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Caption:
Janice and Danny Coffman v. Christy Mitchum
Janice and Danny Coffman v. Christy Mitchum
Cause No.:
10D01-0412-CT-237
10D01-0412-CT-237
Court:
Clark Superior Court No. 1
Clark Superior Court No. 1
Judge:
Hon. Vicki Carmichael
Hon. Vicki Carmichael
Carrier:
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
Damages Awarded:
None – Defense Verdict.
None – Defense Verdict.
Incurred Medicals:
$119,371.07
$119,371.07
Last Demand:
Policy Limits of $100,000.00.
Policy Limits of $100,000.00.
Last Offer:
$17,460.33
$17,460.33
QSO:
$17,460.33
$17,460.33
WT&S Attorneys:
Rodney L. Scott and Tricia K. Hofmann
Rodney L. Scott and Tricia K. Hofmann
Synopsis:
This case arose out of a four-car accident that occurred on the off-ramp of I-65 northbound in Clark County, Indiana, at the Sellersburg exit. Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by his wife, Janice Coffman. Plaintiff was partially reclined and dozing off when his vehicle was struck by the vehicle behind it. Our client was three cars behind Plaintiff’s, and had bumped the car in front of her, causing a four-car chain-reaction collision to occur. Although a vehicle was stopped in front of Plaintiff’s car, no contact was made with this vehicle. While our client’s vehicle suffered significant damage, Plaintiff’s vehicle sustained no visible damage whatsoever in the accident. Plaintiff’s wife and son, who were also in the vehicle, were not injured.
This case arose out of a four-car accident that occurred on the off-ramp of I-65 northbound in Clark County, Indiana, at the Sellersburg exit. Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by his wife, Janice Coffman. Plaintiff was partially reclined and dozing off when his vehicle was struck by the vehicle behind it. Our client was three cars behind Plaintiff’s, and had bumped the car in front of her, causing a four-car chain-reaction collision to occur. Although a vehicle was stopped in front of Plaintiff’s car, no contact was made with this vehicle. While our client’s vehicle suffered significant damage, Plaintiff’s vehicle sustained no visible damage whatsoever in the accident. Plaintiff’s wife and son, who were also in the vehicle, were not injured.
Plaintiff, nonetheless, went to the emergency room via ambulance with complaints of neck and back pain. After the emergency room, plaintiff initially treated very sporadically, due to his work schedule which involved lots of driving across the country. In September, after an intervening accident for which he sought no medical treatment, plaintiff underwent a lumbar MRI, which identified an L5-S1 herniation with impingement. He ultimately had surgical fusion.
Plaintiff also underwent an IME with Dr. David Changaris, a Louisville neurosurgeon and pain management specialist, who performed the exam at the request of Plaintiff’s lawyer. He determined that Plaintiff had a twenty-percent whole person impairment for his back and another twenty-percent whole person impairment for alleged loss of sexual functioning from the accident. Dr. Changaris combined these into a thirty-six percent whole person impairment. The Plaintiff withdrew the sexual dysfunction claim right before trial. Dr. Changaris, nonetheless, appeared live and testified that Plaintiff’s surgery was necessitated by the accident. However, he conceded on cross-examination that the conditions that led to surgery can happen without motor vehicle trauma and that Plaintiff had evidence of those conditions before the accident.
Defendant admitted liability but relied on the physical evidence, the testimony of Dr. Stephen Holt (the initial surgeon) and the testimony of Orion Keifer (a biomechanical engineer) to dispute medical causation. Dr. Holt had performed surgery on Plaintiff’s neck well before the accident but opined that patients with herniations in one area of the spine often develop them in other areas without any trauma because of genetics or environmental stresses unique to that patient. He did not know anything about the automobile accident in question but conceded that amount of force would be something he would evaluate in analyzing causation. Although he argued that any trauma can cause some problems for people pre-disposed to spine problems, his testimony also provided several arguments for the defense. Orion Keifer testified to the forces involved in the accident and the mechanics of a chain-reaction accident.
The jurors reached their verdict in short order after asking if they could award attorneys’ fees to the Defendant.