Baltimore City Truck Accident Lawsuit Results in $1M Verdict

A Maryland woman injured in a truck accident in Baltimore City was awarded just over $1 million last week for injuries that included a severe leg fracture that required two surgeries.

The accident lawsuit was filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court by Shannon Brown over a collision that occurred on July 13, 2006, when a gas tanker ran a red light and collided with her vehicle. Brown’s right leg was crushed in the crash, requiring a plate and 18 screws. Her infant son, Elijah, was also in the car, but did not sustain injuries.

Liability was contested in the red light accident, with each side presenting testimony from an independent witness who said that the other was at fault. The jury found that the plaintiff’s witness, an 11 year-old boy who testified that Brown had the green light, was the most credible, and found that the driver of an Eastern Petroleum truck was responsible for the accident.

The Baltimore City jury awarded $1,063,807.37 on August 11, 2009, which included $1,000,000.00 for pain and suffering. However, under the Maryland damage cap, Browns non-economic damage award will be reduced, resulting in a total judgment of just under $729,000.00.

The state’s damage cap places a limit on the amount of compensation a jury may award for non-economic damages like pain and suffering in a Maryland personal injury lawsuit. At the time of Brown’s truck accident, the Maryland statute capped a plaintiff’s non-economic damages at $665,000.00.

Brown was represented at trial by Maryland accident lawyers Laura Zois and John Bratt, of Miller & Zois, LLC, who said that the only settlement offer by the truck company was $25,000.00 offered two weeks before trial.