Facts

In the mid-morning of Dec. 11, 2003, Helen Ball, an 88-year-old retired woman, was driving a sedan out of a parking lot on Mountain Boulevard in Montclair. Her husband William, also 88 and retired, was in the passenger seat. While exiting the parking lot, the Balls claimed they were struck by a commercial truck, which then caused Helen to swerve to the right, sideswiping a parked car and then crashing into a storefront. The Balls were taken to a hospital via ambulance.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
On behalf of himself and his deceased wife, William Ball sued defendant Matheson Fast Freight Inc. for wrongful death damages. He claimed the defendant was liable for the negligence of its driver. An eyewitness testified that the motor vehicle which, struck the Balls' sedan, was a Matheson truck.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant denied that any of its trucks were involved in the accident. It stated that one of its trucks was in the area 30 minutes before the accident, but the driver denied traveling on Mountain Boulevard or being in an accident that day. Another eyewitness testified that a Penske truck struck the Ball's sedan.
An accident reconstruction expert inspected the Balls' sedan and the Matheson truck. He opined that there was no evidence the two vehicles had collided. He also noted that the confusion may be due to the fact that Penske trucks have almost identical features as Matheson trucks, such as the size, weight and color.
The defense counsel further noted that plaintiff's accident reconstruction expert opined that a Matheson truck could possibly have caused the accident, but that the evidence was not conclusive.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff made a demand of $200,000; the defendant's offer was $50,000.

Injuries

Helen Ball was taken to a hospital via ambulance and released the same day. She returned to the hospital a few weeks later for fatigue and body failure. She was admitted and later died at the hospital on March 2, 2004. William Ball was also taken to the hospital after the accident and remained there for over a month. He had a fractured sternum and sustained renal failure, intestinal bleeding and rhabdomyolsis, a disease that destroys skeletal muscle. William claimed past medical expenses of $248,992 and past and future expenses for at-home care. He claimed $30,000 per year for an at-home care attendant who cooks, cleans, shops and helps him with personal hygiene. A defense expert testified there was no evidence that William's intestinal bleeding was caused by the accident. He did concede, however, that other medical conditions resulted from the accident.

Result

The plaintiff's counsel dismissed the wrongful death claim before trial. The only claim left for trial was negligence regarding William's injuries as to Matheson. The jury found in favor of defendant, concluding there was no evidence that a Matheson truck was involved in the accident with Ball. The result is an uninsured motorist claim because the responsible defendant could not be determined.

Deliberation

110 minutes

Poll

12-0

Length

five days