Cozier v. Baah

2017 NY Slip Op 599, 146 A.D.3d 722, 47 N.Y.S.3d 263, 2017 WL 401322

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: January 31, 2017
• Docket: 309093/10 2935 2934
• Status: Published

Opinion

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Faviola A. Soto, J.), entered July 13, 2015, after a jury trial, dismissing the complaint, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Appeal from order, same court and Justice, entered July 27, 2015, which denied plaintiff’s motion to set aside the verdict, unanimously dismissed, without costs, as subsumed in the appeal from the judgment.

The jury’s finding that plaintiff did not sustain a serious injury to her cervical or lumbar spine within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102 (d) as a result of the motor vehicle accident was based upon a fair interpretation of the evidence (see Spagnoli-Scheman v Bellew, 91 AD3d 414 [1st Dept 2012]). There was conflicting expert testimony as to whether plaintiff’s injuries resulted from the accident or were preexisting chronic or congenital conditions unrelated to the accident, and the jury was “entitled to accept or reject the testimony of plaintiffs’ experts in whole or in part” (see id. at 414 [internal quotation marks omitted]).

We have considered plaintiff’s remaining arguments and find them unavailing.

Concur — Mazzarelli, J.P., Manzanet-Daniels, Feinman, Webber and Gesmer, JJ.