The Spinal Fusion Case
Using demonstrative evidence in inventive ways: the spinal fusion case.
Linda Smith (name changed to preserve confidentiality) was a successful career woman with two children and a productive happy life in the Town of Farmington when the car in which she was a passenger was struck with terrific force by a drunken driver.
She suffered a spinal injury that required the removal of her damaged spinal discs and the fusion of the resulting space with bone harvested from her hip.
The case was submitted to a jury because of the failure of the insurance carrier to make an offer that adequately addressed her horrible pain and suffering.
To fully communicate her injury to the jury, Spinella & Associates introduced as evidence a videotape that depicted a similar fusion operation. Although there was no precise precedent or case authority for this unusual evidence, the court allowed the jury to view the tape over the Defendant's claim that it was too prejudicial. As a consequence, the jury was able to view an operation that literally entailed the cutting of Linda's neck and depicted in a very graphic way the extreme surgical procedure she was forced to endure.
After a lengthy trial and the introduction of the tapes, the defendant increased its offer significantly and the case settled immediately prior to the start of the jury's deliberations.