Florida Jury Awards Motorcyclist $435,968 After Rear-End Crash by Electrical Contractor's Truck

Fernando J. Lopez was on his motorcycle when a truck driven by Dominick R. Zanti hit him from behind. Zanti was working for H & H Electric, Inc. at the time. Lopez was hurt in the crash, and the injuries reached his elbow, his pelvic area and his sacroiliac junctions, the joints where the spine meets the pelvis. He also reported lower back pain.

Liability was not in serious dispute. Before trial, the parties agreed that the crash caused the elbow and pelvic injuries, and the trial court granted Lopez partial summary judgment on causation for the elbow, pelvis and sacroiliac injuries. The cause of the lower back injury stayed contested, and that question went to the jury. The court also told the jury as a matter of law that H & H Electric and Zanti were negligent and were the legal cause of Lopez's injuries.

The defense built its case around surveillance footage. About sixteen months after the accident, a private investigator filmed Lopez washing his car and riding his motorcycle over one weekend. The defense expert, Dr. Robert Cantana, revised his opinion of Lopez's injuries after watching the tape and wrote an addendum to his earlier medical examination report. The trial court let the jury see the video and let the investigator testify about it, and the defense argued it in closing. It did not let Dr. Cantana comment on the footage or explain how it changed his view. The court reasoned that Lopez had never said he could not do the activities shown, and that an expert's commentary would give the video undue weight with the jury.

The defense also argued about pre-existing conditions. The trial court gave an instruction on aggravation of an existing condition, which let the defense argue that part of the lower back complaint came from an earlier problem, but it refused the defense's own pre-existing-injury instruction. The court noted that no medical witness had testified that a prior condition caused Lopez's back pain.

The jury found for Lopez, and the court entered a final judgment of $435,968.16 against H & H Electric and Zanti. Thomas Scolaro of Leesfield, Leighton & Partners, with Lauri Waldman Ross and Theresa L. Girten, represented Lopez on appeal.

The defendants appealed on the video ruling and on the instructions. In an opinion by Judge Cortinas, with Judge Wells and Senior Judge Fletcher, the Third District found no abuse of discretion on either point. The panel pointed out that the defense had still put the video's content before the jury through the investigator and in closing argument. It affirmed on October 10, 2007.