LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – There will be no jackpot for a man who wanted $1.5 million for a rear-end accident.
Anthony Davis lost his appeal of a Los Angeles jury verdict that awarded him nothing when the California Second Appellate District ruled against him on June 8. His son took the stand during the trial to corroborate Davis’ injuries and said about the justice system, “Some people win a lot of money. Some people don’t.”
Davis will be a part of the latter, unless something drastic happens in a later appeal.
“Davis argues no substantial evidence supports the defense verdict,” the decision says. “This argument misperceives the record, which allowed for skepticism about Davis’ credibility.”
The story starts with a 2016 accident that totaled Davis’ car. He claimed neck pain and sued, reaching a settlement. When his medical care ended later that year, he still complained of neck pain.
In 2017, Tyler Ray Harano hit Davis’ rear bumper, leaving slight damage. Both cars were left drivable; neither airbag deployed.
Davis drove home to call his lawyer immediately but waited five days to seek medical attention. He later sued Harano, claiming he was injured in the accident, and a jury ruled against him.
Dr. Steven Nagelberg testified for Harano, whose lawyers argued Davis and his lawyer had concocted the case from “a nothing accident.” They presented photos of the accident and noted Davis walked around easily immediately after it.
They also pointed at Davis’ lawyer’s instruction to seek medical attention for which a physician would put a lien on any litigation recovery instead of simply billing him.
“Nagelberg’s observations countered Davis’s claimed pain. Davis called his attorney before seeking medical attention. The 2016 accident was worse than the 2017 one, and Davis claimed neck pain after that accident, yet no objective record suggested Davis’s neck pain ever went away after the 2016 accident,” the decision says.
“In discovery, Davis did not reveal the 2016 accident caused a neck injury and thus was an alternate explanation for Davis’s claim of pain and suffering. Davis’s medical witnesses opined the 2017 accident injured him, but Davis had hidden his 2016 accident from them. Substantial evidence supported the verdict.”
Davis was represented by Andrew Jacobson and Christopher Kanne of Engstrong, Lipscomb & Lack and Ardy Pirnia of The Pirnia Law Group.
Harano was represented by Lacey Estudillo, Karen Bray of Horvitz & Levy and Gina Kandarian-Stein of Gates, Gonter, Guy, Proudfoot & Muench.