Attorney James Dyer successfully obtained a defense verdict following a two-day jury trial in Worcester Superior Court.
The plaintiff pedestrian alleged that the defendant driver struck him with his heavy-duty commercial pickup truck, driving over his foot. The plaintiff claimed he sustained a significant crush injury to his right foot.
During the trial, the parties offered vastly different versions of the events surrounding the subject accident. The defendant testified that his ex-girlfriend had called him in distress, telling him that she was in trouble and that her new boyfriend, the plaintiff, was physically assaulting her at his home. The defendant testified that he immediately drove to the plaintiff’s home and when his ex-girlfriend saw his headlights outside the home, she hurriedly fled the house and got into the passenger side of the defendant’s vehicle to safety.
The defendant further testified that before he could drive away, the plaintiff came out of the home and began yelling and pounding on the defendant’s truck, denting the hood. According to the defendant, he did not argue with the plaintiff in an effort to deescalate the situation. Further, he testified that he tried to drive around the plaintiff slowly and the plaintiff would not budge, but that eventually he was able to drive around the plaintiff and leave the scene.
The plaintiff testified that the defendant arrived at his home. He and the defendant did not argue with each other; however, according to the plaintiff, the defendant drove aggressively as he was departing and rolled over and crushed the plaintiff’s right foot.
When questioned about whether he had assaulted his girlfriend that night, the plaintiff testified that he never struck her and never would. During cross-examination of the plaintiff, Attorney Dyer presented him with a certified copy of a criminal record related to charges of assault and battery against the witness, his former girlfriend. Although the plaintiff had denied striking her at any time, the criminal records reflected that the plaintiff had plead guilty to assaulting his girlfriend.
The plaintiff’s former girlfriend testified that she was in peril due to the plaintiff’s violence and that the defendant helped her by coming to rescue her. Further, she testified that the defendant never hit the plaintiff with his truck, nor did he run over the plaintiff’s foot at any time.
The jury deliberated for approximately 45 minutes before returning a defense verdict in favor of the defendant driver.
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