$350,000 Jury Verdict for Southbury Driver Struck by Stop-Sign Runner
Won by Carter Mario Injury Lawyers.
A Waterbury jury awarded $350,000 to Joanne Cunningham after Diane Turchiano blew through a stop sign at high speed and T-boned her vehicle at a Southbury intersection, leaving Cunningham with permanent spinal and nerve injuries.
What happened
On the evening of March 2, 2021, Joanne Cunningham was driving south on South Britain Road in Southbury and came to a complete stop at the intersection with Roxbury Road. She looked, then proceeded through. Diane Turchiano, traveling east on Roxbury Road, never slowed at her own stop sign. She entered the intersection at high speed and drove directly into Cunningham's vehicle.
The crash sent Cunningham to doctors with cervical and lumbar sprains involving radiculopathy, a thoracic sprain, a right shoulder sprain, and persistent headaches. Radiculopathy, nerve pain that radiates from the spine, is a marker of deeper structural injury. Cunningham characterized these conditions as permanent, meaning they were not expected to resolve fully with time or treatment.
Carter Mario attorney Luke Mario took the case to trial. The liability theory was clean: Turchiano had a stop sign, Cunningham had the right of way, and the physical evidence aligned with a high-speed T-bone impact. The defense, handled by Sean Carew of the Law Offices of Meehan, Di Palma, Roberts and Turret, contested the case.
The jury returned its verdict on February 2, 2025. The breakdown: $80,000 for physical pain and suffering, $25,000 for mental and emotional suffering, $25,000 for loss of life's pleasures, and $220,000 for permanent injury. The Superior Court, Judicial District of Waterbury, recorded the verdict on February 5, 2025.
No reduction or remittitur has been reported as of the date of publication.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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