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Daytona Beach, FL— A Florida state court jury Friday rejected a woman’s claim that a 2016 parking lot accident left her with long-term back and shoulder injuries. Stenson v. Bogle, et al., 2018-31051-CICI.
Jurors, in the state’s Seventh Circuit Court, in Volusia County, deliberated for roughly 2 hours before handing down their verdict, which concluded a chain-reaction crash in a Daytona Beach parking lot did not injure Lynetta Stenson
Stenson, then 37, was sitting in her parked car when a Ford Mustang driven by Andrew McEwen struck a third car which then hit Stenson’s vehicle. Stenson claims the crash injured her back and shoulder, and forced her to undergo surgery, physical therapy, and long-term pain- management treatment.
During Friday’s closings, Stenson’s attorney, Morgan & Morgan’s Keith Mitnik requested roughly $7.4 million in damages.
With the defense admitting negligence, the three-day trial centered on whether the crash caused the injuries Stenson claimed.
During Friday’s closings, Mitnik walked jurors through evidence he said showed the collision was sufficiently severe to damage Stenson’s spine and leave her in life-long pain. And he noted Stenson had never complained of pain or other symptoms before the wreck.
“The sensible sequence of events tells you all you need to know before a single doctor comes in here,” Mitnik said.
But the defense argues the collision could not have caused long-term injuries to Stenson. On Friday, Aaron Baker recounted evidence he said showed the collision occurred at “walking speed” and placed no more force on her body than her normal activities of daily living.
Baker added that any injuries Stenson would have suffered would have been minor and suggested jurors limit any possible award to roughly $14,000 for three months of medical expenses. “The truth is that maybe she did suffer a possible strain, but those get better after three months,” Baker said.
CVN has reached out to attorneys in the case and will update this article with their comments.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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