Manhattan

Published on: March 9, 2012

Motion for a New Trial Denied in New York Appellate Court Regarding Roll Over Accident

by Stephen Bilkis

On June 9, 1986 a woman was driving a small and compact sports utility vehicle on the highway. She slammed on her brakes to avoid a deer that had walked directly on the path of her small SUV. After she slammed on the brakes, her car rolled over and she suffered severe personal injury. She and her husband sued the car manufacturer who produced and marketed the compact sports utility vehicle. Her complaint asserted negligence, strict products liability and breach of implied warranty of merchantability.

The woman introduced evidence to show that a SUV rollover accidentis not uncommon because its wheel base and track width was narrow. They claim that the small SUV was unstable as it was manufactured by the car company. They also introduced evidence that the car company marketed the small compact SUV as suitable and fashionable for suburban and city driving which was why they bought it.

After the presentation of evidence the trial judge instructed jury that the strict products liability claim and the breach of implied warranty claim should be treated separately. The trial court also instructed the jury that if they found the car as a defective product, then the car manufacturer should be found liable for injury which results from the use of the defective product for the purpose for which it was intended.

Published on: February 23, 2012

Plaintiff Sues for Trip and Fall on a Defective Sidewalk, New York Appellate Court Rejects Summary Judgment Motion

by Stephen Bilkis

The plaintiff filed a complaint against the defendant for sustaining personal injury due to a trip and fall accident. The plaintiff experinced a trip and fallwhile walking on the sidewalk near the premises of the defendant. According to the complaint, plaintiff accuses the defendant of negligence for allowing the defect to remain on the sidewalk. The plaintiff alleges that the sidewalk has an uneven portion thus making it unsafe for anyone who passes by.

The plaintiff was a taxi driver who tripped on the alleged defective sidewalk and fractured his arm. The defendants were the owners of the building. Therefore, they also own the sidewalk within the building premises.

According to the statement of the plaintiff, he was just walking along the sidewalk near the building when he tripped on an uneven part of the sidewalk and fell on the ground. The plaintiff cited the tenants of the building as the negligent parties since they did not do anything to the sidewalk even though it had a defect.

Published on: February 17, 2012

Woman Trips and Falls in Front of Cafe, Building Owner’s Motion to Dismiss Denied by New York Appellate Court

by Stephen Bilkis

A lady was walking outside a restaurant located at 1396 Third Avenue in Manhattan. The restaurant had a permit from the City of New York to set up café tables and chairs on the sidewalk. On the sidewalk there was a tree providing shade for the café tables. Sometime on March 21, 2008 as the lady was walking past the café, she stepped on a raised sidewalk flagstone and that caused her to trip and fall.

She sued the owner of the premises and the owner of the premises sued the tenant (the café) and the insurance company. After the deposition of the lady, the building manager and the café manager, the plaintiff filed a motion for a partial summary judgment against the building owner and seeks that the building owner be declared as liable under the Sidewalk Law of New York. The building owner filed a motion for summary judgment asking the court to dismiss the lady’s complaint against it. According to a New York Injury Lawyer, the insurance company asked the court for a summary judgment to dismiss the complaint of the building owner against it.

The Sidewalk Law of New York provides that the owner has the duty to maintain the sidewalk outside its premises in a reasonably safe condition and failing to do so, the building owner shall be liable for any injury. This duty to maintain the sidewalk in a reasonably safe condition cannot be delegated. The Court held that since the Sidewalk Law clearly puts the duty on the owner to maintain the sidewalk, and there is evidence that the building owner owns the property which abuts the sidewalk where the lady tripped and fell, the lady’s motion for partial summary judgment against the owner declaring him liable for her injury is granted.

Published on: February 10, 2012

Former Judge to Sue City for Unlawful Dismissal

by Stephen Bilkis

A former judge for the city of Dallas, Texas may file a lawsuit against the city claiming she was wrongfully terminated after she turned down the sexual advances made by a fellow judge. The city council had decided not to renew her contract with the city and let her go last June, claims a New York Injury Lawyer. According to those on the council, the complaints filed against the other judge were unfounded. Even though most colleagues did not come to the former judge’s defense, the current mayor of Dallas said that he thinks the judge was let go because she filed a sexual harassment complaint.

According to a Manhattan Personal Injury Lawyer, the former judge claims that when she dismissed the other judge’s sexual advances, he made it very difficult for her to complete job tasks. He gave her more work than she could handle, refused to purchase a new computer for her office and encouraged the city council to release her from service and not renew her contract. The other judge denies all of these allegations.

At least one female co-worker may be called to the witness stand to recall comments made to the former judge that could be considered sexual harassment, alleges a New York Injury Lawyer. Depending on the number of other witnesses, the former judge may or may not have a solid case. Proving sexual harassment at the workplace can be difficult, especially without concrete evidence such as email correspondence, voice mail messages or multiple witnesses.

