distracted, failed to completely stop at the Stop sign, and was entirely at fault for the collision,” said Mr. Rogers, Jr., partner at Power Rogers “The driver reported to the police that he stopped at the Stop sign and was not using his cell phone at the time of the collision. Our efforts to timely file the case and secure a protective order and production of area video surveillance and cellular phone and data records were critical in proving that the driver lied to the police about his actions,” said Kathryn Conway, an associate at the firm.