Trial Magazine

Luisa Cruz Mezquital was driving her Mazda minivan when oncoming motorist Abdulmohsen Almassud lost control of his modified 1995 Jeep Wrangler, which crossed the centerline and struck the minivan. Cruz’s driver-side window shattered, and her left hand struck the Jeep as it scraped down the side of the minivan.

Cruz, 29, suffered severe injuries to her left hand and arm, including a degloving injury to her left, dominant hand with significant loss of skin, muscles, nerves, tendons, and fascia; severe, open fractures of multiple bones in her hand; and closed fractures of the ulna and radius.

She underwent open reduction internal fixation of the forearm fractures with plates and screws; amputation of her middle finger; and a four-stage reconstructive surgery to her hand, which included a split-thickness skin graft from her upper thigh.

Her hand is now painful, scarred, and disfigured. Although she has some use of her thumb, the limited range of motion in her remaining three fingers substantially impairs use of the arm. In addition, she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting in anxiety and nightmares. Her past medical expenses totaled about $391,800.

A single mother of three young children, Cruz had no choice but to return to work at a food processing plant. She missed about three months of work.

Almassud’s insurer, American Family Insurance, refused to pay policy limits of $100,000. Cruz sued Almassud, alleging negligence and negligence per se for violation of multiple state driving regulations—including failure to use due care, remain in his lane, and maintain control of his vehicle; operation of a vehicle with an altered suspension system; and failure to maintain the vehicle in good working condition. 

The plaintiff demanded $1 million to settle the case. American Family refused.

The insurer denied that Almassud was negligent and argued that he lost control of the Jeep because the steering linkage separated. The defense contended that an auto center that had replaced the steering linkage about eight days before the incident had done so negligently, causing it to fail.

The plaintiff countered with expert testimony that the steering linkage was connected at impact and broke apart as a result of the collision. The plaintiff’s expert testified that the incident was consistent with the steering knuckle on the driver’s side of the Jeep failing, causing the left front wheel to drag and pulling the Jeep to the left, into oncoming traffic. The expert testified that loss of steering combined with the Jeep’s pulling to the left was inconsistent with a steering linkage failure.

The plaintiff’s treating orthopedic surgeon testified that Cruz’s injury was the most memorable hand injury of his 25-year career, and the plastic surgeon testified that the injury was a 10 out of 10 in terms of severity. Counsel decided that, even though it might affect the amount of the verdict, it was not appropriate to force the jurors to look at the graphic photos. Instead, counsel placed three of the photos in a plastic bag marked “graphic.” The decision allowed jurors to look at the photos on their own terms in the jury room.

The plaintiff did not claim future medical expenses or lost earnings.

The jury found Almassud 100 percent at fault. It awarded general damages of $30 million and medical expenses of about $391,800. The addition of litigation expenses and ­prejudgment interest brought the total verdict to about $30.69 million.

Citation: Mezquital v. Almassud, No. 14EV001930F (Ga. St. Ct. Fulton Cnty. Sept. 12, 2016).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Ben C. Brodhead, AAJ member Ashley B. Fournet, and Jennifer Mundy, all of Atlanta.

Plaintiff experts: Matthew Pridmore, automotive mechanics, Charlotte, N.C.; and Sean Alexander, accident reconstruction, Warner Robins, Ga. Defense expert: Mark Hook, failure analysis, Atlanta.