Florida jury awards $1.5M in wreck

Despite a pre-existing back condition, a Florida woman was awarded $1.5 million after she was injured in a car accident.

Sharon Morse, a postal worker, was stopped in a line of traffic when she was struck from behind by a car driven by an 18-year-old male. After the accident, Morse, who

There was no question of liability, but the defense contended that the severity of her injuries was caused by a pre-existing condition, not the accident.

Defense lawyer Danny Methe noted that Morse - who is deaf - also suffered from vertigo and had filed for disability three months before the accident. Her pre-existing back condition and vertigo were the reasons she couldn't work - not the accident, he claimed.

Plaintiffs' attorney Jason Weisser acknowledged during a six-day trial that there was only a minimal impact from the accident, and that Morse had a pre-existing back condition called spondylolisthesis (slipped vertebrae). But he produced X-rays and medical testimony that her back condition had been asymptomatic for five years before the accident.

Medical experts also testified that Morse had suffered from vertigo for about 14 years, but that she had never missed significant time from work. Weisser acknowledged that she had applied for disability three months prior to the accident because her vertigo had worsened. But he noted that she had continued working up until the first surgery.

A surgeon who testified for Morse used X-rays and illustrations to explain her pre-existing spinal condition and her spinal fusion surgeries.

Because Morse is deaf, an interpreter was present throughout the trial to explain testimony to her in sign language, and to translate her testimony orally to the jury.

Weisser said his client's deafness may actually have worked in her favor.

"She's a fairly sympathetic person," he explained. "She already had a disability, and now she has another disability."

A six-person jury deliberated for six hours before deciding unanimously to award Morse $1.5 million in damages for medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering.

The biggest obstacle for Weisser was tests taken after the accident, which showed differing results. Electromyogram (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NVC) tests taken three months after the accident showed abnormalities in her lower left leg; eight months later, the same tests showed that her left leg appeared to be normal, but her right side was abnormal.

Weisser argued that the tests are unreliable, and that various factors can result in false negatives or false positives. In addition, he said, further testing showed that 90 percent of the time she had nerve and muscle damage in both legs.

Morse sought $5 million in damages. The defense offered to settle the case for $500,000 at the start of the trial, and upped the offer after the closing to $750,000. Weisser rejected both offers.

The $1.5 million verdict was reduced by settlement for an undisclosed amount.

Methe, the defense lawyer, said he was satisfied with the outcome. The jury apparently believed testimony from Morse's medical experts that although she had a pre-existing, degenerative back condition, the accident "made it symptomatic," he said.

He conceded that she had "two catastrophic results from surgery that left her pretty crippled.

"We were doing the best we could to do damage control on a case where we admitted liability," he said. "We were happy with the result."

Plaintiff's attorney: Jason Weisser of Schuler, Halvorson & Weisser in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Defense attorneys: Daniel Methe of Gaunt, Pratt, Radford, Methe & Rockenbach in West Palm Beach, Fla., and David Chalet of Eisinger, Brown, Lewis & Frankel in Hollywood, Fla.

The case: Morse v. Mills, Nov. 15, 2007; Palm Beach Circuit Court, Palm Beach, Fla.; Judge Jonathan Gerber.

Credit: Nora Lockwood Tooher