A woman accused of negligence after a car accident prevailed when an appeals court reversed a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.
“Because we conclude expert testimony was required to establish the [plaintiffs]’ diagnosed injuries were caused by the automobile accident, and because the [plaintiffs] presented no such evidence, we reverse and render,” wrote Justice Margaret “Meg” Poissant of the Fourteenth Court of Appeals. Justices Ken Wise and Kevin Jewell concurred.
Eboni Ivory Hills filed the appeal after the 11th District Court in Harris County ruled for plaintiffs Carlos Donis, Calixton Donis, Victor Matamoros, and Saira Castellanos, who filed on behalf of herself and a minor, S.D. (The plaintiffs were collectively identified as the Donies Parties in the lawsuit). In her appeal, Hills claimed the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence to back their accusations that she was negligent.
Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals Justice Margaret “Meg” Poissant
| txcourts.gov
The plaintiffs state that their testimonies alone are enough to prove that the accident caused their injuries. But the judges pointed out that they weren’t actually pulled out of car with any injuries such as broken buns, cuts, scars, bruises. They also didn’t suffer any objective physical symptoms. The injuries they claimed they did experience, like lumbar IVD Displacement, cervical discogenic pain, and cervical disc disorder, weren’t anything common.
“Thus, this case is not one in which general experience and common sense enable a layperson to determine the causal relationship with reasonable probability,” wrote Justice Poissant. “The Donis parties needed expert testimony to establish a causal connection between the accident and their claimed injuries.”
The medical expenses aren’t the issue, but rather whether the accident actually caused the injuries. So, the plaintiffs failed to show that the crash was the reason for their injuries.
On the day of the accident, Carlos drove his car while the other plaintiffs were passengers on July 6, 2014.Another man, Richard Morehouse, was driving behind Carlos’s car. Carlos went slower and stopped at some points because of standing water on the highway. Hills then arrived on the same highway, I-45, behind a car that blocked her view of both Carlos’s and Morehouse’s cars.
Hills said the car in front of her jumped into traffic and she tried to break but she couldn’t in time. Her car ended up hitting Morehouse’s car before it slammed into the back of Carlos’s car. While Carlos was able to drive his car home with the passengers, and no one went to the hospital or suffered bleeding, scrapes, cuts, or any broken bones, the Donis parties filed the lawsuit for negligence, claiming that they suffered soft tissue injuries. Carlos said his injuries totaled to $48,906 in medical bills, Calixto said his equaled $48,676, Victor claims his was $41,633 and Saira said her medical bills were $5,960. Saira also said S.D. said they didn’t experience any pain but had medical bills that ran up to $285. The plaintiffs sued for $248,000 total and were granted $145,460. The lower court also filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied, causing Hills to appeal.