$75,000 Philadelphia Jury Verdict for Laborer Hurt When a Driver Hit His Car at a Red Light

On July 18, 2004, Edward Speight Jr. and his friend Lachette Smith were sitting in their car at a red light on Port Royal Avenue in Philadelphia. William Whitlock, driving on Henry Avenue, tried to turn left onto Port Royal and hit their vehicle. An ambulance and police came to the scene, and both occupants were taken to Roxborough Memorial Hospital. They were X-rayed, given medication and released.

The trial judge's opinion described Mr. Speight as 34, with a work history as a laborer and certified bricklayer; before the crash he built scaffolding and did heavy construction work. He told the jury he felt pain in his back, neck and right knee on the way to the hospital. His treating physician, Dr. John Bowden, found low and upper back pain, neck tenderness and post-traumatic headaches. He also described a torn medial meniscus in the right knee, with a CT scan that showed an abnormality. From July 2004 to November 2005, Mr. Speight had ultrasound, moist heat and physical therapy, and he saw a chiropractor. He told the jury that when his knee swells, a doctor drains the fluid with a needle. The injuries forced him to change job assignments. He had played on organized summer sports teams before the crash; by trial he could not sit for long periods and had gained 30 pounds, and Dr. Bowden gave a prognosis of permanent significant impairment, with difficulty walking and squatting.

The driver's death shaped the trial. Mr. Whitlock died in April 2006, two months before the suit was filed, so the defendants were the co-executors of his estate. Before trial, the estate asked the court to apply Pennsylvania's Dead Man's Act, which bars anyone with an interest adverse to a deceased person from testifying about events before the death. The trial court granted that motion. As a result, neither plaintiff could describe the collision to the jury.

Marc F. Greenfield represented the plaintiffs. He built the liability case on an investigating Philadelphia police officer, who had worked 26 years and handled between 500 and 700 crash investigations. The officer told the jury Mr. Whitlock was turning left from Henry Avenue when he struck the car stopped on Port Royal Avenue. Dr. Bowden's testimony was presented by videotape, because he would not be in the courtroom. The estate was given notice of the taping session and chose not to take part.

Testimony was heard on July 16, 2007. The jury returned $75,000 for Mr. Speight and $50,000 for Ms. Smith, whose claim was a separate one for her own neck, back and headache injuries. The estate moved for a new trial, arguing that the officer and the doctor should not have been allowed to testify and that the awards were excessive. On March 27, 2008, Judge Massiah-Jackson denied the motions, wrote that the jury's verdict was 'fair, thoughtful and reasonable,' and entered judgment for Speight at $75,000. The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed on August 26, 2009.