Jury Verdict Dismissing Sidewalk Trip-and-Fall Case Not Against the Weight of the Evidence

Case: Coma v. City of New York

Court: Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York

Date: July 18, 2012

From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn and Queens; Queens injury lawyer)

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Sidewalk Trip-and-Fall Victim Denied New Trial Because Failure to Let Her Show Photographs of Defect to Jury Was "Harmless Error"

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Facts: This case presents a sidewalk trip-and-fall claim for an accident that took place in Brooklyn. Even though the jury found that the City of New York had proper "prior written notice" of the broken sidewalk and was negligent in failing to repair the sidewalk, it also found that the City's negligence did not cause the accident.

What happened at trial is that it was revealed that the accident victim turned her head and was looking away when she fell.

The jury believed that her accident and injury were entirely her own fault.

Plaintiff-accident victim asked the trial judge to set aside the verdict as "against the weight of the evidence."

Held: Unless the jury could not have reached its verdict by a fair interpretation of the evidence, the verdict should stand. The verdict was consistent and in accordance with the evidence of this sidewalk trip-and-fall case presented at trial. The jury's verdict is upheld on appeal; case dismissed.