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Michael A. Hawkins is the plaintiff in this case. The defendants of the case are Edward F. and Margaret Miracco, Ashley N. Lawrence, Noreen T. Ebbighausen, Jan Czaplicki, and Terry Gallagher, Inc. The case is being heard in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Nassau County. Judge Karen V. Murphy is overseeing the case.
Motion
The motion before the court is made by the defendants Edward F. and Margaret Miracco and requests a summary judgment to dismiss the complaints and any cross complaints made against them by the plaintiff Michael A. Hawkins.
The plaintiff, Michael A. Hawkins has filed a cross motion for summary judgment in the case in his favor. The defendants Terry Gallagher and Jan Czaplicki have filed cross motions as well for granting summary judgment in their favor.
Case Background
This case arises from an accident that occurred in Melville, New York on Spagnoli Road. The accident occurred on the 11th of December around 9:20 in the morning. The accident involved a car that is owned by the defendant Noreen T. Ebbighausen and was operated by the defendant Ashley N. Lawrence and a dump truck that is owned by Terry Gallagher Inc. and was driven by Jan Czaplicki. The car driven by Lawrence came in contact with the dump truck. This caused the truck to swerve off the road and into a driveway. There was a vehicle at a complete stop in the driveway at the time. This vehicle was driven by Edward Miracco. The plaintiff, Michael Hawkins was a passenger in the car and was asleep when the truck accident occurred.
The defendant Edward Miracco testifies that he was at a full stop in the driveway of his place of employment when the dump truck veered off the road and into the driveway, hitting his car. This was confirmed by the defendant Jan Czaplicki.
Case Discussion and Decision
The plaintiff, the Gallagher defendants, and the Miracco defendants all seek summary judgment in their favor through their instant applications.
A summary judgment is a drastic remedy for a case and is only applicable if the proponent can establish that there are no triable issues of fact in the case.
The plaintiff argues that the evidence of skid marks, shown in pictures from the accident warrants that the Miracco defendant’s summary judgment motion should be denied. The plaintiff alleges that it would be possible for a jury to conclude that Miracco had started to enter the road and then stopped suddenly as shown by the skid marks. The jury may also conclude that the vehicle driven by Czaplicki swerved into the lane of Lawrence because of the sudden skid made by Miracco. However, the plaintiff does not offer any evidence to support that the skid marks shown in the photograph were made by the Miracco car. For this reason, the court grants summary judgment in favor of Miracco and the complaint is dismissed.
The motion for summary judgment made by the Gallagher defendants is denied. The argument made by the defendants is erroneous in the fact that they state a rear end collision establishes prima facie in the case of liability. There is no evidence to show that this is a rear end collision matter. The version of the accident given by the defendants is remarkably different.
The cross motion of the plaintiff for summary judgment on the basis of liability is granted.
Stephen Bilkis & Associates can help if you are involved in any type of accident. Contact one of our New York offices to set up an appointment for a free consultation to discuss your case.