Pedestrian Eusebio Camacho was struck and injured when crossing midblock at night by defendant Michael Lynch’s eastbound car. Camacho received a $56,803 verdict although a 50 percent comparative fault reduction was entered by the jury.
The accident occurred on Oct. 12, 2010 when Camacho was walking northbound across Irving Park Road in Chicago in the middle of the block at night. He was hit by Lynch’s car. The car had crossed over the double yellow median lines as Lynch was trying to gain access to the left-turn lane.
Camacho, 44, suffered a fractured tibia and torn rotator cuff. He lost four months of work as Walgreen’s store manager.
The defendant argued that Camacho was not in a crosswalk and was in fact running between stopped cars when the incident occurred.
The jury, considering all of those facts, reduced its verdict by 50 percent of the verdict assigning that much fault to the plaintiff, Camacho. This is called comparative fault and allows a plaintiff to recover after that reduction as long as the jury does not find the plaintiff more than 50 percent at fault. If a plaintiff is more than 50 percent responsible for his or her injury, the verdict would be reduced to zero.
The verdict of $113,600 was reduced by 50 percent to $56,803 made up of the following damages:
$34,703 for medical expenses;
$12,100 for lost income;
$5,000 for pain and suffering;
$5,000 for loss of life.
The plaintiff’s attorney was Katherine Cardenas. The demand to settle the case before trial was $30,000.The offer to settle by the defendant was zero. Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to return a verdict of $189,000.
Eusebio Camacho v. Michael Lynch, 11 L 6308 (Cook County).
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling automobile and truck accidents for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 37 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Chicago (Andersonville), Chicago (Beverly), Chicago (Bucktown), Chicago (Lakeview), Chicago (Old Town), Aurora, Algonquin, Batavia, Bloomingdale, Chicago Ridge, Elgin, Frankfurt, Glen Ellyn, Gurnee, LaGrange Park, Lindenhurst, Long Grove and Mokena, Ill.
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