Published on: January 28, 2012

Seven people were taken to the hospital after a truck overturned

by Stephen Bilkis

Seven people were taken to the hospital after a truck overturned in Stellenbosch. Two of those people died as a result of their injuries. The other five are in serious condition. It is unclear how the accident occurred, but local police officials are continuing to investigate. They will have to interview the survivors and witnesses at the scene to get a better idea of how this tragedy happened, claims a New York Injury Lawyer. Few details are available at present.

Injuries from this accident range from broken bones to lacerations. Some of the injured have suffered fractures and broken legs while the driver has a serious head injury. When the injured will be released is unknown at this time. They may need out-patient care until their injuries heal. The two people that died were local workers who may have been working for the company that owns the truck that overturned.

A Manhattan Personal Injury Lawyer states that without more evidence, it will be impossible to determine the cause of the accident. No other vehicles were involved. Local police officials will have to inspect the scene of the accident, the truck and ask many questions of those who witnessed the events leading up to the accident. It is never easy to piece together an accident scene when little evidence remains. Mechanical failure, human error or carelessness on the part of the driver may have caused the deaths of two people.

Published on: January 23, 2012

Unexpected Developments in Kidnapping Case

by Stephen Bilkis

A convicted sex offender accused of kidnapping and raping an 11-year-old girl, then holding her captive for 18 long years was expected to plead guilty. Instead, due to allegations from the kidnapper’s lawyer that the jury was improperly selected and acted in an inappropriate manner, the kidnapper entered not guilty pleas to charges of kidnapping, rape, and other charges, according to a New York Personal Injury Lawyer.

The kidnapper’s public defender claimed there were problems with the jury during a brief hearing where the kidnapper and his wife made their pleas. The public defender did state she had questions about the racial and geographical makeup of the jury that first indicted the couple for kidnapping and imprisoning the young girl, who is now 30 years old.

According to a Superior Court judge, the defense had raised “issues about the process itself before the grand jury” and whether the panel “acted appropriately during the proceeding.” He told the public defender that she had to submit her statement writing, and also told her he would seal the motion once it was submitted.

Published on: January 21, 2012

Wrong-Way Driver in Fort Worth Apologizes for Crash

by Stephen Bilkis

According to a New York Personal Injury Lawyer, an accident on Interstate 30 in Fort Worth resulted in a fireball that killed a father. The suspect is now imprisoned and the highway is seriously damaged.

“Well, I’m really sorry,” said the 23-year-old suspect. The police received calls around 2:30 a.m. about a driver traveling in the wrong direction on the highway.

Only a few minutes later, a terrible car accidentoccurred, where a 45-year-old fuel tanker truck driver was killed when the suspected drunk driver collided with his vehicle.

Published on: January 18, 2012

Rush Hour Bomb Kills 11 in Belarus

by Stephen Bilkis

Terrorists struck in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, setting off a bomb in an escalator packed with commuters. The blast killed 11 people and wounded 100.

The bomb exploded at the height of rush hour, at 6 p.m. as commuters were attempting to catch two trains in the busiest station of the city, which has a population of 1.8 million people.

Video captured by ordinary citizens, then posted online, showed passengers of the trains stumbling out of the Oktyabrskaya station, with smoke billowing out of the tunnels.

Published on: January 11, 2012

Wife-beating Ex-Cop Escapes Jail Time

by Stephen Bilkis

An NPYD precinct commander was savagely beaten by her ex-cop husband, suffering a broken bone and a hospital stay, but he managed to get escape time in prison by pleaded guilty to drastically reduced charges.

The ex-cop, 47, trailed his wife, a deputy inspector and commanding officer for a precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant, to a home on Long Island, on March 21. He waited for her to emerge, and when she did, he confronted her and assaulted her there on the front lawn, police sources explained to a reporter. The attack broke several of the victim’s ribs.

Hearing the screams of the woman being attacked, a detective with the NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force came to her assistance and the ex-cop fled. According to the ex-cop, upon being questioned later, his wife, 46, was having an affair with the detective who rescued her.

Published on: January 3, 2012

Bus Driver Charged in DUI

by Stephen Bilkis

A Stockton bus driver was arrested after police found her weaving on a California highway, according to a report. The bus driver had also run several vehicles off the road while she was swerving and driving erratically. Police were alerted to the situation and arrived before the bus driver could seriously injure someone. The bus driver was using the bus during non-school hours as she was caught on a Saturday evening.

The observer says that luckily no children were on the bus at the time the incident occurred. If children were on the bus when the incident occurred, the driver would be facing even more and serious charges than just an ordinary DUI arrest. The driver has been charged with driving under the influence and for driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level higher than the legal limit of .08. There is no word on the status of the bus driver’s job.

The bus driver was charged and then later released. She will face possible jail time and fines for her crime. The judge will also decide if she will be allowed to drive the bus in the future for any school district. The police believe that the bus driver will face the charges later in the spring. Depending on if this is her first offense will determine the amount of her fine and if she has jail time or not in her future.