A Dallas County jury awarded $10,814 in damages for past pain in a trucking accident case where the plaintiff had asked for $15 million.
The jury trial began on Tuesday last week in Judge Dale Tillery’s courtroom. Following four days of trial, the jury deliberated for seven hours and returned its verdict Friday.
Isaac Kimber and Jose Beltran were involved in a 2022 interstate accident when both vehicles say they attempted to merge into the same lane. There were no cameras or independent witnesses. The only accounts of the incident came from the two drivers.
Body cam footage from the responding police officer was played at trial that showed the men denying any injuries or the need for an ambulance. The two were able to drive away from the scene. No official report was completed on the accident.
Months later, Beltran began treatments for back issues, such as injections, and had surgery on his shoulder. He claimed that he sustained a torn rotator cuff as a result of the accident.
The jury found both parties negligent. It apportioned fault at 60 percent to defendant Kimber and 40 percent to plaintiff Beltran.
Beltran’s attorneys asked the jury for $15 million in damages, but it only awarded $10,814.
“Mr. Kimber felt justified, obviously, when he heard the request for $15 million. He thought that that was an absurd request that was not at all supported by the evidence. And he was certainly relieved that the jury listened diligently and followed the instructions and paid attention to the evidence and reached a decision that he felt was obviously in line with the evidence,” Jarad Kent of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker said.
Kent said he’s not sure how the jurors arrived at $10,814, though they were perhaps motivated to finalize the verdict by 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening.
Lindsey McKay of McKay Law and Ronald Cross represented the plaintiff. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alexander Blue of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker also represented the defendant.
The case number is DC-24-12042.