A Montgomery County jury of twelve deliberated for an hour and a half before coming back with an award of $0. The case involved an accident in which Mr. Petka’s client made a left turn across the plaintiff’s path of travel, resulting in an accident which totaled the plaintiff’s vehicle. The plaintiff, a 53 year old construction worker, lost her bladder in the crash and subsequently became incontinent. She was forced to wear adult diapers which were embarrassing and “destroyed her love life.” She remained incontinent for over a year until she had bladder surgery. The plaintiff also alleged a TFCC cartilage tear in her left wrist, which was confirmed by the defense IME.
Through tedious trial preparation Mr. Petka discovered that the plaintiff had re-married within two years of the accident, a fact that was conspicuously not mentioned during the plaintiff’s two hour direct examination. On cross-examination Mr. Petka exposed the fact that the plaintiff had met and married her now husband during the same time period that her “love life was destroyed.” Moreover, after accusing the plaintiff of hiding her marriage from the jury, Mr. Petka asked the plaintiff to raise her left hand and show the jury her ring finger. There was an audible gasp in the court room as the plaintiff revealed she did not wear her wedding ring to court.
