Case at a glance
Result: $27,038 Jury Verdict, subject to a medical-expense reduction
Practice: Transportation Accidents
Attorney: Brian Beckcom
A rear-end collision on F.M. 1960
On May 5, 2005, June, a bank teller, slowed her Cadillac for traffic on F.M. 1960 East in Houston. Thomas Haberle’s Ford F-250 struck her car from behind and pushed it into the vehicle ahead.
An ambulance took June to an emergency room, where doctors diagnosed a concussion and neck and back sprains. She later received physical therapy for neck pain and medication for headaches. Her MRI results were negative, and her doctors recommended no additional future care.
The defense disputed fault and intoxication
Brian sued Haberle on June’s behalf and presented the investigating officer’s report and testimony as evidence of responsibility for the collision.
Haberle argued that an unidentified hit-and-run driver had rear-ended his pickup first. June disputed that account, and the pickup had no visible rear damage.
Haberle faced a driving-while-intoxicated charge after a field sobriety test, but the charge was later dismissed. He denied intoxication. Although the officer initially concluded that Haberle was intoxicated, the officer later testified that Haberle’s age and medical conditions prevented him from drawing that conclusion from the test.
Medical evidence and earlier symptoms
The defense challenged June’s medical bills and injury claims. June had experienced headaches, neck pain and back pain after an earlier collision, and the trial addressed the relationship between her symptoms and this crash.
Brian presented June’s injury claim despite those disputes. The court admitted her medical bills over the defense’s objections, while ruling that any medical-expense award above the amount paid or incurred would require a reduction.
June missed five days of work. The court dismissed her lost-wage claim before trial; she also sought damages for pain and physical impairment.
Checking whose medical records the defense was using
Before cross-examination, Brian recognized that medical records the defense planned to use belonged to another woman with the same name as June. He discussed the mismatch with June before she testified.
The defense continued questioning June about those records. On the witness stand, June pointed out that the records described someone else. By checking the patient’s identity rather than accepting the records at face value, Brian prepared June to explain the mistake directly to the jury.
The jury’s verdict and medical-expense reduction
The jury found only Haberle negligent. It awarded $13,038 for past medical costs, $4,000 for past physical impairment and $10,000 for past pain and suffering, a total of $27,038.
The medical-expense portion remained subject to the court’s ruling limiting the award to the amount paid or incurred.
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Case questions
Every case is different. Prior results depend on the facts of the individual case and do not guarantee a similar outcome.