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Daytona Beach, FL— Trial opened Tuesday over a 2016 parking lot crash that a Florida woman says left her with long-standing back and shoulder injuries.
Lynetta Stenson was sitting in her car in a Daytona Beach parking lot when a Ford Mustang driven by Andrew McEwen struck another car, sending it into Stenson’s vehicle. Stenson contends the crash injured her back and shoulder, forcing her to undergo surgery, physical therapy, and long-term pain- management treatment.
With the defense admitting fault for the crash, trial opened only on causation and damages. During Tuesday’s openings, Stenson’s attorney, Morgan & Morgan’s Keith Mitnik, previewed evidence he said would prove the crash left Stenson with pain that flared during her day-to-day life.
“This is the kind of pain that interferes more with the experience of doing than [with] the doing itself,” Mitnick said, adding that the pain Stenson suffered went beyond normal aches associated with age. “It’s easy to say ‘OK, she’s got aches and pains. Who doesn’t?’ But in this case when you see the evidence in this case, it’s not just aches and pains. What she has now are serious injuries that are causing significant unnatural pain for her and it takes a toll. And as time goes on, it takes more toll.”
But the defense argues the collision was minor and did not cause Stenson’s injuries. During Tuesday’s openings, Aaron Baker told jurors evidence would show the crash exerted no more force on Stenson than she would normally experience standing up and sitting down. And he said Stenson’s treatment timeline, including gaps in treatment, undercut any claimed link between the crash and her injuries.
“You’re going to have compare [expert] testimony and decide what makes the most sense in the context of this accident— this minor parking lot accident,” Baker said. “This case doesn’t need a bunch of fancy PowerPoint presentations, or slides, or animations. It just needs a dose of common sense.”
Trial in the case is expected to run through the end of the week.
Email Arlin Crisco at acrisco@cvn.com.
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