The Appellate Division, First Department, has unanimously affirmed a Bronx County jury verdict in plaintiff's favor which awarded him only $75,000 for past pain and suffering for a fractured subtalar bone and related deep vein thrombosis; the jury made no award for future pain and suffering. Plaintiff commenced this action against his landlord claiming he fractured the subtalar bone of his left foot when he tripped in a hole that was obscured by grass and weeds in the backyard of the building in which he lived. In affirming, the Appellate Division rejected plaintiff's claim that he was entitled to a new trial because the court had erred in excluding evidence that he offered to establish that he was not in an accident involving his wife's car. The Appellate Division held that because evidence on this point went solely to plaintiff's credibility, it was properly excluded, as collateral evidence. The court also rejected plaintiff's claim that the award of $75,000 for past pain and suffering was inadequate and that he was also entitled to an award for future pain and suffering. The court found that because there was conflicting evidence on this point the jury was entitled to accept defendant's physician's opinion that plaintiff had recovered completely from his injuries. The Appellate Division also found that the jury was entitled to accept the opinion of defendant's physician that plaintiff's surgery for his back and ankle were unrelated to the accident giving rise to this action and were, instead, the result of unrelated medical problems.

James Crooms v. Sauer Bros., Inc., ___ A.D.3d ___, ___ N.Y.S.2d ___, 2008 WL 525679 (1st Dep't 2008).